Imagine being told you could save a life. That was what faced me when I got a call earlier this year telling me that I was a match for stem cell donation. Initially, my head filled with questions: Will it hurt? And of course, what actually is a stem cell…?!
You may be asking yourself the same questions I was, so I will try to explain it a little without leaning on too much jargon.
To give some context, I added myself to the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register in 2018, following a visit to my school from some Anthony Nolan volunteers. At the time, I forgot about the register. Changing my details on the register when I received email reminders, but never believing that a donation would ever be required from little old me.
Stem cell therapy is a regenerative form of medicine most frequently used in cancer treatment (although researchers are exploring other uses). In a stem cell transplant, cells are taken from a healthy donor and given to an individual to replace cells that may have been destroyed or have died, or they can be used to destroy cancerous cells. That is a brief summary of what stem cell therapy actually means in relation to my donation, but there are a plethora of other potential uses for the mighty stem cell, for example sports injury recovery.
Back in 1974, Shirley Nolan set up the register to find a donor for her son, Anthony, after no one in their family was a match. Sadly, Anthony didn’t find a donor in time and died in 1979, but his legacy lives on through the register—the first of its kind.
Since its creation the register has played a vital role in providing 22,000 patients with a potentially lifesaving transplant – a huge number that is a testament to the impact the register has had. Of course, to achieve that, they need volunteers and as of 2024, there are more than 900,000 people on the register helping to save lives through stem cells.
The donation process itself was pretty straightforward. Initially I had a nurse come to my flat, to take some blood for tests and to confirm I was a match. Following that, I went for a full medical at the clinic used by Anthony Nolan. Everyone I interacted with over that period was utterly lovely, and did their utmost to ensure I was comfortable, aware of what was happening, and happy! I think clinical settings and blood tests etc. can be a bit daunting, but they really would put anyone at ease.
Following those tests I was cleared for donation. Prior to the donation itself, donors must take GCS-F injections that boost the body’s stem cell production, increasing their abundance in the blood stream and meaning that on donation day there is the best possible chance of all necessary stem cells being harvested in one sitting. These injections were the worst part of the process, and that was because as a side effect they can make your joints ache a bit, but it really wasn’t that bad.
For the next stage, I was taken to the same clinic where I’d had the medical. The nurses and room being the same made the whole process stress free as there were no surprises. Donating itself was simple, it just involved being hooked up to a machine and lying down for four hours, something I was perfectly happy to do.
The register is open to those aged 18-31 and individuals will stay on it until they are 61. To register, all it takes is a brief cheek swab! I would implore anyone reading this to consider registering, or if outside the age bracket, to consider supporting the Anthony Nolan foundation in another way. Every 14 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and the more people that are on the register, the more likely they are to find a potentially life-saving match.
More information can be found about supporting Anthony Nolan, here.