Bone Marrow donation

Morning all,

Anyone on here given bone marrow? I'm expecting to donate next month, but have to have a medical at Llandough next week. Just wondered if anyone knew what the medical entailed? Should I turn up in jeans or a shell suit

Cheers,

Lee

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bone-marro ... ction.aspx

I did look at that, but I'm more interested in what the pre donation medical entails. The nurse said it takes 3 hours, so it got me wondering. Not too worry, will just have to wait and see. Thanks though

Hats off to you! I have total respect for everyone who is on the bone marrow register.

Not sure what it involves as my baby niece was the recipient but she had her life saved and I am eternally grateful.

Top man!

I work for the Welsh Blood Service and often have people that sign up whilst donating blood, all we do is take 4 vials of blood for testing as alot of the bone marrow donations is now done with stem cells from blood instead of taking it direct from the bone as its obviously more uncomfortable for the donor, unsure if thats what they will do.to you as well as go through the weight/height calculations with you but i would imagine the main part would be to take the blood for testing... hope this helps

Not done it personally (on the register) but know someone who has. Not sure what pre-med involves but I've been told the actual process is quite painless your arm(s?) bruise but that's all. Best of luck

I work for the Welsh Blood Service and often have people that sign up whilst donating blood, all we do is take 4 vials of blood for testing as alot of the bone marrow donations is now done with stem cells from blood instead of taking it direct from the bone as its obviously more uncomfortable for the donor, unsure if thats what they will do.to you as well as go through the weight/height calculations with you but i would imagine the main part would be to take the blood for testing... hope this helps

Nice one. They've taken the extra blood for matching, so hopefully, its just a case of making sure I'm healthy enough for the rest of the process, which shouldn't be an issue. Time will tell, but thanks for replying everyone

I work for the Welsh Blood Service and often have people that sign up whilst donating blood, all we do is take 4 vials of blood for testing as alot of the bone marrow donations is now done with stem cells from blood instead of taking it direct from the bone as its obviously more uncomfortable for the donor, unsure if thats what they will do.to you as well as go through the weight/height calculations with you but i would imagine the main part would be to take the blood for testing... hope this helps

Nice one. They've taken the extra blood for matching, so hopefully, its just a case of making sure I'm healthy enough for the rest of the process, which shouldn't be an issue. Time will tell, but thanks for replying everyone

No worries, good luck for the process just be prepared that you may never get a call! the odds of being matched are quite slim unfortunately you've only.got a 1 in 4 chance of being matched with a.sibling so you can imagine the odds with a stranger

Morning all,

Anyone on here given bone marrow? I'm expecting to donate next month, but have to have a medical at Llandough next week. Just wondered if anyone knew what the medical entailed? Should I turn up in jeans or a shell suit

Cheers,

Lee

is this the alarm lee webb?

Alright mate. Donated my bone marrow 11 years ago. Nothing to worry about I would do it again tomorrow. The medical I had was in llandough - all it was was a basic health check. Pads to check heart, blood test I think weight and a chat. You can wear whatever you are comfortable in. I myself decided not to drink until the operation was over after my health check which was about 2 months later. I also had a pint of blood taken a week before the op. the op itself went very smoothly and I just took it easy for a week or so and was fine. I had the bone marrow taken out of my lower back, the machine version wasn't my cup of tea because of the flu like symptoms you can get after it. I am happy to say that the young lad I helped is, 11 years later fit and well, and probably about 25 years old now. I am very glad I did it and like I said I would do it all again tomorrow, but unfortunately I am not allowed. Good luck.

No worries, good luck for the process just be prepared that you may never get a call! the odds of being matched are quite slim unfortunately you've only.got a 1 in 4 chance of being matched with a.sibling so you can imagine the odds with a stranger

I've already been matched, had confirmatory typing and been told that I've been selected by the transplant team, so it seems like it's all systems go. To be fair, when I put my name on the register, I never expected to ever get the call, but when it did come, I was more than happy to oblige

Alright mate. Donated my bone marrow 11 years ago. Nothing to worry about I would do it again tomorrow. The medical I had was in llandough - all it was was a basic health check. Pads to check heart, blood test I think weight and a chat. You can wear whatever you are comfortable in. I myself decided not to drink until the operation was over after my health check which was about 2 months later. I also had a pint of blood taken a week before the op. the op itself went very smoothly and I just took it easy for a week or so and was fine. I had the bone marrow taken out of my lower back, the machine version wasn't my cup of tea because of the flu like symptoms you can get after it. I am happy to say that the young lad I helped is, 11 years later fit and well, and probably about 25 years old now. I am very glad I did it and like I said I would do it all again tomorrow, but unfortunately I am not allowed. Good luck.

Thanks mate. That is exactly the information I was after. Having read the information, I'll be going for the "put me to sleep" option too. Like you, the side effects of machine version are not my cup of tea. Self inflicted man flu? No ta

Thanks again for taking the time to reply

No worries, good luck for the process just be prepared that you may never get a call! the odds of being matched are quite slim unfortunately you've only.got a 1 in 4 chance of being matched with a.sibling so you can imagine the odds with a stranger

I've already been matched, had confirmatory typing and been told that I've been selected by the transplant team, so it seems like it's all systems go. To be fair, when I put my name on the register, I never expected to ever get the call, but when it did come, I was more than happy to oblige

Fair play that's fast, one of.my colleges has been on the list for 25 yrs and neva had a call good luck

No worries. Forgot to mention the staff at the Welsh bone marrow registry and nurses at Bupa pentwyn were amazing. Hope all goes well. All the best. Blooooooobirds