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This Topic is for news related for Covid-19 and news for covid-19 that may assist bladder cancer patients.
If you have any news or information that may assist bladder cancer patients PLEASE POST!
If you have any questions related to Covid-19 PLEASE POST.
We will do everything to assist on getting answers for you.
Sincerly
Jack Moon on behalf of Gerry Ross
A good video prepared by the CDC covering coronavirus and personal protection.
Kingston and the 1000 Islands
Optimizing weartime is always important to keep costs down and conserve supplies. I average
- 5 days between changes. More than 6 starts to cause skin irritation for me and potential skin damage which could cause a lot of wasted $$wafers$$.
- Two piece appliances let me rince pouches and use two pouches to every one wafer and reduce odor
- Flange seal rings made by, for example Attiva and Sure Seal can be a low cost way help extend wafer reliability.
Kingston and the 1000 Islands
OSTOMY SUPPLY and SUPPLIER STATEMENTS
March 17th, Ostomy manufacturers had not reported any issues with their production facilities, however the COVID-19 status is developing rapidly, so I try to check my suppliers website occasionally. It is a good idea to check if there is an alternate local store that maintains on-hand stock of your unique ostomy supplies.
March 19th, demand was starting to build at vendors and individual vendors are starting to report high demand on manufacturers with other vendors causing stock levels to not be as high as usual.
March 27, Received a regular order of my ostomy supplies placed 6 days ago. Supply chain intact. Just allow 3-4 extra business days for delivery. Local courier reported increasing volume of items of all types.Ostomy manufacturing facilities are widely distributed around the world. This helps provide redundancy of supply.
Be aware of the companies that make up the supply chain between the manufacturing factory and the delivery service that bring your supplies to a local drug store or your home. For example, my supply chain is made up of a Hollister plant in Ireland (according to the label on the box), a distribution site in Toronto, then a courier (Canada Post/UPS/Purolator) to my door. A disruption of any one of these links could potentially affect timely delivery. I typically reorder when I am down to one month of supplies and for me, leadtime from order to delivery normally averages only 2-4 business days, however these not normal times and your situation might be different.
Place orders a few business days in advance and break up orders over time to ‘flatten the curve’ to help ensure timely supply for all ostomy users.
July 18 – Down to 1 month supply on hand. Placed an online order.
July 23 – Order filled with minimal delay at Toronto distributer and being delivered today.
Here are some links to manufacturer and distributer sites and statements:
Vegan Ostomy CanMed Direct Pharmasave Shoppers Drug Mart
Click on the following Vegan Ostomy link for current ostomy supply chain status. https://www.veganostomy.ca/ostomy-supplies-covid19-coronavirus/
November 16 – Hollister Statement.
https://www.hollister.ca/en-ca/newslanding/StatementHollisterNovelCoronavirusNov132020
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This reply was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by . Reason: Eliminated redundant Canadian supply chain status actively maintained elsewhere
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Kingston and the 1000 Islands
Thanks to those who keep the discussion forums vibrant and folks in conversation – led by none other than our Co-Founder of Bladder Cancer Canada Jack Moon. You and the team inspire us all. The forums take on an even greater importance in the times of “self-distancing” when people are looking for information and connections with those who have experienced the bladder cancer journey. Take care everyone – Ferg Devins – survivor and Chair Bladder Cancer Canada
Ferg Devins - Survivor and Volunteer Chair Bladder Cancer Canada
COVID-19 impact on bladder cancer treatment
In the US, according to BCAN forum, delays for bladder cancer treatments are already happening. It is my understanding that the guideline by BCC & our Medical Board will be publishing a guideline soon addressing many issues including the impact on the timing of bladder cancer treatment. Cancer treatment is considered as essential and it should not cause much impact because of COVID-19. But, in the US, it seems that different hospitals decide which procedures are essential.
Case 1- In a hospital in New York, a patient was told the delay by 4-6 weeks of his TURBT because of coveting some beds for ICU for COVID-19. On the other hand, a hospital in Texas has no such delay. The urologist in the hospital in New York has guessed by observing during cystoscopy that the tumor is likely Ta by observing the tumor in the bladder.
Case 2 – In another case, a patient waited for month for radical cystectomy was scheduled for April, now canceled due to COVID-19. The patient is looking for some stopgap so the cancer does not progress while waiting. I am not aware of any evidenced based stopgap medicine or treatment.
Case 3- Hospitals in US are enforcing no-visitors policy so even patients who will go through radical cystectomy cannot have his or her families to visit during the recovery. So those patients are scared.
In BC, where I live, some reporter had asked to the misnistry of health and the BC chief medical officer about cancer treatment when they announced the delay of non-essential surgery/treatment, the BC chief medical officer said that the cancer treatment is considered essential so it should not be affected much. But not details were mentioned. Looking at US situation, we should also expect Canada with the focus by our healthcare system on dealing with COVID-19 will impact in all phases of bladder cancer treatments. We will wait to see the guideline which is to be published soon.
I do not know who are representing the patients for the guideline which is being prepared, but I hope the guideline clears the patient’s concerns the impact the change will bring to prognosis of the affected patients.
Personally, what I do not want to see it happen is like patients are forced o choose ileal conduit (with ostomy bag) over neobladder or Indiana pouch simply because ileal conduit takes less operating hours and less number of days of stay at the hospital after the surgery.
