All You Need To Know About Bone Marrow Transplant a guide for a donor name:
Help a Leukemia Patien
For more informations about being a match, tra
How is a bone marrow match determined? Doctors look for a donor who matches their patient's tissue type, specifically their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type. HLAs are proteins — or markers — found on most cells in your body. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. The closer the match between the patient's HLA markers and yours, the better for the patient.
How long does donating take? Becoming a donor requires a time commitment. Before you donate, there are several steps to make sure you are the best donor for the patient. These steps include an information session to provide resources to help you make your decision, as well as appointments for additional blood tests and a physical exam. The time needed for the actual donation depends on the donation procedure. On average, the entire process can take 30 to 40 hours, including travel time, over 4 to 6 weeks.
nt by Finding a Match!
ansplant procedure, precaution after donation.
Are there any risks to marrow donation? We want to assure donor safety, but no medical procedure is risk-free. The majority (more than 98.5%) of donors feel completely recovered within a few weeks. A small percentage (1.34%) of donors experience a serious complication due to anesthesia or damage to bone, nerve or muscle in their hip region. The risk of side effects of anesthesia during marrow donation is similar to that during other surgical procedures. Serious side effects of anesthesia are rare. Common side effects of general anesthesia include sore throat, mild nausea, vomiting, decrease in blood pressure and a headache after the procedure.
Does donating marrow hurt? Are there side effects? Marrow donation is done under general or regional anesthesia so the donor experiences no pain during the collection procedure. Discomfort and side effects vary from person to person. Most marrow donors experience some side effects after donation. Common side effects of marrow donation include:
. Lower back pain . Bleeding at the collection site
. Stiffness when walking . Fatigue
Steps of Bone Marrow Donation: 1) First join Be The Match Registry It's easy to join the registry online or at a donor registry drive near you. 2) Getting ready to donate If you match a patient, we will contact you to ask if you are willing to donate. If you agree to proceed, we will ask you about your health and schedule more testing to see if you are the best match for the patient. For more information, see When You’re Contacted as a Possible Match. If you are the best match, you will participate in an information session. You will be given detailed information about the donation and recovery process, including risks and side effects. If you agree to donate, you will sign a consent form. Next, you will have a physical examination to make sure that donation is safe for both you and the patient.
bone marrow donation process: Marrow donation is a surgical procedure that takes place in an operating room. The donation will be scheduled at a hospital that partners with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). In some cases, the hospital may be near your home. In other cases, you may be asked to travel. We will guide you through the process and be available the day of your marrow donation. Hospital Stay: You will arrive at the hospital outpatient facility on the day of the donation. You will stay in the hospital usually from early morning to late afternoon, though some hospitals routinely plan for an overnight hospital stay.
Anesthesia: You will be given anesthesia to block the pain during the marrow donation. If general anesthesia is used, you will be unconscious during the donation. If you receive regional anesthesia (either spinal or epidural), medication will block sensation in the affected area, but you will remain aware of your surroundings. General anesthesia is used for about 75% of marrow donors from the Be The Match Registry. Donation: During the marrow donation, you will be lying on your stomach. While the donation varies slightly from hospital to hospital, generally, the doctors make several (typically one to four) small incisions through the skin over the back of the pelvic bones. The incisions are less than one-fourth inch long and do not require stitches. The doctors will insert a special hollow needle through these incisions over the rear of the pelvic bone. A syringe is attached to the needle to draw out the marrow. Recovery: Hospital staff will watch you closely until the anesthesia wears off, and continue to monitor your condition afterwards. Most donors go home the same day or the next morning. After you leave the hospital, we will contact you on a regular basis to ask about your physical condition and any side effects you are experiencing.
Donor
Bone within
Jamshidi Needle
marrow n bone graft
Recovery time Bone Marrow donors should expect to return to work, school and most other activities within 1 to 7 days. A good rule of thumb is the more physically demanding the job, the longer the recovery. For example, if your job involves heavy lifting, the time frame may be closer to 7 days. Most marrow donors report that they feel completely recovered within 3 weeks of donation.
Follow-up Your donor center coordinator will follow up with you until you are able to resume normal activity. After that, if you chose to participate in our long-term donor follow-up study, we or your donor center will contact you by phone every other year to ask health-related questions. This phone call would take about 5-10 minutes.
How Can You Handle The Emotional Stress Of The Recipient? In addition to the physical discomfort associated with the transplant experience there is emotional and psychological discomfort as well. Some patients find the emotional and psychological stress more problematic than the physical discomfort. The psychological and emotional stress stems from several factors. First, patients undergoing transplants are already traumatized by the news that they have a life-threatening disease. While the transplant offers hope for their recovery, the prospect of undergoing a long, arduous medical procedure is still not pleasant and there's no guarantee of success.
Red Blood Cells
Spongy Bone
Bone Marrow
Compact Bone
White Blood Cells
Platelets
The psychological and emotional stress stems from several factors. First, patients undergoing transplants are already traumatized by the news that they have a life-threatening disease. While the transplant offers hope for their recovery, the prospect of undergoing a long, arduous medical procedure is still not pleasant and there's no guarantee of success. Second, patients undergoing a transplant can feel quite isolated. The special precautions taken to guard against infection while the immune system is impaired can leave a patient feeling detached from the rest of the world and cut off from normal human contact. The patient is housed in a private room, sometimes with special air-filtering equipment to purify the air. The number of visitors is restricted and visitors are asked to wear gloves, masks and/or other protective clothing to inhibit the spread of bacteria and virus while visiting the patient. When the patient leaves the room, he or she may be required to wear a protective mask, gown and/or gloves as a barrier against infection. This feeling of isolation comes at the very time in a patient's life when familiar surroundings and close physical contact with family and friends are most needed. 'Helplessness" is also a common feeling among bone marrow transplant patients, which can breed further feelings of anger or resentment. For many, it's unnerving to be totally dependent on strangers for survival, no matter how competent they may be. The fact that most patients are unfamiliar with the medical jargon used to describe the transplant procedure compounds the feeling of helplessness. Some also find it embarrassing to be dependent on strangers for help with basic daily functions such as using the washroom.
The long weeks of waiting for the transplanted marrow to engraft, for blood counts to return to safe levels, and for side effects to disappear increase the emotional trauma. Recovery can be like a roller coaster ride: one day a patient may feel much better, only to awake the next day feeling as sick as ever.