|  |  | Diary of a donor |
Helen, 29, is a trained anaesthetist and joined the bone marrow registry after being approached by the student group Marrow while at university. Marrow aims to give every student the opportunity to sign up to the bone marrow registry.
‘Though she can see the benefits to other people, she doesn’t want her daughter to undergo an unnecessary medical procedure’, says Helen of her mother, highlighting the family issues that can arise when being an unrelated stem cell donor. ‘I think she’s secretly hoping that I won’t pass the medical, then I won’t have to go through with it.’ Helen, however, is excited by the prospect, ‘my medical experience means I know that it’s a very low risk procedure and to be honest I’m fascinated by the process. Having a certain degree of knowledge just makes it more interesting to me.’
Yet Helen does agree that having a certain amount of knowledge isn’t always a good thing, ‘It means that although I am aware of the relative safety of the procedure, I also have knowledge of the risks - I know as much good as bad.’Ultimately though, she believes that how you feel about such a procedure beforehand is more down to your personality than your level of knowledge.
But is this pure and simple altruism? Helping someone is the central aim but Helen admits that there are personal reasons for getting involved, ‘I’m essentially curious about the whole thing and will value it as an experience, as well as it benefiting another person.’ ‘In terms of morals and motivation, I don’t really see it as any different from giving blood.’
Helen’s overall motivation is a common sense one: ‘There are so many diseases and conditions where there are no treatments, or where they exist but are prohibitively expensive. This is a situation in which there is a reasonably straightforward procedure than can be potentially curative or at least beneficial, and all it takes is someone to donate. I just don’t think it’s that big an ask.’
‘One thing that was emphasised immediately during the medical was that while I was in the hospital, I was their sole concern. The care team had nothing to do with the recipient, and that it was my well being that was of the utmost importance,’says Helen.
They took blood for a standard blood tests and Helen also agreed to have blood taken for scientific research at The Anthony Nolan Trust. She was questioned about her medical history, alcohol intake and had urine taken for a pregnancy test. Her general health was tested with an electrocardiogram (ECG) to ensure that she has normal heart function and a chest x-ray to look for any respiratory disorders.
Helen chose to have bone marrow taken rather than peripheral stem cells. As an ex-anaesthetist, she feels comfortable with the idea of a general anaesthetic and has seen bone marrow taken many times.
‘One of the most surprising things was how little the procedure hurt,’ says Helen. ‘I needed nothing more than Paracetamol for the pain, and though I had a rather spectacular bruise at the base of my spine, it looked much worse than it actually felt.’
The procedure wasn’t without its side effects. Helen became slightly anaemic - not surprising when she’d had a litre of bone marrow taken - and suffered from a mild cold. She took iron supplements in order to increase her red blood cell count and more traditional methods: ‘My mum was feeding me steak and spinach too!’
And her experience in hospital? ‘Everyone was very nice and the process was very straightforward, I knew what was going on at all times.’ And the care didn’t stop after the procedure, a donor welfare officer visited Helen in hospital and phoned her a few days later, to check that she was doing okay.
Helen refused information on the recipient, although she could have found out basic information such as the gender of the patient and the country her bone marrow went to.
‘Overall I’m glad I did it, and I’d do it again.’
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