PART THREE: Full Physical and Informational Session

The next step after joining the registry is waiting…everyone’s favorite! If you are a potential match you will be asked to undergo confirmatory blood testing. The tests are looking for a specific protein marker in your body.

Myth buster moment: Bone marrow donors are matched to recipients by a protein (HLA) in the body with a super fancy long name and NOT by blood type. This protein is responsible for knowing which cells are a part of your body and which cells are party crashers (i.e cancer or disease).

Once the best match for the recipient is chosen, the donor proceeds on to a full physical examination and an informational session. For me, this part caused some anxiety because I had moved out of my registry city. The physical HAS to be done by the actual doctor operating on you, so it was decided that I would do some traveling.

If you are worried about any costs required in becoming a donor, this section is for you:

-The donor registry covers ALL costs. This includes: travel expenses (they will pay to fly you or pay for your gas), hotel stay, meal costs for you and a travel companion, and boarding expenses or the fees required to travel with your pets.

-If time off work is a concern, the registry provides a reimbursement of lost wages.

-You will not have any medical fees, but you do get to keep the results from the full physical.

The required physical is standard procedure so I won’t spend too much time addressing this part. I will say that it was very comforting to meet the doctor pre-surgery, and to ask him any of my questions. I briefly got to meet other donors who were donating through the method much like giving blood. I immediately

felt a sense of comradery and excitement surged through me.  The full physical is coupled by an informational session with your donor advocate…this is when it starts to get REAL.

The informational consists of a video explaining the procedure, forms, and finding out more about the person you are donating to. I would recommend having a family member or loved one with you to help you process the information you are receiving. I was very grateful to have my mother by my side to help me remember to take one thing at a time. First we learned a little bit about my sweet recipient. You are provided age, gender, and disease/cancer type. My recipient is a very young girl with a deadly blood disease, which is very similar to the disease that took my Grandmom’s life. This was my first “tissue moment.” Then you will fill out forms documenting your health history and allergy information. This is important because your donor will receive your blood type and all of your allergies.

My next tissue moment came when I was momentarily made uncomfortable by the facts. Before this point in the process you could change your mind and back out with relative ease on your moral compass. The informational is when you sign an agreement to have someone’s life in your hands. This agreement is still breakable; you will never be forced into anything you don’t want to do. The purpose of the agreement is to help you understand the impact your actions going forward will have.

Uncomfortable fact moment: your recipient has to undergo radiation treatment before the transplant, which completely kills their immune system. The prep time is usually between 5-9 days of intense treatments and isolation. Once your recipient starts preparation, if you back out or are unable to donate it is VERY likely that they will die.

There was not even a small part of me that would consider backing out, but receiving this reality still caused a great deal of anxiety. What if I get sick? What if I get in a car accident? The worst-case scenarios may start to whiz through your brain but you are not a lone. I will leave you with the very comforting words of my donor advocate:

“We are your seat belt. We are looking out for you and we just need to take this one day at a time. We will help you get to donation day.”