posted
I just mentioned this on a post in my landmark thread, but this is important, so I'm giving it its own thread. Go and register to be a marrow donor. It's pretty easy--I did it last year, and all they do is have you fill out an application and then they prick your finger to collect blood for typing. They aren't going to drill holes in your hip bones just yet (and even if you're a match, you aren't obligated to donate at that point, though it would be the nice thing to do.) Also, there's a newer process which involves drugs to make the body produce more peripheral stem cells in the blood, which are then collected in a comparatively easy procedure--blood goes out one arm and goes back in the other, sans stem cells.
Anyhow, bone marrow matches tend to be within racial groups, and it is especially important for minorities to join the registry. It's also free for minorities (sorry, Caucasians have to pay a fee of about $40). It's especially important for multiracial people to register because many don't share a racial group with their relatives (I'm closely related to exactly two other people with the same racial makeup), and because the racial type is so rare.
It's easy! And it's important. Please, go find a center near you and go register!
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I dunno how that works here in Canada. I'm already an organ donor in the event of my death in a car accident, but I suppose that doesn't apply to marrow. *ponders*
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I'd replied in the landmark thread but I'll repeat here:
quote:Anyhow, bone marrow matches tend to be within racial groups, and it is especially important for minorities to join the registry. It's also free for minorities (sorry, Caucasians have to pay a fee of about $40). It's especially important for multiracial people to register because many don't share a racial group with their relatives (I'm closely related to exactly two other people with the same racial makeup), and because the racial type is so rare.
I'm Caucasian, I signed up for the registry when I donated blood at a Lifesource drive, and I've never paid anything. Wonder how I managed that.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:It's also free for minorities (sorry, Caucasians have to pay a fee of about $40).
To hell with that. If they're going to treat me differently because of my skin color, then they can't have my bone marrow.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
If you are 100% Caucasian, then they probably don't need your bone marrow. There are so many in the registry that most ordinary Caucasians match to people who are already in the registry. Therefore, they are just expending money every time they do the test on a Caucasian and getting very little in return. You just aren't as valuable, Verily. And rather boring, as far as your marrow is concerned. *patpat* And if you aren't, then you should feel honored to be wanted. Makes me feel better about not registering, actually, I didn't even know about the fee.
posted
Um, yeah...sorry for letting this thread drop. Goody, I have no idea why they didn't charge you. It's possible some group was covering the cost of the typing test (which is what you pay for normally). In fact, the reason it's free for minorities is that the Naval Observatory (don't ask me why it's them) pays for it.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
While we are on the topic of donating renewable body fluids, I will add this: Please, Please PLEASE be a blood donor. It is not hard, and it is one of the most rewarding feelings a person can get. There are a million reasons for people to not give blood, but 99% of them are outweighed by the simple fact that an hour of your time can save a person's life. That may sound like a trite cliche, but try being the person who is in need of blood when there simply isn't enough to go around. Only when faced with needing it yourself will you wish you'd given blood more often. So what are you waiting for? For more info, visit this site.Posts: 786 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I do donate very regularly. I'm type O+ so Lifesource calls me every 8 weeks to set up my next appointment (and I'm going again on Nov. 24). I have personal issues with the Red Cross dating back to Hurricane Andrew, so I won't donate to them.
I have friends that ask me why I would simply donate instead of selling (there are "clinics" that will pay for whole blood.) Simple answer - I don't trust them. I'd rather donate at a site that I know to be clean and well-run than to an unknown, never heard of, located in a strip in a bad town and risk complications.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I have to go from clinic to clinic to donate blood because I always faint and am asked never to donate blood again. I'm B-neg, so they always need my type. I go to as many places as I can.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
I'm a fainter too, but only if I look at the site while I'm still connected. I've done it enough so that the nurses know to cover me up LOL - I think they recognize me or something because I know there's nothing marked on the paperwork. The center I go to has a couple televisions mounted up near the ceiling, so I have a good focal point away from my arm for set-up and break-down.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Donating blood to the Red Cross or other free community blood bank is a great idea for a lot of reasons.
1. They use the money they make off the blood to fund their disaster relief program worldwide, which is a wonderful thing.
2. Donated blood is safer blood. The people who sell their blood for money include a small subset of people who desperately need the money which includes a tiny number of people who might be drug users and possibly might consider selling other bits of their body for money as well. They are going to tend to want to lie on the questionnaire so that they can earn the money they need from their blood. Volunteers, however, are usually delighted to be let off the hook, and so are less likely to try to bias their answers toward having their blood accepted. While the blood is tested before it's transfused, of course, the tests are not 100% accurate. That is why there must also be this questionnaire. Therefore the risk of contracting a disease from RECEIVING a blood donation (there's never any risk from giving) is slightly higher for commercial blood than for donated blood.
When the hospitals need more blood than the Red Cross can provide, they buy this slightly-less-safe supply from commercial blood banks. All hematologists agree that donated blood is safer.
3. You never know when you or your friends and family members might need blood. Blood saves lives. Trauma victims such as those who get in auto accidents use many units of blood. It's not unusual for a victim's entire blood volume to be replaced by transfusions while they are on the operating table, in cases of severe trauma.
4. There is NEVER any risk of disease from giving blood to a reputable organization.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I tried donating blood once (it was shortly after my 17th birthday ) but I turned out to have elusive veins that aren't exactly where they should be, but kind of off to one side on each arm. The volunteers who draw the blood kept convincing themselves that they could do me the same as they do anyone else, so five minutes and two holes later, they gave up and declared me bloodless.
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
) but I turned out to have elusive veins that aren't exactly where they should be, but kind of off to one side on each arm. The volunteers who draw the blood kept convincing themselves that they could do me the same as they do anyone else, so five minutes and two holes later, they gave up and declared me bloodless.![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)
