The Icla da Silva Foundation

When you become a bone marrow donor, you join the global movement of more than 10 million donors who stand ready to give someone a future.  Even with millions on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry, there are many patients waiting and hoping, unable to find a matching donor. You could be the one a patient needs.

Click here to join the bone marrow donor Registry and give hope to patients everywhere.

Steps of Marrow and PBSC Donation

The first step is to join the marrow registry., The marrow registry representatives inform you about marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation processes.  You complete a brief health questionnaire, sign a form consenting to have your tissue type listed on the Registry and provide a small blood sample 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.

If you are identified as a potential match for a patient, NMDP donor center representatives will ask for another 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.

To prepare for either donating procedure, you will attend an information session about the donating process and potential side effects of the procedure.  You will have a physical exam to determine your health status and find if there are any special risks to you with either donation procedure.  The health requirements are the same for marrow and PBSC donation.

You decide whether to donate.  After being fully informed about the donor experience, you make the decision -- with the support of your friends and loved ones -- about whether or not to become a donor.

You will be asked to donate either your Marrow or PBSC

The marrow collection process is a surgical procedure that occurs in a hospital operating room while you receive regional or general anesthesia.  Part of your marrow is removed from the back of your pelvic bone using sterile needles and syringes.

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 to six weeks.
PBSC

For a PBSC donation, you will receive 4 or 5 daily injections of Filgrastim, a stem cell growth factor medication that increases the number of stem cells released from your marrow into your blood stream so they can be collected through an apheresis procedure.

During apheresis, which is done at a blood center or 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.

Apheresis donors can experience bone pain prior to the donating procedure as a result of receiving Filgrastim.  These efects diminish over one to two days after the last dose of Filgrastim is given.