Posted by: @chelly

↑

Do you feel my things will hold up outside in my car?

If you keep them in some kind of "cooler", preferably in the trunk, then they should be fine. The idea is to keep them out of extreme hot/cold, if possible.

Re: smells, have you tried deodorant drops that go inside your bag? I use and recommend the Hollister M9. For me, it's incredibly effective at eliminating odors.

If you are emptying your bag into some receptacle or trash bag in your car, consider a bag (garbage bag) that's designed to contain odors. This can be a diaper bag, pet poop bag, etc.

@veganostomy would the cooler need to be styrofoam or those hard plastic ones? 
Yes I use M9 always but the smells are not from me it is from the clients home. Horrible smells. It’s not their fault it’s my coworkers who go not want to cooperate with the system and clean things. So yea just trying to protect my things. 

@chelly  ... I leave my go bag in the trunk of my car most of the time except in our minus temps then I'm not going anywhere!! Living in Canadas only desert it can get stinkin' hot here. A cooler is a good idea.  I've thought about this a lot bcuz I have had leaks in some pretty crazy places & even needed a clothing change & can't imagine being without my go bag or having a failed wafer.

Chelly... I'd go with one that has hard sides & a handle, they're smaller then the typical camping cooler.  We've done the styrofoam thing for cost reasons but Styrofoam always breaks down & apart rather quickly & they smell too & are not good for the environment either.   Your other option would be the zipper insulated coolers like what my hubby took to work outdoors. They have a strap he looped over his head & shoulder while riding his bike to work.  It  was sufficient for a 8 hour day but the zippers would break too!

At least with the hard side smaller cooler you can toss a warm pack in it for winter too & know it'll do its job.  No ostomate wants to go to the work of cleaning & prepping skin only to find a wafer has lost its ability to stick. 

That said... Don't mind me... I'm still thinking where you said something about you co-workers that don't cooperate with required cleaning  guidelines on the job. Don't mind my saying & if I'm over stepping (which I am) then plz forgive me. Life can be too short.  Thats just lazy & they don't deserve their jobs. I'm pretty sure if they're doing this at one clients home they are doing it at others.   I'd start reporting them if I were you. There are people out there that will work & appreciate their jobs & care about what they put forward on the job. This also  does not reflect well on the company.  Your job is important & people who need that service should be given the best from employees sent to their homes.  Heavey odors can stop friends & family from visiting & that can lead to loneliness, depression & even suicide.   IF a client has complained & its been shot down bcuz no one in authority has reported it or taken it seriously...SO not good.  Someone has to say something & listen.   I know its not easy reporting anyone for such things but for your sake & that of the clients, I'd say something. If its not acted upon then thats on the powers that be. I'll shut up now.

@dlkfiretruck yes I’m going to do that. The hard one cuz I’m sick of my stuff smelling and I have to throw out 2 bags each week due to. It’s my emergency kit. The bathroom bag is going to stink no matter what but I can throw that out weekly I put paper towels, my own toilet paper, M9 and a water bottle in it so I can throw everything away except the M9 I just wipe the bottle off best I can and keep in a baggie. 
I buy cheap throw away bags to keep everything in that has a zipper so no loss. Only $1.25 a week. 
yes it’s really sad and the boss is well aware and he just took this place over and in the process of making a cleaning list requirement for each shift. So hopefully it will get better. It’s really bad though my shoes and clothing stinks. I bring extra shoes to go home in. The cloths I’m using Lysol laundry sanitizer with my detergent but it still reeks through. Idk why I keep staying here. I need a different profession cuz unfortunately it’s this way in all the houses. No matter where you work but the group homes are much cleaner because there are supervisors around the clock.

@chelly  ... It takes strength to rat on co-workers but I think your made of the right stuff to do so quietly.  Thats a pretty serious thing they're doing to the clients they're supposed to be helping! All the more power to you Chelly!

Yes well I tried to quit over it but they talked me into staying asking me to please give them a chance to put out new rules. So I’m kind of doing that. They are nice people and I love the vision they have for the clients. They took over a huge mess way before I even got there. I’m a softie I guess. Mostly for the clients. In this business the clients go through so many workers in thier lives in and out so I’m sure that is hard on them. So yea I’m giving them a chance to get new rules and a schedule to keep up with cleaning. I spent my last two work days scrubbing and deodorizing. I just woke up from a 20 hour sleep here at home! Can I say exhausted! 

Posted by: @chelly

↑

would the cooler need to be styrofoam or those hard plastic ones? 

I think either would work fine, even a soft insulated bag will offer more protection than nothing. If you can find a smaller cooler with some kind of rating on it, that might give you a better idea on what works best for your needs. 👍 

@veganostomy thank you so much for that idea.