A story about the real experience of bone marrow donation
Donor Love
Artem Kostyukovsky, Special correspondent of RusfondLyubov is a person from the National Register of Bone Marrow Donors, which the R.M. Gorbacheva Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Transplantation and Rusfond are currently working on.
We cannot give the name of our interlocutor – bone marrow donation is anonymous all over the world. She works as an assistant to the general director of one of the St. Petersburg companies. A year ago, the first Love in our registry became a real donor. And she is the first real Russian bone marrow donor to agree to an interview.
The National Register of Bone Marrow Donors has been created since August 2013 by the staff of the R.M. Gorbacheva Research Institute (St. Petersburg) for donations from readers of Kommersant and rusfond.ru . Rusfond transferred over 58 million rubles for the creation of the register. There are currently 2,625 potential donors in the St. Petersburg Register. Six have already become real donors – they have shared their hematopoietic stem cells with patients with leukemia. There are 29,053 donors in the unified database of bone marrow donors created by the Gorbacheva Research Institute. This database includes Kazakhstan and six regional Russian registers.
– Lyubov, please tell us about yourself.
– I am 30 years old, I am a citizen of Ukraine. Since 2005 I have been living in St. Petersburg, I have been applying for Russian citizenship for a long time. I hope I'll get it in January. My first education was medical, I worked as a nurse.
– How did you get into the register?
– I'm a blood donor. Three years ago, I was told that blood could be donated for typing – for the bone marrow donor registry. I went and passed. And I forgot. Two years later, I got a call: "Do you remember, you became a potential bone marrow donor?" I didn't even understand what it was about at first, but then I remembered, of course. I say, "Okay, I agree."
– Have you consulted with your relatives?
– I only told my sister. Parents and grandparents – two months later. They'd be worried.
– How long did the preparation take?
– A little over a month. Examination, additional tests, then subcutaneous injections of a drug that stimulates the growth of hematopoietic stem cells. They warned that there may be unpleasant sensations, as with a cold: fever, pain in the bones. But I didn't feel anything at all, there were no negative consequences.
– Was it scary at some stage?
– I was told that there are two options for taking cells: from peripheral blood and through a puncture in the bone under general anesthesia. The choice was mine. I knew that for some patients it is better to take cells from the bone. And I was afraid, but not of a puncture, but of general anesthesia. I would have agreed anyway, but the doctors said it was possible from blood.
– How was the procedure?
– Just like a regular blood donation, only from two hands. It lasted four hours. I've already talked to all the nurses and doctors, watched a movie, listened to music. One procedure was not enough: I was told that the recipient weighs much more than me, I had to come for another four hours.
– How did you feel after?
– The first day is good. I arrived by car, I wanted to go back myself, but the doctor dissuaded me. He said he would drive me himself. And the second time after the procedure, when I got up, I felt very dizzy. For the first time I learned what "legs give way" is. I spent an hour with the doctors, they gave me tea, fed me. Then the doctor took me home.
– Did you recover for a long time?
– No, in two hours it's already gone.
– What emotions did you experience during this whole story?
– Amazing. After all, this is a unique event, because coincidences rarely happen. When my brothers and sisters found out, they said: we also want to, we will also become donors. I tell my friends and colleagues that it's not scary and it doesn't hurt at all.
– Do you know anything about the patient to whom your stem cells were transplanted?
– I only know that this is an adult male, that the transplantation was successful, the cells took root. In general, I wanted to help the children. And then I thought: what's the difference? For someone, he is also a child, and for someone, perhaps, a dad.
– Would you agree to become a donor again?
– Yes, but it is possible to become a bone marrow donor only for one patient, this is a worldwide practice. So I've already used my chance. And I am very glad that I was able to help.
- How to become a bone marrow donor Donate to the creation of a register of bone marrow donors
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