My Non-Sacrificial Donation of Stem Cells to Save a Life – The Objective Standard
By JoanneRUSSELL25
I recently donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) to a middle-aged man with myelodysplastic syndrome. This is similar medically to a bone marrow donation (though less painful) and much more involved than a blood donation (which I have done regularly since I was seventeen). I found the whole process fascinating and a testament to the glory of mans mind and modern civilization.
The patient with myelodysplastic syndrome lives in central Europe. His bodys bone marrow was no longer producing healthy functioning blood cellsthat is, red blood cells, white blood cells, and plateletsa deficiency that could have resulted in his bodys loss of ability to fight infections or control bleeding, and possibly leukemia. The cure for his disease involved destroying his defective natural bone marrow and replacing it with someone elsesmine.
Bone marrow compatibility between donor and recipient is more complicated than blood types. He needed a donor whose human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins most closely matched his own in order to minimize the chance of graft-versus-host disease. His doctors found my data in the Be the Match Registry, where Im registered as a potential donor, and they judged my HLA proteins to be his best hope.
Eight weeks before the operation would take place, I was notified by phone about the match and the donation process. I was then asked whether I was willing to donate. I said yes (and was given several opportunities later to change my mind). In the following weeks, I provided two sets of blood samples to verify that I was healthy enough to donate and still a good match. I was flown out to the donation facility in Michigan to be examined physically, preview the process, and speak with the doctors and nurses who would collect the donation. My donor representative called me periodically to keep me informed and to verify my continuing consent. She also made the arrangements for collecting the samples, managed my travels, and ensured that my expenses were covered.
Here I am holdingthe final product just prior to its transportation to the recipientin central Europe.
As the donation date drew closer, I received ten shots of Filgrastim, a drug designed to stimulate additional blood stem cell formation, one shot in each arm for five days. This increased my white blood cell count far above normal and forced extra blood stem cells into my bloodstream, thus enabling the technicians to run my blood through an apheresis machine, which separated the phases of blood by density using centripetal acceleration. On the donation day, I sat in a comfy chair with an IV in each arm for four hours as a machine took blood from one arm, separated out the stem cells, and returned the rest of my blood via my other arm. While the process continued throughout the morning, the nurses took a few notes here and there, and, as my arms couldnt bend, fed me lunch (chicken wings from Jets Pizza). Once the machine had collected enough stem cells for the recipient (Im fifteen pounds heavier than he is, so it was easier on my body than it could have been), the IVs were removed, my blood was tested one final time to make sure I was OK to drive home, and I left.
My blood stem cells were then transported by private courier to the patient in central Europe. In preparation for the donation, his entire immune system and blood-producing machinery (bone marrow) had been destroyed using myeloablative chemotherapy in order to eliminate any remaining diseased cells and to suppress any immune response from his body to my replacement tissue. My blood stem cells were injected into his bloodstream by IV and then migrated to his bones to replace his destroyed bone marrow and eventually start producing new red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Essentially, my blood and my immune system are regrowing in his body. With these, he inherits my allergies and infectious disease history, and, if all goes well, my life force for another few decades.
Although the organization through which I donated does not pay for stem cells (because payment is against international registry standards), I was treated well and fully reimbursed for expenses. They paid for flights, a half dozen meals, a private driver at one point, hundreds of miles of my own driving, and my stays at nice hotels.
It is worth noting that the Institute for Justice (IJ) recently sued the U.S. attorney general to legalize bone marrow and stem cell donor compensation.1 As the IJ reports, the Ninth Circuit ruled in our favor, holding that the National Organ Transplant Acts ban on donor compensation does not apply to the most common method for donating marrow. This victory is especially helpful for certain minorities and people with multiracial ancestries who face significantly reduced odds of finding unrelated marrow donors. But direct compensation has been met with strong resistance by the major national and international marrow registry organizations, which also lobbied against IJs efforts in court.2 Currently, compensation for donations is being offered only by smaller organizations.
My motivation for donating cannot be reduced to just one reason, but it certainly was not a sacrifice. My reasons varied in depth and weight, but all were self-interested. I thought the process itself was fascinating. I was able to ask the doctors and nurses unlimited questions and to experience firsthand a medical procedure about which I had no previous knowledge. I enjoyed business-class travel, which, as a college student was a significant treat. Most broadly, I participated in an important aspect of the kind of civil society in which I want to live. I want someone to be willing to donate lifesaving tissue to me or my loved ones, should we need it in the future, and I was happy to donate first. The costs were trivialabout twenty-five hours of volunteered time and some minor discomfort. Overall, the experience was positive and spiritually rewarding.
