Running Out of Ostomy Supplies During a Crisis

Replies
53
Views
3264
w30bob
Jul 08, 2022 2:49 pm

Howdy gang,

So the whole COVID pandemic thing got me thinking. With all the supply shortages, etc... what exactly would I do if I called to order my 3 months' supply of ostomy products and they told me they had none... and didn't know when they would have some? Have you considered what you'd do? I know folks like Bill make their own supplies, but the vast majority of us would be up shit's creek, so to speak. And when we peel and stick our last barrier... then what? Would you have to stay in your house with a bucket attached to a belt loop for months and months until ostomy supplies became available again? I've stockpiled a pretty large supply for myself, but probably not more than 5 or 6 months' worth. Beyond that, I have no idea what I'd do. And many don't stockpile at all. So I'm curious to hear how each of you would deal with "supply chain issues" that lasted a long time. The more good ideas I hear, the better (for all of us). So share 'em if you got 'em!

;O)

Bob

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 3:08 pm

Make a mess.

Gray Logo for MeetAnOstoMate

Why Join MeetAnOstoMate?

First off, this is a pretty cool site with 37,000 members who truly understand you.

It's not all about ostomy. We talk about everything.

Many come here for advice or to give advice, others have found good friends, and some have even found love. Most importantly, people here are honest and genuinely care.

🛑 Privacy is very important - we have many features that are only visible to members, ensuring a safe and secure environment for you to share and connect.

Create an account and you will be amazed by the warmth of this community.

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 3:17 pm

Can't afford to stockpile supplies in advance, so for me it would be mid-size freezer bags sealed with duct tape. After all, duct tape fixes everything.... The bucket idea was good, but too heavy for me to carry that bucket of shit lol.... Great question though.... Food for thought!!!! Happy Friday

w30bob
Jul 08, 2022 3:23 pm
Reply to Homie With A Stomie NS

Assuming you could find some duct tape to buy.............eh? I wonder if duct tape wouldn't stick too good? YIKES!

;O)

w30bob
Jul 08, 2022 3:24 pm
Reply to AlexT

Yes... literally!!

;O)

 

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Play
AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 3:32 pm

Actually, I have about a 6-month supply and my insurance pays for a monthly supply, so I just keep adding to my pile. I probably have a year's worth of bags if I used the ones I don't really care for too. As far as the supply chain issue, it's a real possibility that very soon things will get tough to get. All the major railroads are looking at striking very soon over labor negotiations, and those talks will be voted on here in about 10 days. The government is supposed to step in, but we have all seen how good our government is doing nowadays. There is also a huge trucking shortage going on. Right now in the rail yard I work in, there's over 20,000 feet of intermodal cars (the shipping containers from overseas) that can't be unloaded because there are no trucks to put them on, so the products we all need in our lives just sit instead of being unloaded and sent to wherever it is they go.

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 3:34 pm
Reply to Homie With A Stomie NS

Are you particular about what bag you use? I have extras that I could send your way.

mild_mannered_super_hero
Jul 08, 2022 3:57 pm

Interesting post, Bob, as is normal for you. I'm fortunate in that I don't wear a pouch anymore but rather a patch. I have used, on occasion, a large band-aid or just a piece of gauze covered by a piece of tape.
Now I'll give you something bigger to think about: approximately 70% of medical supplies are made from petroleum. Now I'm not gonna play you the clip of someone saying "no more drilling on federal land, no new leases, no offshore drilling, no more fracking" yada yada... So my question is:

1. If you had to guess, will the price of ostomy supplies be going up or down in the next couple of years?

2. Will this be Putin's fault??

It's quite possible that soon we will all be knitting our ostomy supplies from grass or similar "green" resources.

patrickrichardson1946
Jul 08, 2022 5:19 pm

There are videos, I think, on YouTube that demonstrate making your own pouches. I guess a lot of people have to make their own, even in rich first-world countries like the USA. My pouches have Vitamin E to prevent stinging, and I never use barrier cream. Might it be difficult to make such a pouch?

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 5:27 pm
Reply to w30bob

Well, true. But at least my answer was better than Alex T. He would just make a mess like a bagless mess.

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 5:29 pm
Reply to AlexT

So far, I have only been in Coloplast. I have done 2-piece and 1-piece drainables, so I am not particular on types of bags as long as I can cut to fit, etc. Thank you so much! I can't message you privately as I'm not a premium member.

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 6:16 pm
Reply to Homie With A Stomie NS

What size is your stoma? I'm sure some really nice paying member could relay your address to me. Now, to find a really nice paying member.

w30bob
Jul 08, 2022 6:51 pm
Reply to AlexT

Yeah.........seems Alex is holding out on us. He's got a whole shipping container of ostomy supplies at his place. He's been doing that Johnny Cash thing of taking one box of something each day............smart man!

