Our Next Meeting Will Be Tuesday, August 10th

Our next meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 10th, 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 June 8th Meeting

At this meeting we had a representative of Cymed a manufacturer of Ostomy Supplies that is headquartered in Berkeley.  Nick Gritzai is Marketing Manager of Cymed.  We had two new persons with us.  Nick introduced the groups to the line of Cymed Ostomy Pouches, which feature their unique Microskin adhesive system.  Nick demonstrated the features, and then passed out samples.  To contact Cymed for more information email use this link.

Follow Nick's presentation, we then went into a question and answer session where people who are having difficulties. We had twenty five people in attendance, including two ostomy patients who were attending for the first time.

What happened at our May 11th Meeting

We met again at 7:00 p.m. at O'Connor Hospital in the Sister Rosalie Rendu Conference Room.  We had an unusually large number of people who were here for the first time.  Of the 27 people in attendance, 7 were here for the first time and one of those was here prior to having their ostomy surgery.

What happened at our April 13th Meeting

On April 13th we met at O'Connor Hospital, with six persons with us for the first time.  One had a urostomy, one had an ileostomy, one had a temporary colostomy, one with a permanent colostomy and one will be having ileostomy surgery on this coming Monday.  Our meeting at that meeting was an open forum meeting.  Twenty four people were in attendance. 

On March 26th Peggy and Paul took part in a training event for Coloplast representatives.  Robyn Home (Coloplast Territory Manager - San Jose) wrote a letter to to our membership following that event.  Click here to read letter

What Happened at Our March 9th Meeting

We met again on Tuesday, March 9th, 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.  Twenty-five people attended the meeting, including two persons with very recent ostomy surgeries, and several other persons who were with us for thee first time.

Rosalyne Tu, who's photo is on the right, an Registered Nutritionist from O’Connor Hospital, spoke to our group about the various issues people with ostomies have with their diet and nutrition. 

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What Happened at our February 9th Meeting

We had a total of 34 people in attendance. There were 3 new attendees all had colostomies.  We were going to do a “Show and Tell” but most people forgot to bring their supplies to share.  So we broke into groups by type of ostomy so the new attendees could ask specific questions and get the help they needed.

For the March meeting the group would like to have a nutritionist come to speak.  President Peggy reports, "I am looking into finding a nutritionist who can speak to nutrition for ostomates."

What Happened at our January 12th Meeting

We again met at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, at O'Connor Hospital.  It was a dreary, rainy.  Yet, we had thirty two people in attendance.  Two persons were here for the first time since their surgery.  We also had several persons who were at the early stages of their recovery.  After about 45 minutes of meeting as a total group, we then divided into sections based upon the type of surgery (ileostomy, colostomy or urostomy) so persons needing advise could speak directly with others who had been through the same type of surgery that they themselves had recently experienced. 

April 09 UOAA UPDATE via Houston TX OA

Rumor has it that the doctor removed one of your parts.  The same rumor said that they didn’t take out your heart.  So you can still love.  Also, none of your mind was removed, so you can still dream of sunshine and flowers.  Apparently, they left your family and friends.  So you still have someone to care for and someone to care for you.  Did the surgeon remove your grandchildren’s laughter? Did he leave you your lips to smile with, your nose to smell the morning air, your ears to hear the birds singing, your eyes to see the evening sunset surely, he didn’t touch your soul. That belongs to God.  If he left you all of these things, did he remove anything really important?  Remember what Hubert Humphrey, also an ostomate, once said, “It isn’t what they take away from you that matters, it’s what you do with what you have left that counts.”

Aug. 7-11, 2011

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