LE gloves are a petri dish! How do you avoid getting sick?

mellee

I've started wearing daytime garments, including a glove. I wash them every night. But I've still caught so many colds this winter!

I get really grossed out even thinking about the glove and what you pick up wearing it out and about all day. This whole article (https://www.flushinghospital.org/newsletter/how-can-wearing-gloves-get-you-sick/) on how regular gloves can make you sick advises:

• Avoid touching ATMs, elevator buttons, railings, or shopping carts with a gloved hand. It is much easier to sanitize your bare hand than it is to clean your gloves
• Always wash your hands after removing your gloves to avoid contamination

Obviously, when you have LE, these tips don't work. I can't avoid using my gloved right hand and washing my hands during the day doesn't do much good when I'm putting it right back in the contaminated glove.

I'm thinking I should probably remove my glove whenever I eat. But what else can I do? I'm thinking it might do some good to disinfect my laptop keyboard and cell phone screen a few times daily.

Maybe I should start carrying around disposable plastic gloves to bag over my LE hand in public restrooms, when opening doors, etc. That seems so extreme and tedious but I don't know what else to do.

Any advice?

mellee

Has anyone tried a sanitizing wand?

https://www.berkeleywellness.com/self-care/over-counter-products/article/sanitizing-wands-do-they-really-kill-germs

MinusTwo

Mellee - have you tried gauntlets instead of gloves? There's obviously still a contamination factor, but at least your finger tips are free for ATMs, elevator buttons & computer key boards. I use germ wipes during the day on the exposed fingers & thumb print instead of washing. But yes, oh my, the bathroom is a real challenge.

It will be interesting to hear if anyone has tried the wand.

mellee

I used to use a gauntlet, but my PT insists on a glove now. Man oh man do I hate the glove!

I'm going to try the Verilux CleanWave Portable Sanitizing Wand. We'll see how it goes.

MinusTwo

Do let us know. Hope Binney or some of the other more educated LE folks chime in.

Binney4

Boy, this is a problem, for sure. Here are some suggestions others have found helpful:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/How_You_Can_Cope_wi...

There are several good ideas there, but as for the inspection gloves, I see the links to the Gallaway gloves are no longer working Iff you google "cotton inspection gloves" you'll find plenty of sources for them. I've used them over several years--especially helpful for the gym, where everything you touch has been touched, coughed on, breathed on and otherwise glucked up. Also handy for public transportation and shopping.

Stay well!
Binney

mellee

Thanks, Binney! That link is incredibly helpful. I'll definitely try the cotton inspection gloves.

And I'll report back on the sanitizing wand. A 2014 study in the American Journal of Infection Control found the Verilux wand to work pretty well. It killed commonly found surface bacteria in 5 seconds, and inactivated 90% of hardy spore-forming bacteria after 40 seconds. The researchers concluded "that application of UV-C light with a handheld device may be a reasonable alternative for disinfecting plain surfaces that cannot be safely disinfected using standard chemicals in daily routine practice." Here's the abstract. If anyone wants the full article, I'm happy to send. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(14)01086-4/abstract?cc=y=

Veeder14

I only wear the sleeve and glove for flying however the plane is usually so cold I wear mittens over the glove

So the glove doesn’t get too gross. I hand wash bot glove and arm sleeve once getting to my destination.

hugz4u

My absolute pet peeve is putting on a clean glove and going out into the petri dish world.

Sometimes I'll take a dirty compression glove and put it on just as I'm about to enter the store or gym then switch back later in the car to the clean one. Also I clorox wipe the steering wheel. Or in the winter I'll wear cheap knitted dollar store gloves over my clean compression glove for shopping and wash those regularly.

But I still havent figured this out yet because you can't wash garments in hot water to kill germs because your garments will shrink and ruin. I also try not to touch my face with my glove. Sometimes I forget but it's a work in progress.

Worst thing is ATM. I can't seem to punch the machine numbers with a knitted glove over my compression glove. What to do,what to do? And then when cashier gives you change back. The list goes on and on.Ugh it's making me ill just thinking of the germs on my gloves!

Maybe it's time to use Apple Pay to avoid the atm but that’s new territory for me!!

MinusTwo

I like the idea about cotton inspection gloves Binney. I'm going to order a bunch.

hugz - I have seen knitted & 'jersey' gloves with pads on the fingers & thumb specifically for touch/swipe use. I bought a pair and it has worked to pull them on over my gauntlets. Too bad I don't remember more often.

BlueGirlRedState

The petri-dish world and compression glove/part glove suck. I find myself taking the glove off more often, depending on what I am doing, especillay now with the need to wash hands regularly. I do wash sleeve and glove every night. Amazed at how dirty the glove gets. Thinking about finding a very light weight glove to wear over it.

Ibrance and Arimidex. Supplements include Mg, D, biotin, C, Turmeric(Curcumin), Gluchosamine-Chondroitin,BoneUp(multi with Coligen),Thorne (another multi), Melatonine(at night). Compression sleeve and glove for lymphedema on R-side.

2009 ER+ left breast. 52 yrs. Lumpectomy, Sentinel node removal, negative. Radiation 6 weeks, tamoxifen 5 years. Dense lumpy left breast, normal right. Acupuncture offered at facility as part of integrative medicine. It really helped with anxiety/stress during radiation treatment.

2016 ER+ left breast. Probably a new cancer, but unknown. 4 rounds TC Aug-Oct 2016, Bi-lateral (my choice) Nov 2016, no reconstruction. 2 sentinel nodes remove, negative. Cold Capping using Chemo Cold Caps (DIGNICAP not available). Anastrozole 1 mg starting May 2017. Joint issues noticed immediately. Stopped Anastrozole after 3-4 months due to joint stiffness in. After several months of no AIs, fingers were feeling better. Started tamoxifen March 2018

10/2018 noticed stiffness and some trigger finger again. Was eating meat a lot more (daily) than normal. Usually 1-2 /wk. Have cut way back on the meat, seems to help, but one finger still very prone to trigger finger. Trigger finger seemed to be getting better, but now 4/2019 seems worse, is it the break from added turmeric to meals?

6/18/2019 Noticed Swelling in R-arm, opposite side from where lymph nodes removed. . Could have been swelling earlier but wearing long sleeves. Ultra sounds for clots, Trip to urgent care. They did ultrasound, concerned that there might be a clot, there was not. 7/2/2019 lymphatic therapist recognized that there was something very wrong and sent me back to the DR.

8/2019 CT, Breast/chest , neck/thyroid ultra sound

9/2019 DR ordered biopsy, said it could be lymphoma, cancer, benign lymphatic. Biopsy R-axilla. Cancer. Genetic test showed no known markers (20+ looked for)

9/29/2019 PET scan, no indication of spread. Arimidex and Ibrance prescribed to shrink tumor prior to surgery, if needed.

10/2019 – Stopped Tamoxifen. Started Arimidex and Ibrance. Brand name Arimidex so far does not seem to have the SEs that generics did, but stiff/trigger finger on left middle finger returned.

1/2020 CT showed tumor in Axilla shrunk (hooray!!) from 2.3 to 1.1 but picked up something in lower bowel. DR consulted a DR I saw in 2011 who compared it to 2011 image, said they had not grown, but one has changed and was starting to obstruct.

2/14/2020 Happy Valentine's Day. Surgery removed to remove, waiting for pathology. 2/25/2020 – Pathology. Not cancerous. Hooray