I've reused bags in the past, since I only wear them two days and use a two-piece system, so I've been pondering if I should start doing that again. But without new barriers it's sort of pointless. I think I'll start upping my quantity of barriers that I get every 90 days and do some stockpiling. I find the 'expiration dates' on this stuff is BS, like it is in most things, as long as it's kept in a climate controlled environment. But I'll buy some extra duct tape.............just in case!!!

;O)

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 7:01 pm
Reply to w30bob

Haha. I wish I had access to what was in them. You should see how many get broken into in California.

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 7:04 pm
Reply to AlexT

I have a cutie stumpie that is 25cm-27cm.

I will put it here, then delete it after you've got it....

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 7:14 pm

OK

w30bob
Jul 08, 2022 7:16 pm
Reply to mild_mannered_super_hero

Oh Mild.......you're gonna try dragging me into my favorite subject again so soon? But NO......I will resist the temptation. As I told Leprechaun before I left, and my other Leftie friends......there's nothing to discuss. At the end of Brandon's term we'll simply list and compare both his and Orange Man's accomplishments and I predict even a moron (except those with TDS, of course) will be able to determine which did more to make our country better. And this time they control the whole ball of wax, so there's no blaming the other side. THEY OWN IT. For better or worse. So I'm leaving it there and will make my case when the time is right.

But your point about pretty much all our supplies being made of polymers, which are made from either petroleum or natural gas, is correct. We'll see an impact. What folks don't realize is that in a barrel of crude oil only 45% of it is used for gasoline production. Another 25% goes to Diesel fuel, a small percentage to lubricants, and the rest is used to make everything from cell phones to aspirin. So cutting crude production by shutting down pipelines and denying drilling is simply going to raise the price of everything......not just the transportation costs. And it already has. The real sad part is the fallacy that green energy will save the planet. And that's simply not true......it'll actually make it worse. It's the big lie that just won't be talked about. If you want to see a great video that summarizes the whole thing and tells the WHOLE story....let me know and I'll PM it to you. It's sad that people are so easily misled, but that's because they would rather believe politicians than do the research themselves. So in the end.......laziness will kill the planet, not CO2.

I'd bet that all medical supplies are costing more.........luckily or unluckily for us, we don't see it directly because the insurance companies foot the bill. But they'll end up passing that on to us with rate increases next year. And as usual, those who can't afford insurance will end up taking it up the ass. Even if it's sewn shut. OUCH!

We should all probably inventory all the ostomy supplies we have and set aside the ones we know we'll never use (for whatever reason) and then maybe Admin can make a heading in the forum for those who need things to ask and for us to let them know we have them. An ostomy freebie "classified section" if you will. There might be one already.......I haven't spent much time looking through the new format. I'm having a hard enough time just finding the newest posts!!!

Ok......going back to floating in the pool and catching some rays. Later Mild...........and good try!

;O)

Bob

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 7:55 pm
Reply to w30bob

Did you see where Biden released oil reserves to sell as our gas prices are at their highest price ever? &zwj

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 7:59 pm
Reply to AlexT

Thank you so much. You don't know how much.... Ty ty ty

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 8:04 pm

Got it.

Bill
Jul 08, 2022 8:05 pm

Hello Bob.

Thank you for posing a very relevant question.  

Here in the UK we get our supplies through the NHS, which makes them free at the point of delivery ( However, we actually pay for them through a lifelong National Insurance Scheme)!

That aside, having exited the European Union ( where many of our medical supplies come from) we are already experiencing some of the difficulties you envisage in your question.

Thank you also for the mention of my efforts in making my own devices. There is something in me that looks at this stuff and  makes me feel that I could surely do a bit better with a bit of thought and common-sense.

The fact that I have already resolved some of the basic problems we might face in such a scenario, I hope you don’t mind me chipping in with some comments.

The first comment would be that anyone who can irrigate should practice that technique a.s.a.p, as this may resolve many of the issues that might otherwise arise.

Whilst I am still experimenting with all sorts of different approaches, my experience and logic tells me that the main problems now, and in that possible future scenario, would be with the baseplates.

All of my designs take ‘normal’ bags/sleeves etc, but would be very easily adapted to plastic bags of any description.

I actually prefer to make my ‘bags’ from irrigation sleeves because some of them are just right to fold up ands seal into a bag shape. However, if these were not available my first port of call would be to the supermarket, where there are usually innumerable types of plastic bags on sale.

My second option would be to get a roll of tubular plastic and simply cut my ‘bags’ to size.

