After being fully informed about the donor experience, you, with the support of your friends and loved ones, make the decision whether or not to become a donor. 5 The marrow collection process is a surgical procedure lasting approximately one to two hours. The procedure occurs in a hospital operating room while you receive regional or general anesthesia. Part of your marrow is removed from the back of your pelvic bone using sterile needles and syringes. You should recover quickly from the procedure.
Most donors have some bone pain and aches for several days or a few weeks.
Your marrow naturally replenishes itself within four to six weeks. Filgrastim is a drug that increases the number of stem cells released from your marrow into your blood stream so they can be collected through an apheresis procedure. During apheresis, which is done at a blood center or hospital, your blood is removed through a sterile needle placed in a vein in one arm and passed through an apheresis machine that separates out the stem cells. The remaining blood, minus the stem cells, is returned to you through a sterile needle in your other arm. The number of stem cells required by the recipient will determine if the procedure needs to be repeated the following day.