How to Become a Marrow Donor

Almost any healthy adult can register to become a bone marrow donor, according to Liz Quam, a spokeswoman for the National Marrow Donor Program based in St. Paul, Minn.

Potential donors are sent to a local testing center where two tablespoons of blood are drawn to test four of six tissue factors. The results from the initial test are then entered into the center’s national computer system for comparison to patients throughout North America and in some European nations.

So far, private donations and some federal funding have borne the $50 cost of the initial tests, Quam said.

If the volunteer’s first four tissue factors match that of a patient--a statistically rare event--a program worker may visit the volunteer at home or at work to take another blood sample to match the final two factors.

The $200 cost of the second test is borne by the patient.

“If you match again, by that time, everybody starts to get excited,” Quam said.

The volunteer is given an extensive physical examination to assure that he or she is in perfect health before any final agreements are signed.

Once an exact match involving a healthy donor has been found, the patient then undergoes chemotherapy to destroy his or her existing marrow. During the seven to 10 days that this process requires, Quam said, donors often feel a heightened sense of responsibility.

“One woman told me she felt like she was pregnant again, and that every time she crossed a street or drove a car she had to be extra careful because she was in charge of two lives,” Quam said.

The donor then is admitted to a hospital for an overnight stay. During the removal procedure, the donor is placed under general anesthesia and needles are inserted in the pelvic bone through the small of the back to draw the marrow.

The procedure causes a bruised sensation that lasts about a week, Quam said.

“Donors have said it’s like falling on ice on your rear end,” she said. “It’s a Tylenol type of pain. . . . We’ve had donors who said they went jogging the next day.”

Information about the program is available by calling (800) 654-1247.