Our Next Meeting Will Be Tuesday, June 12th.

Our next meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12th, at O'Connor Hospital's Sister Rosalie Rendu Conference Room. Persons who have recently experienced surgery or are about to undergo surgery are encouraged to attend.

What Happened at our May 8th Meeting

Our president, Peggy, could not be with us for our May meeting because of a business commitment.  So, Thelma and Paul tried their best to make up for Peggy's not being with us.  Twenty-seen people attended the meeting, including two persons who had recent surgery and were with us for the first time.  With us for the meeting was Helynn Rueda, who is Senior Territory Representative for Shield HealthCare.  Shield is the major provider for Kaiser patients, and she was hear to respond to questions or concerns related to their service to ostomy patients. Support group members can contact Helynn by clicking on her name (above) and sending her an email.

A number of questions relating to ostomy patients without insurance demonstrated a need for our group to schedule a person who can talk about ways in which people without insurance can secure needed supplies.

What Happened at our April 10th Meeting

Peggy, our President, was back with us for our April meeting.  It was pouring down rain, and the rain had an impact on our attendance.  We had only had 18 people present.

Our main activity of the evening was responding to questions that members brought about their own care issues.  It is amazing how much we are able to learn from one another.  No matter how many years experience one has had with their ostomy, there are new findings and we can learn about those findings from each other.

What happened at our March 13th Meeting

Peggy, our President was not able to be with us for our March Meeting, so Board member, Paul presided over the meeting.  There were 32 people with us at this meeting, 4 of which were attending our group for the first time.  The meeting began with quick introductions of those present. 

Among the announcements made at the beginning was letting people know that the UOAA (our national parent group) is seeking nominees for several officers and board positions that are to be elected this year.  We will have a chance to act upon endorsing any nominations being put forth from our group.

The next segment of our of the meeting was time to respond to questions and concerns brought to the meeting by members.  This is a time when everyone learn as the group responds to those concerns.  Even the persons who have had their ostomy for the longest time often find new solutions to caring for themselves and their ostomies.

The final segment of our meeting was a presentation by Shelley Goldblum, a representative of the Hollister Corporation.  She showed us some of their newest products and answered questions Hollister users had about those products.

What happened at our Feb. 14th Meeting

President Peggy was back with us for our February SVOSG meeting. There were 29 people present for the meeting. two were people attending prior to upcoming ostomy surgery they are about to have.

Our special speaker for this meeting was Samantha Wellman, who suffered man years from Crohn's Disease and had ostomy surgery in 2008.  Using Pilantes exercises and nutritional studies, she worked to regain her health.  She will share her learnings about using an anti inflammatory diet and use of exercise with us. She is the owner of Samantha Pilates Studio, located in San Jose.

Special PocketMedi Promotion

• Patients have to have 5 or more friends group created through PocketMedi’s Care Network.  Larger groups are appreciated.
• Patients and Family members can’t be part of other promotional patient groups.
• Patients and Families have to post Private/Public messages daily or 20 messages per week.
• Create Appointments and Events
• Create and Publish 2 blogs per week
• Load Medicines in Medicine Manager
• Use Notes and Questions to track communication with Healthcare providers
• Use Training videos for Care Management
• Use Maps and Directories to track doctors.
• Use discharge summary in case of patient inpatient admissions 

Happened at our Jan. 10th Meeting

Our webmaster, Paul, presided over our January 10th, meeting.  Our President, Peggy chose to not expose the rest of us to the virus that she was fighting, but we missed starting the new year with her at the head of the table.

Seventeen people attended the meeting, two of whom were ileostomy patients who were attending the group for the first time.  After a time of introductions, the group spent the rest of the evening responding to questions and concerns raised by those present at the meeting.  It was a good meeting, punctuated with a fair amount of laughter.

Free Ostomy Supplies for the Uninsured

It is Osto Group's mission to provide these limited donated supplies to those with no insurance coverage or reimbursement of any type. We will ask you to verify non-coverage upon entering the program and to re-certify it each time you order from us. We do this to assure that we are serving those who are truly in need and not just those who are looking for savings.  Learn more by clicking on image to the right.

Should Ostomy Patients Use Public Swimming Pools?

This is a question that was raised in one of our earlier meetings, when a member reported that when he checked at the local community center as to whether he could use the pool while wearing an Ostomy appliance, he was denied use.

Your webmaster, through the UOAA, found a very helpful article in the June 2006 issue of The Aquatic Therapy Journal.  The Aquatic Therapy Journal articles are peer reviewed to insure the highest quality information.  One of the key conclusions from the article is the fact that, "Individuals with stomas are far less likely to cause contamination of swimming and therapy pools than are those who are anatomically intact." 

Having read this article, it would seem that ostomy patients who do as the article suggests should have no fear of using public pools.  This may be a case where the best policy is, "Don't Ask & Don't Tell."  Or, if you are denied use, you might want to print out and share the article with those who set the rules for the pool.

Here is a link to The Aquatic Therapy Journal article.

A Time Tested Odor Control Method

We are all familiar with the old advice, "take two aspirin and call me back in the Morning."  Well, aspirin is also an effective cure for pouch odor.  But you don't take it by mouth.  Instead, after emptying and wiping the pouch, you simply drop one or two aspirin into the pouch.  The next time you empty the pouch the odor will have largely gone away.  This method has been around for quite a while, but maybe we need to remind people of this time tested odor control method.  Try it, it works.

For best results, use cheap, generic, uncoated aspirin.  Use the kind that dissolve quickly.