My dad just got a call from a bone marrow donor orginization that I apparently signed up with nearly 10 years ago. I have never given an actual marrow sample and being on a list only sounds vaguely familiar. Apparently I’m a match for somebody, a 53 year old woman in fact, but am wondering how they would know that without having an actual sample. Any ideas? My dad didn’t think to ask this when they called and I’d rather get some info being calling them back when I get home tonight.
If an elite athlete were to go through with donating bone marrow, how would they be effected? Does the body ever recover to 100% of where it was previously? If so, how long might that take?
You are a match based on a blood sample you donated. Actual marrow is not required to match to a recipient. The process is simple–basically your marrow is aspirated many times with a needle while under sedation. As far as recuperating your marrow, it’s not an issue. Even with the donation you will have plenty to keep up your counts. The actual recover for sitting on a bike may be longer. The bone pain can last awhile. It is usually taken from the hip although depending on your age, the sternum is another source.
Bless you for offering your marrow as you may well save this woman’s life.
I hadf a few friends who sold their bone marrow in college for some medical study. They just took it from their hip with a big, hollow drill. It only took a couple weeks to recover. I don’t know if they take marrow for a transplant the same way.
i gave stem cells in a PBSC donations(didnt want the other option) on the 12th of march this year, my older sister had an acute leukemia and i was a perfect match, i had to inject myself with two syringes of GSCF in the evenings for 5 days to promote stem cell release from the marrow into the blood stream, the back pains you get are a similar pain to slipping a disc in your back and the headaches arent good either, then on the 5th day i had 4 hours on a machine at the hospital that took some blood out of my arm took stem cells/some platelets/bit of plasma and then returned it, felt rough for a few days caught up with my sleep(bit of insomnia when taking the drugs) and just 3 weeks later feel fine with no problems, training as normal. ps they had me in for lots of tests even when they knew i was a match, one day they took 9 vials of blood for tests.
If you go through with this, could you please keep us posted on your recovery? I’ve considered going onto the registery for years, but I’ve been too chicken to do so. Maybe you’ll inspire me?
First, they will usually want to do some confirmatory tests.
Then, if you are a GOOD match, they remove the marrow, which is a bigger deal than just taking a sample. I don’t know what the latest techniques are, but the center can detail it for you. The main pain, as I understand it, is the recovery from the injury to the bone. I would also ask them how long before your pain resolves and how long before you can restart training.
I donated bone marrow back in 2000, when marrow taken from the iliac (hip) bone was the norm. Nowadays, PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell) is generally preferred because engraftment happens slightly faster & the donor does not need to undergo anesthesia. Usually the donor is given the option. Either way, you are donating the same thing but with PBSC, the donor must receive (usually self-injection) neupogen which increases stem cell production & “forces” the stem sells into the peripheral circulation where they can be extracted. The donation process involves being hooked up to a pheresis machine for 5+ hours (can take 1-2 sessions depending on how many cells are colected the first day)-blood is takenfrom one arm, circulated through the machine so the stem cells being extracted, then the remaining blood returned through the other arm. PBSC requires injections but a quick recovery & being hooked up to a machine for 1+ days. Bone marrow requires anesthesia (local or general), leaves you with a sore butt (I felt like I had taken a really bad fall on the ice-walked ackwardly for 2-3 days) but no injections. Either way, your hematocrit will drop (mine was 38 the morning of the surgery & 27 just after despite receiving 1 unit of autologous blood during the surgery). You can find good info & links on the leukemia & lymphoma society website.
Recovery? Well, I absolutely, positively, undeniably, not an elite athlete… but I can’t imagine doing a decent workout for 2 weeks after my donation.
This caught my attention because I’m nearly 5 years clean/free of Chondrosarcoma (bone cancer) of the left distal femur. The tumor was about 7cm long and was not in the marrow but in the cartilage of the bone. The “State of the Art” surgery that was performed on my femur is called Cryosurgery and is a pretty brutal excision of the tumor using a dremel tool followed by pouring liquid nitrogen into the bone cavity to kill all living cells. The cavity was filled/packed with donor bone and irrigated with my own blood from my hip (while I was out). A titanium plate and seven screws are still there holding everything in place. Rehab from it was tough…lots of PT work, patience and time.
Thanks to all of you donors out there…it gives many people a second chance.
when they took my stem cells my haemacrit dropped from 46 to 41 and they managed to take double the amount of stem cells 7.8 million needed 4 million in the one sitting, sounds like the more modern version is better for you and quicker recovery, the nurse in charge mentioned that if i had the operation to remove cells from my pelvis there was a slight chance of having back problems.
I weighed the pros & cons *for me & *opted to donate via marrow. BPSC requires taking Neupogen which, like any med, is not risk-free: it can cause lung problems (I have asthma), cardiac problems (I had a “small” heart attack 6 months prior to donating), & back pain (I have lower back issues). Plus, while neupogen is a life-saver for neutropenic patients, there were no long-term studies of its effects on healthy subjects. Obviously, general anesthesia carries risk too but for me the risks of neupogen were greater than the risks of anesthesia. Bottom line, marrow donation was for me in my situation but every donor needs to make her/his own determination.
In any event, my sister (the donee) who had a 17% chance of survival, is alive & reasonablt well 7 years later.
I registered as potential donor with the National Marrow Donor Program at Wildflower 2009. Just after getting back from St George (almost exactly 1 year later) I received an email to contact them ASAP as I was a potential match. Told them yes I was still willing to donate. This week I get contacted that they want to get a confirmatory blood sample, which I am going in for tomorrow. Still wrapping my brain around this, but have no doubts that it’s the right thing to do.
At this point, it’s still in the early. The blood test is just for additional tissue matching and to test for blood-borne infectious diseases. Will have to wait and see, but hoping for the best for the patient’s sake.
It was cool to find this thread on Slowtwitch as it’s nice to get a donor perspective about what to expect from other athletes. If it does come to pass, the decision whether to do a marrow or PBSC donation will be the hard part. But for now it’s wait and see.
Blood tests confirmed I am a match -“they REALLY like your match” were their exact words. A little over a week ago I went through the full workup (13 vials of blood drawn!), and at this point everything is set for a PBSC collection to happen June 30. My thoughts are it really IS a privilege to have this opportunity.
FYI I looked over all the materials and the PBSC collection was the both their preference and mine.Yes you sign waivers saying Filgrastim is not FDA approved for healthy patients, but you will also note that there is now 10 years of history with this procedure, and it appears to me to be MUCH less risk.
The original donation date of 30 June got pushed back to July 15. Right now I am on day 2 of the Neupogen injections, and still feeling ok. Taking it easy this week anyways. I did manage to squeeze in an 80 mile ride the day before starting the shots. It will be interesting to see how quickly I can bounce back, but that is of minor importance right now. Main thing is this HAS to be done.