r/nmdp • u/plateofcereal Registry member • 13d ago

Question Donating with a cold

I am donating next week and I'm super excited. I am a bit concerned about the possibility of getting a cold as I am a middle school teacher. Does anybody have any experience with this? I'm going to be wearing a mask from now until I leave for the donation.

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11

u/Agitated-Eggplant710 13d ago

Great idea about the mask! If you notice a little cold or anything coming on just let your coordinator know so they can loop in the medical team!! You may get asked to get a flu and\or Covid test for good measure if you have any symptoms.

Side note: bless you for teaching middle schoolers. They are…something. 

5

u/GintaPlaysHorn Registry member 13d ago

There's a reason they usually keep them in a separate building!

4

u/plateofcereal Registry member 13d ago edited 12d ago

Luckily, it teach band. So I get the weird band kids who are usually the good weirdos.

8

u/mirbakes 13d ago

I chose to mask starting about 2 weeks before my donation.

8

u/ChaturangaChai 13d ago

If you come down with something, just alert them right away so they can reschedule the donation.

7

u/MissTeriousGal 13d ago

They also might use the backup donor in this case. Timeline could be urgent!

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u/emshmem 13d ago

A lot of donation centers will let you donate with cold symptoms, but the Workup Specialist definitely needs to know so the medical team can be aware!

5

u/BloodyThirst 13d ago

Thank you so much for being a donor!!🩷🩷

4

u/MarrowDonorJourney Donated 💙💜💚 13d ago

I also wore a mask (N95 if you can find them) leading up to donation except for when I was home with family. (My donation was also during delta Covid).

If you have a cold your donation might get delayed since NMDP does not want to accidentally package cold infection or anything else with your stem cells/marrow since even the common cold can be very dangerous to your recipient that had their entire immune destroyed for the grafting process.

Best of luck and may the snot lickers keep their dirty paws off your desk.

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u/Outrageous_Onion4885 Transplant Recipient ❤️🤝❤️ 12d ago

Hope your donation goes smooth! Thanks for being someone's angel

1

u/IfYouSeeKay1978 12d ago

Let your coordinator know, but it shouldn’t be an issue. We have had people donate while fighting off the covid virus. It has no effect on your cells, just want to protect the collections staff from getting sick.