Has anyone here ever donated bone marrow? If so, what is the procedure like, and the recovery?
by 
Magenta
ANSWERS: 2
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No. I recently tried to register as a donor and was refused because of my age (I'm over 50). My limited understanding of it is that it is much more painful for the donor than the recipient.
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Yes. I've done it once. There are actually two ways in which one can donate marrow: actual marrow harvest, which involves drilling into the hip bone, and stem cell collection, which involves collecting stem cells from the peripheral blood. The doctors determined that the second way would be best for the patient, so that was what I ended up doing. It really wasn't bad at all. I had to get growth factor injections (to mobilize the stem cells) for 5 days before the procedure, and they burned a bit, but nothing that I couldn't handle. The worst part for me was the central line. Since I don't have good veins, they had to put a large line in my neck. (Most people have decent veins, though, so they only need a regular IV.) Once that was over, I got hooked up to a machine that filtered the stem cells out of my blood. That was it. No residual symptoms after the donation, and it was an incredible feeling to know that I'd done my part to try and save someone's life. Best wishes to you and your brother. :-)
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