The Living Gift of Life
The National Marrow Donor Program
It seems like today everyone has a cause, and I suppose I'm no different. One cause that is dear to me is The National Morrow Donor Program. This organization, along with the Red Cross, types and matches bone marrow types, finding Bone Marrow donors for thousands of patients suffereing from leukemia, aplastic anemia and other fatal blood diseases.
Why do I care so much?
I am like most people, I had no idea why this organization was so important until my cousin was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after the birth of my oldest daughter. While he was lucky enough to overcome his battle without a transplant, we saw many other children who were not so lucky. I called my local Red Cross and made an appointment to be typed the day after he was diagnosed.
It was very easy, I gave a small vial of blood (which wasn't hard since I donated a pint of blood while I was there). Our local Red Cross chapter does not require you to pay a fee to be typed, although they do appreciate donations. I have been on the Registry ever since, and although I have not blessed with the call to donate marrow yet, I hope that I will someday.
I truly hope that all of you will take the time to make that call and get typed. Read on for more information.,
How Do I Volunteer?
You must be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health
You are educated about marrow transplantation and the donation process. You must consent to be listed on the NMDP Registry and then donate a small sample of blood for tissue typing. There may be a fee to cover this initial blood test, depending on the availability of funding at your local donor center. Other than the possible fee for the initial test, there are no other costs to the unrelated volunteer donor.
Your tissue type is entered onto the NMDP's computerized Registry, whichis searched on behalf of patients. If the Computer indicates you are a preliminary match for a patient, your donor center coordinator contacts youand, with your approval, arranges more testing.
Further testing may show that you are a precise match for a patient. At this point, you will attend a thorough information session with counselors who will review the donation process and your options as a potential donor. You also will undergo a physical examination. After being fully informed, you decide whether to become a volunteer marrow donor.
In a hospital, no more than 5 percent of your marrow - which is a liquid - is collected from the back of your pelvic bone using a special needle and syringe. You are under general or regional (spinal or epidural) anesthesia during this simple surgical procedure.
Typically, a donor stays overnight in the hospital. You may feel some soreness in your lower back for several days after the donation. Your marrow naturally replenishes itself within a few weeks.
Why become a volunteer donor?
An estimated 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. alone are diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia or other fatal blood diseases. For many, the only hope for survival is a marrow transplant.
Unfortunately, nearly 70 percent of these patients cannot find suitably matched marrow donors within their families. They need to find unrelated marrow donors - people who have volunteered to donate marrow if ever matched with any patient in need. many patients die before finding a matched donor.
As the number of potential marrow donors increases, so do the chances of finding a match for the thousands of patients need. The chance that a patient will find a compatible, unrelated donor varies widely, depending on the patient's tissue type. Because tissue types are unique to certain racial or ethnic groups, a patient's best chance of finding a match is within his or her ethnic and racial group.
While the NMDP welcomes any volunteer who wants to join the registry, there is a critical need for minority volunteer donors.
How does the NMDP work?
The National Marrow Donor Program is a network of donor centers, transplant centers, collection centers and recruitment groups. The NMDP Coordinating Center oversees the administration program, including the personnel and computer system that matches patients to unrelated volunteer donors.
You can become a NMDP volunteer donor through your local donor center, which educates and recruits potential donors. Most NMDP Donor Centers are part of local or regional blood centers that have met special NMDP membership requirements.
Most of the volunteers who have joined the NMDP Registry will never be asked to donate marrow. A lucky few are called because their tissue type matches that of a patient in need.
The NMDP is under contract with the federal government's Health Resources and Services Administration and also receives funding from the Naval Medical Research and Development Command and private contributors.
For more information write or call:
National Marrow Donor Program
3433 Broadway Street NE, Suite 500
Minneapolies, MN 55413
1-800-MARROW-2
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