How does donating bone marrow work?

My mom told me when you donate bone marrow they just take a blood sample.

My 2 friends and a mom told me they stick a needle down to your bone and it hurts like crazy.

My other friend told me they just swab your mouth.

My other friend told me you can't donate until you are 18 and they put you to sleep first.



My mom is taking me to donate soon and i'm 13. I'm so confused. Help?How does donating bone marrow work?
I don't know about the US, but in the UK you generally have to be 18. They take a blood sample or swab to find out your blood group and compatibility with potential recipients. Then when they find a match, you would put under some form of sedation for the marrow to be removed. Afterwards you may have bruising and pain, but compared to possibly saving someone's life that seems minor, I'd have thought.How does donating bone marrow work?
You have gotten different parts of the same story.

When you are evaluated to be a donor, they swab and take a blood sample. This is to do an initial check on your HLA tissue type (what is actually getting matched), and some tests may be ran on the blood for an initial screening.

If you are confirmed to be a match, you will go through extensive screening. A lot of blood will be taken for screening, you will have to give an extensive medical history (make sure its honest, anything left out or lied about can kill the patient... which means even underage, be honest about any sexual history. You should have patient confidentiality and should ahve the right to speak to the doctors in private)
They will also give you some physical type tests such as checking your weight and your blood pressure, eeg, ekg, etc to make sure you are all ok.

There are two ways the donation can be done, and the doctor of the recipient will be the one making that choice.
A. Actual bone marrow donation. This is where they stick the needle down your bone and it hurts like crazy. Most donors are given generan anesthesia (put to sleep) but it can also be done with an epidural only, or for the brave soul, without anesthesia. As a minor, its likely you would be given general anesthesia. They stick needles into hip bone (sometimes the sternum can be used) and pull out marrow.

B. Peripheral blood stem cell donation. The bone marrow is a network of adult stem cells, which is what allows the marrow transplant to work. The same type of stem cells are in your circulating blood in your veins. You would be awake for this procedure, but the most pain is sticking needles into your veins in both arms.
It is very similar to other types of blood or plasma donation where they are only taking one part of the blood (plasma centers, for example). Basically, the first needle is pulling blood out of your body and into the machine. The machine spins the blood and removes the stem cells (which are a type of white blood cell in the circulating blood). When the machine has removed the stem cells, its sends the rest of the blood through a warmer and back into your body.

Its a continuous cycle and lasts for a couple hours. You wont be very comfortable, its real needles in you as opposed to an iv, you will be tied to the machine and really unable to get up. But its not the torturous pain of giving bone marrow without anesthesia.




As far as your age..... Minors cannot sign up for the donors registry. By law, minors can only donate to a direct family member. So, there should be someone in your family who is sick and getting ready to go through the transplant if you are being a donor.

As a minor, your legal rights get a lil fuzzy. I am not the one to be able to give you legal advice. There is a law and ethics forum on yahoo answers, or there should be a legal aid office that you can call in your county that can give you advice.

On a moral level, however, you should be made full aware of what the donation is going to be like and why you are donating. While there are little risks associated with the donation, you should be made full well aware of them. You should also be aware of who it is thats getting the transplant. If you dont know anyone getting ready to have a bone marrow transplant, question whats going on.