This is a question that may sound silly, but if you are new to the life of having an ostomy it is not a silly question at all. The fact is that if you just had surgery your abdomun is weaker and more prone to causing hernias than before. So it is a good question to wonder if doing hard physical labor is a good idea. I would say this that most people who have a stoma do all the things they used to do, but they started back doing them slowly. The truth is, yes you can do yard work but I want to just go through a few things that will help you get back into it. The first thing is to make sure you have really good ostomy supplies that fit and work well with your body. There are a lot of great companies that have great ostomy supplies. But you will need to test and try things out and see what works best for you. You may want to get a bag that has a belt for hard work in the outdoors. To be honest there are so many different options and opinions the best thing is for you to try lots of different things. Nex is to start slow and not jump full force into doing hard yard work. If you just had surgery that is very unwise. Follow your doctor's instructions on recovery. I always say it's like if you just sprained your ankle. If you have ever done that you know you won't be running like you were a few weeks after you do it. It is a slow process of building up muscle and being able to do a little more day by day. This is the mindset you should have when jumping back into normal life. Just start slow. So if you are going to mow your yard, only do a little bit at a time. Do I mean simply take breaks? No I mean do a small section one day and the next do another. Split the front yard in half and the backyard in half and take four days to finish it. Or even more if need be but don't hurt yourself by doing too much too soon. No go out and enjoy the backyard or front yard or shoot even a garden. It is great to be outside and enjoy your own property so have fun, but be safe when you are getting back into hard physical labor!
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Distribution of ostomy supplies is spread out among several different categories and is tracked in the different categories set up. For the most part suppliers send gear to Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies and Online Pharmacies. It would seem that the market is growing astronomically this year and those numbers could be skewed for several different reasons and because of the current economic and political climate that we are in. So if you are new to the stoma that is now on your abdomen is there a better place than another to get your ostomy supplies from? I would really suggest that it's truly a personal preference and there is no one definitive answer for this situation and I would suggest that someone who gives a definitive answer actually has some sort of stake in the game financially. So what locations can I actually get your gear from. The first and foremost is a local pharmacy. This is usually a great place to support local business and to get in person information from your pharmacist. I actually like this option for new stoma patients because it gives them a safe place to talk and learn about their situation with a professional. The reason I like local pharmacists is that they buy gear and supplies based on the information they get from people purchasing it. This means that they see what people like and have the opportunity to talk and learn from their customers and are not usually tied to a specific brand. They have the options to find brands that people like the best and usually provide multiple options. Now some are truly just based on greed and profit and that is not a good thing. But I have found that the majority care more about the care of their patients then the profit margin on the product. Now going to the pharmacy is not the only place to get your supplies from. It is a great place but you can also find some awesome retailers online. There are many great companies that are not only just online pharmacies but also manufacturers of ostomy products. The brands seem to be fairly similar and their websites are really great for getting information and for seeing lots of different products. The pricing seems to be pretty good too on most of the brands and there are discounts for bulk purchases. It is also really cool to be able to try free samples of products. Now just a personal suggestion I like to call the companies and talk to their customer service to get more details on the samples before pulling the trigger on them. I have had good experiences with talking it through and found most companies to be rather helpful. This year has brought lots of fear and some crazy times in the world and specifically in the United States. We are in the middle of the Pandemic and the 2020 riots. Wow it is hard to realize that I just wrote that sentence. The fact is 2020 is now a year that has brought many new challenges and struggles to our country and the economy that we all live in. Now what does this have to do with the hoarding of ostomy supplies? It means that there is a fine line between being safe and being a burden on society. Now we live in a free society and I do believe you can have as much of any supply of any product on hand as you want. But I think it should be done reasonably at reasonable times if you can. We have seen cities shut down and the majority of citizens forced into mandatory lockdowns across the country. We have also seen that supplies run out. If you have an ostomy and have medical needs that come in the form of ostomy supplies then you should have extra supplies on hand. Well this turns to the question of how much should you have and how much is too much? In my personal opinion and that is all this is, seeing that cities can be shut down economically and without rule of law in the United States that a three month supply of ostomy gear is not unreasonable. We have seen online retailers run out and local pharmacies that we go to be burned to the ground and that has eliminated supply for some across the country. That is a wild and crazy thought that some places in the United States are having medical supply issues, but it is and it's happening right now. So it is smart to slowly store up extra supplies over time until you have a few months extra in case something happens. Now in my personal opinion this does not mean you should buy three months all at once, if everyone does this it becomes a supply problem. Why because most stores do not have that much if everyone goes and buys that much at once they will run out and a short will happen. It's happened all across the country, think of toilet paper. So i suggest doing your storing of extra gear slowly so as not to destroy the market for everyone. Be safe, follow your healthcare providers information and be prepared. |