Up until about six months ago, Supply Chain was a term from my past that I struggled with in High School Economics class. I couldn't wrap my brain around the magnitude of the concept, nor could I relax my gray matter enough to embrace the simplicity of the concept. Well that's all changed now, and supply chain will probably be voted as one of the Top 10 searched words of 2021 (that and maybe "Wandavision").
As we've come to experience, supply chain issues rear their ugly head in so many ways. Whether it's ships waiting in the harbor (no healthy dock workers to unload them), trucks waiting for drivers to drive them (our country owes a huge debt of thanks to those masters of 18-wheelers), or idle factories (needing raw materials or workers or both) - we're all living with a little bit of Old Mother Hubbard Syndrome (as I like to call it). To some degree, it's alarmingly unexpected, but it will abate. Shelves will refill, prices will come down, and American consumer excessiveness will return.
But since this is all about ME after all, let me share that one other category of items is also in short supply - medicines. And that has finally hit home with yours truly, as this month my chemo pills (pomalidomide) are delayed due to - you guessed it - supply chain issues. I've already checked with my Onc team, and as a maintenance drug this is by NO MEANS life threatening (I appreciate your concern). But I find it fascinating how despite three vaccinations, vigilant masking, and working/living in a bubble - the effects of the pandemic have found their own unique way to work themselves into my life and wreak some havoc (minimal as it is). Nothing is sacred and no place is safe.
The awesome specialty pharmacy that regularly overnights the pills to me (this is a highly regulated, thalidomide-based drug) assures me that the meds will be coming out in the middle of this week. If the weather cooperates, I should be doped up and back in business in no time. I'll be a patient patient and avoid excessive smoking, tanning beds or asbestos - and I should be juuuuust fine.
