The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

mothernerd

Thanks from another lurker (more of a dipper in and out - I always worried about how near to me bedsit Bob was). Until very recently I haven't had the financial resources to do much prepping but I do have food, toilet paper and medication (many years ago i always started the festive preps by buying toilet rolls and cat food on the grounds that they wouldn't use extra toilet paper just because it was there and the cats nevr learnt to use the can opener). I have done a week of self-isolation earlier this year (followed by 2-3 day spells). I am my mother's carer and we had to visit the district nurses twice a week to have her dressings changed. At the same time I have had a virus (on and off since December, sometimes merely annoying, sometimes it floors me) and was told the only thing I could do was rest. It was easier to go to mum's the night before for early appointments and I stayed in 'my' room most of the time (recently bought a 'hospital type' bed for mum and she elected to go into the small bedroom, but still has all the wardrobes and most of the drawer space in 'my' room).

So I'm currently listing what I need to take to go into isolation with mum (if it's four months then I'm having a proper fruit and veg garden there - lots of space but she's been cutting things down since she moved in there) and wondering what I will come back to (DS3 and his gf live with me - the house is bad enough when i walk in at 9pm having been with mum since lunch).

Mum has no immune system (the drugs she needs to stay alive kill her immune system) and mine is compromised (hence the on and off virus since December). My baby brother doesn't even visit my mum if she is coughing (we both are atm) as he has several chronic illnesses and a cough or cold could kill him - looking on the bright side my parents were told he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was 30yo. Our middle brother died when he was 47. My ex is dying of cancer (permanent life expectancy of 2 weeks) and we have a younger relative (in his forties with two teenage daughters) who has had a series of cancers (ever more rare and experimental) which he has survived through vicious operations and intense recovery periods (doctors are experimenting on him because they've never had anyone live through what he has, so they aren't sure what dosages they should be using).

I did wonder if buying extra condolence cards yesterday to add to mum's stash was a bit macabre but have found that my dark sense of humour has helped me through many crises in my life. I survived pneumonia at the age of 18 months (1959, one of the hottest summers on record and mum didn't believe me when I asked to go back in my tansad) and mum survived whooping cough (she was sent to live with relatives in Blackpool and grandma didn't expect to see her alive again).

When life brings me to the brink of tears, I ask myself if crying will help (a good cry does help at times). If the answer is no, I carry on calmly and find some humour in the situation. It's unfortunate that, as usual, the consequences of the corona virus will fall heaviest on the old, sick, vulnerable and the poor (it's harder to isolate if you are stuck in cramped conditions or are forced to work when ill or lose your job). We could be about to save the government a great deal of money. Sorry to be a tad political but if we are in a 'war' situation why not just requisition the private hospitals rather than pay for them from the NHS budget - they are quick enough to 'hand back' any private patients who develop complications as a result of their 'care'.

Thanks once again from a 'fellow traveller'

mothernerd

boultdj said:

Be like being a teenager again and live in my bedroom  , sounds good, and I never stood a chance of being the riches woman in the church yard at the best of times. 

Me neither - there are Church mice who are well off in comparison to me

Thriftygifty

I popped to the small local post office which is in a news agents this morning it was quite busy for 10am, I shall not be doing that again, if the postal service continues and if people do still buy anything online I will be going at 5am as they open to do the papers, however the majority of their customers are over 70 as we live somewhere that is mostly retired people so we will see if they survive. We then went to the local medium size Morries at 10.45am (later than planned) I have never seen anything like it, the car park was past rammed, cars and people of all ages everywhere, I decided to risk it and venture in, got the last small trolley and stocked up on nappies for 3 children, I looked like I had gone OTT but had 4 different size nappies, a man mocked me and said oh are you going into lock down, I said I have 3 children under 5 and am not faffing around when baby is here, I should have just said "The 3 P's" and walked away and left him to think about that.  There was loads of toilet roll, I bought another 2 packs just to keep topped up, however what has only just occurred to me is that all of the aisle was 9pack of Morries own no other brands at all nor space.  No one had large trolleys only 3ish bags of stuff each but the lines to pay were ridiculous but fast moving but everyone very close to each other, they also had security in the entrance to the doorway which was new, i'm not sure if people weren't buying much or if there wasn't much to buy, there was lots of fruit and veg, I only went to the nappy aisle in and out asap and hands antibac wiped and washed once home. We went to get fuel, the fuel station had lots of medicine, inc paracetamol which is hard to get here. We had planned to go and get compost but decided it felt to busy out there to risk going. This was the last weekend we were doing the shops/people from now on we shall be keeping away for the sake of my parents and unborn baby.

dandy-candy

Dropped DD off for her shift today and there was a police cordon outside, ambulance and two upturned trolleys. I asked her to find out from the other staff what had happened. She has just texted to say someone apparently pulled a knife on another shopper, who then picked up a pole and smashed the knife carrying guy up with it. Apparently there was blood everywhere. What on earth is happening to society?

