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Bone Marrow Donation: What to Expect as a Donor

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Donating your blood and bone marrow is strictly a voluntary decision. When you decide to do this on behalf of someone else, you agree to let the doctors draw blood stem cells from your blood or bone marrow which will in turn be transplanted into the recipient. Donations such as these are used to treat certain cancers and other diseases. If you have a family member who requires a transplant, you may be a good match for that individual.

What exactly are blood stem cells? Simply put, they are the cells that make all of the body’s blood cells. After forming in the bone marrow, they enter the bloodstream. They are not to be confused, however, with the embryonic stem cells used in cloning and other research endeavors.

Until recent years, all donors had to undergo surgery in order for the bone marrow to be retrieved. Bone marrow was drawn from the hip bones. Now, however, blood stem cells can be directly collected from the blood. This is referred to as peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation. The blood stem cells can also be obtained from the umbilical cord at birth, but in small amounts only.

The risks associated with this particular type of donation are slight. However, the PBSC form of donation necessitates that you take a medication to draw more blood stem cells from your bone marrow. As a result, certain side effects may present, such as headaches, fatigue, bone pain, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and sleep disruption. Fortunately, the potential side affects dissipate within a few days after taking the injections.

The process of taking the blood stem cells from your blood can also cause a few milder side effects, such as the chills, numbness or tingling around your mouth, a feeling of lightheadedness, and cramps in your hands. These can all be treated and will discontinue after the donation process is completed.

By conducting a test called human leukocyte antigen (HLA), doctors can determine if you are a match for the recipient. You inherit your HLA proteins from your mother and father. As such, full siblings are usually the best opportunity for a match. The closer the match, the better the odds that the recipient’s body will accept the donated cells. If it is determined that you are a good match, you will undergo further testing to ensure that you don’t have any genetic conditions or infectious diseases. Your health history and your family’s health history will also be taken into consideration.

If the blood stem cells will be taken directly from your blood, you will be administered medication to stimulate the production of those blood stem cells so that more of them can circulate in your blood. This allows for easier filtration of them from your blood.

The medication is usually given as an injection, once a day for four days, both before and continuing through the donation process. Your blood cell count will be checked. A nurse will assess which vein can be used for the donation.

On day number five, the blood stem cells are then collected from your blood through a process called apheresis. This is when blood is drawn from a vein in your arm (or through a central line in a larger vein if you have small veins or veins with thin walls) and sent through a machine that will filter out the necessary blood stem cells. Once the filtering is done, the blood will be returned to your body. This process takes about four to six hours and is done on an out-patient basis. It will typically take about two to four apheresis sessions, depending upon how much is needed by the recipient.

When done on behalf of a loved one, or for anyone, this truly is a wonderful act of giving.
(Information for this article was found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bone-marrow/my00525)

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Pat Elliott
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Thank you Ann for writing this article and helping make more people aware of the way that making a blood marrow donation has changed in recent years, becoming much easier for the donor. As someone with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), I know that a bone marrow transplant may be needed in the future and have recently been researching this topic. I found a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions provided by the National Marrow Donor Program to be very helpful, and others may too: http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Support_Resources/Patient_Frequently_A/index.html

Some of my fellow CML survivors have described the process of being being tested for an appropriate donor - it can be very long due to the need to screen multiple donor candidates to find just the right one. In the meantime, the person's life may be in jeopardy. I appreciate all that you, and others, are doing to make more people aware of this tremendous need and of the fact that lives that can be saved.
Take care, Pat

May 3, 2010 - 6:07pm

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Ann Butenas
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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.

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