If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog while looking for information about what it’s like to be a PBSC/bone marrow donor, here’s the end of the story before you get to the beginning: my recipient and I recently met, and she’s doing well! And is a lovely, wonderful person. Her hope and strength have become a model and inspiration for me. (I’m completely fine, too—no long- or short-term side effects at all from the donation.) So please keep reading, and if you’re on the fence about donating: please do it.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
This blog chronicles my experience donating bone marrow—specifically, Peripheral Blood Stem Cells (PBSC). As I was getting ready to donate, I found it helpful to read personal accounts of others who had already been through the process (see Links page). I'm adding my own story to that body of anecdotes in hopes that it might answer someone else's questions. To read from the very beginning, start here.
NOTE: Clicking on the "Continue reading" link will take you to a longer version of the post that includes my thoughts from a Jewish and spiritual point of view.
-
RECENT POSTS
THE WHOLE STORY
- September 2014 (1)
- December 2010 (1)
- November 2010 (2)
- October 2010 (4)
- September 2010 (7)
- August 2010 (2)
- July 2010 (1)
- June 2010 (1)
- May 2010 (3)
- March 2010 (3)
-
Join 4 other subscribers
A bone marrow donation story. 
Wow! Thank you for posting this update right when I needed to read it. I need to give my donation center an answer this week about if I’m going to donate. They want me to donate through PBSC and my only concern is possible long term side effects from the filgrastim. Some people in my support system are urging me against it while others are encouraging me. Plus I can’t stop looking information up on the internet and am reading the same research/studies/stories over and over again. Were you ever concerned about this? And if so, what eased your worries? Thanks again!
I donated PBSCs two years ago today, actually. Other than some tiredness (probably more a symptom of not sleeping in my own bed) and a little jaw numbness (went away within a week) the first few days after, I’ve had no troubling long term effects. I, too, researched possible side effects to me of filgrastim before I donated, even reading medical studies and reading follow up reports on donors and found nothing concerning. What *has* impacted me long term is a huge uptick in my levels of compassion toward cancer patients and my desire to continue helping. I give platelets now regularly – and will later today to mark my PBSC anniversary – and it feels so amazingly powerful to be able to help so many people with my good blood! You won’t regret this.
Just wonderful! Brava, and happy donation anniversary. I’ve also become a regular platelet donor—I never imagined I’d love doing something involving needles, but that part has been no problem at all.
Linda-thank you so much for sharing your story! I am excited to say, thanks to both of your stories and kind words from many other people that I’ve asked, I will be donating! Thanks again! God is good!
This is terrific–congratulations! A truly excellent decision, and please come back here and tell us how it went!
Wow–I’m glad you found it, too! I don’t know what kind of information is out there now, but I found very little that was scary when I researched long-term filgrastim side effects 4 years ago. Some people who shared accounts online had minor short-term pain (I had a little, not much at all), and a very few wrote of more pain, but it went away right after the donation. Filgrastim is also given as chemotherapy (in much higher doses than for a PBSC donation) and it seemed to me, very much a non-doctor, that it had been thoroughly tested and used safely for a long time. What I concluded back then was that the vast majority of PBSC donations resulted in no side effects at all for the donor, and so the odds were small that something bad would happen long-term.
I hope you decide to donate!
Thank you so much!
Just did mine a couple of days ago. Thanks for sharing your experience. Definitely gives me more assurance about my decision to donate.
Wonderful, contgratulations! So glad to hear that you decided to donate.