My Temporary Hoarding Habit

Stacy- I had no idea. I’m so glad to hear that she is doing better. Xoxo❤️

I understand. When I was planning on leaving my broken marriage, I started hoarding things I didn't know when I'd ever be able to afford again. Deodorant. Socks. Underwear.Things I look back on now and realize were ridiculous, but at the time made me feel that I had control over the situation. It's a sense of a small bit of control.

As soon as I arrived at the hospital, I swapped the pair of new thermometers with saved used ones. I'm all for reducing waste and wish hospitals would find a way to re-sanitize rather than throw away. I do have a question, though. Could the swapping out have introduced germs? Or am I overthinking that? Because, for example, couldn't a cell phone bring in germs or a jacket etc?

Aside from the emotional need to hoard in this situation, this exposes a truth about the medical establishment which needs to be shown. It is wasteful and we all pay for it. On arrival, a large collection of stuff appears unrequested and unwanted. This makes it more expensive for everyone since it is frequently covered by insurance. Why should everyone pay for all these unnecessary items? To pad the bottom line of the hospital. There are organizations which collect, sort and deploy these items in other countries. This includes unopened supplies which were in an operating room, unused and unopened which hospitals throw in the garbage. Our hospitals can't keep the items, but other countries are begging for our unused medical supplies which the hospitals can't be bothered to collect and donate. It would even be a tax deduction for the greedy corporations.

"Even if I could shut down the fight, I couldn’t stop how they felt." I wish I would have learned this lesson a lifetime ago–both for myself and for my own daughter. I spent her entire early childhood trying to stop her pain: by bargaining, pleading, ignoring, and even getting angry. Now that she is grown, I have finally started to learn how to hold space for her. And, I am also learning to hold space for myself. Pain is awful, but not allowing those we love to express it is worse. Bless you and your beautiful willingness to share your story.

What is unmentioned here is that every single one of those unused packets is charged to the insurance company/family's expense. Better use them - you're paying for them.

Pastors kids know how strict their Dads can be and how the weekly sermon can be the most difficult thing to sit through as they would often feature In it ! What a remarkable story of absolute courage and kindness and hope ! So glad your family is doing well after that trial by fire. Thank you .

We can all learn from this story. Thank you. Don’t understand others reinterpreting what you stated. You two daughters little fight illuminates us all to greater understanding. Thankful the cancer is gone. Thank you.

It's not just about waste; it's about control. Is there anything worse than a sick child? A disease that is almost uncontrollable? So control that which you can. It's ok. Thank you for sharing the happy outcome of your daughter's treatment. What a siege your family endured! I'm glad it's over. Maybe donate unused supplies to a homeless shelter when you no longer need them? Or not. It's ok either way.

Stress, health, emotions. We get caught up in the midst. If we can get through it somehow, that’s what counts. Sometimes that’s all we can do. And that is ok. I love the ending to the story - we can clearly picture the release......

I am so sorry for your family. My daughter was diagnosed with Crohn’s, this year, and one of her treatments has been a chemo drug that made her very sick. I pulled her out of school for the 6 months of nausea and debilitating fatigue. It’s heartbreaking. But doesn’t it feel like fate (or even God) is willing to throw way a beautiful, new life which is barely out of the wrapper? Our daughters losing their life (or having surgery to throw away a major piece of their body) feels so tragically wasteful. I can see how that perfectly good thermometer going in the trash could be a weekly reminder of your daughters plight. At the very least, it screams, “I can’t face this needless waste of my daughter’s childhood.” I can feel it, too. Wishing you and your family many happy scans in the future. All my best.

This is a touching story and I am so glad that this mother shared it. Letting us know about her strong family background was key to understanding her way of dealing with the dreadful stress she was under. Her daughters are so fortunate to have a Mom who dealt with the situation with such strength and resilience. Thank you so much for publishing this story.

Is there no method of sanitising the unused packages instead of throwing in the trash just like that ? Isn’t it a huge wastage ?

I did the same thing when my parents health was simultaneously failing. When they did pass, I had a pile of those beige basins and the various creams and such that every hospital bedside table is stocked. They throw them out - allegedly - even if unused, I was told - so why not take them. They became handy for under the sink trays, and for putting paint cans in while painting. (1. to contain drips. 2. to avoid tripping over and spilling) In the car, in the trunk to hold things that roll. Repurposed. The creams (30 of them?) I tossed. As I did all the gauze, and oversized bandages and yellowing multi sized rolls of surgical tape collected too. Ya never know when a dozen varying sized rolls of surgical tape will save the day! So far, no such emergency has arisen, absent the tape. Its weird what we do when our loved ones are sick. The things we turn our attention to are just normal coping mechanisms. As long as you don't start stealing things, or looking at ways to sneak into the supply closet...I think ya did good.

A very touching story, and your response was rational as a) a human being and b) a Mom. I'm thrilled that your daughter has received the all-clear now.

What a beautiful, thoughtful story. Thanks for sharing it.

I myself would be bothered very much seeing all that wastefulness. I might have taken some of those objects home, too, thinking there must be some way they could be useful to someone. No doubt you were feeling great stress, but I'm not sure gathering the wasted products was a manifestation of that.