OneMatch Challenge! (Bone marrow donation thread)
 

Hi guys and gals, I know that we have the year long blood donation challenge, but I have another related challenge for you all. I want to challenge you all to register for the OneMatch stem cell and marrow network.

It’s a very simple (and free!) process. You can register in 2 ways:

By calling 1-888-2DONATE (1-888-236-6283) and they will send you a registration kit.

Or

By going online to OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network and registering there. Once you have registered, someone at OneMatch will call you within 10 business days to ask you a few questions about your medical history to see if you are eligible to be in the database. If you are accepted, you will receive your testing kit in the mail within a week or so. Follow the directions and mail it back, and you will be in the database until you are 60 years old.

By registering with OneMatch, you will be part of a worldwide registry of donors. Less than 30 percent of patients waiting for a stem cell transplant will find the right donor within their own family, and so it is very important to raise awareness and find more donors to register. You will not need to donate anything unless they find someone that matches you, so don’t worry about having to go in all the time. In fact, according to the website, the average time before a donor gets a call is 7 years or so.

There are two ways of donating stem cells. One is by donating bone marrow, which is a surgical procedure. The other way is by drawing blood. Please check out their website for more information, or better yet, give them a call and ask all the questions you want. I know donating bone marrow sounds scary, but the process itself won’t actually hurt. They knock you out for the surgery. A little pain afterwards during recovery is worth it in return for saving someone’s life.

One last thing, I understand that this is quite a commitment, and not everyone will be willing to join OneMatch. However, I do ask that you forward the information to your friends, family and colleagues to raise awareness. They are currently seeking ethnic males between the ages of 17 and 35.

GO REGISTER!

I considered it, but I'm not within the age group. BTW, thanks for bringing this up. Even if one person signs up, it's a victory.

I'm not eligible due to my medical history but I commend and thank anyone that does anything to help save someones life wether it be marrow donation, blood donation or anything else. THANK YOU.

Donated blood saved my life.:thumbs:

I'm a ethnic minority between the ages of 17 and 35 so I decided to join. So many questions, they even asked me if i was a crack ho. But I finished.

come on RS step up and sign up!!!

So if I find that I'm eligible to donate marrow, what is the marrow actually doing for a person? I know what blood does... but I have no idea about marrow.

Sparknotes: save people who have cancer.


Bone Marrow Transplant - What It's Used For | SparkPeople

Bone marrow transplants are used most commonly to treat leukemias, lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease, and multiple myeloma. Bone marrow transplantation is particularly helpful, since these diseases affect the bone marrow directly.

Bone marrow transplants also can be used to treat noncancerous conditions, including aplastic anemia, congenital deficiencies of the immune system and thalassemia major. In these conditions, a new bone marrow and new bone marrow cells are needed because the diseased bone marrow is not able to produce necessary cells that may be helpful in fighting the disease to be treated.

The use of bone marrow transplants to treat other types of cancer, including breast cancer and kidney cancer, remains experimental.


Sign up!

So it's like donating blood? You will feel fine after, after blood sugars balance?

Or, you need some days off work? NVM, I googled... it looks like it's scheduled for 2 days, one night. The day of donation and scheduled overnight stay to make sure you're OK.

I'll be honest, who can really tell their boss, hey....I'm going to donate marrow and won't be working on this day (2 if it's a weekday). Not everyone has that luxury to skip a day's work.

This is not like donating blood. Bone marrow matches a rare. Trying to find a mach is hard. Even if you sign up you probable won't have to donate because you will not be a match for someone. I have heard of family's doing massive bone marrow drives signing up 100k people and still not finding a match. If you do not donate blood it's not a big deal but if someone is looking for bone marrow you could be there only match out of millions.

Missing 2 days of work is not a big deal if it to save someones life.


Allogeneic transplant: The importance of a matched donor

The chances of finding a matched unrelated donor improve each year, as more volunteers sign up. Today, about half of white people who need a stem cell transplant may find a perfect match among unrelated donors. This drops to about 1 out of 10 people in other ethnic groups, mostly because their HLA types are more diverse and they are less likely to take part in donor registries. Depending on a person’s tissue typing, several other international registries also are available. Sometimes the best matches are found in people with a similar racial or ethnic background. Finding an unrelated donor can take months, though. A single match can require going through many, many records.

Donating marrow hurts like a MOTHER F%$#$#.

Nice cause but no thanks.

You're probably thinking of the old way that it was done via a lumbar puncture. This isn't done anymore and like the OP stated, it can be done via surgery OR via blood (kind of like dialysis).

Thanks for your contribution to this thread though.

Registered... not a minority (Chinese) we'll see how it goes

Can't be that much worse than donating blood

Wimp!

doubt i`ll pass the test, gj whoever signs up !

you never know until you try. I have a few health issues that i thought would get me rejected instantly, but i signed up anyway and left them a note about the issues. They called me, asked me a few questions, and told me those issues won't stop me from becoming a donor.

This reminds me of this story I read a few weeks ago. This athlete got the call and found out he's the perfect match and did not hesitate at all and donated but with the donation, he had to cut his career short....it's quite inspirational

Watch the video!

University of New Hampshire Athlete Shortens Career to Donate Bone Marrow - ABC News

so after donating bone marrow..you can't play any heavy sports anymore?

ya thats what im getting, he couldnt play even a month later. I know someone who donated to their brother just a few years ago and it seemed like pretty major surgery, not just take a couple days off work kind of deal.

it sounds selfish but this would probably be more effective if they provided some sort of incentive instead of making this entirely altruistic. Like maybe make the donations reciprocal or something.

How the hell would you make it reciprocal?

I give you some bone marrow and you give me some liver so I can drink more?

Or would it be like an I owe you type deal where if you ever need something the person has to give back?

3 weeks for a full recovery for most people.


After You Donate

Recovery time

What you can expect for a recovery timeframe varies depending on the type of donation.

Marrow and PBSC donors should expect to return to work, school and most other activities within 1 to 7 days.
A good rule of thumb is the more physically demanding the job, the longer the recovery. For example, if your job involves heavy lifting, the timeframe may be closer to 7 days.
Most marrow donors report that they feel completely recovered within 3 weeks of donation.
Most PBSC donors report that they feel completely recovered within 2 weeks of donation.

Mario Lemieux survived his cancer in part because some donated bone marrow.

The religious people @ crystal mall suckered me into registering my saliva last summer..

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/...0CAT%20XXL.jpg

I got accepted into the registry! I actually got the letter 3 weeks ago but was too busy to update this thread. I sent out my swabs a day before i made this post in mid May, and received my letter confirming I'm in the registry at the end of June. They work fast!

I got in too. Got my letter a 2 weeks ago.

Just signed up! Hoping I am not denied for low iron...

I just signed up as well!

An organization I'm volunteering with is holding a donor swab event tomorrow at a community event. Sign up in person if you happen to be going :).

Get Swabbed @ SUCCESS Walk with the Dragon at Stanley Park
Date: July 21, 2013 (Sunday)
Time: 8:30am - 2:30pm
Venue: Stanley Park

Chinese Canadian males between 17 - 35 years of age are much needed to help patients in need.

Co-host: OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, Canadian Blood Services