Give the Gift of Marrow
I’ve never really watched home remodeling shows or anything like that before, but in the hospital, where I’ve been spending my weekends with my dad, sometimes there’s nothing else to do but wait—and watch TV.
So we’re watching this episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (which, for the record, I’ve heard of, at least) and I found myself moved to tears. It might have just been my own situation with my dad, but I think the story told of a woman in need of a bone marrow transplant due to her development of leukemia—and the meeting of the man whose generous donation gave her back her very life—was just touching in and of itself.
It got me thinking—a bone marrow donation. I could do that, right? But I’ve heard that it’s pretty hard to do, as well as very painful. Remember Will Smith’s face in Seven Pounds?
But it turns out that you’re given anesthesia during a bone marrow extraction. Yes, afterward there can be some pain—even for a few days—but not the feeling-the-needle pain that people might imagine. Most donations don’t even involve surgery, and are usually outpatient procedures. No bones are taken from your body—just the liquid marrow inside the bones.
Did you know that it takes about 5% of your body’s bone marrow to save another person’s life? And your body builds back its own supply in just six weeks. There can be side effects before the procedure—such as headaches, muscle pain, and nausea—because donors have to take a certain medication for five days before the extraction, so keep that in mind. There are no costs involved when becoming a donor; the patient’s insurance company should cover all medical costs.
Interested in giving? To give bone marrow, you must be between the ages of 18 and 60, in good health, willing to go through the whole process to donate, and be a U.S. non-military citizen. There is a list of health qualifications to check to make sure that you qualify as in “general good health.” Remember, each patient is unique and has different needs—so once you register and return a swab of your DNA in the kit provided, you may be matched with someone whose life could only be saved by your individual match.
To find out more, or to join the National Marrow Donor Program Registry (The Be The Match Registry), click here.
