"At the time, the only way to donate marrow was to basically have someone drill holes in your bones and drain your skeleton, which kind of terrified me. Nowadays, of course, most donations require nothing more than sitting still for a few hours with an IV watching television."
That actually isn't really true. Marrow donations still require anesthesia and a surgical procedure. In the interest of providing full information:
PBSC donation is a non-surgical procedure done in an outpatient clinic. PBSC donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days, to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. Then, through a process called apheresis, a donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm.
Speaking to the marrow.org representative, she said that these days it's about 75% PBSC (sitting in a chair watching TV), 25% outpatient surgery (which is easier now than it was 16 years ago, but still daunting).
I actually am currently in the process of donation. I had been scheduled but the patient became too sick and I'm basically in a holding pattern at this point. I can confirm that the process for me involved no surgery or anesthesia and would not in the future either. It's a possibility but it's unlikely and you get to know which situation it is up front and can always opt-out at absolutely any step of the process.
This inspired me to register, but once again I was thwarted by the US' arcane rule banning gay men from donating. The rule applies despite the fact that I've been monogamous for ages and am tested for everything under the sun twice a year.
A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.
It's the same reason they tested me for STDs when I got pregnant, even though I married a virgin as a virgin and we have been faithful forever. It's not about what you believe about yourself and your partner. It's about the statistics.
Someone else's life is on the line. They need to be sure.
Though I must admit, I'm surprised the policy is in place with marrow donations. With blood donations, sure, transfusions are a routine thing and your blood is highly replaceable. With marrow donations, though, someone may need your marrow or they'll die. I'd think a match, even if it carried a slight statistical chance of HIV, would be something they'd want to know about.
It is the same shit for blood donations in Denmark. They got pretty unpopular when they asked for more donors because they feared a shortage but then turned away the gay men.
And no, it is not for health issues because they don't turn away gay women.
Of course you could register if you want to and then if called upon show up eagerly with your partner for moral support. Then flat out ask if they are going to kill their own patients just to pretend that it is still the fifties.
Of course don't do it if they can't get a donor in time.
At least in Europe, you're not allowed to donate blood/bone marrow if you've recently had unprotected sex. I think moonogamous gay men are allowed to donate, but not single gay men.
The first site is supposed to be more current, but isn't rendering properly for me on Firefox. On the second site, Scroll to the bottom for the button to start the process.
Shit. Can anyone post the links for other countries (like Canada) to donate? I'm signing up tomorrow.
If you want to really affect someone else's life, this is a way better way than building some web-app.
That's what the developer of marrow.org might have thought. And then:
> I fussed around with the website to update my contact data
If someone did a better job designing or testing the UI on that web app, who knows how many extra lives may have been saved.
When I think about it, I've worked on at least three projects where bugs or usability issues could potentially have a direct impact on someone's life. Yet we didn't reflect on it much in the course of our day-to-day routine.
Being a donor is a bold action, but don't underestimate the impact of your development work as well.
If any of you are in Seattle, and want to become registered marrow donors and potentially help save a life, there is a swabbing party tonight at the Rob Roy in Belltown.
I was about to sign up, but I am disqualified due to my fibromyalgia, which they consider an auto-immune disorder. I didn't think the current research still considered it one - it's more a neurotransmitter imbalance than anything else.
A sincerely moving story. I'm already a registered donor, but this reminded me to update my address, which, like yours, was still a college dorm. If I were ever called up for a donation, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.
I signed up for the program when I read that story, and just sent my cheek swabs in (4 of them!) this past weekend... seems like a no brainer if you actually want to make a difference in the world :-)
I wonder if there's a decent solution on the forwarding thing with some kind of unique id as metadata on an address, so if something's important someone in possession of the old address can find you through the ID? Or maybe that's just not practical, as no one would use it/retain the info unneeded in the short term.
Fantastic Story! I always love to see people helping each other.
After a visit to India earlier in the year, to oversee development of software for my new biz, I was awestruck at the conditions people were living in. Seeing this made me want to do something to help, and therefore decided to contribute a portion of every dollar earned to build water wells in developing countries for clean water.
I will definitely look into this as well to help...
I'm quite surprised that there are no donor centers in other countries. Are there? Most of these(or all) are first world countries - it scares me to think the chances of people in third world countries if even the ones listed here have a hard time looking for donors.
I've been telling myself I would register for awhile now. After reading this, I signed up right away. It only took a few minutes, just waiting on the collection kit.
