I donated bone marrow several months ago-- the main thing I learned in talking to friends and family members was that there are a lot of obsolete ideas floating around about what donation entails. Most of them are decades old when donation was quite painful and risks to donors were higher. Thankfully, with new technology and methods, the risk and pain/discomfort to the donor is much, much less.
Over 80% of donors today donate via blood instead of surgery, using a dialysis type of machine (while watching TV and eating free food). And even the surgery itself, from what I was told, is much less invasive, with side effects being more like muscular achiness.
Obviously the donor benefits nothing from all this and it *is* uncomfortable, time-consuming, and inconvenient. But the potential to save someone's life gets to the core of what it means to be truly human, to more than just exist as a biological machine. We have the ability to be empathetic and selfless, to give up something of our own so that someone else may benefit. That's why I decided to be a donor, and also why I kept a journal throughout the process-- to encourage others to do the same.
90 days before donation
I was at home to visit my family for a couple weeks. One evening after dinner, I opened up my inbox and saw an email with the following subject: "URGENT - You're a bone marrow match! Please respond ASAP!" My heart rate immediately shot up, as I knew what that meant.
About two years before I had signed up to join the bone marrow registry with DKMS at a booth at the center of my town. Registering was nothing more than a cheek swab and filling out a form. I didn't think very much of it after that day. But now just a couple of years later I had been notified that my cells could potentially save someone else's life... literally.
As I sat in my room and skimmed the email, telling me a very few basic details about the patient, I was pretty moved by the enormity of it and actually got a bit teary (I rarely cry).
I had to fill out a detailed health questionnaire and return it, and also call the center to talk about the next steps. But first I ran downstairs and told my family what had happened and that I was a potential donor. They were all quite supportive-- after discussing the huge lack of ethnic minority donors, my dad immediately hatched a plan to run a registration drive in his church, my brother signed up individually via the DKMS website, and my sister (registered for 10+ years) and mom gave their support as well.
The only concern they had was the cost if any complications arose afterwards, but I did a bit of research and found that the patient's health insurance will cover anything that happens to you. After calling DKMS and returning the health form, I was scheduled for a blood draw which would help determine if I would be the best match for this patient.
3 weeks before donation
Just got cleared after my blood test and physical exam for donation. Looks like it is really happening! I just checked the calendar to see how far ahead of time it was and things seem more real now. One thing that has been really amazing is the support of my parents. Both my mom and dad are flying in to stay with me during the donation to be with me and make sure I am ok.
Also, my mom who tends to worry like most mothers do, is still overall very encouraging and happy that I can help someone in this way. She has been doing research on the process and came across a lot of Youtube videos on the experience of patients and donors, their stories, and even some of them meeting a year later.
She told me that she is happy that right now the mom and dad of the patient I'm going to donate to are probably jumping up and down and thanking God for this chance for their child. Although she doesn't want me to have side effects she knows that the bigger purpose is well worth it, and that makes me very happy.
3 days before donation
Got a lot of logistical stuff taken care of-- my parents are flying in for 5 days to be with me during the donation process, and DKMS is covering part of their hotel stay. Also the organization is going to cover my missed work hours due to donation and injections. Yesterday I began the first of my four injections of the drug Neupogen (filgrastim), which will increase stem cell production from my bones which are then released into my blood.
Some common side effects of the drug are bone pain, fatigue, and headaches, and I began feeling the bone pain in my upper leg bones and back 12 hours after the first injection. It feels like a dull ache kind of like before or when you have the flu; it's just enough that I notice that it's there and causes a small degree of discomfort. I took one Tylenol and it helped a bunch. Way less than a normal headache, to compare it to something.
I went to the hospital to receive my first two injections, and went to an infusion center where cancer patients go to receive drugs via IV. It was like a large room divided into many sections with curtains, each with its own comfortable chair and TV. Being surrounded by so many patients who are facing this disease and catching snippets of their conversations was pretty eye-opening.
No one ever asks for trouble, but it had come to all these people and they have no choice but to fight it as best they can. And if I can potentially help one of them to not have to come back there ever again, simply by being slightly inconvenienced for about a week, then I'll do all I can to make that happen.
2 days before donation
I thought I'd write a bit more about side effects, since that's what may be a barrier to a lot of people donating. I received my third injection from a visiting nurse service, having a nurse come to my apartment in the morning.
At work that day, I did notice more of an achiness in my upper legs and hips. The intensity of pain itself wasn't that much, but the fact that it wouldn't go away made it uncomfortable, to a somewhat distracting degree, since my job is just me sitting at a computer. I took some Tylenol and it didn't do very much, but when I walked around I would barely notice it. However towards the end of the day the achiness decreased and the next day I didn't feel anything.
donation days!
The day started at 7am. I wore sweatpants and my Dr Pepper t-shirt for extra comfort. My parents and I went to the hospital and I ate a protein-rich breakfast of eggs and sausage as I'd been instructed (yep, hard work) for my first donation day. The blood center was a large room with many reclining hospital beds and chairs scattered around.
The donation process is generally 1 or 2 days (no overnight stays) in the hospital sitting in a bed and watching TV while hooked up to a machine that filters out your blood. Each arm has a needle in it, one to remove your blood, and one to put the blood back in. It is a very slow process, so you will be there for probably 4-5 or more hours each day if you do 2 days.
It depends on the size difference between patient and donor. If you are a big guy and the patient a petite girl then they won't need as much blood from you, and you won't have to stay there as long. But they won't know until the actual day of. It wasn't all that fun to have needles in my arms for 2 days but I did get free meals and watched TV all day, and the nurses were really nice.
After donation I was SUPER tired. I had literally zero energy, and could only stay in bed the day after. My second day of donation was Thurs, and I took Fri off work, rested during the weekend, and did go back to work on Mon. But it wasn't until a week after donation that I felt pretty back to normal.
Epilogue
Donating was a unique opportunity for me to help someone else on this earth out. Oddly enough the process made me feel tied to this other person whose name I don't even know. The need for donors is pretty great, especially ethnic minorities.
Some statistics on bone marrow donors, via the Institute for Justice
Register to be a donor, via DKMS -- free and very easy!
