Two bone marrow donation registries--are they the same?

busyparent
Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:54:59 +0000

The donation process has changed some over the years and it is not as painful. Many people now have their stem cells harvested from an apheresis procedure rather than a marrow extraction. These are called peripheral blood stem cells. The donor undergoes 5 days of “conditioning” where they are given shots to stimulate the bone marrow to increase the production and “excretion” into the blood of stem cells. During apheresis the donor has a needle in each arm. Blood comes out one arm, the stem cells are separated and collected from the blood and then the blood is returned to the donor (minus the PBSC) in the other arm. The procedure takes about 6 hours depending on how well the body responded to the conditioning treatment. The recipients of these cells undergo a less rigorous wiping out of their immune system.

The person I knew who was selected joined the NMDP because everyone else in her office was doing it and she felt bad about not (she was a little scared). She is a white female and not likely to have ever been picked but lo and behold just 4 months later she got the call and was the final best match for someone who last she heard is doing well.