Registration took about 10 minutes.
Working in Emergency Services I’ve seen a lot of valuable blood products wasted on traumas who simply were not going to make it. But trauma resuscitation is aggressive business and sometimes it’s not clear where to draw the line. Anyway, this had kinda turned me off to everyday blood donation which always felt like something I should be doing.
Now marrow on the other hand! If they dig marrow out of my skeleton it’ll be because it’s going to someone who really needs it. Not to be mostly spilled on the floor in a trauma center. Dilemma negotiated. Bring it!
PS to acknowledge that most donated blood goes to the right place and is life-savingly valuable to the folks who receive it. I’m only accounting my personal experience with blood donation and not suggesting anyone should have a problem with it.
Just wanted to point out a typo in the blurb.
It’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, not Hodgin’s.
A friend of mine had it several years back, and thankfully she’s been clear since.
I joined the registry about a year ago. Interestingly, one selling point was that 80% of “marrow” donations are done via blood collection (apheresis or something like that). So even if you are a donor there’s only a 20% chance that they will ask to shoot needles into your bones.
A year ago I wouldn’t have hesitated. After my own bout with cancer this hits even closer to home. Now that I’m cured (the doctors told me “If you’re gonna get cancer this is one you wanna have”) I’m hopeful I can help. I just hope my history doesn’t knock me out of the running.
I LOL’d.
A lot. Bravo.
This is a huge deal. I owe my life to an anonymous donor from Germany.
It’s booth pretty cool and a little bit scary to share DNA with a total stranger.
In Sweden the bone marrow registry is called Tobiasregistret:
http://www.tobiasregistret.se/ but there’s also a lot international cooperation to find donors.
I joined the registry on a whim in college (they were in the student center swabbing people and signing them up) and actually turned up as a match for a woman with leukemia a couple years later. I wound up donating to her twice, the second time after it began recurring and they opted to see if a boost from the original donor would knock it down. I kept in touch with her for a while (one year after donation they give both donor and recipient the option of releasing contact info to one another) but have sadly fallen out of contact.
Bone marrow donation is a much simpler procedure than it used to be, too! Instead of the giant-needle-into-the-pelvis thing, they much prefer to collect the marrow stem cells out of your blood through apheresis after treating you with a medication to increase stem cell production–this has a higher transplant success rate and a much shorter recovery time for the donor. I was back at school/work the next day both times, with no pain or lingering effects.
http://www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk/en/register-now UK Register link. Do it. Now. Off you pop. Go on. We’ll wait here while you go and sign up.
Oh, that’s cool. I tried to register for bone marrow donation about 5 years ago (my blood’s O+, so it’s fairly likely to be useful), and they said that people with sleep apnea who use CPAP machines can’t be donors, because they may have problems with the anesthesia. Seemed ridiculous to me; so I end up snoring at them and don’t get a great night’s sleep while they’re poking holes in my bones, big deal. But maybe they’ll take me now, if they’re usually just doing apherisis?
There’s really no reason not to- either you’ll be saving someone’s life, or you’ll never be called on to do anything other than keep your contact information up to date. I’m in the latter category… so far.
I’m 45 so I have to register online and pay $100 to do so? I’m more than happy to register but charging me to do so because of my age?
Although the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Register does not exclude donors based on UK residency, donors are recruited through the Blood Service which does exclude
people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 for a cumulative period
of 6 months or more.
IOW, we don’t exclude you, but the only way you can register is through joining somewhere that does and won’t accept you.
I’m used to being unable to give blood because of medical bullshit. That’s at least understandable. This is administrative bullshit and inexcusable.
Even if I’m a match, and even if I’m allowed to donate despite my asthma, and even if you only require blood, where would I have to go to donate, and what are the odds it would be at all remotely accessible?
Don’t know about marrow, but as a Brit the US doesn’t want my blood because mad cow.
They coordinate with hospitals across the country and will try to find one close to you for your donation–if you live near a decent-size city, you probably wouldn’t have to go too far. They also reimburse your travel expenses, as well as paying for all related medical care.
I can’t ever drive, because sensory issues. I can’t bike any more, because sensory issues. I can’t use public transportation any more, because sensory issues. I sometimes get harassed at clinics if I’m trying to get help, because sensory issues and ableist assholes, and had one appointment cancelled while I was waiting, curled up in pain, because sensory issues, because sensory issues and ableist assholes.
I’m truly sorry about that. I hope you have better luck with doctors/clinics in the future and get whatever help you need.
You asked what I interpreted as a logistics question, and I tried to provide an answer. I’m sorry I offended you.
No, it wasn’t offensive. I was just giving some background on the logistics.
