I just put myself on the national bone marrow registration and kidney donor list. It's something I have been thinking about and praying about for a couple of weeks now. I am hoping I can do it for a kid, but whatever God puts my way I will accept. I was scared about the marrow donor part because I knew in the past how painful it is, but from what I read, they put you to sleep now. I was wondering if anyone has done either before and could share some info about their experience around it. I personally don't know anyone that has done either so I figured I would ask :)

If you don't want to put it out there publicly, you can PM me about it.

that's quite a Godly avatar you got there

Ty. I have a friend, was 30 y.o. and a bone marrow transplant saved her life. The odds of finding a donor are very small. To give you an idea, the search alone, by the Red Cross, cost $28,000.

1. put self on the national bone marrow registration and kidney donor list
2. ???
3. Profit.

Please tell me how to do this. I have wanted to do donate bone marrow for years but I have no idea on how to go about it. Its something I really want to do. I thought you had to donate blood first or something.

 

Originally Posted by userid363

Ty. I have a friend, was 30 y.o. and a bone marrow transplant saved her life. The odds of finding a donor are very small. To give you an idea, the search alone, by the Red Cross, cost $28,000.

It's actually pretty easy to do. You register, they send you a kit that has swabs in it for your mouth, you send it back, and they hook you up with a recipient.

And to answer the other question, no it's not for profit. It's completely illegal to donate organs for profit and there are very few places in the world where you can get away with it. They will pay for all the costs associated with the operation, travel (if you need to travel to the person that needs one). I won't gain a single thing out of it outside of helping someone that needs it. That's good enough for me :)

 

Originally Posted by Cesporz

Please tell me how to do this. I have wanted to do donate bone marrow for years but I have no idea on how to go about it. Its something I really want to do. I thought you had to donate blood first or something.

http://www.marrow.org/ You can register here and they will send you the kit.

http://www.livingdonorsonline.org/ A forum for folks looking to donate or need
http://www.kidney.org/support/donate.cfm These are the folks that I contacted to find out what exactly needs to be done.

Thanks alot.

 

Originally Posted by zaurg

I know someone who donated bone marrow to save her sister's life.

I've never donated anything like that but the wife and I are considering donating cord blood when she delivers in a couple months.

cord blood?

 

Originally Posted by zaurg

I know someone who donated bone marrow to save her sister's life.

I've never donated anything like that but the wife and I are considering donating cord blood when she delivers in a couple months.

def def bank the blood - whether publicly or privately!
as for the guy who asked about it - during the 1970s, researchers discovered that umbilical cord blood could supply the same kinds of blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells as a bone marrow donor - cord blood has been banked (collected and saved) ever since, but it's been growing in popularity lately

I received a living donor kidney transplant about 4 years ago from my dad. His incision was about 4-5 inches long on his stomach(can barely notice it now). He was discharged from the hospital one or two days after the surgery, and was pretty sore for about 7-10 days after.

Pm me for any other info.

 

Originally Posted by JRoth15

You are a bigger man than me for donating a kidney, as I would never do that.

However, the marrow I think I could do. I know nothing about it, so fill me in here. Does the marrow regenerate in your body? Can you donate as many times as you want? Is it a day long process...2 days...3 days??

EDIT--I didn't mean that I would NEVER donate a kidney. I just meant that I wouldn't do it semi-randomly. If a family member or really good friend needed it, then it's obviously being donated.

Check out this link...it will answer all your questions http://www.marrow.org/

I donated bone marrow in 1997 to my brother. The pain is worth the life I saved. You'll feel the same way even if it is a stranger.

 

Originally Posted by p00pymcp00perton

I donated bone marrow in 1997 to my brother. The pain is worth the life I saved. You'll feel the same way even if it is a stranger.

wow. great story

(seriously)

 

Originally Posted by tdoc6

My wife donated her kidney to her brother, 7 siblings and 6 had the kidney disease their dad died of at 52. The only rough part was that she had a physical job and missed over 1 month of work unpayed.

They passed a new law that allows recipients (or recipients insurance company if covered) to be able to reimburse you for lost wages due to the donation. It stays outside the laws of "selling" an organ, but allows you to be reimbursed for lost wages. That isn't so much an issue with me and I am not really worried about that though. I live off a fix budget and not really a factor for me. In my case, the only thing I am looking for is travel expenses and everything related to the surgery to be paid for. I can't afford to lay out anything out of my own pocket at all, so in my case, the recipient would have to cover all expenses related to the surgery.

Hmm....I can't afford the membership fee to join Card Runners until I eventually build a roll. Do you think they would wave the membership fee if I donated a Kidney "in their name??" Maybe I could get them to stamp my kidney with a Card Runners emblem when they take it out and get a picture of it! LMAO