[16474] in APO News
Bone Marrow Donor Registration drive at MIT Friday 10/31
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Blood Drive Coordinators)
Thu Oct 30 18:55:00 2014
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 18:52:15 -0400
From: Blood Drive Coordinators <blood-drive-coordinators@mit.edu>
To: Blood Drive Announcements <blood-drive-request@mit.edu>
Hello Blood Donors,
This Friday (tomorrow or today depending on when you read this) Camp
Kesem MIT will be hosting a huge bone marrow registry
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1563458457206651/?notif_t=plan_user_joined>,
along with SAAS and ARCTAN (MIT's Red Cross Club). We're trying to get
as many people to register as we can, and we wanted to reach out to you
about helping us do so!
The MIT event will be held this Friday, Oct 31st from 10am to 6pm in Lobby
10 and the Student Center. This is just a registry - it's not a donation,
it's just getting you into the system so that you can be reached if you're
a match. If you are already in the registry you should not register again.
The registration process uses a cheek swab and is in no way scary, or painful.
Please note that the requirements are different than for blood donation,
and you may be eligible to donate bone marrow, even if you are not
eligible to donate blood.
Some quick facts as to why the bone marrow registry needs registered donors:
- Every 4 minutes, an American is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
- Only 30% of all patients are able to find a compatible bone marrow donor
in their family
- Roughly 6 out of 10 patients can’t find a match in the bone marrow
registry.
A list of FAQs can be found here <https://www.deletebloodcancer.org/en/faq>,
and most of the original questions are copied below for a quick read.
I highly encourage you to drop by for a few minutes and ask questions, even
if you decide not to register in the end!
Thank you for your help!
Camp Kesem MIT
ARCTAN (American Red Cross Team And Network) MIT
SAAS
Registry FAQs
* How does the registration process work?
- It's a cheek swab. Nothing scary
* How likely am I to get called to donate?
- Odds are about 1/500. The more donors we have, the less likely you'll
be called to donate
* If I choose to donate, how does that whole process work?
- There are two ways to donate. One is through Peripheral Blood Stem Cell
<http://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Donation-process/Donating-PBSC/>
donation (PBSC), which is a nonsurgical procedure very similar to
platelet donation. In the five days leading up to the PBSC donation,
you get some filgrastim injections, which increase the number of blood
stem cells in your system. The other option is by donating liquid bone
marrow
<http://bethematch.org/Support-the-Cause/Donate-bone-marrow/Donation-process/Donating-bone-marrow/>,
which gets withdrawn from the back of your pelvic bone. This one is a
surgical procedure, but you're placed under anesthesia so you won't
feel any pain.
* Are there any side effects of donating?
- Depends on the process- if you donate liquid bone marrow, you may feel
some lower back pain for a few days, and if you donate via PBSC you'll
probably feel some bone or muscle aches leading up to the donation
(this is due to the injections you are given). These effects should
all go away within a few days.
* How long will I be on the registry?
- Till your 61st birthday, or until you choose to remove yourself
* I think I may have registered before. How can I check?
- It's easy! Just call 1-800-MARROW-2
* How are donors actually matched to patients?
- Matching is done by determining which donor HLA is similar to the
patient. At a base level, this is done by checking the cheek swab for
a few different types. The patient's doctor will select several
donors, who will be asked to provide a blood sample or an additional
cheek swab for further testing. From this, the donor with the closest
HLA match
<http://bethematch.org/For-Patients-and-Families/Finding-a-donor/HLA-matching/>
is selected and will be asked to donate.
* Can I still register if I'm an active member of the military or part
of ROTC?
- Yep! You can go online to https://www.salutetolife.org/ to check out
the details.
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