Dennis' Donation Story
Post 5: Over a Month Later
January 29, 2012
1:17 AM
It has been almost a month and a half since I donated my bone marrow. Amazingly, the recovery process hasn’t been very bad and actually has been quite painless. I won’t lie to you, there were times where I would wake up and shift my body and if my body was contorted in a strange position (ie. trying to flip my body over from laying on my back to my belly) I would suddenly feel a jolt shoot down my legs, telling me to stop moving so fast. There were the occasional times where I would have to grunt and use my body as a seesaw to get out of bed, much like if you went snowboarding for the first time and your butt just hurts.
Like I said in my post about the day after the surgery, I could not walk very fast for a few days. But by the following Monday after my surgery, I was able to walk at a normal pace (brisk) without causing any discomfort. I was wondering if my severe flat feet would cause any additional strain from the procedure, but it turned out there weren’t any problems there either.
Since week three of recovery, I’ve been using the stationary bike (low/non-impact exercise), have been lightly jogging here and there, and carried over 25 pounds worth of groceries without a problem (I know, WHAT am I buying?!). There have been times where I’ll lean over to pick something up and will feel a jolt in my hip or legs, which I am unsure if it is due to the surgery or if I’ve always had that happen.
All in all, NMDP has a pretty good general timeline that one could use to figure out the level of pain/discomfort you’ll be in due to the donation. I’m not Superman or in super good health. I eat my fair share of crummy food and sometimes fruits and veggies (although, the entire week after my surgery I had red meat at least once every day), work out one or two times a week, and don’t smoke or drink (heavily).
So, one could call me the average Joe, which probably means most people can use the same timeline of what to expect after the surgery. It has been a pleasant surprise and definitely makes me feel like donating again wouldn’t be a hard decision.