When I talked about bone marrow before, my first reaction was always the pig thigh bone I ate when I was a child. I loved eating the bone marrow inside. So when it comes to bone marrow donation, I always imagine a huge needle poking into my spine or thigh bone.
I had the honor to take part in a bone marrow donation activity in the United States. The donor was a 3-year-old girl. Although I passed various physical examinations all the way [through five passes and six generals], unfortunately, the donation operation was cancelled due to the possible physical condition of the little girl.
Before the operation was cancelled, the Bone Marrow Donation Center kept in close contact with me. I got a general understanding of the whole process of bone marrow donation through personal experience and various notifications from the Bone Marrow Donation Center.
Is bone marrow donation dangerous?
Although I signed the consent form on the spur of the moment at that time, when I was informed by telephone that I was a candidate for donation, my mind was really blank at that time. Apart from happiness, I was still a little nervous. Neither my family nor myself knew so much about this matter and were very afraid of the sequelae of what.
I also read a lot of information on the Internet and asked the professor of Duke University Hospital. Only then did I know that bone marrow donation may mainly have these complications or risks:
1. Bone pain
There will be severe bone pain about 1-2 weeks after the donation operation, which depends on painkillers, but it should basically recover after 1 month.
2. Anesthesia accident
The possibility of serious side effects when donating bone marrow is about 1.34%. The main problems are anesthesia accidents and some misoperation during bone puncture.
At ordinary times, I would think that the probability of 1.34% can be ignored, but when I really meet myself, I think the probability of 1.34% is very high.
At this time, it is very difficult to retreat, because the little girl has thalassemia and can only save her life by accepting other people’s bone marrow. If she retreats, just like you hurt her, the moral pressure is huge. My parents have been worried, but my wife finally gave me great encouragement.
How is bone marrow donation done?
In fact, bone marrow donation needs hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow, so it should be called [hematopoietic stem cell donation]. One of the best places to extract bone marrow is ilium (a little above the waist of the back), because there are abundant hematopoietic stem cells, and there are fewer nerves and less risks.
If the donation is made by the traditional method, the doctor will make a few small holes in the bone and then use a special needle to extract bone marrow. The average adult has 3 kilograms of bone marrow, and the donation is generally 5%.
In fact, there are very few times when bone marrow needs to be extracted now, Most of them adopt new technologies, It is called peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell separation. It is to insert a tube into the donor’s left and right arms respectively. Blood flows out of one end, and through special instruments, hematopoietic stem cells are separated, and other parts, such as plasma and red blood cells, are returned intact to the body. This process does not require surgery or anesthesia, so it is a simpler method.
However, the doctor specifically requested traditional bone marrow donation. It is said that for children, the success rate of traditional bone marrow transplantation is higher than that of hematopoietic stem cells isolated from peripheral blood. In this case, I can only let them poke a few holes in my back.
When confirming that I was willing to fulfill my donation wish, the people from the Bone Marrow Donation Center spoke to me for one hour, confirming the donation time and, more importantly, they gave me a detailed description of what would happen from the beginning to the end of the donation.
Before donation:
I have to sign a lot of forms to show that I understand the operation process, risks, confirm to donate, etc.
The most impressive sentence inside is: [You can choose to quit at any time, but please remember, if you choose to quit after the patient starts chemotherapy and marrow removal, the patient will probably die.] There are also some selective participation projects, such as leaving some blood samples for them to do other research, participating in a 10-year follow-up experiment to see the long-term effects of donated bone marrow on the body, etc.
Then I will go to the hospital to do a super detailed physical examination, and finally confirm that my body is qualified again and can donate. X-ray, electrocardiogram, blood, urine, internal medicine, whatever I can think of will come again anyway. At the same time, I will see the doctor who operated on me for the first time. If my body is no problem, I will wait for the day of donation.
At the same time, Patients who do not know where they are will start 10 days of intensive chemotherapy, killing their own blood cells, including immune cells, and then stay in a sterile isolation ward, waiting for my bone marrow to arrive. Chemotherapy is painful, and in the process, they may be infected at any time, which is very dangerous without any immune system.
So every time I worry about the risk and pain of my operation, I will think of the little girl who is suffering 100 times the pain and risk. Fortunately, she is only 3 years old, and what should not remember it in the future.
Date of donation:
Early in the morning, I have to report to the hospital to prepare for the operation. The operation takes 1-2 hours. The anesthesia is intravenous general anesthesia. After the operation, I will be sent to the observation room for a day and a night. If there is no problem, I can go home early the next morning.
They bought me the most comprehensive insurance, including medical insurance, accidental disability insurance, accidental death insurance, all filled in the wife as the beneficiary. In addition, I asked if I could find a friend to take a video as a souvenir. They said no, because they were afraid that I would put it on the Internet and reveal the location of my donation. It seems that the privacy of donors is also strictly protected.
After donation:
I thought I had to rest for at least one week after such a big operation. As a result, they said that because my operation was on Thursday, they recommended me to ask for leave on Friday, then continue to rest on Saturday and Sunday, and go to work on Monday!
I said no? You Americans are too fierce. The other side said that unless I moved bricks on the construction site, two days’ rest would be enough. If so, the news is encouraging, indicating that the operation is really not what.
Although, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, I have not completed the donation, I also want to tell my incomplete story and look forward to seeing people who can fulfill my wish.