Aspheresis, which is done in a blood center or hospital, is a procedure in which your blood is removed through a sterile needle palced in a vein in one arm and passed through an apherisis machine that separateds out the stem cells. The remaining blood, minus the stem cells, is returned to you through a sterile needle in your other arm. Aspheresis donor can experience bone pain prior to the donation procedure as a result of receiving Filgrastim. These effects diminish over one to two days after the last dose of Filgrastim is given. If your body gets the wrong HLAs, your system will reject the new marrow and you may die.
Every person has six HLAs.
So any brothers or sisters that you have do not necessarily have the same six HLAs as you. This is why a patient's ability to find a match is compared to playing the lottery. The HLA tissue types are inherited from each parent in much the same way as you inherit hair, eye, and skin color. The percentage of potential minority donors on the National Registry is very low compared to the national average of minorities in this country. Therefore, a caucasian has a much better chance of finding a match than a minority.