A marrow transplant is a way to treat and possibly cure people with leukemia and other deadly blood diseases.  When a person's marrow or blood becomes diseased, a donation of marrow from a matched donor can help them grow new, healthy blood cells.

Q. What is marrow?
A. Marrow is the spongy material inside bones.  It's where blood cells grow.  Special cells, called blood stem cells, can grow into any kind of blood cell the body needs to live.  It's these cells, collected from the marrow, that can help a patient grow new, healthy cells.

Q. Why would anyone want to be a volunteer donor?
A. Most donors join because they believe it's the right thing to do.  They want to help save a person's life.  If someone in their own family needed a transplant to live, they would want others to donate.  They want to help others the same way they would want others to help them.

Q. Why does a donor's race matter?
A. Transplantation requires matching tissue types between donors and patients.  Because tissue types are inherited in the same way as hair or eye color, patients are more likely to match donors of their own race.

Q. What happens if I come up as a match?
A. You might be identified as a potential match at anytime after you join, up until your 61st birthday.  It might be weeks, months, years or never.  But if you do, you will get a call from the donor center where you joined.  You will be asked for additional blood samples to see if you are the best match for the patient.  You'll learn all about the donation process, and you'll be given a physical to determine that donation is safe for both you and the patient.  If you are the best match, and agree to donate, you could go on to save a life.

Q. How is marrow collected?
A. Marrow collection is a surgical procedure, performed while the donor is under anesthesia.  Doctors use special needles to withdraw liquid marrow from the back of the pelvic bones.  It takes about an hour, and donors usually go home the same day.

Blood stem cells can also be collected from circulating blood.  A donor receives injections of a drug, just like our body already produces.  This helps move the stem cells into the blood stream.   The blood is removed through a needle in one arm, passed through a machine that separates out the stem cells, and then returned to the donor through the other arm.  The donor is awake during this process.

Q. Does donating hurt?
A. It varies from person to person.  Marrow donors can expect some soreness in their lower back for a few days or more.  Blood stem cell donors might experience muscle aches, bone pain, and other side effects caused by the drug they receive before the donation.  Most donors say they would do it again -- that it's a small price to pay to save another person's life.