Being a bit of an expert on these, I just thought I would expand on the process. In France you have to be under 51 years of age and in perfect health to become a donor, which rules most of us expats out of the equation.
It is now a relatively easy process if the donation is to be taken by stem cells, a drug is given to the donor for about a week before the donation and then they are harvested in a process that is like a kidney dialysis machine. All pretty painless and this was the way that Nick's donor gave his marrow.
Sometimes, there is a medical reason that they need a particular kind of marrow cells and these can only be harvested by actually taking them from the hip bone of the donor. This way isn't quite so painless.
Without donors, people like my husband would have a death sentence. Because of the kindness of a donor, Nick has been given another 30 (?) years of life to enjoy. If you can - join the register in France.
Anne
Val says As we cannot give blood Anne would the French take our bone marrow ?
Anne replies In answer to your question on TAG - the answer is, I believe, yes because the blood screening process looks for CJD. The French were happy to use a donor on the English bone marrow register so I guess they would accept English bone marrow donors.
AnneComments to taglines82@gmail.com
