I read a several news articles this morning mentioning a shortage of surgical masks, especially in China and Asia due to the coronavirus outbreak. I’m not sure of the supply chain in the US but we seem to have lots of masks here at the dialysis clinic. Since I’m still using a chest catheter, each time a nurse connects or disconnects me from the dialysis machine, I have to wear a mask, as well as anyone else nearby. Since they’re supposed to be disposable, we go through a lot of masks.
When I was on PD, I was also supposed to wear a mask when connecting and disconnecting myself to/from anything. I usually don’t bother so I have a stash of leftover surgical masks. I feel kinda guilty for being a mask hog. Even though they’re not that useful in blocking out viruses, I’m sure they’re better than nothing and people can really use the few boxes I have a home.
This reminds me of 1994. I was working as a summer intern at an intravenous solution manufacturer. At the time, there was a cholera crisis at Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire. Lots of people were dying of dehydration and the camps really needed IV saline solution. We had tons of inventory in the factory, so much so that we were storing it in hallways and truck trailers in the parking lot. we weren’t building inventory for refugees but for lack of freight transportation, hundreds of people were dying. It kinda feels like that now with the mask shortage.
Life with chronic diseases 