[+] [-] timr|14 years ago|reply
That actually isn't really true. Marrow donations still require anesthesia and a surgical procedure. In the interest of providing full information:
http://marrow.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Donation_FAQs.as...
http://marrow.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Donation_FAQs.as...
(Edit: c'mon folks...why in the world would you vote this down? It's important information to know if you're going to be a donor.)
[+] [-] danshapiro|14 years ago|reply
PBSC donation is a non-surgical procedure done in an outpatient clinic. PBSC donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days, to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. Then, through a process called apheresis, a donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm.
Speaking to the marrow.org representative, she said that these days it's about 75% PBSC (sitting in a chair watching TV), 25% outpatient surgery (which is easier now than it was 16 years ago, but still daunting).
[+] [-] gregable|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blhack|14 years ago|reply
Because it's spreading misinformation that could prevent people from becoming marrow donors.
As a way of balancing this, here: http://marrow.org/Home.aspx
They'll send you a free kit. You swab your cheek, mail it back, and then you're in the registry.
Take five of your minutes and give them to somebody that needs them.
[+] [-] heimidal|14 years ago|reply
A college frat boy who has had unprotected sex with a different girl every week for the past semester can give blood/marrow, but monogamous, healthy gay men can't. I don't get it.
[+] [-] Dove|14 years ago|reply
Someone else's life is on the line. They need to be sure.
Though I must admit, I'm surprised the policy is in place with marrow donations. With blood donations, sure, transfusions are a routine thing and your blood is highly replaceable. With marrow donations, though, someone may need your marrow or they'll die. I'd think a match, even if it carried a slight statistical chance of HIV, would be something they'd want to know about.
[+] [-] tomjen3|14 years ago|reply
And no, it is not for health issues because they don't turn away gay women.
Of course you could register if you want to and then if called upon show up eagerly with your partner for moral support. Then flat out ask if they are going to kill their own patients just to pretend that it is still the fifties.
Of course don't do it if they can't get a donor in time.
[+] [-] rokhayakebe|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marvin|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danshapiro|14 years ago|reply
http://www.onematch.ca/ http://www.blood.ca/CentreApps/Internet/UW_V502_MainEngine.n...
The first site is supposed to be more current, but isn't rendering properly for me on Firefox. On the second site, Scroll to the bottom for the button to start the process.
UK
http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/qa/index.asp#howcan
It appears that you opt-in when you donate blood. I don't see mention of an at-home swab program.
Germany
http://www.stammzellspenderdatei.de/
https://www.dkms.de/
Others
http://marrowdrives.org/bone_marrow_donor_programs.html
(Scroll down to see the partner organizations in many countries)
[+] [-] sequence7|14 years ago|reply
http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/save-a-life/Onli...
[+] [-] a_m0d|14 years ago|reply
Or sign up at the Red Cross centre when you're in there to donate blood - they'll take an extra blood sample for testing purposes.
[+] [-] coffeejunk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dholowiski|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] azov|14 years ago|reply
> I fussed around with the website to update my contact data
If someone did a better job designing or testing the UI on that web app, who knows how many extra lives may have been saved.
When I think about it, I've worked on at least three projects where bugs or usability issues could potentially have a direct impact on someone's life. Yet we didn't reflect on it much in the course of our day-to-day routine.
Being a donor is a bold action, but don't underestimate the impact of your development work as well.
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] daryn|14 years ago|reply
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=174595119298897
[+] [-] sequence7|14 years ago|reply
http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/save-a-life/Onli...
[+] [-] cowpewter|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dylanpyle|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bglusman|14 years ago|reply
I wonder if there's a decent solution on the forwarding thing with some kind of unique id as metadata on an address, so if something's important someone in possession of the old address can find you through the ID? Or maybe that's just not practical, as no one would use it/retain the info unneeded in the short term.
[+] [-] andreipop|14 years ago|reply
http://www.onematch.ca/
[+] [-] danshapiro|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alecbee|14 years ago|reply
After a visit to India earlier in the year, to oversee development of software for my new biz, I was awestruck at the conditions people were living in. Seeing this made me want to do something to help, and therefore decided to contribute a portion of every dollar earned to build water wells in developing countries for clean water.
I will definitely look into this as well to help...
[+] [-] corroded|14 years ago|reply
I'm quite surprised that there are no donor centers in other countries. Are there? Most of these(or all) are first world countries - it scares me to think the chances of people in third world countries if even the ones listed here have a hard time looking for donors.
[+] [-] pgambling|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ibelimb|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Alex3917|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rmk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidu|14 years ago|reply
Signed up!
[+] [-] bhickey|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] quizbiz|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danshapiro|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qzio|14 years ago|reply