Living in the United States is pretty awesome. We generally want for basically nothing when it comes to all the needs we actually have. So it is wonderful to have no major needs, but I am an ostomate. This means that I have a stoma and well it has been a part of my life for a long time now. It is not a hassle and it really isn’t a health condition that has had a massive impact on my life. I have to do a few daily routines differently, but other than that my life is basically the same. But this year I saw a change in our economy and saw for the first time that I am completely dependent on our supply chain. It is 2021, and I found out that the healthcare supply chain in the United States could have issues and could truly affect my life. I know that last year we had major issues and I don’t want to ever go through those again.
Covid changed our world and the race riots that were caused by political gain changed how we all live. The reality is that this has not been a catastrophic deathly event for the world, but what it did was kill much of the world economy. The United States almost shutdown overnight and since every state implemented different laws our supply chain ran into a true issue. What we also saw was that most of our medical supplies we found out were imported from other countries. This meant that all my ostomy gear was reliant on being imported and then shipped to my home. For a time our ports when into lockdown and we panicked. Panic is not cool and it happened.

Cities burned and we saw police stop working all over the country. This is an area I don’t want to get into detail about, but in several major cities supplies simply were not being delivered. It brought to mind the thought that I could really be in trouble if I lived in those areas. I may have absolutely no options to get ostomy gear and getting out was simply not safe. That brought me to my current state. But what happens if this is in your city and you are not able to get shipments? Do you have enough to last for a few months?

For me, I am out of luck. I only keep a month’s gear on hand. I am actually in trouble. That is a scary thought because I have always been able to go and get something at my local pharmacy if I was short on an item. Or if I have been traveling there is usually always a local store that I can find something that will work for me. But now knowing that there are true situations that are not hurricane-based that can cause the supply chain to stop, kinda scared me. So my goal is to put up a month or two of extra supplies, just in case this happens to me or if it happens to someone I know. I will be able to help out and provide some extra care. I know this is rare and may never happen, but it did last year all over this country. I feel better being safe than sorry.