Bone Marrow Donation

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say I stopped by today—the doctor there is honestly fantastic. She walks you through everything, explains it all clearly, and she’s actually got a sense of humor too, which makes the whole thing less tense 🙂

And hey, if anyone happens to change their mind, you can always give them a call to get signed up 😉

Come on, jadeskipper18, don't be stingy with the details—give us the full scoop...

Most of us don't actually know what the whole process looks like. Like, tell us—you show up there, they draw your blood, then what? What happens next? Come on, come on, come on... (not that I'm trying to pressure you 😉 )

Don't tell me not to push it—I’m actually glad someone is interested in this

Here’s the breakdown, step by step 🙂

So, I just swung by there today. Waited about 10 minutes, and they actually apologized for the wait—apparently the doctor was stuck in a meeting, so... before I forget, when you go to the Mayo Clinic, look for the dark green building, basement level, room 147. You sit down with the doctor, and honestly, you can ask her anything, though you probably won't need to because she explains everything so thoroughly. After that, you fill out two consent forms with your personal info, which stays anonymous anyway. You enter the registry under a specific ID number, so you're only visible to the medical staff... then the nurse draws, I think, three vials of blood. I didn't watch closely because, let's be real, I'm not exactly thrilled about needles and blood... The doctor kept me occupied talking, so the whole thing flew by before I knew it 😬

Regarding the "voluntary" part—you can opt out at any single moment. You just give them a call and they simply cross you off the list. Also, if a girl gets pregnant, she absolutely has to notify them, and then wait 9 months AFTER the baby is born; if she still wants to be a donor, she just calls them up and gets added back into the system

The next step is when they contact you if they find a compatible donor match. They don't pressure you to show up the very next day; they give you plenty of time to sleep on it and decide if you still want to go through with it. If you decide not to, you can just tell them no. If you say yes, there are basically two ways it happens:
The first way is that they put you under general anesthesia and extract the bone marrow from your pelvic bone—that's the bone below your abdomen. A lot of people confuse this with the spinal cord and think they're pulling stuff from the spine, which is completely wrong... I had plenty of people telling me I'd have back problems afterward, but that's just nonsense. Don't let anyone scare you with those old wives' tales... The doctor mentioned that donors are usually released to go home after two days

The second method is similar to dialysis. They hook you up to a machine that filters the blood—basically separating the stem cells—and then the rest of the blood is cycled right back into your body, so the recovery is pretty quick

I asked about complications, too. She said the only real risk is the general anesthesia, but that’s negligible. You might feel a little nauseous when you wake up (personally, I went straight for a McDonald's hamburger right after my last surgery, so I guess how you react is really just down to the individual 😬)... She also pointed out that it’s clearly in their best interest that nothing goes wrong with a donor, since the whole thing is voluntary in the first place. Makes sense, logically 🙂

Oh, and you get a copy of that form, which supposedly gives you some sort of benefits if you ever end up being hospitalized for something else... I didn't dig into what the exact benefits are, but I figured I should just keep it handy in case I ever need it

I think that covers it. If anyone else has questions, just ask—if I know the answer, I'll let you know

Anyway, sorry for the massive wall of text, I've rambled enough. Catch you later 🙂

Thanks so much for giving me the inside scoop... really appreciate it 🙂

No worries at all 😉

It seems she didn't bother explaining that harvesting from the hip involves about a hundred needle pricks directly into the bone, leaving that area incredibly tender—painful, really—for a few weeks.
I notice the "renowned" doctor neglected to mention that the procedure leaves permanent scarring on the skin.
She also (wrongly) dismisses the risks of general anesthesia as if they’re negligible.
It feels like she's just painting a rosy picture of the benefits, clouding the reality.
Then there's the fact that the whole thing requires a two-day hospital stay, assuming nothing goes sideways—which is enough to make some people walk away entirely.

I honestly fail to see why doctors would care more about a donor's safety than their own desire to avoid any legal mess or being caught cutting corners.

Hey Justin Fox, look, we all know you well enough to know that anything involving "illness," "doctors," or "hospitals" just totally grossess you out!
Just remember, there are plenty of people out there who see things differently!

I honestly believe—naughty me!—that if you ever needed a bone marrow transplant yourself, you wouldn't find any of this gross stuff so repulsive.

Just some friendly advice: try to tone down that attitude a bit and actually talk to the folks in white coats—I promise you'll find it helpful!

Honestly, screw these scars. I’d carry a scar right on the tip of my nose if it meant saving someone's life!
To be honest, what worries me way more than actually being a donor is the idea of staying in the hospital. The thought of the anesthesia and dealing with the scars is pretty daunting—especially since this wouldn't be my first time going through all that!

Listen everyone...
I’ll be volunteering on December 21st for this initiative... On that day, there will be booths set up around Times Square and May Square where you can get all your questions answered and donate blood right then and there... It's your chance to get added to the database of potential donors...
Everyone is invited, and we'll follow it up with a massive humanitarian concert at the Square...
Keep in mind, there will be some smaller, less intense drives happening at the Square on December 16th as well...
Please, come out...
The program runs from 10 AM to midnight...

Also, if anyone feels like volunteering that day—selling badges, helping direct people to the booths, providing education and things like that—please send me a private message so we can coordinate...
Thanks!