I already have overcome the problem of sticking the bags to my base plates by using double sided sticky tape. At first this was straightforward carpet tape, which worked fine. However, more recently I have purchased a roll of 2.5inch wide double sided tape called ‘sookwang’ , which is made in Korea but marketed worldwide.

The 2.5 inches allow me to easily cut off the right size, stick it on the baseplate and cut the hole once the tape is stuck.

I used to use Hollister 7730 adhesive spray – but as they no longer manufacture this, it left us in much the same position, having no suppliers., as you describe in your post.  

Without giving a lengthy description of the many baseplates and ‘bags’ I have made and discarded,

I can say that making one’s own has the great advantage of  ‘freedom’ from the constraints of the one-size-fits-all concept. My devices fit much more precisely and can be easily adapted as and when circumstances change.

I would not welcome the ‘doomsday/gloomsday’  scenario you pose, but feel that I am well prepared for such an event should it ever happen.

One of the more ‘fun’ experiments I tried some time back was with a condom. I did post a picture of it, but took it down after a while as It was probably not to everyone’s taste.   The only problem was that it blew up like a long, thin balloon when there was gas output. However, it did catch the liquid and solid output quite effectively.   

I have also used dog-poo bags, zip-seal freezer bags and found that the thing they all have in common is that they need a ‘pipe’ to guide the output right down into the bag rather than letting it pancake around the base of the stoma. My (effective) solution to this has been to use a 90 degree plumber’s waste bend but that’s another story!

I do hope there are lots of others out there who have experimented for themselves and I also hope that they may freely share their thoughts with us on what could , one day, be an important issue.

Best wishes

Bill

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 8:16 pm
Reply to AlexT

Thank you so much. You don't know how much.... Ty ty ty my bag angel.

AlexT
Jul 08, 2022 8:47 pm
Reply to Homie With A Stomie NS

I'll get them boxed up this weekend. Do you use the barrier/skin prep wipes or the flange extender tape thingies?

Homie With A Stomie NS
Jul 08, 2022 9:44 pm
Reply to AlexT

You are bloody amazing... ty ty ty...

I do use the barrier/skin prep wipes, the flange extender tape thingys as well.

Past Member
Jul 09, 2022 12:50 am
Reply to w30bob

W30bob wrote: "The real sad part is the fallacy that green energy will save the planet. And that's simply not true... it'll actually make it worse. It's the big lie that just won't be talked about."

Truer words have never been spoken, Bob!

Same goes for Australia, on the one hand gas and coal are seen as contributing to "global warming" and they are therefore to be exorcised from our local energy mix, yet EXPORTS of these resources (which Australia has in abundance) are flourishing, generating 170 billion and providing our state and federal governments with massive revenues. Clearly, overseas countries have no qualms about using our gas and coal to secure cheap and reliable energy, and apparently it's OK to export the stuff and take the royalties, but we can't use it ourselves, relying instead on costly, intermittent renewables (that rarely work, particularly when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow). What the actual f*ck?!


Login to see image

Panko
Jul 09, 2022 1:12 am

Yes, I often wondered this question: if you went abroad and your main suitcase went to another country on the wrong conveyor belt, you really would be up crap creek without a pouch or two, only what you have in your onboard flight bag???

I have asked this question to my ostomy supplier a couple of times. They always come back with the reply that it does not matter wherever you are in the world, we would get supplies to you within 24 hours!! Even on the moon???

So I live in peace that that nightmare never happens??

One more thing I've also wondered: if you've ever read an article on famous ostomate S from the past, the one that sticks in my head is Napoleon Bonaparte who had, according to history, one of the very first stoma bags made from a goat's bladder or skin. Always pictured with his left hand in his left upper pocket holding the bag in position so it did not lodge out of place??

Well, I can't believe they even attempted that kind of operation in those days or even had the equipment to stick anything to the skin. It is mind-boggling. He must have stank like a polecat?? Food for thought??

Panko
Jul 09, 2022 1:24 am
Reply to Bill

Hi Bob, being an ex-plumber, pipefitter/welder, I often wondered about using plumbing fittings to help out if one got stuck for pouches?

I salute you for your dogged trial and errors in this crappy world?

Panko
Jul 09, 2022 1:32 am
Reply to Homie With A Stomie NS

Your stoma is 25/27 cm. That's over 4 inches??

You mean 2.5/2.7 cm surely??
Or is it prolapsed??

Panko
Jul 09, 2022 1:37 am
Reply to mild_mannered_super_hero

There are flushable pouches made by Clinimed Welland in the UK. Now I'm getting sent flushable wet wipes degradable made from bamboo??

Mayoman
Jul 09, 2022 1:47 am

Two items come to mind...

Cut Throat Razor... Bathtub full of hot water / cold if no coal available for the fire!!!