I donate blood every time every 3 months. I never thought about donating bone marrow. What is the process like for that?
www.bethematch.com
Sign up and they'll send a simple cheek swab kit. Takes a couple minutes to do and package up. Once they receive it they'll tell you if you're eligible. Then you play the waiting game to see if you become a perfect match for someone.
In my experience I received the e-mail saying I was eligible as a donor on Thanksgiving 2013 about three weeks after mailing in my kit. I think it was within three days I got the e-mail saying I was a potential match. This is fairly unusual, I believe, as checking their site the odds of
ever being selected is something like 1/400 or something.
Anyhow, once selected you have to schedule an appointment to give a blood sample so they can do further tests. From talking to them and communicating by e-mail I get the impression this is more to make sure you're healthy and not going to give any diseases or anything as the match part of it is essentially confirmed at that point.
Took about two months but in my case I was contacted to let me know that while I was a perfect match they wouldn't need the donation due to the patient's health improving, worsening, issues with insurance, and something else that I think was about finding a counselor? I could find the e-mail if you're curious.
If you actually do the donation they drill into your pelvis to extract the marrow. I think I read 96% of the donations are done while put under. You'll want to plan two or three days off from work following that. One person at Red Cross said they've had someone who has donated several times and they tend to get back and going in a day or two but generally most people take a few days to become comfortable enough to go about daily business.
So yeah, it's a bigger commitment but it's also not something you do every couple months like blood (or every couple weeks for platelets).
Since this thread popped up I've now donated blood four or five times and platelets five or six. I need to get back and do more as it's actually been two or three months since my last donation. Maybe that'll be something I do today. I had to start taking supplement pills because my iron got too low. That's fairly rare for men but I have a poor diet and cut out some of the fast food burgers I was getting and that was a big source of iron for me.
Edit:
My mom was a nurse for 40 years, she told me not to be an organ donor because the doctors won't try as hard to save your life. I didn't take her advice, and I hope one day my dead body will save someone else, or drastically improve someone's quality of life. I just wish I could see where and how my organs helped, sucky thing about being dead.
I've considered donating marrow, because in that case there is a way bigger chance of actually seeing the results of donating, and potentially saving someone's life. I'm curious how long and painful is the recovery process? My job is pretty physical and requires my full attention, so no sitting in a cubical drugged out on pain killers for me. Would taking a few days off be sufficient? Do they match you with people around the world, or is it more localized?
I believe donations stay within your country. I was informed that my donation would likely be performed locally but I don't believe the patient was local. I can't recall if that came up in the communication I had during the testing process.
I think you might be uncomfortable still after only a few days to recover if you're doing strenuous physical work. I think the FAQ suggests 5-7 days but as I mentioned above anecdotal evidence says some people are up and moving about within a day or two. I'm sure it's still not completely comfortable for a short bit, though.
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