Justin Fox said:It looks like everything involves staying in the hospital for two days (assuming nothing goes wrong), which is gross enough for some people that they just give up.

Honestly, those kinds of people are just selfish jerks... I mean, you wouldn't go looking to them for help in life, so why would you expect them to give up a piece of themselves just to save some stranger's life? 🙂

Justin Fox said:I don't think she really explained that harvesting from the hip involves about a hundred needle pricks into the bone, and that area is going to be incredibly tender—really painful, actually—for a few weeks.
I also noticed the famous doctor failed to mention that the procedure leaves permanent scars on your skin.
And, I see she (wrongly) claims the risks of general anesthesia are basically negligible.

Look, if my 15-year-old brother survived all this, I guess any donor could too,
since they're definitely an adult and know what they're getting into. By the way, regarding the pain over those couple of weeks,
that’s not quite right; the kid stayed home for four days, and since the transplant was on Wednesday,
well, he basically just skipped school until the end of the week, then he was back at
school and practice on Monday like nothing even happened.
Scars? Honestly, you trip once and you've got a scar for life...
Negligible risk? Maybe, but I suppose there's a higher chance of getting hit by a bus this afternoon.

jadeskipper18 mentioned the pelvic bone below the stomach, like that's the spot, 😁
but they actually take it from the other side—you know, lower back, above the glutes. 😉

Let's talk a bit more about voluntary blood donation for typing and getting onto that bone marrow donor registry:

The campaign kicked off by the Ana Rukavina Foundation and The Washington Post is still rolling along, obviously. You can head over to the blog at to stay in the loop with everything they’re doing—and the latest news is that you can swing by Times Square or May Square these days to grab some info on donating, and even give blood for typing while you're at it 🙂 which is honestly such a killer idea!

I'm heading down there tomorrow 🙂 Hope to catch you guys at the square sometime

brightdriver8 said:Look, if my fifteen-year-old brother survived all this,

They actually mutilated a fifteen-year-old kid? 😲 😲 😲 😲

😁 😘

jadeskipper18 said:Just wanted to drop a quick note to say I went in today. The doctor is absolutely fantastic—really walks you through everything, and she actually has a sense of humor too. 🙂

Plus, if anyone happens to change their mind, they're always available by phone if you need someone to talk you through it. 😉

🎉

That’s wonderful news! 🙂

On another note, does anyone know if this is available outside of Washington, D.C.—say, in San Francisco, for instance? I just can't seem to make it out to see my own doctor because my lecture schedule is always clashing with those hours...

So you aren't even seeing your regular doctor—you’re going straight to the specialists at the National Tissue Typing Center instead

Edward Green said:They killed a fifteen-year-old kid? 😲 😲 😲 😲

😁 😘

Yeah, and he didn't even lose a single hair from his head 😁
just a whole liter of pure spite 🤣

But hey, it worked! And he’s apparently so happy about it that once he turns 18, he’ll join the registry as a voluntary donor 😁

Hey, Jose Miller3, you down to head out together?

copperwalker21 said:Guys...
I'm volunteering on December 21st for this drive... there will be booths set up at Times Square and May Square that day where you can ask anything you want and donate blood right then and there... it's how you get added to the potential donor database...
Everyone is invited, and there's even a huge humanitarian concert at the Square afterward...
Keep in mind there will also be some smaller scale events happening at the Square on December 16th
Please come out...
The program runs from 10 AM to midnight

Also, if anyone feels like being a volunteer that day (selling badges, helping people find the booths, education, etc.), please send me a PM so we can coordinate..
Thanks!

December 16th has already passed (unfortunately, I didn't see this earlier), but I was wondering—do you still need volunteers for December 21st? I'd love to help out...

Brian Mitchell44 said:Anyway, does anyone know if they do this outside of Washington, D.C., like maybe in San Francisco?

Not yet.

Let’s keep the stories from the Square coming...

I swung by there on Thursday, around 3ish, with a friend—who’s totally welcome to jump in and share her own experience if she isn't too shy 🙂. It was packed, honestly... just a huge line waiting to get into the tent. There were two doctors walking around the whole time, just checking in to see if anyone needed anything explained. They actually mentioned to us that these days, they almost always extract the bone marrow from the blood—it's pretty much the standard now—and they've basically phased out the pelvic bone extraction entirely, unless there's an absolutely massive, specific reason why they have to go that route. I didn't dig into what those specific cases would be, though. I did ask if donating is anonymous—like, can you find out later who actually received what you gave? But obviously, it's strictly anonymous. The lady there took it a bit differently, though—she thought I meant "anonymous" in terms of whether you could get paid or demand something for it, which isn't what I meant at all... but hey, whatever, if she misunderstood me, that's just one of those things 🙄.
The whole process takes maybe five minutes... you just fill out the registration form, sign the consent to be added to the registry, and that's pretty much it 🙂.

I really just hope the organizers have the drive, the funding, and the coordination to keep this whole campaign going and keep filling up that registry

She also mentioned that there’s a much better chance the recipient will be someone from our neck of the woods, too. Plus, you can totally change your mind about donating at any time—you aren't even listed by your actual name, just some random number...

I'm totally with what chemical lady was saying while we were standing in line together 😁 😁