HI Folks, What a weird and worrying development in this crazy world, I am sure wherever you live your seeing the confusion and panic that this virus is causing. As ostomates are we more vulnerable?? There seems to be a lot of misinformation on what to do. Shops are being stripped out as people stock up. I think the best advice is extra hand washing and avoid large crowds.stay calm be aware and look out for each other? ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns Hi John, and everyone. Yes its time to talk about this and how to stay safe and keep the most people healthy. We are all worried and anxious now. Good to reach out to our communities ( on line and otherwise) and try to do whats best. Like John says Wash hands, avoid any crowds , and don't touch your face. My husband and I are practicing social distancing now. We walk in the mornings and evenings and stay at least six feet away from others. We have several weeks on supplies and are lucky enough not to have to go anywhere... not that we can any more. Anyway, just saying hello on this subject. Keep well out there. Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017. One thing I forgot to mention, food banks are running low on supplies, it’s all to easy to forget that it’s having an impact on charity’s ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns Just so you guys know, I've reached out to the majority of ostomy brands to see if they have an official statement on how they'll be handling this. I'll post something when I have more info. Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate. This is a concerning time for sure! I believe I was sent home from my so called long stay, due to, perhaps keeping some beds open for covid19 patients. My immune system is pretty shoddy the majority of the time so I am glad to be out of there especially at this time. On my floor I counted 6 rooms under isolation so it totally makes sense to me. Thanks Eric for thinking ahead in so many things..as usual! Linda I was upset when I got sent home from my job, due to no work (I build the big computer servers at IBM). Going into the first quarter of 2020, there was nothing to do, so some were sent home, and we will be called back when there is work. Now I am not upset any longer, it came just in time for me to stay home, and hide from this Corona virus. It is a frightening thing to think of how bad it can get, my brother and his family tell me in Israel everything is shut down, other then a few supermarkets in each town, and some pharmacies, there is nothing. I thought a war is a frightening thing, but at least there you know who the enemy is, now you have no visual of this enemy, it can be anywhere and everywhere with people around you. If you guys can (and it is not easy, I know) stay home with your loved ones, specially the elderly. Wishing this will fly by, and we can all get back to normal life. My best wishes to you all. Dan We just spent a couple days in Las Vegas for a concert that we got tickets for 7 months ago. When we left on Thursday nothing was shut down. When we got home yesterday, schools and restaurants here were all closed, and a lot of businesses are allowing telecommuting. In Las Vegas, they were cancelling all shows starting on Sunday. MGM was closing casinos on all 7 of their properties Monday and closing all their resorts today. We read online today that Caesars is closing all their resorts tomorrow. So basically Las Vegas is closing. And the coming three weeks is normally their busiest time of the year. It is sad thinking of the hundreds of thousands of people there who work in the tourism industry being out of work indefinitely. Now that we are home safe, I am going to hunker down. Being on an immunosuppressant (Humira) makes me a little nervous. I hope you all stay safe!! We can all appreciate our virtual support system here more than ever now. ?? -Liza Our schools are shut down here in Colorado until at least April 17, per Governor's order. It is starting to look like schools will likely stay shut down until the end of the school year. Each teacher at our high school was given a list of students who we are to contact by phone at least once a week to check on them. Our school is providing meals for students, drive through style. We are providing makeup, review, and other educational options for our students via Google Classroom. Our town is starting to settle down from the initial panic buying that happened early on. Our kids are doing well. Today, they did their dance and gymnastics classes via internet conference. It was fun to watch them. We are having lots of good family time, and trying to put as positive a spin on this as possible while being safe and responsible with social distancing and sanitation and all of the things we need to do. Be safe everyone. Glenn Ulcerative Colitis (1995) My industry, medical transcription, is already one that has a large swath of its workers at home, so except for a slight bit less work to do, not much has changed for me. The temptation to buy large amounts of things simply in response to those who started it just to avoid missing out on things is quite intense. There is a bit of panic buying around here as well, but it isn't as bad as I feared it would be, and our local Wall-Mart is starting to limit how much of something a customer is allowed to buy. Everything I've read on the Internet from doctors indicates that getting off immunocompromising medications is not the thing to do because being in an IBD flare puts a body at greater risk with regard to serious infection. I'm not on any such medications now, but I have no spleen, and it's been less than 2 years since my splenectomy, so I have to be careful to a degree. Certainly, being immunocompromised due to medication or any other factor makes social distancing expedient. I only bring this up because I've seen some folks on the Internet making noise about getting off their immunosuppressive medications and some doctors sternly advising against it. It's not a black and white choice in which one option is absolutely risk free and the other is suicide, but a choice between evils, and medical experts clearly indicate remaining on immunosuppressants and exercising every precaution possible. We bought ourselves high-quality masks that take replaceable filters, and we use them if we have to go someplace crowded like our local Wall-Mart on toilet paper restocking day. Honestly, of all things to panic buy, toilet paper makes perhaps some sense, but what we've witnessed is flabbergasting. I would have thought people would try and stockpile nonperishable foods a lot more, though there's plenty of that as well. We're all overwhelmed. Very few if any people alive today have ever experienced anything like this, and we're all learning as we go along. This is what it's