Joe
Manitoba
COVID-19 impact on bladder cancer treatment – Manitoba as of March 20, 2020
– The province is limiting prescriptions to a 30-day supply.
– Hospitals will still continue with scheduled surgeries that cannot be delayed, such as for cancer and trauma. .
– Some non-essential surgeries will be delayed in order to free up more resources to respond to the pandemic, starting March 23.
– Hospitals will still continue with scheduled surgeries that cannot be delayed, such as for cancer and trauma.
– The province is also consolidating CancerCare services at two hospitals — Seven Oaks and Victoria — at Victoria Hospital.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-19-cases-manitoba-march-20-1.5504396
Joe
This site gives canada wide stats and links to provicial webpages on COVID-19
Joe
Did anyone else have a cystoscopy appointment canceled? St Josephs in Hamilton called and said all minor surgeries are canceled to make room for Covid 19 casses . My appointment was April 1st.
Uncertain times are upon us, around the world, as we globally respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) that is affecting us all on some level. Many members of our bladder cancer community are directing questions our way about how the this virus might affect their health and treatments. We will be answering many of these questions after consulting with the members of our Medical Advisory Boards. Please keep in mind that circumstances around this issue vary from region to region, and are changing by the hour, so some information may be rather general in nature.
As always, all of us here at BCC wish to support our community as best we can, but it’s important to emphasize that BCC staff are not medical professionals. It’s important to first turn to your medical team for advice, when possible.
Does having BCG treatments weaken or compromise one’s immune system, with special concern given to the COVID-19?
Our Medical Advisory Board has received many questions about compromised immune systems with BCG. They do not believe that receiving BCG should put any patient at increased risk of COVID19 other than the fact that they have to travel to the hospital. We encourage any patients scheduled for BCG to contact their health care team prior to your appointment and they can advise you of any precautions you should take.Does receiving treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer increase my risk of getting COVID-19?
The diagnosis of patients and their required treatment can be very different. According to our Medical Advisory Board, it needs to be clear that none of the treatments for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) affect the risk of getting COVID-19, except through the exposure of being in the health care facility setting. Some doctors think they can safely delay treatments for 3 months and they may consider this as an option to avoid the patient visits required for treatment. Treatment for NMIBC should not make the course of COVID19 more severe.As always, it’s best to consult your health care team when you have questions and are feeling concerned, anxious or unsure.
Will the treatment of my bladder cancer be affected by COVID-19?
It’s always best to consult your health care team with questions like these.Your concerns and your wellbeing are a high priority of your attending doctors, nurses and other health care professionals but these times are unprecedented and you will need to heed their recommendations and follow their directives. In many cases, the most critical patients will receive treatments in priority. Some attending urologists have deferred 6 and 12 month bladder cancer cystoscopies as an example and may be cutting back on seeing new patients because their facility’s OR time is being reduced. In other cases (ie. metastatic bladder cancer), doctors will continue with the recommended treatment plan as they have a relatively narrow window of treatability. Since the COVID-19 situation is fluid and changing daily, each hospital and health care system may need to restrict access to therapies further depending on the local level of infection.
Will receiving chemotherapy affect my immune system’s ability to fight COVID-19?
Chemotherapy treatment does affect your body’s immune system and all patients currently receiving treatment (or have received treatment in the past few months) should take care to isolate themselves from the increased risk of becoming affected by all viral and bacterial infections. Read our article Protecting Yourself During the Coronavirus for some helpful tips on how to protect yourself.What to do if I see blood in my urine during these exceptional circumstances? Is it still urgent to do a follow-up with a doctor?
It’s important to remember that blood in the urine can be a symptom of many conditions, some critical and some not. There are also a number of other important considerations such as if you have previously been diagnosed with bladder cancer or recently had a TURBT or BCG treatment. These are all important criteria in determining the seriousness of blood in the urine.Diagnosis should be sought in in accordance to current healthcare priorities and protocols at healthcare facilities. If you were previously diagnosed with bladder cancer, it’s important to reach out to your health care team by phone for advice. If this is the first time you are seeing blood in your urine, a reasonable place to start is with a call to your family physician for further instructions.
The medical supply chain is currently under great pressure. Will this impact my ability to order ostomy supplies?
We know that there are many patients that are ordering extra supplies to ensure that they are not stuck without supplies if the global situation does not improve soon. Other patients are ordering their usual quantities, in an effort to not contribute to depleting the supply that is needed for others. This is a personal decision and we do not feel strongly that one option is more appropriate than the other. We do know that some suppliers have indicated that delivery may be delayed due to the higher than normal order volume. You may want to keep this in mind when placing your order.
Bladder Cancer CanadaHospitals are acting to avoid procedures that compromise our immune systems (eg: Chemotherapy) and also acting to protect their capacity during this Covid pandemic to do their best to protect all Canadians.
Per National Post March 18th: “Relatively few Canadians have contracted the novel coronavirus and fewer still have died from it. But COVID-19 is already having a tangible impact on thousands of the ill in Canada as hospitals postpone elective surgeries and transplants and clear out clinics and wards to ready for a possible wave of infected patients.
The moves — many announced in just the last few days — are designed partly to prevent sick and immune-compromised patients from being infected by COVID-19, but mostly to free up critical-care space and equipment should the pandemic suddenly spike.
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Kingston and the 1000 Islands
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