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Each year thousands of people develop diseases treatable with marrow or blood stem cell transplants. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has been a leader in unrelated bone marrow transplantation for more than 12 years. Now, the role of the peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation as an alternative to bone marrow donation for unrelated transplants is being evaluated under research protocol accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The following is what you can expect if you volunteer to donate stem cells through the NMDP at a Kids Beating Cancer (KBC) recruitment drive location. 1. The first step is to join the NMDP Registry. KBC is a contracted Recruitment Group for the NMDP. KBC will inform you about marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation processes. You will complete a brief health questionnaire, sign a form consenting to have your tissue type listed on the NMDP Registry and provide a small sample of a swab of your inner cheek cells to determine your tissue type. Once listed on the Registry, your tissue type will be compared to the tissue types of thousands of patients around the world who need transplants. 2. If you are identified as a potential match for a patient, NMDP Donor Center Representatives close to where you live (such as the Florida Blood Centers) will ask for a blood sample to see whether you match well enough to be an actual donor for the patient. If you are indeed a match, you will receive further education about marrow and PBSC donation processes and which is the preferred process for this patient. 3. To prepare for either donation procedure, you will attend an information session about the donation process and potential side effects of the procedure. The health requirements are the same for marrow and PBSC donation. 4. You decide whether or not you will donate. After being fully informed about the donor experience, you, with the support of your friends and loved ones, make the decision whether or not to become a donor. MARROW ONLY 5. The marrow collection process is a surgical procedure lasting approximately one to two hours. The procedure occurs in a hospital operating room while you receive general or regional anesthesia. Part of your marrow is removed from the back of your pelvic bone using sterile needles and syringes. 6. You should recover quickly from the procedure. Most donors have some bone pain and aches for several days or a few weeks. Your marrow naturally replenishes itself within four weeks to six weeks. PBSC ONLY 5. For PBSC donation, you will receive daily injections of Filgrastim for four or five consecutive days. Filgrastim is a drug that increases the number of stem cells released from your marrow into your blood stream so they can be collected through an apheresis procedure. 6. During apheresis, which is done at a Blood Center or a Hospital, your blood is removed through a sterile needle placed in a vein in one arm and passed through an apheresis machine that separates out the stem cells. The remaining blood, minus the stem cells, is returned to you through a sterile needle in your other arm. The number of stem cells required by the recipient will determine if the procedure needs to be repeated the following day. 7. Apheresis donors commonly experience bone and muscle pain, headache, and fatigue prior to the donation procedure as a result of receiving Filgrastim. These effects diminish over one to two days after the last dose of Filgrastim is given. After you donate stem cells, NMDP Donor Center coordinator will call you to follow-up on your experience. Your coordinator will continue to call you regularly until you are able to resume normal activity, and annually for long-term follow up. FOR MORE INFORMATION www.marrow.org |
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