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Comment by iandanforth | Hacker News Reader

"You may be aware of bone marrow, or stem cell transplants. These are life-saving for the people who need them, especially after a blood cancer. You can sign up for free at charities such as Anthony Nolan or DKMS in the UK."

"And it was a win-win scenario - they get to call upon me if someone needs my stem cells (a painless procedure that's no more complicated than donating blood)!"

Maybe I'm confused but this person doesn't seem to know what is involved with donating bone marrow. It is a serious surgical procedure done under anesthesia.

https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-bone-marrow/...

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The there are two procedures, the stem cell procedure is acurately described according to the link you posted.

> How are bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation different?

> Donating bone marrow is a surgical procedure done under general or regional anesthesia in a hospital. While a donor receives anesthesia, doctors use needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of the pelvic bone.

> PBSC donation is a non-surgical procedure done in an outpatient clinic. PBSC donors receive daily injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days, to increase the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream. Then, through a process called apheresis, a donor's blood is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor through the other arm.

As someone who's donated via PBSC it's a whole lot more than a regular blood donation. Two batteries of tests, the drugs are no joke, and the donation session is more or less a whole day affair - or two days if you're unlucky and they don't harvest enough cells the first day (I was unlucky).

I don't have any regrets doing it - the impost on me was fairly trivial compared to the difference it can make for the recipient, but it's not a thing to be taken lightly.

Ahh that's what's going on, the first sentence conflates the two and the second sentence doesn't specify PBSC.

Easy mistake to make since the first part lists two different things. However, the listed orgs are both blood stem cell donation charities.

It's a minor surgery, and you can also donate without surgery via apheresis.

In the case of surgery you're put under and they dig around in your hip bones. You feel sore for a couple of days and then continue life as normal. It's safe aside from the normal risks that comes with any surgery. Source: I donated bone marrow

Not that serious

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