Donating of blood marrow is one of the procedures that can help a patient’s life suffering from blood cell degenerating diseases such as blood cancer. Though the bone marrow donation has become quite easy these days, there are lots of myths that are going around. This actually makes it a huge problem for the people who are looking for the right answer to how to donate bone marrow. You need to know what these myths are and what the actual facts are. This will help you to make a sound decision on whether you want to donate the stem cells or not.
Myth 1: Donating bone marrow is painful
Well, this is one of the most popular myths that everyone believes to be the truth. The fact is that donating the bone marrow is much less painful than you can probably think. Many mistakenly believe that this procedure is very painful which is not. To make it worse some of the TV shows or movies widely exaggerate it to give it a dramatic look. While discomfort and pain can be there, it depends more of one person to another.
Myth 2: Tremendous side effects
While it is true that there can be some side effects for the bone marrow donation, but they are not as awful as it is believed. Some of the common side effects include back pain, headache, fatigue etc. Majority of the time a donor will not even face these side effects the next day after the donation. Again, the severity of the side effects depends from one person to another.
How to donate bone marrow?
The process of bone marrow donation is quite simple. Though it is a surgical procedure, it is complete safe and of very low pain. It is performed by the specialized health care professionals with great experience in the same. Once the donor is approved and all the tests are done, the process of donation will start. Here the healthcare professional will provide anesthesia to the donor so that they feel no pain during the donation.
With the use of a needle, the doctor will withdraw the liquid marrow from the pelvic bone on your back side. This can be done by doing two small punctures. Once it is done, the process ends here. Your part as a donor is over. The rest is on the doctor who will have to now process it further and transplant it to the patient’s body.
Final Words
This is all about the process of bone marrow donation. The process is quite simple and it doesn’t need much effort or pain. Though you will be advised to take complete rest for a day or two after the donation is done, you are completely safe. It is advised so that there is no bruising or pain in the back of your pelvic bone from where the bone marrow is extracted. Within few days, you will be back to normal and you can start your normal lifestyle and day to day work without any problem.
Gift of Life Also Offers Following Services :
Blood Cancer Bone Marrow Transplant
Leukemia Bone Marrow Transplant Donor
AML Bone Marrow Transplant
Contact US:
Gift of Life Marrow Registry Address: 800 Yamato Rd suite 101 Boca Raton, FL Phone: (800) 962-7769