Have you ever donated bone marrow? Either through harvesting or via apheresis of peripheral stem cells?
I recently found out a family relative has non hodgkin’s lymphoma and so did some research on bone marrow transplants. I thought that the process was a very painful harvesting of bone marrow. But I found out that there are other minimally invasive ways to donate bone marrow. While I wasn’t a match for my relative, my wife and I considering joining the national bone marrow donors list.
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I’m in the national bone marrow registry, but I haven’t donated. I was told that it is painful, but it’s not excruciating and they’re coming up with better and better ways to do it. Seems like you know more about them than I do – I signed up for the registry years ago, back when I was in high school, so I’m sure things have changed.
I am a member of the bone marrow registry but I have never donated.
The most widely used method of donation is known as a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation. The four days before donation you recieve an injcetion to increase the number of stem cells in your blood and on the fifth day you go to the hospital for the collection of stem cells. It’s no different to giving blood, it just takes a bit longer.
A bone marrow donation can be quite painful but it is often ccarried out under general anaesthetic and the pain from the site itself will pass in a couple of days. The hospital will provide you with some decent pain killers anyway so you shouldn’t be in that much discomfort.
I would encourage everybody to sign up for two reasons. One this is a treatment that can cure diseases like leukaemia (with a pretty high succes rate) and 2, you never know when you yourself are going to be diagnosed with leukaemia or something and need a transplant, and the more people on that list the better your chances are.
I have had autologous adult stem cell treatment twice using my own bone marrow. I have also had a peripheral blood stem cell treatment. I had Lidocaine (topically) for the bone marrow extractions and had no problems whatsoever. I was allowed to be on my side for the extraction and some say this is better than lying down flat. It really was a piece of cake and nothing to worry about. The peripheral blood treatment was nothing more than having a few vials of blood drawn. There is also something called the Marrow Miner which can extract marrow even easier and more successfully that some clinics use. The needles have improved and the whole procedure is over before you know it.
It is relatively painless and a great thing to do especially when you consider that for a small amount of pain you could save lives….Bone Marrow aspiration got a bum rap because for leukemia and some other disseases the marrow is drawn from people who have already been exposed to chemo and the whole CNS system and pain registering aspects are compromised. Some universities have bone marrow drives and people go in groups to contrbute. If I had a friend or relative in need I would not hesitate. My husband had this done and his main concern was not the pain but the feeling of the bone marrow being sucked out. He has the same response to blood draws. It did not stop him from doing anything he usually did and right after the marrow draw he went out for lunch. Also it is important that you go where they are skilled in doing draws and know how to place the lidocaine etc…The blood stem cell draw my daughter donated and she says it is the same as giving blood but takes longer as they cycle the other cells back in….In case you are wondering what about me…I lived in countries where people contracted mad cow disease and have had exposure to other parasites not celebrated where people want healthy blood
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