Not everyone who joins the National Marrow Donor Program Registry will be called to donate to a patient. If you are asked, a patient's doctor has selected you as the best donor. You may be the one to save a life.
If you are chosen, here's what will follow:
* You will attend an information session to learn about the donation process, risks and side effects. A friend or family member is welcome to attend. You will be informed if the doctor has requested a donation of cells from bone marrow or cells from circulating blood, known as a PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell) donation. Then you can decide whether to donate.
* If you agree to donate, you will have a physical exam to discover if donating would pose any special risks to you or the patient.
* If the cells are to be extracted from the bone marrow, a surgical procedure is involved. While you receive anesthesia, doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of your pelvic bones. Many donors receive a transfusion of their own previously donated blood. You can expect to feel some soreness in your lower back for a few days or longer. Most donors are back to their normal routine in a few days. Your marrow is completely replaced within four to six weeks.
* If the cells are to be taken from circulating blood, a PBSC donation takes place at an apheresis center. To increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream, you will receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days before the collection. Your blood is then removed through a sterile needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. This process is similar to donating plasma. The remaining blood is returned to you. You may experience headache or bone or muscle aches for several days before collection, a side effect of the filgrastim injections. These effects disappear shortly after collection.
* The National Donor Marrow Program will follow up with you until you are able to resume normal activity. After that, it will call you annually for long-term follow up.
