Interesting to hear what everyone is doing to be prepared for the Corona virus. I went to the grocery store yesterday morning (Monday), planning on it being pretty slow, but it was surprisingly busy. The shelves were fully stocked, I didn’t check out the hand sanitizer as we have bottles of isopropyl alcohol (we raise cattle so we basically have a mini vet office) and lots of Clorox cleaning wipes which I use for my hands when out and about. I wiped the grocery cart down, and stayed away from other people. Didn’t see a single person with a mask. I stocked up on our normal foods, not crazy hording but a little extra so as not to have to go back every week. We don’t have any identified cases in our state yet, but I’m sure we will eventually. I’m a naturally anxious person, so keeping my anxiety down is a challenge. I also take a bunch of prescription meds for other pre-existing conditions, and worry about the eventual shortage because most all are made in China. We had about 6" of snow last night, so social isolation is kinda normal 
I don’t plan on going to the grocery store, will probably make my husband go! I make him wash his hands when ever he comes in the house, but that’s pretty normal since he’s feeding cows, we’re calving and there’s lots of icky stuff 
. Would love to hear what everyone else is doing.
We live in the Cascadia earthquake zone, so we always have enough food to last 3+ weeks on hand, we always have a couple bottles of bleach and other cleaning supplies including rubbing alcohol on hand. We purchased extra insulin last time we were in Canada so we have plenty to last a quarantine period or three, and in the worst case we can have my son reuse needles on syringes if we somehow weren’t able to stretch his pump supplies. We did buy a toilet paper pack at Costco. So that would be the extent of my stocking.
I hit the alcohol swab issue weeks ago. Tried to pick some up (just because I needed some) and the pharmacy was out of stock. Went to my usual pharmacy and they were also out of stock, but were able to put two boxes on hold for me when new stock came in. That’s about 200 alcohol swabs, so is good as long as the shortage doesn’t continue on for a long time.
I’ve bought a few other extra supplies, but am continuing on as usual for now. That includes flying (last week), taking public transit, working in schools, and just attended a conference. We have a two-week spring break starting next week and it will be interesting to see what happens when school returns if things are much worse. I take a lot or precautions in my everyday life just because I’m so sensitive to some of my food allergens (wipe down surfaces, aware of what I’m touching, don’t touch my face, always wash hands or clean with hand wipes before eating, try not to touch what I’m eating, wash hands often, the only thing I’ve added is hand sanitizer for when I’m not near a sink). So that, combined with my history of almost never getting sick, makes me feel pretty safe for the time being.
I was supposed to fly to a conference in May, but have just heard that it’s cancelled (or will be moving to an online format). The next few months will be interesting…
Oh, packets of instant oatmeal will keep a long time and are easy to make.
I want to give @Eric a shout out here.
I’m already prepared for a potential Coronavirus quarantine on the T1D front bc of all of the tips and ideas I’ve learned here from @Eric. I bought a spare Omnipod PDM last year bc he shared that idea and how to buy it and how much it would cost out of pocket. I bought spare syringes (I’m an insulin pen girl, myself, but syringes are so important for emergencies) last year bc of @Eric. I have my insulin organized by expiration date and stored in a hard case bc of him. I have back up meters and strips bc of his idea. I went out and got the last of the alcohol swabs available locally bc he mentioned it here. T1D prep and self-sufficiency was already done before Coronavirus became a thing. And that’s such a weight off my mind to know that I’m set.
I have to put more thought into feeding my kids during a quarantine and guesstimating how much we’ll need for everyone. I have frozen extra amounts of meat, stocked up on crackers and peanut butter since crackers last longer on the shelf than bread, gotten several bags of cookie mix for variety, applesauce, yogurts, canned soup, etc etc. I bought brand new Playdoh for some entertainment. I’m getting a big canopy for my back deck so we can do our eLearning outside in some shade.
Other than that…just waiting to see what happens and hear how @Sam likes his bidet.
Thanks for the shout-out Alli! That is very kind.
I am glad you are all set with the D stuff! But long-term, whatever you need, my stuff is your stuff. Preservation of your kids is the top priority, and that means preservation of you. My boys are old enough to fend for themselves now, which means I am gladly expendable.
I mentioned before on FUD about the time many years ago, I was stranded in a snow storm in the mountains. I was in my teens. I had enough food, but my insulin supply was running low, and I had no idea how long it would be before I could get more.
That was a great lesson for a teenager. My parents were over 1,000 miles away, and we did not have cell phones or sat phones, so I was on my own. Experience is a great teacher! I made sure that would not happen again.
