Fixed+Rotary (aircraft, not washing lines)
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Peak District, Yorkshire, UK
Age: 56
Posts: 357
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Balix - I was one of the first bone marrow donors in the UK, many years ago now (23 yrs next month to be exact). Donated to my brother who had leukeamia and he is still with us today!
I expect that the procedures will have changed a lot, I'm not up to date on how things work now. For what its worth I had a GA as a few hundred ml of marrow was extracted from my hips. The procedure then was new, and I had around 40 (count 'em) holes drilled into my hips, 10 on each side, front and back.
No drugs beyond the anasthetic and anti-coagulants to keep the marrow 'fresh'. Made for quite a loss of blood as I couldn't stop bleeding post-op ;-)
The struggle after that was the pain, I was laid out for about 2 days as I simply couldn't move as my hips felt as though they had been hit with sledgehammers. I was up and walking slowly after a few days and back to normal (running, jumping) after say two weeks.
No doubt things will have changed - but check on what the surgery will entail. If there is any drilling to be done you might find you are incapacitated for a few days. It might keep you off work but shouldn't affect your licence.
Good on you! It is a very valuable thing you are doing. I'm on the register but haven't been called up since 1983 but I'd do it again tomorrow if needed.