I am not really surprised that Michael Brecker's wife has minimized the process of bone marrow donation. In reality, in order to cull stemcells from the blood, you have to have a large vein from either the arm, leg or groin connected to a machine for about 4 to 6 hours. It's more like going for dialysis than donating a pint of blood. It can be a fairly invasive treatment if you need a catheter placed in your groin or leg. I won't speculate as to how painful or uncomfortable the procedure is, but I know you should be prepared to spend a day in the hospital and probably a day after recuperating at home.
If you end up giving bone marrow, that is a more invasive treatment that requires general anesthesia while a needle is used to remove bone marrow from the hip in several places. It will leave you pretty sore for a few days, and also involves a day in the hospital. In addition, there are always some risks associated with general anesthesia that cannot be dismissed.
I'm not saying that people should not register with the bone marrow registry, but I do think that anyone doing so should be made aware of just what a donation entails. In fact, I believe that registering is something that everyone should do along with signing the organ donor part of their drivers license.
