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Bone Marrow Donor Programme – The Stem Cell Harvesting Procedure

yibi — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:06:24 +0000

After signing up as a donor for the Bone Marrow Donor Programme, I decided to find out more about the stem cell harvesting procedure that was described to me.

The alternative procedure is called apheresis, which is the collection of stem cells by filtering the blood for peripheral (circulating) blood cells (PBSC).

I extracted the following from the the url below:

http://rarediseases.about.com/od/rarediseasesb/a/bmt05.htm

Sources of Bone Marrow Stem Cells

Bone marrow harvest: Collecting stem cells by taking them directly out of the bone.

Apheresis: Collecting stem cells by filtering the blood for peripheral (circulating) blood cells (PBSC).

Umbilical cord blood: Stem cells are filtered from blood in the umbilical cord after a baby is born.

What the Donor Experiences

If stem cells are collected by bone marrow harvest (much less likely), the donor will go to the operating room and while asleep under anesthesia, a needle will be inserted into either the hip or the breastbone to take out some bone marrow. After awakening, he/she may feel some pain where the needle was inserted.

What the Recipient Experiences

Serious problems can occur during the time that the bone marrow is gone or very low. Infections are common, as is anemia, and low platelets in the blood can cause dangerous bleeding internally. Recipients often receive blood transfusions to treat these problems while they are waiting for the new stem cells to start growing.

The majority of marrow stem cell transplants are made using PBSC collected by apheresis, since this method has better results for both the donor and the recipient.In most cases, a donation is made using circulating stem cells (PBSC) collected by apheresis. First, the donor receives injections for a few days of a medication that causes stem cells to move out of the bone marrow and into the blood. For the stem cell collection, the donor is connected to a machine by a needle inserted in the vein (like for blood donation). Blood is taken from the vein, filtered by the machine to collect the stem cells, then returned back to the donor through a needle in the other arm. There is almost no need for a recovery time with this procedure.Bone marrow transplant is a difficult procedure to go through. Usually the person receives high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation to eliminate whatever bone marrow he/she has left and make room for the new marrow transplant. Once this is done, the new stem cells are put into the person intravenously, like a blood transfusion. The stem cells will then find their way to the bone and start to grow and produce more cells (called engraftment).

Here’s video about how a person’s life was saved with stem cell donation from another person. The donor gives a first hand account of how the aphresis procedure was done and what it was about. And of course, at the end of it, the gratification that comes from saving another individual’s life.

Visit the Bone Marrow Donor Programme to find out more about signing up as a potential donor.

Please share this with your friends.

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A Serious Misconception About Bone Marrow Donation!

yibi — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:29:48 +0000

I learnt something very important today. There are 2 methods of harvesting stem cells for transplant.

1. The traditional way of harvesting bone marrow from the spine pelvic bone. The process, as depicted on TV, looks like a painful one. And indeed, there will be some post-op pain on the lower back.

2. Stem cell harvesting. This process is similar blood donation and is almost painless. The difference from blood donation is that the process takes 6 hours, but it can be broken into 3 sessions.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m totally unaware of the 2nd method of harvesting. Frankly speaking, the thought of sticking a long needle into my spine gives me 2nd thoughts about donating bone marrow, even for a worthy cause.

I spoke to the folks from the Bone Marrow Donor Programme today after my blood donation. They don’t get many people who are even willing to talk to them, let alone signing up as volunteers. Many people have the misconception as I do.

I’m glad I learnt about this today, which removes all misunderstandings. So, I signed up as a potential donor today. I hope this clears the doubts in the rest of you. Do consider signing up as a donor for potential donation. All they need is to prick your finger and take a sample to register you as a donor.

Realistically, the chance of a match is not very high, so we might not be called up in our whole lifetime. But if in the event that anyone is being shortlisted, a life would probably be saved.

Please share this piece of important information with your friends now.

More details of the Bone Marrow Donor Programme can be found at:

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme

These are the dates and locations for the upcoming donation drives.

More dates can be found here.

23 Jan 10
Donor Recruitment : Tampines Central CC

24 Jan 10
Donor Recruitment : Eunos CC

26 Jan 10
Donor Recruitment : Republic Polytechnic

31 Jan 10
Donor Recruitment : Kolam Ayer CC

7 Feb 10
Donor Recruitment : Gek Poh Ville CC

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Blood Donation – First time!

yibi — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:08:51 +0000

I donated blood, for the first time in 31 years. This is my CNY resolution, to donate blood regularly as a form of charity.

Strictly speaking, this is the not the first time I considered donating blood. The first encounter was when I was 17, still in JC. There was this blood donation drive in school. I didn’t donate because the freaking needle freaked the hell out of me. I wasn’t particularly scared of needles, perhaps it was the way I saw the them handle the needles. I stayed away from blood donation since.

This time round, I made up my mind to overcome this 10 odd years of fear. I checked the Donor Web website and found that there’s a blood donation drive on at Rivervale Community Club on the 14th of March, Saturday. I woke up the following Saturday morning and drove me and my wife there. So, here goes, the first blood donation attempt.

The staff at the donation drive were helpful and pleasant. I was given a sticker that read “Be Nice To Me. This is my first donation”. In any case, I think they are nice to everyone, whether first time or not. So, my blood was tested, like a blood type test. On hindsight, this was perhaps the most painful part, relatively.

A local anaesthetic was administered, then came the thick needle. I was abit nervous then, but I looked on as the medical staff pushed the needle into my arm. No pain! While I was observing what the medical staff was doing, I didn’t realise that the bag was already half full. Pretty fast!

These are the few pictures I took while I was waiting.

And after a couple more mins, my bag was full. The removal was swift, no pain! And then they bandaged my arm.

They even had matching bandages for ladies!

The whole procedure was very comfortable, and fast, much faster than I thought. So, I have donated my first bag of blood. The next time would be in June.

I strongly encourage more people to donate their blood. As the slogan at Donor Web says, “Your blood is replaceable…a life is NOT !” Your pack of blood may save another’s life!

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