President - Willie Graham Phone: 575-2077

Vice President - Gary Merriman Phone: 878-0988

Secretary -Missy Andric Phone: 562-2023

Treasurer - George Manning Phone: 877-3378

Newsletter - Wilson Enfinger Phone: 576-6864

Web Master - Jesse Taintor Phone: 224-6888

http://garnet. acns. fsu. edu/~ jtaintor/uoax.html

PURPOSE

The Tallahassee chapter is a volunteer organization composed primarily of ostomates with the purpose of supplementing the work of medical professionals by offering mutual aid and moral support through people who have learned to live with an ostomy. Trained members visit ostomy patients in hospitals and at their homes upon request and with consent of the patient’s physician. We publish a newsletter and hold monthly meetings. We hope you will attend our monthly program to support our speakers and to become acquainted with our other members and to share experiences.

MEETINGS

The Tallahassee chapter of the U.O.A. meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings will be held at Tallahassee Memorial Education Center; located at 1215 Hodges Drive, Tallahassee, FL in Classroom #3. The contact person is Wilson Enfinger; he may be reached at 681-5402.

MARCH MEETING

DATE: March 2, 1999

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION: TMH EDUCATION CENTER

1215 Hodges Drive

SPEAKER: Brent Tozzer Museum of Florida History

It is hard to believe we are only three meetings away from summer break. But before that happens, we have Easter and spring cleaning and St. Partrick’s day, garden cultivating and planting... It makes me exhausted just thinking about it, but we all know I have the best little helper to get things done!

TMH had 1 ileostomy and 4 colostomies for the month of January.

Our treasury balance is $602.99 as of February 2, 1999.

Our speaker was Linda Enfinger, RN, MSW. She gave an enlightening talk on grief and grief management. A brief question/ answer period followed the discussion.

Our 50/50 drawing winner was Patsy Rogers.

Our scheduled speaker for March is a representative from the Museum of Florida History.

Taking it a day at a time,

Missy

POUCH LEAKS & HOW TO AVOID THEM

There are many reasons why ostomy pouches may leak. Below are ten of the most common problems and suggestions for how to handle them. For further information consult your ET nurse or your physician.

• Poor Adherence to Peristomal Skin.

Make sure your Peristomal skin is bone dry before applying your pouch. Hold a warm hand over the pouch and stoma for 30-60 seconds after application to warm it and assure a good initial seal.

• Wrong Size of Pouch Opening.

If the size of your stoma has changed (due to post-operative shrinkage or weight loss or gain, etc.) And you have not re-measured and adapted the opening accordingly, you may get undermining of the wafer and leak- age.

• Folds or Creases.

If skin folds or creases have developed and leakage is always along the crease, wafer pieces or ostomy paste can be used to build up the area in order to avoid leakage.

• Peristomal Skin Irritation.

Pouches don’t stick well to irritated skin. So perform meticulous skin care to avoid irritated or denuded skin or a rash. If any of these problems develop, see your ET nurse or physician as soon as possible, so that the problem can be nipped in the bud.

• Improper Pouch Angle.

If the pouch doesn’t hang vertically, the weight of its contents can exercise an uneven pull on the wafer (twisting) and can cause leakage. Every ostomate must find his/her optimal angle based on individual body configuration.

• Emptying too Infrequently.

Pouches should be emptied when ½ full. If allowed to overfill, the weight of the effluent can break the seal and cause leakage.

• Extremely Warm Temperatures.

Leakage in warm temperatures may be due to water "melt-out". More frequent pouch changes or a change in wafer material may be required to avoid leakage.

• Pouch Wear and Tear.

Disposable wafers DO wear out. If you are stretching your wear times to a week or more, leakage may be due to the wafer wearing out. Try more frequent pouch changes.

• Improperly Stored Appliances.

Storing appliances in a warm or humid place (such as a bathroom) may affect the pouch adhesive. So don’t take chances -- keep your pouches in a cool, dry place.

• Aging Materials.

Appliances do not last forever. Ask your vendor what the recommended shelf life is for the brand of pouch you wear. Do keep extra pouches on hand --- but not TOO MANY.

HEALTH FACTS

You would have to eat about 32 cups of air--popped popcorn (unbuttered) to get the 840 calories in a cup of peanuts. Another plus for popcorn -- only about 3% of its calories come from fat, as compared with 76% of the peanuts’ calories. And it’s higher in fiber.

You must brush your teeth for at least five minutes to remove plaque effectively. The typical American brushes for only 30 seconds, long enough to remove only 10% of accumulated plaque.

Ephedrine is a common ingredient in many OTC decongestants, cold remedies, and appetite suppressants. Large doses can increase heart rate and blood pressure, and cause insomnia and nervousness. Read labels to avoid taking more than one OTC drug containing this stimulant.

Caffeine after a big pasta meal may make you feel hypoglycemic (low level of sugar in the blood), according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Blood sugar levels commonly drop to the "low--normal" range two to three hours after a high--carbohydrate meal. But the addition of caffeine, equal to two or three cups of coffee, caused trembling, sweating, and palpitations in study participants.

To get the most of the antioxidant beta carotene from a grapefruit, select either red or pink variety. White grapefruit has only small amounts of beta carotene, which is used in the body to form vitamin A. One--half of a pink or red grape- fruit provides 5% and 13%, respectively, of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin A.

People taking a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor for depression should not take tramadol (Ultram), a new oral analgesic for the treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain. Tramadol blunts the effectiveness of MAO inhibitors.

