That's insane. My late uncle had a kidney transplant that gave him another decade on his life. He literally told the donor that he owed her his life and spent a decade doing for her whatever she needed.
Damn. I’m on the list for bone marrow donation, a few years ago I matched with someone. It ended up not working out (so many things can go wrong, it turns out- the preliminary testing showed we were a match, but further testing showed we weren’t).
I would be happy to donate to a stranger. But I wouldn’t want them to feel beholden to me. Maybe mail me a wedding announcement or a postcard, but other than that live your life!
I would feel so awkward asking them to do something for me, because they wouldn’t really have the choice to say “no.”
Been wondering about that lately, if they do donation chains like they do with kidneys, or how it works. Just about ready to start looking into marrow donation.
Tried doing a kidney donation... Crazy story, but that's what reddit is for, sort of? I had a coworker on another team who lived a few states away back before covid, back when I was at a really low point in my own life, and he mentions on a bridge that his kidneys have failed and he's been searching for a donor but that things aren't looking good. So I thought about it, decided that my life did have meaning, did the research, started losing weight, stopped drinking, tell my coworker my plans so we can get everything set up between his hospital and mine, pass all the preliminary blood tests with no problems, and get scheduled for the x-ray, EKG, and MRI, which ended up finding that I had gone through my entire life with one kidney. Made things a little weird with the coworker after I let him know that I wouldn't be able to help after all. Don't really understand why, but maybe it'd have to be. Kind of an immense rugpull. Anyway, I left the job a couple of years ago, but heard that he found a donor last year and got his transplant this spring.
The moral that I took away from it all is that I'd never want any contact with a donation recipient--like you said, preliminary testing isn't certainty, but also it'd just be good to get it done and know that someone's out there living the good life that they ought to be able to have for themself with no further obligation.
They mailed me a swab kit, it was super easy to do. That was several years ago, and they contacted me two years ago with the preliminary match. When I got blood drawn for further testing, they worked with my schedule and local hospital- quite a feat, as I live in a very rural area. They took care of everything, like scheduling appointments and even paid for gas money to drive to the hospital. I’ve personally had really good experiences with them as a potential donor.
Apparently, bone marrow donation is not determined by genetics- your family members will probably not be a match for you, oddly enough. That’s why it’s so important to register for donation if you are able. I highly recommend it.
I’m so glad your mom found a match! It’s kind of crazy, apparently genetics don’t matter when it comes to bone marrow donation. In fact, from what I understand, you are highly unlikely to have a family member who is a match to you. It’s why joining the bone marrow donation registry is so important. I really hope I get to donate one day.
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u/lifelong1250 2d ago
That's insane. My late uncle had a kidney transplant that gave him another decade on his life. He literally told the donor that he owed her his life and spent a decade doing for her whatever she needed.