First, potential bone marrow donors are provided with general information about bone marrow donation and sign a consent form, if interested. The results are entered onto the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, which is an internationally used database. Volunteers will be contacted for further testing when there is a preliminary match with a patient. Once everything has been cleared and approved to proceed, the volunteer then decides whether or not to become a bone marrow donor. If it's a go, the surgical procedure, which would be performed under anesthesia, is arranged at a select hospital in the donor's area.
Donors usually can go home the next day and return to normal activities.
Some soreness may be experienced, but this is brief. FYI, bone marrow transplantations are important because they can help treat life-threatening diseases, such as leukemias, solid tumor cancers, and lymphomas. Good luck in making a decision that's right for you.