The option to make a donation of this kind did not even exist a few decades ago. It is a function of many interrelated parts of todays modern, relatively free-market, science-oriented cultures. The establishment and maintenance of an international donor registry requires stable, relatively rights-protecting legal systems that enable long-range and large-scale planning among cooperative strangers. To find matches in a timely manner requires the speed and integrating capacities of computers and the Internet. The medical procedure itself requires the kinds of scientific knowledge and expensive technologies made possible by todays relatively free markets. The ability to pay for such a procedure requires substantial personal wealth, which more people have today than ever before. I am exceedingly grateful to live in our rich, science-oriented, relatively capitalist civilization at the time that I do. And I hope the recipient of my donation is able to enjoy many years more of living and loving life as I do.
Related:
Endnotes
1. Bone MarrowNOTA Challenge, Institute for Justice, http://ij.org/case/bonemarrow/.
2. Coalition Says PBSC Donor Compensation Poses Health Risks to Patients and Donors, Be the Match, February 2, 2012, https://bethematch.org/news/news-releases/coalition-says-pbsc-donor-compensation-poses-health-risks-to-patients-and-donors/.
Sign up to receive our free weekly newsletter.
See more here:
My Non-Sacrificial Donation of Stem Cells to Save a Life - The Objective Standard
- Efficacy and safety of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of refractory immune ... - Nature.com - April 28th, 2024
- Stem Cell Therapy: Know How The Procedure Stops Cancer - Times Now - April 28th, 2024
- Rejuvenating the immune system by depleting certain stem cells - National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov) - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - CBS News - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Long Island boy with rare blood disorder undergoes gene therapy - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Philadelphia Wings player, Connecticut man will be forever bonded by bone marrow donation: "He's my hero" - CBS Philly - April 10th, 2024
- VRD versus VCD as induction therapy before autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: a nationwide ... - Nature.com - April 10th, 2024
- Register as a bone marrow donor today and save lives - The Citizen - April 10th, 2024
- Resilient anatomy and local plasticity of naive and stress haematopoiesis - Nature.com - March 26th, 2024
- A Deeper Depth of Response After Salvage Therapy Improves Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in ... - Cureus - March 26th, 2024
- Iron restriction keeps blood stem cells young, researchers find - Phys.org - March 18th, 2024
- Blood drive, bone marrow testing to be held in local woman's memory - The Winchester Star - March 18th, 2024
- Signal of Benefit for Stem Cell Therapy in Progressive MS - Medscape - March 10th, 2024
- Woman, 22, With Leukemia Recalls Symptoms And New Treatment She Received: EXCLUSIVE - TODAY - March 10th, 2024
- This Swedish startup wants to reduce the cost, and controversy, around stem cell production - TechCrunch - March 10th, 2024
- Outcomes and prognosis of haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with FLT3-ITD mutated ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Harmonizing definitions for hematopoietic recovery, graft rejection, graft failure, poor graft function, and donor ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cell therapy activity landscape survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; a report ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- How an MS friendship led to HSCT and a love of running - Multiple Sclerosis News Today - March 10th, 2024
- Iron Limitation Preserves Youthfulness of Blood Stem Cells - Mirage News - March 10th, 2024
- Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis: A retrospective analysis of the ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- AJMC in the Press, February 23, 2024 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - February 24th, 2024
- Orca Bio Presents Promising Data on Orca-T in Two Oral Presentations at the 2024 Tandem Meetings of ASTCT and ... - Yahoo Finance - February 24th, 2024
- New approaches to live-track the production of different types of blood cells in mice - Medical Xpress - February 24th, 2024
- If Other Treatments Aren't Working -- Stem Cell Transplant May Be A Good Option In CLL - SurvivorNet - February 24th, 2024
- Expanding the Horizons of Cell and Gene Therapy - RegMedNet - February 24th, 2024
- The strangers who saved each others lives - BBC - February 24th, 2024
- City of Hope Research Featuring the Successful Treatment of the Oldest Patient to Achieve Remission for Leukemia ... - StreetInsider.com - February 15th, 2024
- 3D printing and material processing combined to create artificial bone - Optics.org - February 15th, 2024
- Man, 63, is in remission from HIV five years after receiving groundbreaking stem cell transplant... - The Sun - February 15th, 2024
- Team demonstrates fabrication method to construct 3D structures that mimic bone microstructure - Phys.org - February 15th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Their Role in Development and Disease Therapy - The Scientist - February 15th, 2024
- Blood cell family trees trace how production changes with aging - MIT News - February 7th, 2024
