![]() Normally, not many stem cells are found in the blood. Signs of the new blood cells usually can be measured in the patient’s blood tests in a few weeks. The stem cells travel to the bone marrow, where they engraft or “take” and start to make blood cells. When the marrow is to be used, it’s thawed and then put into the patient’s blood through a vein, just like a blood transfusion. The harvested marrow is filtered, stored in a special solution in bags, and then frozen. (For more on this, see What’s It Like to Donate Stem Cells?) This is repeated until enough marrow has been taken out. The thick liquid marrow is pulled out through the needle. A large needle is put through the skin on the lower back and into the back of the hip bone. The bone marrow is harvested (removed) while the donor is under general anesthesia (drugs are used to put the patient into a deep sleep so they don’t feel pain). Enough marrow must be removed to collect a large number of healthy stem cells. For this reason, cells from the pelvic bone are used most often for a bone marrow transplant. The bones of the pelvis (hip) have the most marrow and contain large numbers of stem cells. It has a rich supply of stem cells, and its main job is to make blood cells that circulate in your body.
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