Question to all the EN Physicians out there...Bone Barrow Donations
I've read that a number of ENers are Physicians and I have a question for any of you that may be familiar with Bone Marrow Donations.
About 7 years ago I signed up for the "Be a Match" registry as my neighbor was suffering from Leukemia and had no family matches. I hadn't heard a thing until this week when I got a call that I'm a potential match for someone else. Apparently there's an 8-10% chance of being a fit for those that pass the initial screener like myself.
As I read the info on the "Be the Match" registry, it appears there are two donation methods. One involves taking blood and the other is an outpatient surgery where the doctor removes marrow from your pelvic bone. The stated risks of donation appear to be small, probalby the same as any other minor outpatient surgery.
As far as recovery...the blood donation method is quick and easy via a blood donation center. It does say that blood will return to normal levels after several weeks. My question on this....could I train normally with the depleted blood levels or would I have to tone down or even eliminate training?
On the marrow donation, I understand it's usually a one day operation...no overnight stay. The side effects are compared to bone/muscle pain you'd feel if you slipped and fell on ice, for example. I'd imagine the recovery time here would be a bit longer and the impact to my training would be greater here, but not sure to what extent.
It can sound a bit selfish asking these questions when there's someone out there who's life would be impacted for many years vs. a few weeks of sacrifice on my end, but wanted to get the full picture to understand what I'd be signing up for. I'm signed up for IMAZ, so taking a few weeks off this summer during my SC plan wouldn't likely impact my IMAZ training much at all anyway. Would just have to forego a couple local Short Course races.
Thanks in advance for your insight.
Comments
It takes 3-4 months for a complete overhual of your red cells from your marrow, that is, the life span of an rbc is About 100 days. Assuming they only take 5 % or less of your blood volume, your blood count should be back up to normal within 2 weeks max. Maybe you can talk them in to giving you some EPO to speed it up (kidding).
Bone marrow taps HURT !