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Keyan talks about his
donation experience

KM Group reporter Keyan Milanian has
just had a procedure to 'harvest' stem cells to donate bone
marrow.

It is the gift of life. Here, in his own words, he tells of the
moments just before the donation....

Adult male - a life in two little words.

But those two words, just nine letters in all, are the reason I
am in hospital receiving a stringent medical before my blood stem
cells are collected.

Just over 18 months ago I signed up, along with colleagues on
the Gravesend
and Dartford
Messengers, to a bone marrow donor register to help find a
match for Rianna Deol, a six-year-old from Dartford.

Rianna received a transplant last year and her family are
waiting to see whether the resulting operation was a full
success.

Rianna is one of the lucky ones. But the stark reality is,
many patients will die if they do not receive transplants.

Every year thousands of people with bone marrow diseases like
leukaemia and aplastic anaemia, reach a stage where their only hope
of survival is a blood stem cell transplant from a donor who shares
the same tissue type.

Although family members, mainly siblings, may offer the best
match, 70 per cent of patients do not have a suitable sibling match
and must rely on a stranger to offer the chance of life.

I started undergoing further tests at the end of last year and
have been confirmed as a match for a patient.

When I told my aunt, her response was typical of many I have
spoken to about the process: "Doesn't that hurt? I wouldn't do it."
One myth the Anthony Nolan Trust is trying
to break is that bone marrow donation always requires surgery.

Eighty per cent of donations are carried out by peripheral blood
stem cell harvest rather than the original marrow donation, which
requires surgery.

Although the marrow donation is described as "uncomfortable" for
donors, the only side-effects of the cell harvest are flu-like
symptoms during the administering of G-CSF and tiredness after the
procedure.

Donors can request to know the condition of the patient but
their identity is kept confidential.

Although all I have been told is an adult male will be sharing
my cells, the feeling you are potentially saving someone's life is
special enough.

• To find out more about bone marrow donation, go to the Anthony Nolan Trust website