like to be truly humbled: Painful, not the feeling of unworthiness at some great honor, but an intense feeling of helplessness and anxiety over something no single individual can control. I believe that many in our government herein the US are truly concerned for the people. For some, the reasons are practical such as the desperation some might experience as money, food, and supplies grow scarce and hard to replenish. They may be interested in preventing the actions people might take in the face of such hardship. Others, I believe, have a genuine and sincere concern for human well-being for its own sake. In any case, I've seen unity among factions that normally fight tooth and nail over etiology. Some have surprised me by not towing the traditional line of their respective camps. In any case, there's some real action being taken to attempt to mitigate the fallout of coronavirus, and that, of course, pleases me. Eric, I want to thank you for thinking in terms of the needs of ostomates and that you've kept this site up and available for all of us to come together to communicate from one hub. My hope and prayer, among oh so many, is for a speedy resolution back to the even keel of society that we've been enjoying. Tony New York state will be going into a complete shut down, other then essential people like health providers, police, fire departments, pharmacies, and super markets, everyone is to stay home. There is no word as to how long would it continue, and very upsetting to a lot of people including me. We have to remember that this is not done to punish us, we did not ask for this. It is done to try and end this terrible epidemic called COVID-19 (Corona virus). I urge everyone to listen to those who try to save us, stay home as much as possible, go out for food and medication, and otherwise STAY HOME. If we all do so, things hopefully would get better, and we would all stay healthy (and alive). My son and myself put ourselves in isolation, and stay home (specially me as I am 68 years old). God help us all, and may it pass sooner then later. Dan Hang in there Dan and son. At least you have each other. And it seems like you get along well, so things could be worse. ? I hope all you fellow ostomates are faring well and are isolated with people you love. ? -Liza I have a feel-good story. There is a barbecue joint here in the town where I live. They have set up for take out, as many restaurants have since our governor mandated all restaurants close for dining in. They have set up a program where you can pay a meal forward when you come to pick up your meal. It is $12 to pay forward a meal that will go to a first responder or hospital staff. In just a week they have had 596 meals donated so far. It is a great local restaurant which was featured on Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives a while back. ?? -Liza Thanks for posting that Lisa. Great idea. Our farmer's markets are all closed here ( San Diego County) and our local elected official has sent e mail with the contact information for many of the farmers who are now switching to home deliveries only. GREAT idea. Stay safe everyone. Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017. Here in Washington now we have shelter in place order which means we are only allowed to go grocery shopping, to dr appts, and to work if you have an essential position. Otherwise you can be fined. As for me, I haven’t left the house in over a week, other than for walks in my neighborhood. Since I am taking Humira, my husband has been running our errands. Plus he gets more stir crazy than I do and likes to get out, even if it is just to drive to the pharmacy. My pharmacy isn’t even letting people in. You have to call and pay over the phone and then they bring the rx out to your car. Our bbq place is almost to 900 pay it forward meals. How are you all doing? I hope everyone is well and staying safe and sane with the isolation protocol. -Liza Hi Liza, ( and everybody)..We are also sheltering in place. Have been doing distancing for three weeks now. We just walk in the early mornings. Since there is no traffic we can now walk in the street. We have learned to walk differently too, staying away from blind corners. People here are all practicing distancing so that helps a lot. Getting deliveries of food. Love to read, so that helps. People with young kids are trying to do school on line etc. We are both over 70...so extra care is necessary. We have a proactive state and local government here for which we are grateful. We have been told that the next seven to ten days are crucial. So, everybody ... stay safe and well. Look out for yourselves and your community. We are in Northern San Diego County, Calif. Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017. Hi Folks, here in the UK is was asked if everyone would come out at 8pm to ? clap and show their appreciation for our health workers (NHS) I live in the country and not exactly beside neighbors, I went to the back doorstep and was met by the sound of people clapping and cheering. Everyone for miles must have been out. Was a brilliant experience. Thank you too everyone in the front line wherever you are ???? ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns That is so cool, John. What a neat thing to experience. It really shows how much people are united in trying to get through this hard and scary time. Thanks for sharing that with us. ????? -Liza Wonderful John...and to hear it so far away. We need to keep our spirits up. Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017. What a wonderful idea, and how amazing was your experience! Maybe that is something we should do here in the states. Stella
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”
Permanent Ileostomy (2019)
Doing what it takes to enjoy life to its fullest.
Crohn's diagnosed in 1995.
Spontaneous colon perforation and emergency end ileostomy surgery in 2018.
No colon - still rollin'!
No eyesight - life still bright!
Stomaversary - December 4th
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”
Community Forums
Notifications
Clear all
The Lounge
46
Posts
12
Users
83
Likes
1,994
Views
Topic starter
March 16, 2020 3:19 am
March 16, 2020 10:29 am
Topic starter
March 16, 2020 10:44 am
SqueakyandLiza and LK reacted
March 16, 2020 11:40 am
March 16, 2020 12:54 pm
SqueakyandLiza reacted
March 16, 2020 8:35 pm
March 18, 2020 4:32 am
LK reacted
March 20, 2020 12:51 am
LK and SqueakyandLiza reacted
March 20, 2020 6:51 am
March 20, 2020 9:06 pm
March 21, 2020 2:43 am
March 22, 2020 5:46 pm
March 23, 2020 10:18 am
LK and SqueakyandLiza reacted
March 25, 2020 6:10 pm
March 26, 2020 1:47 pm
Topic starter
March 26, 2020 4:15 pm
March 26, 2020 4:28 pm
March 26, 2020 4:56 pm
LK and SqueakyandLiza reacted
March 26, 2020 5:52 pm
SqueakyandLiza reacted
Page 1 / 3
Next