I’ve joined the stem cell register to support an appeal, what happens now?
Information from stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan.
Once we’ve added you to the register, you’ll get an email from us with your virtual donor card. Then all you have to do is sit back and wait to see if you’re a match for someone who needs a transplant.
It may be months, years or you might never be matched with someone. The important thing is that you’ve put yourself forward.
Please let us know if you move home or change your phone number so we can get in contact with you if you are a match for someone in need.
Who chooses the donor?
When a patient needs a stem cell transplant, Anthony Nolan searches UK and international registries for someone with a matching tissue type who could donate lifesaving cells.
Hospitals will choose the best match for the patient; this starts by taking a blood sample. Testing can take up to eight weeks. Sometimes several potential donors are identified at once.
How do you donate?
If you’re selected as the best match for the patient and once you are cleared to donate after medical examinations, we’ll arrange a date that suits you and organise everything.
There are donation centres in NHS and private hospitals in Sheffield, Manchester, Oxford and London, so we’ll make sure you’re booked in somewhere convenient for you.
We’ll also book and pay for hotels, travel, and any reasonable expenses for you and a companion. You may have to take time off work for your donation and while you recover. If you can’t take paid leave, then we’ll cover any loss of earnings.
Once in hospital, your donation will be collected in one of two ways – either through your bloodstream or from your bone marrow. Both procedures are carried out thousands of times every year and are very safe.
Your donation will be completely anonymous. Once it’s done, your amazing, unique, lifesaving cells could go to help someone anywhere in the world!
Bloodstream vs bone marrow donations
Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) are blood stem cells that can be collected straight from the bloodstream. This method is used 90% of the time in a procedure like donating plasma.
The bone marrow is where blood stem cells are created before they mature into red cells, white cells or platelets. Gathering these cells is called a bone marrow collection and is an operation under general anaesthetic, accounting for 10% of donations.
Doctors treating the recipient will advise on which method of donation is best for the patient.
After your donation
Once you have donated, our lovely Donor Follow-Up team will check in with you to make sure you’re doing OK.
Most donors will feel some side-effects due to their donation, but they’re usually mild and get better with rest:
If you donate through your bloodstream, the most common side effect is bone pain after your pre-donation injections as your body is busy producing extra stem cells. You may also feel fatigued – taking paracetamol and resting should help, and these will go away quickly after your donation day.
If you donate through your bone marrow, you’ll feel achy in the area around your hip bones in your back where the bone marrow was taken from and have some bruising, as well as feel tired after the general anaesthetic. Again, taking paracetamol and resting should help and will soon go away.
We also keep in touch with our donors for the next 10 years to make sure you’re doing well.
Depending on the rules in different countries, our Donor Follow-Up team might be able to help you make contact with your recipient if you wanted to – this would be anonymous for the first two years.
Why might someone need a stem cell transplant?
A stem cell transplant is a treatment for blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukaemia and blood disorders like thalassemia. A stem cell transplant replaces damaged or diseased cells with healthy ones from a donor, giving the patient a new immune system.
It’s often used when other treatments, like chemotherapy or radiotherapy, haven’t been effective or when the condition has returned after treatment. The transplant allows the body to start producing healthy blood cells again, helping to treat the underlying illness.
How many stem cell transplants has Anthony Nolan organised?
Since the charity’s inception in 1974, Anthony Nolan has facilitated over 26,500 stem cell transplants. These transplants have given more time to families and in some cases even allowed children to grow up and become nurses working at the very hospitals where they received treatment.
Currently, many patients, especially those from minority ethnic backgrounds, struggle to find a matching donor as matches are based on tissue type. If you’re from a minority ethnic background you’re more likely to have a unique tissue type. The more people who join the register, particularly from diverse backgrounds, the higher the chance we have of finding a life-saving match for someone in need.
For more information, to sign up to the register or support our work, head to Anthonynolan.org