Bone Marrow Donation

[Danger41]

I just got pinged that I was ID’d as a bone marrow match for someone in need. What would that do for my Mil/Civilian medical? DNIF for a bit during recovery?

[DirkDiggler]

This info is 14 years old so take it with a grain of salt.  

  I went to SOS with a Viper driver (previous B-1 WSO, not sure which he was when he was matched) who had been a bone marrow donor.  He didn't make any specific comments regarding the AF medical process (at least he didn't say he had any issues with it) itself but he did reinforce that the recovery was pretty rough (they're driving large bore needles into your pelvis/legs I believe).  He said he was on crutches for a week and it was a pretty painful recovery. 

  That said, he was pretty happy he was able to help (rightfully so) and said he was back flying not too long after the procedure.  I'd tell you to reach out to your local Flight Doc but given my recent experiences there's a good chance they may not know what bone marrow is.  Best of luck! 

[Butters]

I registered at SOS as well and was found to be a match. They do it different now and I have donated to same person twice. 2009 and 2016. No issues.

 

Today, it's more common to collect bone marrow stem cells from the blood. This is called peripheral blood stem cell donation. That is what I did. It's easy.

[Danger41]

On 2/15/2022 at 10:28 AM, Butters said:

I registered at SOS as well and was found to be a match. They do it different now and I have donated to same person twice. 2009 and 2016. No issues.

 

Today, it's more common to collect bone marrow stem cells from the blood. This is called peripheral blood stem cell donation. That is what I did. It's easy.

Isn’t this process where you take pills for a bit to increase stem cell production and they do something similar to dialysis to get it out? How was that process? Affect flying or any other part of life?

[Butters]

On 2/23/2022 at 6:15 PM, Danger41 said:

Isn’t this process where you take pills for a bit to increase stem cell production and they do something similar to dialysis to get it out? How was that process? Affect flying or any other part of life?

I did some injections for 2 weeks before and yes, it is like dialysis. I had no issues, was not active flying when I did this, staff tour. Don't know it grounds you while taking the shots. Process took several hours and felt fine before, durring and after. Did it again years later, but without the shots.