WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON AGREES TO BE A POTENTIAL MARROW DONOR?
If you want to be a potential donor a series of questions will be asked about your health to protect you and ensure that it would be safe to donate and also if it would be safe to use your blood for marrow/blood stem cell transplant. You will be required to sign a donor registration and consent form and provide your personal contact information. Testing will be performed on buccal swabs containing cheek cells obtained during a testing session. This information is then put into the National Marrow Donor Program, a nationally recognized registry database. 6000 patients are searching the registry every day for a suitable transplant match. The Registry conducts a computerized search to identify potential donors to match the HLA type of the patient. The potential donor will be contacted and the process will be discussed to his/her satisfaction. A health history is done and determined if he is suitable for donation. Arrangements are then made to obtain additional blood samples to determine i
