Sunday, April 20, 2008

Trivia Question Regarding Syringes

Ok...this isn't the typical Simple Life item nor a commercial endorsement for Tide. However, the bottles which hold liquid laundry detergent can be quite useful to multiple sclerosis patients.

The hard-sided plastic bottles make excellent Sharps Containers for those used syringes. Personally I use the 100oz bottles.

When the bottle has been filled to the brim, I attach the lid, tape it down tight with duck tape, and wrap it up in a couple of plastic bags... basically I tend to be a little over cautious. Then according to the county's refuse regulations, I can place the secured bottle with the regular trash pickup.

But here's the trivia question for you, my wise readers:
If the MS patient uses Copaxone, which is a daily injectable, how long does it take to fill that 100oz Tide liquid laundry detergent bottle to the brim with used syringes?
Whoever gets closest to the correct answer (as determined by my personal experience) will receive something special from me. Whatever that something special is I haven't decided yet. But hopefully, that will make this challenge all the more interesting.

Leave your answer in the comment section below. Only one answer per person, please. The pole will close at midnight EST next Monday, April 28, when I've returned from my upcoming trip to Florida.

Let the games begin!!

10 comments:

  1. Oh you ask tough questions! And I love the idea of the tide container for sharps!! Very creative.

    I am going to say 6wks to fill.

    Shawna

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  2. Heh ... depends if you remove the needle from the shaft and lay them straight. I'll give you 2m (60 needles).

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  3. Three months. Does it count that I used to use C and know what a pile of syringes looks like?

    Also, you might want to mention that this practice of using a detergent bottle for used sharps and then disposing of in the trash is not uniformly accepted as a legal practice across the country. You need to check with your local health department to find out what the local laws are regarding sharps disposal.

    I used to collect them in a sharps container and then take them to the health department for them to dispose of.

    Now all my sharps (all 4 per month) go back to the research clinic for counting. Guess they have to be sure I actually did the shot. :-)

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  4. I know...tough questions.

    The syringes are placed in the container, needle and all.

    Jeri, thanks for mentioning the possibility of different legal options for disposing sharps.

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  5. I am going guess 3 months. I ttook me almosr 4 to fill an empty gallon milk container.

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  6. OMG!!! only one daily injection into a 100oz container? 1 year easy! that's about 360, yeah, about 1 year to fill.

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  7. oh, and I should mention to shake it every once in a while for those to settle. Plus, being insulin-dependent for well over 20 years yields a ton of sharps prior to MS meds. Takes me about 3 months to fill a 28oz coffee creamer bottle, and that includes lancets (blood testing) too! Yeah, 1 year for 100oz. ;)

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  8. I use old liquid dishwasher containers (Cascade if you really must know :-)

    It must freak out somebody reading a SHARPS MEDICAL WASTE warning down at the dump.

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  9. I've no idea as we don't even have that bottle in the uk...

    I get nice fancy sharps bins that have big flashy warning signs that must scare the life out of the people who collect them!! :D

    Sorry, no idea, my brain is a bit foggy at the moment anyway!

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