I want to donate bone marrow but im not quite sure about the steps to doing it or how i can talk to someone about doing it, does it take a lot of time to go through with? does it cost money? can you get money for it? What is the age you can start to donate at and is it painful i would like to know everything there is to know about donating honest clean answers please and thank you!Friday, October 21, 2011
Donating Bone Marrow?
I want to donate bone marrow but im not quite sure about the steps to doing it or how i can talk to someone about doing it, does it take a lot of time to go through with? does it cost money? can you get money for it? What is the age you can start to donate at and is it painful i would like to know everything there is to know about donating honest clean answers please and thank you!
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greeney - I don't know what country you are in but basically you put your name down on the bone Marrow register. Your blood is typed & recorded and if you are a match for someone needing a Bone marrow transplant/Stem cells you are contacted and asked to donate, there are 2 options.
ReplyDelete1/ Donating stem cells from the peripheral blood is not a complicated procedure and can be done as an outpatient requiring 2-4 sessions of simply donating blood taking approx 2-6hrs.
2/ Stem cell collection from the marrow is an inpatient procedure requiring anesthesia taking 1-2 hrs, it is a day procedure.
The worst of donating cells is the required course of G-CSF injections in the week leading up to donation, G-CSF is a colony stimulating factor. Colony stimulating factors are naturally occurring special proteins in the human body that stimulate blood cell production and growth. G-CSF helps increase the number of stem cells in your blood stream.These injections can cause aches, bone pain & nausea but is far from torturous unbearable pain. Probably the greatest risk involved is the anesthesia if it’s taken from the marrow. After both procedures the donor may feel tired or weakness, in the case of bone marrow extraction there is slight pain in the area extracted, but the donor usually only takes a couple of days to be symptom free in both cases.
I think the patients insurance pays for procedure expenses.....donors do not get paid to donate in Australia, don't know about where you live but would you really want to get paid to give this Precious gift of life? I know I wouldn't as the feeling of giving this to someone is priceless.....
Tia - I'm on the bone marrow donor register here in Australia. When I was donating blood, I asked to join the register. I believe that the cost of medical expenses will be covered, but there is no payment for it. People tried to tell me it would be painful, but I figure what's worse - avoiding the pain and people suffering and dying needlessly, or helping someone who could have a better, healthier life? For me, the decision was easy. What really made me realise it was the right decision was reading a story in a magazine about a lady who had died waiting for a suitable match. It was written by her heartbroken family. I cried as I read it and wondered why more people don't volunteer themselves to help others. People that don't need to die - people that have a chance, are dying. I haven't been called up yet, the blood bank said the likelihood of being a match for someone is quite low, but at least I'm on the register, and one day I may get the opportunity to help someone else.
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