About 50% of marrow donors back out - Hawaii News

I have one more year before I can't donate because I'll be 60. I think that's still the cut-off age. I've been on since 1991 when a bone marrow transplant saved my cousin's life.

If you're having a kid, make sure their cord blood doesn't get discarded. The cord blood is full of stem cells and could also save someone's life, without the concerns associated with collecting marrow to donate.

http://www.hcbb.org/

These people who back out have to consider it from the other side: What if they were the ones who needed help, and the donor turned them down.

A little inconvenience to improve the quality of someone's life. Isn't that important enough to make a very small sacrifice?

I'm registered. And if called I'd be honored to go.

create artifical marrow..problem solved

alice wrote:

create artifical marrow..problem solved

That requires technology that is still decades away in the future, your posts only indicate how immature and selfish you really are!

alice wrote:

create artifical marrow..problem solved

I'll just flap my wings and fly. Simple.

This isn't like donating a kidney or an eye. The marrow grows back, and you'll be saving someone's life. It's worth the time and effort (which isn't very much at all, considering the life you are saving.)

alice wrote:

create artifical marrow..problem solved

Create artifical Alice = problem goes away!

zzzzzz wrote:

If you're having a kid, make sure their cord blood doesn't get discarded. The cord blood is full of stem cells and could also save someone's life, without the concerns associated with collecting marrow to donate.
http://www.hcbb.org/

If what you say is correct, why don't they make a continuous drive to collect cord blood from all mothers giving birth? The blood of pregnant women could be tested prior to birth to see if there is a match somewhere. I'm sure most mothers don't save the cord blood for possible future use and wouldn't object to donating theirs to leukemia patients.

Instead of asking people to donate bone marrow which is suppose to be very painful from what I've seen on TV, they would have a greater success rate of obtaining the needed cells by obtaining the unwanted stem cells which would be painless for the mothers. It is understandable why 50% of the people with matches back out when they are told of the painful process of harvesting the bone marrow.

I'm sure the hospitals would cooperate with the process. It would only involve handing out information fliers and answering a few follow-up phone calls or making a few phone calls. I guess it will all depend on the people working with the Registries to develop a new program to approach potential mothers.

I would also suggest that doctors make it a practice to suggest to expectant mothers that they donate the stem cells or keep it themselves since doctors get to see the expectant mothers over several months before they give birth. A lot of mothers are too young to think of these things on their own.

I remember a case where an HPD officer was in need of a marrow transplant and found a match, but apparently this arrogant officer previously hassled this person so much, he refused upon learning who this police officer was!

Officer bit the dust, never got the transplant, lessons learned, what goes around...comes around! Better treat your fellow human with respect or else some day it'll bite back.

alice wrote:

create artifical marrow..problem solved

Now if we could just create an artificial brain so you would know how to spell "artifical". You FAIL.

I've been in the registry 15 years and only called by them once (just a couple months ago). Guess my HLA must be pretty common already. And then apparently the recipient/family may have decided not to proceed since I didn't get a follow up call.

I'd donate in a split second but they better hurry up because they have an upper age limit and bumbye I'm gonna be too makule.

The registration process is simple, but what happens after that? The article should have been more informative about the process and what is involved than to just say the registration process is simple. No wonder there's a high drop-out rate. Incomplete reporting on behalf of the SB.

alice wrote:

create artifical marrow..problem solved

Oh yeah, easy, just invent the stuff. Idiot!

So does it hurt to donate bone marrow, or is that just mis-information from years ago? I little more info on the process and facts vs. myths would really help.

PorkNbeans wrote:

I remember a case where an HPD officer was in need of a marrow transplant and found a match, but apparently this arrogant officer previously hassled this person so much, he refused upon learning who this police officer was!
Officer bit the dust, never got the transplant, lessons learned, what goes around...comes around! Better treat your fellow human with respect or else some day it'll bite back.

Sounds like an urban legend to me.

Lou Boyle wrote:

The registration process is simple, but what happens after that? The article should have been more informative about the process and what is involved than to just say the registration process is simple. No wonder there's a high drop-out rate. Incomplete reporting on behalf of the SB.

I think after that you don't have to do anything, just go on living your life. If you're ever a match for someone needing marrow, they'll contact you and go from there. If not, then nothing happens.

Unfortunately, many of the medical TV shows don't aren't acurate in their portrayal of bone marrow donations and transplants.
If you match a patient there are two ways to donate. The most commone way to donate today is througha process called Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donation and is used for about 80% of donations. The donor is given injections of a drug to stimulate the bone marrow to produce extra blood forming cells in the blood stream for 5 days. On the fifth day, the donor is placed on an apheresis machine (similar to the one used to donate platelets) which takes the blood from one arm, through an intraveneous needle, seperates out those extra cells and returns the remaining blood components back into the other arm through another intraveneous needle. The process generally takes about 4-5 hours. The most commone sides effects are fatigue and muscle and bone aches while receiving the injections. This is from the build up of cells in your system and typically goes away quickly after the donation.
The second type of donation is a minor surgical procedure done under general anesthesia and is only used for about 20% of donations. Doctors insert specially designed needles into the back of the hip bone to remove marrow. Most donors report their lower back is stiff and sore for a few days, but are generally back to a normal routine in 2-3 days.
As for umbilical cord blood donations, there are public cord blood banks around the country that offer expectant mothers the chance to donate their baby's cord blood. The collection of the cord blood is done after the delivery. I suggest Google-ing to find a cord blood bank near you.
Please check out www.BeTheMatch.org for more information or contact Roy at the Hawaii Marrow Donor Program. I also work as a Recruiter with Be The Match, however I'm out of the Rhode Island Blood Center. I'd be happy to answer any questions too. My email is jstpeter@ribc.org.

I have never been so sad after reading an article. Can you imagine the anguish of the family who hears they had a donor, but the donor backed out? After covering the stories of little Alana Dung and Chris Pablo years ago I got a phone call from the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry that I was the only match in the world for a young boy I'd never met. It was clear if I didn't donate the boy would die. I was scared, but I did it. There was no way I could say no. It changed my life and the lives of dozens of others whom I wrote about in The Marrow in Me. Whoever says no to an opportunity like that must live in a house without mirrors. God bless David Yamada and Dale Nishikawa. They will have a lifetime of satisfaction knowing they did the right thing. The other 50%? I certainly have an opinion on them and it's not nearly as flattering.

Kevin Walsh-Author wrote:

I have never been so sad after reading an article. Can you imagine the anguish of the family who hears they had a donor, but the donor backed out? After covering the stories of little Alana Dung and Chris Pablo years ago I got a phone call from the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry that I was the only match in the world for a young boy I'd never met. It was clear if I didn't donate the boy would die. I was scared, but I did it. There was no way I could say no. It changed my life and the lives of dozens of others whom I wrote about in The Marrow in Me. Whoever says no to an opportunity like that must live in a house without mirrors. God bless David Yamada and Dale Nishikawa. They will have a lifetime of satisfaction knowing they did the right thing. The other 50%? I certainly have an opinion on them and it's not nearly as flattering.

I admire your donation, but I don't think you should be so quick to judge people who back out. There's no objective way to measure or compare personal sacrifice or charity. What is easy for you may be hard for some, and vice versa. For example, could you be giving more of your money or time to charity? I could probably show you many who give more than you. Could you be a better parent, or husband? I could probably show you many who are better than you. Would you be willing to give up your very life, or at least, your health and well-being - to defend your country, or the people in your community (e.g., military, firemen, police, etc.)? Perhaps, but if not, there are those who are. Etc., etc.

All we can worry about is what we are doing relative to what our hearts tell us.