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So, for anyone who wants to get on board with offering others the benefit of your healthy bodies, I’d like to encourage folks to register with BeTheMatch.org (or whatever the similar organization on your country happens to be) to possibly be bone marrow donors. You can save someone’s life, more or less directly, in the face of serious conditions like cancer and leukemia. Because fuck cancer.
I donated bone marrow myself earlier this week, after being a registered donor for almost nine years (this was the second time I’d been contacted about being a potential donor; the first time, nothing came of it).
It’s not nearly as intimidating as many people think – gone are the days where it was done under anaesthetic via a big needle inserted into the iliac crest (the back of the pelvis); 75% of the time, it’s more akin to a protracted blood donation (the process is called apheresis – drawing blood off, filtering out the good parts, and returning the rest to you)… just with a lot more paperwork.
It’s more like being on a long airplane ride with your own flight attendant (the nurse) while hooked up to an IV rather than undergoing a complex medical procedure. I even got a really bland tuna fish sandwich for lunch halfway through. Hospital food is still hospital food.
Step 1: Register at BeTheMatch.org, the national bone marrow registry coordination service
Step 2: Get an email ping from them if you might be a donation candidate
Step 3: Answer a health questionnaire that’s basically a more thorough version of the one you answer to give blood
Step 4: Go in for a blood draw, where they will test for both donor/recipient compatibility, as well as perform a more comprehensive health screening
Step 5: Another blood draw, and an in-person physical
Step 6: Get a series of injections to stimulate your bone marrow to kick into overdrive in the days leading up to the donation, flooding your system with healthy and active white blood cells and bone marrow stem cells
Step 7: Get hooked up to the donation equipment and… be very, very bored, because it takes about six hours for the whole donation process, and you can’t get up or do much of anything… not even move your hands around enough to read a magazine. BRING AN E-BOOK! J
Some folks will still be asked to undergo the more old-fashioned donation with the needle and whatnot, but that’s becoming less common, since the apheresis donation is less trouble for both the donor and often gives a better outcome for the recipient.
Q: Does it hurt?
A: You’ll be a bit of a pincushion, with all the blood samples and the injections (which are all done with tiny needles) and the IV lines that draw off and return your blood (which are less tiny needles, but not much bigger than blood donation ones). Some folks will have uncomfortable side effects from the marrow-stimulation drugs, usually showing up as hip or low back pain or a general achiness. Fewer folks may feel queasy – this is because the spleen is trying to collect and hold onto all the extra white blood cells, and is going, “Whoah, dude, I can’t hold this much” – which is the point, since they need to be in your bloodstream in order to be collected.
Q: Okay, it may or may not hurt, but does anything about it feel weird?
A: The anti-coagulants that allow your blood to be returned to you can deplete the calcium levels in your bloodstream, so you’ll want to have a bottle of antacids on hand; not for any heartburn, but as an easy way to get your calcium. Your lips might tingle a little bit, and, in my case, I felt a kind of buzzing sensation in the middle of my back, like one of my cats was curled up for a nap and purring vigorously.
Q: Do you get paid?
A: No. You’ll receive a mileage reimbursement, travel expenses (airfare, hotel, and a per diem for meals), but no direct compensation.
Q: Will you know who the recipient is?
A: Only if you are donating to a member of your family. This goes for the transplant recipient as well; they won’t know who you are, other than a generous soul who gave them a chance to fight a life-threatening medical condition.
I donated bone marrow myself earlier this week, after being a registered donor for almost nine years (this was the second time I’d been contacted about being a potential donor; the first time, nothing came of it).
It’s not nearly as intimidating as many people think – gone are the days where it was done under anaesthetic via a big needle inserted into the iliac crest (the back of the pelvis); 75% of the time, it’s more akin to a protracted blood donation (the process is called apheresis – drawing blood off, filtering out the good parts, and returning the rest to you)… just with a lot more paperwork.
It’s more like being on a long airplane ride with your own flight attendant (the nurse) while hooked up to an IV rather than undergoing a complex medical procedure. I even got a really bland tuna fish sandwich for lunch halfway through. Hospital food is still hospital food.
Step 1: Register at BeTheMatch.org, the national bone marrow registry coordination service
Step 2: Get an email ping from them if you might be a donation candidate
Step 3: Answer a health questionnaire that’s basically a more thorough version of the one you answer to give blood
Step 4: Go in for a blood draw, where they will test for both donor/recipient compatibility, as well as perform a more comprehensive health screening
Step 5: Another blood draw, and an in-person physical
Step 6: Get a series of injections to stimulate your bone marrow to kick into overdrive in the days leading up to the donation, flooding your system with healthy and active white blood cells and bone marrow stem cells
Step 7: Get hooked up to the donation equipment and… be very, very bored, because it takes about six hours for the whole donation process, and you can’t get up or do much of anything… not even move your hands around enough to read a magazine. BRING AN E-BOOK! J
Some folks will still be asked to undergo the more old-fashioned donation with the needle and whatnot, but that’s becoming less common, since the apheresis donation is less trouble for both the donor and often gives a better outcome for the recipient.
Q: Does it hurt?
A: You’ll be a bit of a pincushion, with all the blood samples and the injections (which are all done with tiny needles) and the IV lines that draw off and return your blood (which are less tiny needles, but not much bigger than blood donation ones). Some folks will have uncomfortable side effects from the marrow-stimulation drugs, usually showing up as hip or low back pain or a general achiness. Fewer folks may feel queasy – this is because the spleen is trying to collect and hold onto all the extra white blood cells, and is going, “Whoah, dude, I can’t hold this much” – which is the point, since they need to be in your bloodstream in order to be collected.
Q: Okay, it may or may not hurt, but does anything about it feel weird?
A: The anti-coagulants that allow your blood to be returned to you can deplete the calcium levels in your bloodstream, so you’ll want to have a bottle of antacids on hand; not for any heartburn, but as an easy way to get your calcium. Your lips might tingle a little bit, and, in my case, I felt a kind of buzzing sensation in the middle of my back, like one of my cats was curled up for a nap and purring vigorously.
Q: Do you get paid?
A: No. You’ll receive a mileage reimbursement, travel expenses (airfare, hotel, and a per diem for meals), but no direct compensation.
Q: Will you know who the recipient is?
A: Only if you are donating to a member of your family. This goes for the transplant recipient as well; they won’t know who you are, other than a generous soul who gave them a chance to fight a life-threatening medical condition.
