Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Chatter > General Discussion


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 11-22-2003, 01:49 PM   #1 (permalink)
Pasture Bedtime
 
Bone Marrow Donation

Has anyone donated bone marrow before? What were your experiences like?

There's a bone marrow donation campaign launching on campus, and I'd like to know a little more about what it's like.
Sledge is offline  
Old 11-22-2003, 04:01 PM   #2 (permalink)
Junkie
 
I registered for it when I lived back home in Ireland.

It's quite rare for someone to come up as a positive match, so the more people who register the better. The larger the registry of donors, the bigger the chance of a successful match for a patient.

The transplant itself takes place in hospital under general anaesthetic. I believe they remove a small amount of marrow from your tibia (thigh) and hip bones. You as a donor spend a couple of days in hospital afterwards and I think you need to take it easy for a few days after that. I'm told there is some discomfort involved.

However, bone marrow patients eventually die without a transplant. Once you agree to act as a donor (if you're a match), the patients marrow is destroyed and if you back out of the whole process, the patient dies within days.

Registering as a donor is a brave and noble thing. Actually donating is more so.

I encourage you to do so, as you are perhaps saving someones life, and applaud you if you do.

Mr Mephisto
Mephisto2 is offline  
Old 11-22-2003, 04:50 PM   #3 (permalink)
Junkie
 
eribrav's Avatar
 
Location: upstate NY
Sledge, let me clear something up (well a few things actually).


The campus drive will only involve a blood draw. They will use your blood to do something called HLA typing. Marrow donors are selected for specific recipients based on the degree of match in their HLA types. Generally when someone needs a marrow transplant, their siblings and other family are checked first as donors. After that, if they're not a match, the lists are consulted.

By being HLA typed you are not in any way obligating yourself to do anything further.

There are now 2 ways to do a "marrow transplant". The more traditional way is to do multiple bone marrow taps from your hips. You can have either general or spinal anesthesia, and here in the States you go home same day, albeit with a sore backside. The second, newer way which is becoming more common, is called a stem cell collection. IV's are put in you, and your blood flows out into a pharesis machine (looks like a small washing machine). Your stem cells are collected and the rest of the blood is returned to you. The stem cells are then given to the recipient and find their way back to the marrow and reconstitute their marrow and immune system.
eribrav is offline  
Old 11-22-2003, 08:11 PM   #4 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: Toronto
Ahh the wonders of technology. They could use that stem cell techonology for many other useful things such and fixing spinal cord injuries and replacing brain cells, which normally are gone forever if you lose them.
ickma is offline  
Old 11-22-2003, 10:14 PM   #5 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Quote:
Originally posted by Mr Mephisto
Registering as a donor is a brave and noble thing. Actually donating is more so.

I encourage you to do so, as you are perhaps saving someones life, and applaud you if you do.
I strongly agree with this statement.

I don't know about a bone marrow transplant, but I've had bone marrow drawn before. It's not painful, just a little uncomfortable. It doesn't take long at all for it to be done either.
__________________
"Fuck these chains
No goddamn slave
I will be different"
~ Machine Head
spectre is offline  
Old 11-22-2003, 11:43 PM   #6 (permalink)
Warrior Smith
 
Fire's Avatar
 
Location: missouri
A bone marrow transplant almost allowed my father to beat cancer- even though it did not ultimately save him, it gave hime an additional 2 years to be with us. we were lucky enough to have a family member as a compatable donor- something like a 1 in 25 million chance- I urge anyone who can to do this- It matters....
__________________
Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens
Fire is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 03:05 AM   #7 (permalink)
Junkie
 
It seems my knowledge of the procedure is a bit outdated. Just shows the warning of relying on 12 year old information, as it was that long ago that I registered as a donor in Ireland!

Mr Mephisto
Mephisto2 is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 09:46 AM   #8 (permalink)
Pasture Bedtime
 
Thanks so much for the information, guys. A few more questions:

How long does it take for you to feel at full health after the operation? How do people feel in the meantime? What complications can occur?
Sledge is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 05:22 PM   #9 (permalink)
Junkie
 
eribrav's Avatar
 
Location: upstate NY
I think if you gave marrow you would feel fine within the week after the procedure......mainly you would have sore hips, but that would get better quickly.


Complications are really minimal.....there's more of a risk from the anesthesia than from having a needle stuck in your bone a few hundred times. Really.
eribrav is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 05:51 PM   #10 (permalink)
Junkie
 
The only real risk is to the recipient of your marrow. They destroy all theirs before the operation, so if you pull out of the procedure (for some bizarre reason), they die.

As eribrav says, the complication to you lies only in the usual issues with general anesthetic. I believe they can even use a local now anyway.

Mr Mephisto
Mephisto2 is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 06:11 PM   #11 (permalink)
Hiya Puddin'! Miss me?
 
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
I've been thinking about joining the registry because I heard that mixed ethnicities are needed even more than someone of one major ethnicity.
Edit: Of course, it just dawned on me that I have back problems, so I probably don't qualify.

Through google, I found this informative site: http://www.marrow.org/FAQS/faqs_idx.html
__________________
=^-^= motdakasha =^-^=
Just Google It.
BA Psychology & Photography
(I'm not going psychoanalyze you nor will I let you cry on my shoulder. Have a nice day.)

Last edited by motdakasha; 11-23-2003 at 06:19 PM..
motdakasha is offline  
Old 11-23-2003, 07:01 PM   #12 (permalink)
Junkie
 
How would a bad back prevent you from donating bone marrow?

Confused...

Mr Mephisto
Mephisto2 is offline  
Old 11-24-2003, 01:39 PM   #13 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Minx's Avatar
 
Location: Up yonder
Does anyone know the answer to this.....I am not able to donate blood because of an antibody that was transferred to me when I was in an accident and had mucho blood transfusions. Would this restrict me to donate bone marrow?
I have always wanted to help out in some way. The way I see it, if people hadn't donated the blood I needed then I would be dead today, plain and simple. I would like to give back in some way.
__________________
You've been a naughty boy....go to my room!
Minx is offline  
Old 11-24-2003, 02:13 PM   #14 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: ...We have a problem.
Quote:
Originally posted by motdakasha
I've been thinking about joining the registry because I heard that mixed ethnicities are needed even more than someone of one major ethnicity.
Edit: Of course, it just dawned on me that I have back problems, so I probably don't qualify.

Through google, I found this informative site: http://www.marrow.org/FAQS/faqs_idx.html
I've actually heard that some marrow programs won't accept Caucasian donors unless they have some Native American or other ethnicity in their background. It is becoming highly specialized so everyone who is willing to be a donor should probably register if they are eligible. Cool to be able to say that as an ordinary Joe you've saved someone's life... although blood donation is the same but on a much broader scale.
__________________
Cruel words erode self-esteem like the ocean eats away the shore.
txlovely is offline  
 

Tags
bone, donation, marrow


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:14 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360