If your tissue type matches a patient, there will be additional testing. If your tissue type is still the best match, you will then be asked to donate your healthy cells.
You will be contacted and asked to attend an information session to learn more about the donation process. At that time, you will be told the type of donation being requested: either bone marrow or cells collected from the blood, called peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) donation.
The Be The Match Registry® works with donors throughout the entire donation and transplant process. The Be The Match Registry is the registry of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and is operated under Federal contracts by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP).
When You are Contacted
A Be The Match Registry representative will contact you if your tissue type matches a patient needing a life-saving transplant. However, before you can donate your bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells, you will:
- Have your tissue type checked more completely. Although your tissue type seems to match, it needs to match the patient's tissue at a detailed level.
- Attend an informational session by telephone or in person. You will learn about the donation, risks, and side effects. Then you will decide whether or not to donate.
- Receive a physical exam. If you agree to donate, a doctor will examine you to ensure that donating is safe for you as well as the patient.
Donation of Bone Marrow or PBSC
After you agree to donate your bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells, the patient begins preparing for the transplant. By the time you begin the donation, the patient has finished treatment to prepare for the transplant and can no longer produce any healthy blood cells. The patient needs your healthy cells to live.
The patient’s doctor chooses the type of donation—bone marrow or PBSC—based on what will give the best transplant results for this patient.
Bone Marrow Donation
Marrow donation is a surgical procedure done in a hospital:
- You receive anesthesia.
- Doctors use special, hollow needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of your pelvic bones.
- You may receive a transfusion of your own previously donated blood.
- After you recover from the anesthesia, you typically return home the same day.
After the procedure, you will probably feel some soreness in your back for a few days, or possibly a week or more. Most donors are back to their normal routine in a few days.
PBSC Donation
The preparation for and the donation of PBSC are non-surgical procedures:- PBSC Preparation. You will receive daily injections of filgrastim for 5 days before the donation procedure.
Filgrastim is a protein similar to a hormone naturally produced in the body. Filgrastim moves the blood-forming cells out of your marrow and into your bloodstream so that there are enough blood-forming cells for a transplant.The injections of filgrastim may be given to you by a home health nurse, or a nurse or doctor at a local clinic, or a donor center staff member. After you receive the injections, and until you donate, you may have a headache or feel bone or muscle aches.
- PBSC Donation Procedure. After the number of blood-forming cells in your blood is increased, you go to an apheresis center, which often is a blood bank. Your blood is drawn from a vein in one arm and passes through a machine that removes the blood-forming cells. The rest of your blood is returned through a vein in your other arm.
The procedure to donate PBSC takes approximately 4 to 6 hours. The effects of the injections that increased the blood-forming cells in your bloodstream will go away shortly, usually in a few days.
Your Safety is Important
The NMDP wants to ensure your safety before and after you donate your cells. Your Be The Match donor center coordinator will follow up with you until you are able to return to your normal activities. 