Our Next Meeting Will Be Tuesday Sept. 9

Our next meeting will be at 7 pm on Tuesday, August 12th.  We meet in the "Sister Rosalie Rendu Conference Room" (which is located to the rear of the O'Connor Hospital Cafeteria.  If you have had, or are preparing for Ostomy Surgery, (or are a loved one of someone facing such surgery) plan to join with us to learn more and receive support from our group.

Twenty people attended our August 11th meeting.  Peggy, our president was not able to be with us due to her mothers illness.  Henry, our vice president  led the meeting.  Of the twenty in attendance, were two couples who were with us for the first time.  One member of each couple had undergone ostomy surgery in recent months.  This meeting followed our open forum process in which members provided answers and support to those who have had recent ostomy surgery.

The issue of pouch odor control came up and NANCIE again suggested that Ice Breakers Mints work wonderfully.  One mint, inserted into the pouch (after the pouch has been drained) deodorizes the pouch and leaves a fresh mint scent all day long.  A number of our group members reported that they too had used this method and it does work well.  The illustration to the right shows the product to which we are referring.

Plane Tree Health Library Adds New Location

click here to learn more

Highlights of Our April 8th Meeting

Seventeen people attended our April meeting, including one person who had ostomy surgery just six weeks ago.  We met again at 7 pm on Tuesday, April 8th, in the "Sister Rosalie Rendu Conference Room." With us for this meeting was Gabrielle Cole, a representative of Coloplast.  She was with us to share latest product information from Coloplast and respond to questions related to their products. Coloplast has introduced a new adhesive formula "SenSura" that is said to be much less subject to skin irritation. It is also very thin and flexible.  It is available in both the one piece and two piece version.  It was a very helpful and informative presentation.  Garbielle can be reached at 510-282-1621, or to Email her, click here.

One member shared an experience he had had two weeks ago.  As a result of an intestinal flu, he experienced acute diarrhea.  After two days of diarrhea, he began to experience severe leg cramps.  Recognizing the signs of dehydration, he called Kaiser's advice line, and was told to go immediately to the Emergency Room.  They quickly hooked him up to IV fluids.  Within a short time he had received two liters of fluids and more powerful anti-diarrhea medications.  Within a short time he was fully recovered.  He warned everyone, that diarrhea has to be taken very seriously.  If not treated for Dehydration. one can go into shock with severe complications.  On page 68 of the March 2008 issue of the Phoenix, is a good article on Dehydration.

We also learned about a "Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis - Silicon Valley" walk that will take place on Saturday May 10.  To learn more about the event, click here.

Twenty-five people showed up for our March 11th Meeting, five of them being first time attendees.  The meeting focused upon responding to some of the questions and needs of the new attendees, three of whom had had surgery within the past four weeks.  It was a good meeting and everyone took part, and one can assume that we all learned something new.

Highlights of our February 12th Meeting

At our February 12th meeting, 20 people were in attendance.  Peggy opened the meeting with a series of announcements and new product information.  She also distributed and shared information about a new publication,

You can get more information about this publication by clicking on its name in the previous sentence.  Peggy gave us an update as to some new plans that have been made at the national level of the UOAA.  The major portion of our meeting was devoted to member support issues. 

Highlights of our January 8th Meeting

Madhulika G. Varma, MD and surgeon at the UCSF Medical Center, was our guest speaker.  Her areas of expertise include colorectal and anal cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and pelvic floor disorders. She also is a specialist in laparoscopic colorectal surgery, using minimally invasive techniques to treat many of these diseases.

Her presentation helped members to gain a more complete understanding of how new surgical techniques are changing the surgical options for those suffering from colorectal diseases.  She then took part in an extended question and answer session, providing helpful responses to questions asked by our members.  To download or print the handout Dr. Varma distributed at the meeting, click here.

We've Added a New Newsletter to Our Links Page

Many of you have found the Handbook for New Ostomy Patents (that appears to your left in the blue panel) to be a very useful resource.  If you enjoy the use of that resource, you will probably also enjoy reading their very informative Newsletter, entitled HighLife.  The Newsletter is edited by Debra Rooney, vice-President of the Vancouver Chapter who also edited the Handbook.  To view the current issue of the newsletter, click here.  To get an index to past issues, click on the image that appears above and on our Links page.