[Deleted User]

What we expected to happen when people get frightened enough to only think of themselves. It's every man/woman for him/herself and desperation over covid-19 and its consequences is making the whole world panic stricken, it's very sad.

Thriftygifty

dandy-candy said:

Dropped DD off for her shift today and there was a police cordon outside, ambulance and two upturned trolleys. I asked her to find out from the other staff what had happened. She has just texted to say someone apparently pulled a knife on another shopper, who then picked up a pole and smashed the knife carrying guy up with it. Apparently there was blood everywhere. What on earth is happening to society?

That is awful, people are going crazy, the government need to start stepping in now with this panic in the air.  As my husband said he's not sure what to make of it, one minute the media is making it sound like a mild virus for the majority if you do get it for a few weeks then carry on as normal and then the next we are preparing the country for war and its very bleak,  they need to be looking after peoples mental health as well as their physical health. 

unrecordings

daz378 said:

Just a warning about who you tell about your prepps.....as if  the situation really deteriorates... .they may remember you mentioning them well stocked cupboards 

Same goes with any isolation sign you may want to display. consider the wording very carefully and consider only displaying it when visitors or deliveries are due. The word 'vulnerable' only encourages scumbags

3secondmemory

unrecordings said:

3secondmemory said:

DryTheRain said:

Crikey this is getting genuinely scary - I’ve just been over to the boots website to top up my vitamin supplies and found that all the vitamin C had gone!!  Never mind, I thought, I’ll pop over to amazon, get another six pack of those 2/5 a day Napolina ready meals, and not only have they gone but everything in my basket is now out of stock :-(((

This was partly prompted by a report in the express, which says that the govt plans ‘strict isolation’ orders for over 70s and those with pre-existing conditions. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-51893135

To echo MrsLW, if you need to go shop, do it TODAY, as early as you can.  My carer reported fairly well stocked shelves in the supermarket yesterday (other than hand sanitiser obvs) but if the major onlines are anything to go by that might not be the case for very long.  Good luck everyone!!

pharmaceutical grade vitamin C powder is still available on Amazon ten pounds for 500g

Of course you could always buy limes (or lemons) those things have saved the nation on more than one occasion. When hitting the 24 hour supermarket don't muck around - just go for 3am/4am/5am 

I have just collected a phone order with oranges lemons and apples in it – no human contact involved – from the farm shop. 

I do take vitamin C on a daily basis on recommendation of my rheumatologist. I also believe that very high doses of vitamin C can help fight bacterial infection. Seeing as I’m doing everything possible in my power to prevent being ill with anything, I’m taking my trusted rheumatologist’s best advice and combining it with all the other ways and means I use to not be ill! 

It’s no good isolating and developing an illness. Likewise it’s no good isolating and having an accident so I’m just going to share something that happened to me this morning. I usually buy tins of Barrista style coffee but bought a 500 kg catering pack through Amazon pantry just to cut down on how many times I need to buy it. Anyhow, as I was washing the smaller tin to decant some into,  I ran my finger round the inside of the tin and now I have a nasty jagged cut. Risk of infection. Please take care. I have superglued a pig to the wall and I’m hanging a pair of rubber gloves on there all the time just remind me to use them and protect my hands! 

3secondmemory

Peg! I have superglued a peg to the wall!😂😂😂

3secondmemory

unrecordings said:

marycanary said:

Hi,
I have lurked on this forum for a while and as a result, have built up a personal prep store; for which I am very grateful. I have unlurked to try to offer some reassurance to older people and those with ongoing health conditions. Even for the elderly, the death rate is not 100%. I have seen figures that it is 20%, not great but it means 80% survive.  Please try to hold on to that thought. Prepare but don't make yourself ill with worry.
Mary

My last round of chemo had a quoted 5-10% success rate but I prevailed until my tumour became resistant. On an individual basis, manage your own risk to increase your odds and ignore the numbers quoted in the media other than to use them to assess that risk. 

This is my attitude before COVID-19 😃

I will do everything I can to survive painlessly without stepping on other people. 

I know I’m a bit much to handle at the moment because my anxiety and ADHD drive me mad let alone anyone else. But, if anyone else is feeling agitated and wants to talk and they see my light on, feel free! I’m not too worried because I know I’m doing the best thing and I had instinctively started prepping for this. Having a friend in China who has been on lockdown since the 20th of January has also been quite educational!

but let’s not worry too much about that until lockdown actually happens. 

Do what you need to do! 😃