Another immediate challenge is shortages at the pharmacy and grocery store. Folks with ventilators, CPAP and BiPAP machines require distilled water for their machines. (Using tap water can cause the machines to malfunction and can also introduce deadly bacteria into the airways.) My parents have traveled to numerous stores for a week in search of this precious commodity. Finally, they were able to find some distilled water at a pharmacy. Other medicines such as over-the-counter antihistamines, vitamins and pain relievers are next to impossible to find. A friend of mine just had surgery. He is supposed to take Tylenol for the pain. His wife has searched high and low, and so far, she had found none. Another friend of mine has severe vitamin deficiencies. He is having problems securing a steady supply of his needed vitamins to prevent further complications to his medical conditions.
Some of my friends are having "elective" procedures canceled. One friend has several bone fractures which require surgery. Her surgery has been postponed. It is considered elective because she is not at risk for immediate death. She has to continue to wait in horrible pain. Another friend has GI failure. Her port cracked, making it unusable. Getting a port replaced is considered an "elective" procedure. She is trying to eat and drink by mouth, but she is profusely vomiting everything back up. She will most likely be dead before next week.
Many clinics are shutting their doors. Some are doing telemedicine appointments. This may help some individuals, but insurance companies do not always cover such services. Additionally, not everyone has internet access and/or a device which supports the telemedicine software. Other doctors are simply canceling their appointments. My one friend has waited many months for an appointment to see a specialist. Her appointment has been canceled and rescheduled for November.
Another friend is in desperate need of an organ transplant. Many transplant facilities have closed their doors. She has been told maybe in September the facility will open back up. All hope of her getting a transplant has all but evaporated.
Some of my friends can no longer obtain their lifesaving medicines because manufacturing has shut down. Companies are switching over to produce other supplies for the corona virus. Meanwhile, my friends are developing life threatening complications because they cannot get their medicines. Even if they go to the hospital, they cannot receive the meds because they are no longer being produced.
Home visits have ceased or have been greatly reduced in frequency by home health agencies. Folks are not able to get the needed nursing services in their homes. Infections from not being able to get a catheter changed, administering medicine incorrectly or simply not being able to have a needed dressing changed have landed people in the hospital. Serious complications including death have occurred.
Another friend of mine was extremely ill. Her physician decided to prescribe home IV medicine to prevent the woman from having to go to the hospital. The medicines can cause life threatening reactions. The medicines were supposed to be administered by a home health nurse, but the home health agency does not have enough nurses. The woman was going to have to wait many days for service. Since my friends was very ill, she decided to administer the medicines in her home, all alone. Praise God, she did not have any adverse reactions.
So while we are trying to save folks from a virus, millions of people with chronic medical conditions are suffering and some are dying. We need America to get back to work. We need manufacturers to start making their regular products. America's most medically needy are at high risk for corona virus, but they are at an even higher risk for complications from not being able to receive medical goods and services. How many people will suffer negative consequences, a worsening of their medical condition or even death due to the severe changes imposed by our government? We may never know. All we can do is pray the world quickly returns back to a more normal way of functioning very soon.
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