Aww thanks for posting this and reminding me that there's always something to celebrate for. I am actually feeling a little down right now because I am alone and won't be celebrating Christmas because my parents are in the hospital and my siblings aren't with me (one of them passed away recently) but seeing this made me feel the spirit of Christmas more. Bless you and your adorable sons ❤️
I was a donor and I'll share my experience. For like 70% of donors this is not the giant needle going into your bones. You get some shots for a week that make your marrow produce extra stem cells. Normally at worst this gives you some flu like symptoms, I didnt really notice anything until the last day and had some loss of apatite. Then you go and have your blood drawn through an aphersis machine and those cells are separated out and the remainder is given back to you. Takes a bit longer than normal and sometimes even two days.
They took great care of me in setting up all the appointments and covering any of the costs like travel. Worked with me a ton on my schedule.
The odds of being a match for one specific person is like 1:10million. This is why they need lots of people to sign up, especially from under represented or rarer racial or mixed race back grounds.
Even if you sign up you can remove yourself from the process at any time, including up to the minute they take your blood. At the very end this would pose a risk to the recipient but they make it clear it is your right and your decision.
Some-Specie on December 24th, 2021 at 15:00 UTC »
Aww thanks for posting this and reminding me that there's always something to celebrate for. I am actually feeling a little down right now because I am alone and won't be celebrating Christmas because my parents are in the hospital and my siblings aren't with me (one of them passed away recently) but seeing this made me feel the spirit of Christmas more. Bless you and your adorable sons ❤️
OhioStateGuy on December 24th, 2021 at 15:38 UTC »
To anyone seeing this please consider registering at Be The Match to be on the list for possible stem cell donation.
rockdude14 on December 24th, 2021 at 19:21 UTC »
I was a donor and I'll share my experience. For like 70% of donors this is not the giant needle going into your bones. You get some shots for a week that make your marrow produce extra stem cells. Normally at worst this gives you some flu like symptoms, I didnt really notice anything until the last day and had some loss of apatite. Then you go and have your blood drawn through an aphersis machine and those cells are separated out and the remainder is given back to you. Takes a bit longer than normal and sometimes even two days.
They took great care of me in setting up all the appointments and covering any of the costs like travel. Worked with me a ton on my schedule.
The odds of being a match for one specific person is like 1:10million. This is why they need lots of people to sign up, especially from under represented or rarer racial or mixed race back grounds.
Even if you sign up you can remove yourself from the process at any time, including up to the minute they take your blood. At the very end this would pose a risk to the recipient but they make it clear it is your right and your decision.
So ya, go sign up.
https://bethematch.org/