If your tissue type matches a patient, you will be contacted and asked to attend a meeting to learn more about the donation process. You will be told the source of blood-forming cells being requested: either collected from bone marrow or from peripheral (circulating) blood cells (PBSC).
Your tissue type will also be tested in more detail. Then, if your tissue type is still the best match for the patient -- and you agree to do so -- you will donate your healthy cells.
As a contractor for the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) works with donors throughout the entire transplant process.
When You are Contacted
Donation Process for Bone Marrow and PBSC
Your Safety Is Important
When You are Contacted
An NMDP 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 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. You will learn about the donation process, 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 Process for Bone Marrow and PBSC
After you agree to donate your bone marrow or peripheral blood cells, the patient begins preparing for the transplant. By the time you begin the donation process, 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 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. Each day for 4 or 5 days before the donation procedure, you will receive an injection of filgrastim.
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 4-6 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 NMDP donor center coordinator will follow up with you until you are able to return to your normal activities. 