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So'n'so - 13 Jan 2004 02:27 GMT

I would like to make a call for everyone (especially minorities...let me say
that again...MINORITIES!) to a) enroll in the National Bone Marrow Registry
(easy to do, and believe me, if someone told you that you could save a life
with a few days of lying in bed, you would say Yes), b) consider getting HLA
typed and doing pheresis blood donations (they are now much easier, faster,
and more specific than when first invented almost 30 years ago), and c)
encourage the blood banks to be more rational about their screening
procedures for people who have travelled to Africa (among other places) when
it comes to discouraging donors (when I first started there was a lot of
directed *research* donations...they don't do that anymore).

I have met many people saved by platelet, plasma, leukocyte, and bone marrow
donations. Let's get America to do something truly patriotic.

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Douglas - 14 Jan 2004 19:53 GMT

"So'n'so" <nosnos@nyc.rr.com> on 12 Jan 2004 suggested:

> I would like to make a call for everyone (especially minorities...let
> me say that again...MINORITIES!) to a) enroll in the National Bone
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> discouraging donors (when I first started there was a lot of directed
> *research* donations...they don't do that anymore).

I registereda LONG time ago, but now that you've brought it up, I
have a question. Now that I have been diagnosed with cancer, is my
marrow still useful to anyone, or should I have them remove me from the
list, as my marrow might cause more harm than good? Thanks for any info
you can provide.

> I have met many people saved by platelet, plasma, leukocyte, and bone
> marrow donations. Let's get America to do something truly patriotic.

I was a regular blood donor of whole blood every two months, and
platelets whenever they called and asked, until I was deferred for
visiting a Malaria area, and when the deferral expired, I was DXed with
cancer, which I think is a permanent deferral if I remember correctly.

--Douglas

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J - 14 Jan 2004 21:06 GMT

> I registereda LONG time ago, but now that you've brought it up, I
> have a question. Now that I have been diagnosed with cancer, is my
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> --Douglas

For some reason, seems to me, when I was researching it for someone else, we
were told the criteria varied slightly by centre (depending on the need)..and
I cannot remember what they said about cancer (or chemo)
https://www.marrow-donor.org/CONTACT/contact_us_idx.html (somewhere in that
maze is an online form also but I've lost it now and it might have been just
to confirm registration or update one's addrsss and phone number)
http://www.marrow.org/NMDP/donor_centers.html
J

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Douglas - 14 Jan 2004 22:37 GMT

J <BandWidth@example.org> on 14 Jan 2004 suggested:

>> I registereda LONG time ago, but now that you've brought it up,
>> I
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> addrsss and phone number)
> http://www.marrow.org/NMDP/donor_centers.html J

Strange how thoughts and ideas seem to flow in time. I received
in the mail today, a request from the National Marrow Donor Program to
update my information. So then I went to their website, and found the
relevant page,
http://www.marrow.org/HELP/marrow_eligibility_guidelines.html, which has
the following paragraph:

"Cancer:
Cured local skin cancer (only simple basal cell or squamous cell) is
acceptable. Cervical cancer in situ is acceptable. All other forms of
cancer are unacceptable."

So it seems to be the same as with blood. Permanent deferral.

--Douglas

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Douglas - 14 Jan 2004 23:09 GMT

> Strange how thoughts and ideas seem to flow in time. I received
> in the mail today, a request from the National Marrow Donor Program
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> So it seems to be the same as with blood. Permanent
> deferral.

Okay, I was in error with regards to blood. Here's the official
Red Cross Eligibility Rule for blood donors who have had cancer:

"Cancer
Acceptable if the cancer was treated with only surgery or radiation, and
it has been at least 5 years since treatment was completed with no
cancer recurrence. If your cancer was treated with chemotherapy,
hormonal therapy or immunotherapy, you are not eligible to donate. If
you had leukemia or lymphoma, including Hodgkins Disease, you are not
eligible to donate. Some low-risk cancers including squamous or basal
cell cancers of the skin do not require a 5 year waiting period.

"Precancerous conditions of the uterine cervix do not disqualify you
from donation if the abnormality has been treated successfully.

"You should discuss your particular situation with the health historian
at the time of donation. "

This is found at http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_
557_,00.html. But for me, it still means permanent deferral, since I
had chemo.

--Douglas

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