Artery - Study of paintings

Bacteria - Cafeteria back door

Barium - What undertakers do

Caesarean Section - Rome real estate

Cat Scan - Searching for pussy

Cauterize - Make eye contact

Coma - Punctuation mark

D and C - Where Washington is

Dilate - Have a long life

Enema - Not a friend

Fester - Quick

Fibula - Small lie

Genital - Not a Jew

Impotent - Distinguished

Labor Pain - Hurt at Work

Medical Staff - Doctors cane

Morbid - A higher offer

Nitrates - Cheaper than day rates

Nodes - Was aware of

Out Patient - One who has fainted

Pap Smear - Fatherhood test

Pelvis - Cousin of Elvis

Rectum - Nearly killed him

Secretion - Hiding something

Terminal illness - Sick at airport

Tumor - More than one

Urine - Opposite to "You’re out"

Varicose - Nearby

A well -fitted appliance doesn’t allow for much margin or error. Consider this: The correct opening size is determined by measuring your stoma’s diameter with a measuring card (available from most manufacturers, usually for free), and adding on-eight of an inch. This means that your appliance must be centered exactly and carefully every time. How do you do this? Good lightening is important, preferable from both above and the side. Stand sideways to the light source for better visibility. A wall mirror is a great help to see that the appliance hangs straight. A crooked bag exerts uneven pressure on skin and stoma and can only lead to trouble.

Don’t rush! Take the time to check placement carefully before allowing cement contact. No time is saved if you have to do the whole thing over again because the pouch is crooked or uncomfort-able.

Remember, if your appliance feels out of place or uncomfort-able, TAKE IT OFF. Don’t wait for an injury to occur. It is better to change unnecessarily than to risk damaging the precious stoma. You have to live with it for a long, long time!

S. Brevard (FL) OSTOMY NEWSLETTER

In many cases, when DR has been diagnosed, treatment is not needed; in others, treatment is recommended to halt the damage of DR and sometimes to improve sight.

Probably the most significant treatment is the use of ophthalmic laser surgery -- photocoagulation -- to seal the leaking blood vessels. Small bursts of the laser’s intense heat on the damaged retina stop the bleeding by sealing leaking vessels and forming tiny scars inside the eye. These scars reduce abnormal blood vessel growth and help bond the retina to the back of the eye. Even in advanced stages of the disease, photocoagulation can reduce the chance of severe vision loss.

However, this technique cannot be used in all patients. Depending on the location and extent of DR, and if the vitreous is too clouded with blood, another treatment must be used. In this, a surgical procedure, called a vitrectomy, the blood-filled vitreous is removed from the eye and replaced with a clear, artificial solution. About 70% of vitrectomy patients notice an improvement in sight. The timing of this procedure for each patient depends on the extent of damage to the eye and to the condition of the other eye. If, however, DR causes the retina to detach from the back of the eye, sever sight loss or blindness can result unless surgery is performed immediately to reattach the retina.

From Johns Hopkins Health After 50, via S. Brevard (FL) OSTOMY NEWSLETTER

Melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal body ( a tiny gland located deep inside the brain) was identified in 1963. Since then, researchers have come to suspect that it plays an important role in controlling sleep, and may be help-

ful in correcting certain sleep problems, such as jet lag.

Melatonin secretion is inhibited by bright light, and drowsiness occurs when levels are high. Production is highest in childhood and gradually decreases after puberty. By age 60, people produce very little.

Melatonin supplements can be purchased in some pharmacies and health food stores. But taking them for insomnia is ill-advised because little is known about the hormone’s general effect. Melatonin products are unregulat-ed and can vary considerably in quality.

America’s health care system is getting more and more complicated. A growing number of Americans get care through health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other kinds of managed care plans. Many of us still have traditional health insurance, and some have no insurance at all.

As health care keeps changing, it’s important to have a clear picture of what we should expect. America spends more than one trillion dollars a year on health care. Given the size and importance of the investment, we need effective ways to measure the quality of the care we receive. Measuring the performance of doctors, hospitals, and health plans will help us make sure we’re getting the health care quality and value we need as a nation.

FACCT -- The Foundation for Accountability -- is a national, not-for-profit organization that looks at what people want from health care and how they think about health care quality. By talking to hundreds of people across the country -- retired, working, young, old, sick, and well -- FACCT has created a new way of thinking about health care and what patients and families should expect. Americans want health care quality in five areas:

• The Basics

Delivering the basics of good care -- access to needed services, skilled care, communication between patient and provider, coordination of care, and customer service.

• Staying Healthy

Helping people avoid illness and stay healthy through preventive care, reduction of health risks, early detection of illness, and education.

• Getting Better

Helping people recover from sickness or injury through appro- priate treatment and follow-up.

• Living With Illness

Helping people with ongoing chronic conditions (diabetes, asthma) take care of themselves, control symptoms, avoid complications, and maintain daily activities.

• Changing Needs

Caring for people and their families when needs change because of disability or terminal illness -- with comprehensive services, care giver support, and hospice care.

Unfortunately, quality care in these five areas isn’t given. Studies show wide variations from health plan to health plan, hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a "report card" with scores that tell you how well different health plans, hospitals, and medical groups meet the needs of the people they care for? It may seem surprising that these report cards don’t already exist. Today, they’re under development by people and organizations working to measure the quality of care. Quality can be measured accurately and fairly -- and it doesn’t have to make health care cost more.

With information about quality, you’ll be able to make better decisions about which health plan to join or doctor to use. You’ll also be able to work more effectively with your doctors and plan to get the care you need.

Ultimately the answer to quality care lies with you -- and your willingness to be motivated and your desire to be educated -- to design a health care plan that works for you.