I told my wife this morning that the thing that will kill us is boredom…
So I might pay you a visit in the coming months to do Playdoh. Also, we can get drunk and laugh at Sam’s funny bidet videos.
Anyone else have co-morbidities and therefore other pharmaceutical drugs required? This causes 2 forms of anxiety, the increased chance of complications if I contract the virus, and potential shortages of pharmaceuticals that are either made in China or their components are made there. I have been able to accumulate at least a 50-day supply of most of my meds, but I have a couple that they won’t prescribe or dispense more than 30-day supply. That means at least having to go to the pharmacy once a month, so complete self-quarantine or social isolation isn’t possible. Comments?
I think I’m taking about 6 meds besides insulin currently. It is definitely stressful! I have a good stash of almost everything though because I’m overprescribed on all of it. Can you get your pharmacy to deliver? That’s what I’m planning to do, since I am definitely going to continue refilling all my meds.
Since the worst appears to be over in China, and one of my friends works for a company very dependent on Chinese labor, whose workers are already back at their factories, I would think any shortages are likely to be short lived and should be taken up with a combination of supply chain management and perhaps limiting 90 day prescriptions to 30. So while I think it is a worry, it probably isn’t going to be a reality except in rare cases.
I would love to have the pharmacy deliver, but we live about 25 miles from town, so I don’t think that is possible. But I will check and see.
Baby cow pictures would really help cheer everyone up, especially me, who works in the Covid Call Center for our state…
Cleaning milk off the calf’s face. (It’s a video.)
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO020QdayO3xIABSqBo0vV9x1p1CPbNO2X2ONJx
@Jan Sometimes, you can get mail order. I just signed up for that a week ago for both of us. I will report back if it continues to work. I’m going to be calling Medicare to see if I can do that for my mom‘s medications. They didn’t offer it for test strips with our insurance, but I’m sure that someone does – probably whoever handles our durable medical equipment orders.
Thanks to FUD and @Eric and others here such as @ClaudnDaye and @Chris we have a pretty robust supply of insulin and supplies at hand. With my coming free time, I intend to do a better job organizing it. Some is expired, but it’s in the fridge and will be better than none if it becomes necessary. We have had a pharmacy and prescribing endo snafu for most of this year that I finally got sorted out a week ago. Changed to having our amazing GP’s office write for all of our RXs now. So now we are getting our full supply of novalog again, but the back up was good to have in the fridge for sure.
I have been pretty concerned about this since mid February, and thus have been preparing for a long haul staying at home. I am much more concerned now than when I started following the unfolding situation, as is EH. We are prepared to participate in social distancing, limit our outside trips - and have been doing so for much of March. I’m thinking of participating in shopping hours set aside for those with pre-existing conditions at our local grocery store when shopping. EH is limiting exposure completely to people outside our inner circle. It might be tinfoil hat wearing, but if it means we get to enjoy each other’s company for much longer, then we will apologize to folks we aren’t hosting when all this is over.
The biggest issue that I have personally seen is people who are completely not taking this seriously. And I’m talking about folks that I’ve bumped into in the grocery store who are bragging about how they are “fine“. The thing that concerns me about that is that they are putting people with pre-existing conditions at greater risk. I am hoping that everybody makes the decision to follow the suggestions and guidelines to maintain social distance and help flatten this curve.
Besides the over purchasing, this is what bugs me the most about some people. Just because you aren’t symptomatic or sick doesn’t mean you aren’t a carrier and causing other people to get sick and possible die! Everyone should be taking this seriously. Some are just catching up… While a large majority of the world has seen or for the significant issue that it is.
I have a question, we’re being told it is wise for us to self-isolate to prevent catching the Covid-19 virus as we are high risk of severe complications due to co-morbidities and age. At the same time we’re being told to not purchase excess food or to “hoard” it. How can we do both? If we don’t stock up on food, more than we would normally buy, then obviously we will have to go out to the grocery store, exposing ourselves. How much of a risk is this, and what do you suggest?
Not sure where the message came from to not purchase excess food. I think the current word (at least as I heard it through all the noise) was prepare to shelter in place or (if you test positive) be ready to self quarantine your entire household. For 14 days. There’s no way to prepare without stockpiling at least the bare minimum food staples. My wife and I have been self isolated for 6 days so far.
Also, I saw where some grocery chains are letting seniors and high risk people shop 1 hour before opening to the public. To avoid mingling with the crowds.
My prescription plan requires me to use mail order after the first fill
I don’t have that option, but plan on using the drive thru and disposable latex exam gloves.
@John58
Do you plan on going to the grocery during your self isolation?