I should stay off this discussion on quantities of ostomy supplies by stating the fact that I am a gear junky. I love gear and collecting things. This means I am the type of guy who actually thinks about his EDC and rotation of items that I carry day to day basis. I am not OCD but I do like to go overboard sometimes and you may call it to style or simply being overprepared. I never really considered myself a prepper at all. Those individuals are usually on crazy youtube channels or wild tv shows. But this year has made me think a whole lot about my needs as a person who has a stoma. This is because for the first time in my lifetime our country has been hit with a supply chain and delivery problem.
It is indeed 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic is still going on. I am not sure how others are seeing this but I saw many things occur. The first thing I really discovered was that the vast majority of medical supplies come from China or overseas. I have read stats that 95% of our medical products and medicine are imported. Now as a person who has studied economics I am all for countries producing what they do best and trading with others for what they do best. This keeps costs low and everyone happy, but this year we saw that imports stopped due to teh virus. Shipping lines were cut due to the virus, regulations, and riots. Many people order their products online and when you ostomy gear is out of stock many people go to their local pharmacy to pick up spares.
This year both of those options were unavailable to many people in this country due to the issues stated above. It was really a big shock to myself because my health and my stoma have really never been impacted by supply chain issues before. Seeing people unable to get supplies in the great nation of the United States was astonishing. I could not believe it. The fact that availability became an issue made me think about what could happen in my neck of the woods. It also made me think about being prepared not just in my EDC but on my supply of medical products I need to live a happy and safe life.
So at any given time i usually have from 1 month to 1 week of ostomy supplies on hand. I have them delivered by the mail and just like most people I visit my local pharmacy for extra items if I need it. I love buying local and sometimes I do it when I can, just because I can. Not everyone is that fortunate. But what I saw this year was that some people were forced to go up to two months without supplies. Luckily, they were taken care of by the great people of this country, but what if part two of the Pandemic happens and it gets worse. This made me think about my safety and the safety of others.
I have decided to start working up my supplies to be able to last 2 to three months without needing a restock from a company. I wish it did not cost what it does, but this is something that my life actually depends on. I need working gear and enough bags and sanitary supplies to get me through. So that is my plan and I am sticking to it.
