The experience of donating bone marrow to a relative

To describe and understand the experience of donating bone marrow to a relative.

Exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative.

An urban comprehensive cancer center.

Twelve donors were interviewed--eight women and four men. The average age was 47, and the average length of time since donation was nine months. At the time of the interview, seven recipients were living and five had died.

Open-ended, face-to-face, or telephone interviews were conducted within one year of bone marrow donation using an interview guide.

Psychosocial consequences of donating bone marrow to a relative.

The main theme was Doing What It Takes When a Family Member Has Cancer. This goal guided the decision-making process, psychological responses, and family relationships once transplantation was necessary. Six subthemes emerged: Dealing With the Donation Procedure, Informational Needs, Psychological Impact of the Donor Role, Managing Family Relationships, Monitoring One's Own Health Before Donation, and Adjusting to the Transplant Recipient's Medical Condition.

Subjects expressed little or no reluctance to donate bone marrow, and all would repeat the experience. Subjects felt deep personal satisfaction and gratitude for an opportunity to donate. Stressful aspects of the experience related to unanticipated pain after the procedure, negative transplant outcomes, and relationships with the bone marrow recipients' family.

Predonation assessment should identify donors' need for information as well as types and sources of information, how donors and families have coped with previous crises, and discussions of potential negative transplantation outcomes and impact on donors. Donors' coping and adjustment should be monitored throughout the transplantation process, particularly when coping problems or potential problems are identified or with negative transplantation outcomes. Formal donor support programs should be considered.