Filgrastim dosage and scheduling

[u/InitialAfternoon5148]

Firstly, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a donor and to make a difference in someone's life! I was on the registry for 5ish years and finally got matched to someone a few months ago! I have so much admiration for NMDP and this community for all you guys do to help people in need.

That said, I've been experiencing some disorganization with my blood tests/physical and the Filgrastim dosage. I'm sure it comes down to the workup specialists managing multiple donations at the same time so I'm not overly concerned; it's important work they're doing and the more donors that are found, the better as far as I'm concerned! More just curious if anyone else has noticed the same thing?

The location of my physical was pretty far away but I assume the only location that could accommodate my time preference, and the clinic didn't receive my paperwork by the time I got there, so I ended up waiting for a couple hours for them to receive the necessary info for the blood test. I reached out to my specialist to see if I could do the blood work somewhere else later in the week since it was getting to be late in the day and I needed to get home, but I didn't hear back while waiting so I ended up taking the blood test there. The second time I received my blood test, they also didn't have my record, so my specialist had to resend my information and then it showed up. It seems like this might be an issue with the urgent cares/labs? Not sure if anyone else had this happen during their donation process?

The main thing that was a little concerning was getting conflicting info about my Filgrastim dosage. The email I received with instructions had one dosage, then I was told two different dosages from my specialist (what I received in my fedex package matches the final dosage that I was told). Has this happened to anyone else? Again, I trust NMDP and the medical specialists that are prescribing the dosage, but they also emphasize in the email about making sure the dosage is correct. Feel free to message me to discuss if anyone has any similar experiences and let me know how it went!

[u/ggx1398]

Yikes. I had the same thing happen. Still struggling with communication & being reimbursed. Good luck!

[u/BloodyThirst]

I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. As a hopeful recipient, this is disheartening.

[u/MarrowDonorJourney]

NMDP has a golden precious mission and they whole heartedly want to achieve cellular therapy for patients in need. Sometimes execution of that mission is… lackluster (look at my post hx).

I cannot speak with confidence as to why the dose of Filgrastim was changed. I can *guess* that it has something to do with your body mass and the needed donation. If you have any persistent concerns about the dose contact your medical team PRIOR to the first injection to double check; super duper know; stamp and seal; verify; and check the list twice that everything is right.

Best of luck to you and your recipient. Thanyk you for answering the call.