The Nonlinear Library EA - My Experience Donating Blood Stem Cells, or: Why You Should Join a Bone Marrow Registry by Silas Strawn
Jan 3, 2024
12:17
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: My Experience Donating Blood Stem Cells, or: Why You Should Join a Bone Marrow Registry, published by Silas Strawn on January 3, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Note: I'm not a doctor. Please don't make decisions about your health based on an EA forum post before at least talking with a physician or other licensed healthcare practitioner.
TLDR: I donated blood stem cells in early 2021. Immediately prior, I had been identified as the best match for someone in need of a bone marrow transplant, likely with leukemia, lymphoma, or similar condition. Although the first attempt to collect my blood stem cells failed, my experience was overwhelmingly positive as well as fulfilling on a personal level. The foundation running the donation took pains to make it as convenient as possible - and free, other than my time.
I recovered quickly and have had no long-term issues related to the donation[1]. I would encourage everyone to at least do the cheek swab to join the registry if they are able.
this page to join the Be The Match registry.
This post was prompted - very belatedly - by a comment from "demost_" on Scott Alexander's post about his experience donating a kidney[2]. The commenter was speculating about the differences between bone marrow donation and kidney donation[3]. I'm typically a lurker, but I figured this is a case where I actually do have something to say[4]. According to demost_, fewer than 1% of those on the bone marrow registry get matched, so my experience is relatively rare.
I checked and couldn't find any other forum posts about being a blood stem cell or bone marrow donor. I hope to shine a light on what the experience is like as a donor. I know EAs are supposed to be motivated by cold, hard facts and rationality and so this post may stick out since it's recounting a personal experience[5]. Nevertheless, given how close-to-home matters of health are, I figured this could be useful for those considering joining the registry or donating.
My Donation Experience
I joined the registry toward the end of my college years. I don't recall the exact details, but I've pieced together the timeline from my email archives. Be The Match got my cheek swab sample in December 2019 and I officially joined the registry in January 2020. If you're a university student (at least in America[6]), there's a good chance that at some point there will be a table in your commons or quad where volunteers will be offering cheek swabs to join the bone marrow donor registry. The whole process takes a few minutes and I'd encourage everyone to at least join the registry if they can.
Mid-December 2020, I was matched and started the donation process. For the sake of privacy, they don't tell you anything about the recipient at that point beyond the vaguest possible demographic info. I think they told me the gender and an age range, but nothing besides.
demost_ supposed that would-be donors should be more moved to donate bone marrow than kidneys since there's a particular, identifiable person in need (and marrow is much more difficult to match, so you're less replaceable as a donor). I can personally attest to this. Even though I didn't know much about the recipient at all, I felt an extreme moral obligation to see the process through. I knew that my choice to donate could make a massive difference to this person.
I imagined how I would feel if it were a friend or loved one in need or even myself. The minor inconveniences of donating felt doubly minor next to the weight of someone's life.
As a college student, I had a fluid schedule. I was also fortunate that my distributed systems professor was happy to let me defer an exam scheduled for the donation date. To their credit, Be The Match offered not only to compensate any costs associated with the donation, but also to replace any wages missed...
Note: I'm not a doctor. Please don't make decisions about your health based on an EA forum post before at least talking with a physician or other licensed healthcare practitioner.
TLDR: I donated blood stem cells in early 2021. Immediately prior, I had been identified as the best match for someone in need of a bone marrow transplant, likely with leukemia, lymphoma, or similar condition. Although the first attempt to collect my blood stem cells failed, my experience was overwhelmingly positive as well as fulfilling on a personal level. The foundation running the donation took pains to make it as convenient as possible - and free, other than my time.
I recovered quickly and have had no long-term issues related to the donation[1]. I would encourage everyone to at least do the cheek swab to join the registry if they are able.
this page to join the Be The Match registry.
This post was prompted - very belatedly - by a comment from "demost_" on Scott Alexander's post about his experience donating a kidney[2]. The commenter was speculating about the differences between bone marrow donation and kidney donation[3]. I'm typically a lurker, but I figured this is a case where I actually do have something to say[4]. According to demost_, fewer than 1% of those on the bone marrow registry get matched, so my experience is relatively rare.
I checked and couldn't find any other forum posts about being a blood stem cell or bone marrow donor. I hope to shine a light on what the experience is like as a donor. I know EAs are supposed to be motivated by cold, hard facts and rationality and so this post may stick out since it's recounting a personal experience[5]. Nevertheless, given how close-to-home matters of health are, I figured this could be useful for those considering joining the registry or donating.
My Donation Experience
I joined the registry toward the end of my college years. I don't recall the exact details, but I've pieced together the timeline from my email archives. Be The Match got my cheek swab sample in December 2019 and I officially joined the registry in January 2020. If you're a university student (at least in America[6]), there's a good chance that at some point there will be a table in your commons or quad where volunteers will be offering cheek swabs to join the bone marrow donor registry. The whole process takes a few minutes and I'd encourage everyone to at least join the registry if they can.
Mid-December 2020, I was matched and started the donation process. For the sake of privacy, they don't tell you anything about the recipient at that point beyond the vaguest possible demographic info. I think they told me the gender and an age range, but nothing besides.
demost_ supposed that would-be donors should be more moved to donate bone marrow than kidneys since there's a particular, identifiable person in need (and marrow is much more difficult to match, so you're less replaceable as a donor). I can personally attest to this. Even though I didn't know much about the recipient at all, I felt an extreme moral obligation to see the process through. I knew that my choice to donate could make a massive difference to this person.
I imagined how I would feel if it were a friend or loved one in need or even myself. The minor inconveniences of donating felt doubly minor next to the weight of someone's life.
As a college student, I had a fluid schedule. I was also fortunate that my distributed systems professor was happy to let me defer an exam scheduled for the donation date. To their credit, Be The Match offered not only to compensate any costs associated with the donation, but also to replace any wages missed...