- New study on promising stem cell-based therapy for Crohn's disease - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Second haploidentical bone marrow transplantation with antithymocyte antibody-containing conditioning regimen for ... - Nature.com - January 30th, 2024
- Stem cell study shows how gene activity modulates the amount of immune cell production in mice - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Global Stem Cell Therapy Industry Outlook to 2028, Driven by Therapeutic Innovations and Clinical Advancements ... - Yahoo Finance - January 30th, 2024
- 1st-of-its-kind therapy blocks immune attack after stem-cell transplant - Livescience.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Individualized dose of anti-thymocyte globulin based on weight and pre-transplantation lymphocyte counts in pediatric ... - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Implications of stress-induced gene expression for hematopoietic stem cell aging studies - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- LVHN announces opening of new stem cell transplant center. Here's what that means for the Lehigh Valley - The Morning Call - January 22nd, 2024
- Fast Five Quiz: Chronic GVHD Risk Factors and Prevention - Medscape Reference - January 22nd, 2024
- Could Treatments for HIV and Sickle Cell Open the Gene Therapy Floodgates? - BioSpace - January 22nd, 2024
- Effects of fine particulate matter on bone marrow-conserved hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells: a systematic ... - Nature.com - January 14th, 2024
- Donating Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: The Process and What To Expect - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering - January 14th, 2024
- No, Rep. Steve Scalise Didn't Vote Against Stem Cell Research From Which He Is Now Benefiting - Yahoo News - January 14th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Market to Grow Rapidly During the Study Period (2019-2032), Evaluates ... - PR Newswire - January 14th, 2024
- Life-saving donation from Philly athlete saves life: 'Feeling so strong, I owe that all to him' - AOL - January 14th, 2024
- The Key to Creating Blood Stem Cells May Lie in Your Own Blood - ScienceAlert - January 14th, 2024
- Dr Phillips on the Rationale for the GLOBRYTE Trial in Relapsed/Refractory MCL - OncLive - January 14th, 2024
- COVID-19 and HSCT Recipients: Risk Factors and Prevention Measures - Medriva - January 14th, 2024
- Bone Marrow Transplant: Heres What You Need To Know About This Therapy - Times Now - January 5th, 2024
- New insights about the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Drug Target Review - December 28th, 2023
- Bone Marrow Transplantation | Johns Hopkins Medicine - December 20th, 2023
- Stem Cell or Bone Marrow Transplant | American Cancer Society - December 20th, 2023
- Embryonic-stem-cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells relieve experimental contact urticaria by regulating the functions ... - Nature.com - December 20th, 2023
- Researchers discover crucial step in creating blood stem cells - Phys.org - December 20th, 2023
- A niche topic: understanding the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - December 20th, 2023
- Vertex developed a CRISPR cure. Its already on the hunt for something better. - MIT Technology Review - December 20th, 2023
- FDA approves cure for sickle cell disease, the first treatment to use gene-editing tool CRISPR - NBC News - December 12th, 2023
- First therapy using CRISPR technology will treat sickle cell disease - Morning Brew - December 12th, 2023
- 7 medical breakthroughs that gave us hope in 2023 - National Geographic - December 12th, 2023
- Understanding Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - Everyday Health - December 12th, 2023
- Mansour bin Zayed witnesses inauguration of ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 - ZAWYA - November 26th, 2023
- ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 to take place in Abu Dhabi - ZAWYA - November 18th, 2023
- Orchard Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Announces Initiation of Rolling Submission for Biologics License Application of... - May 16th, 2023
- Family of 7-month-old in need of bone marrow transplant hosting donor registration event - CBS Pittsburgh - May 8th, 2023
- Anika Continues to Expand Addressable Market for Tactoset Injectable Bone Substitute with Additional 510(k) Clearance from FDA - Marketscreener.com - April 5th, 2023
- MorphoSys Completes Enrollment of Phase 3 MANIFEST-2 Study of Pelabresib in Myelofibrosis with Topline Results Expected by End of 2023 -... - April 5th, 2023
- VOR BIOPHARMA INC. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 25th, 2023
- BioRestorative Therapies to Seek FDA Approval to Expand the Clinical Application of BRTX-100 - Marketscreener.com - March 17th, 2023
- BioSenic delivers a new post-hoc analysis of its Phase III JTA-004 trial on knee osteo-arthritis with positive action on the most severely affected... - March 17th, 2023
- JASPER THERAPEUTICS, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 9th, 2023
- For a range of unmet medical needs, India offers a fantastic opportunity to push cell and gene therapies: B .. - ETHealthWorld - March 9th, 2023
- NGM BIOPHARMACEUTICALS INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 1st, 2023
- Bone health: Tips to keep your bones healthy - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone marrow drive held for military wife with cancer - January 27th, 2023
- Bone cancer - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone | Definition, Anatomy, & Composition | Britannica - January 19th, 2023