President - Willie Graham Phone: 575-2077

Vice President - Gary Merriman Phone: 878-0988

Secretary -Missy Candric Phone: 562-2023

Treasurer - George Manning Phone: 877-3378

Newsletter - Wilson Enfinger Phone: 576-6864

Web Master - Jesse B. Taintor Phone: 224-6888
http://garnet. acns. fsu. edu/~taintor/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.

JANUARY MEETING

DATE: January 5, 1999

TIME: 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION: 1215 Hodges Drive

SPEAKER: CAROL WRIGHT

Convatec Representative

Medical Care Products

Jacksonville, FL

MINUTES FROM

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Taking it a day at a time,

Missy

4 years - My Daddy can do any- thing

7 years - My Dad knows a lot, a whole lot

8 years - Dad doesn’t know quite everything

12 years - Naturally Father doesn’t understand

14 years - Father? Hopelessly old-fashioned

21 years - Oh, that man is out of date; what would you expect?

25 years - He comes up with a good idea now & then

30 - years - I must find out what Dad thinks about it

35 years - A little patience; lets get Dad’s input first

50 years - What would Dad have thought about it?

60 years - I wish I could talk it over with Dad once more

DID YOU KNOW?

Ordinary low-fat yogurt is so versatile that you’ll always want to keep some available. Sweeten it and have it with fruit. Use it as a topper instead of sour cream. Use it with special spices and seasonings for sauces and dips. Yogurt is a tasty way to get your daily supplement of calcium. Also, it helps in preventing the buildup of gas in the intestine.

An elderly man who was very ill said to his wife, "You know, Sarah, you’ve always been with me, through the good and the bad. When I lost my job, you were right there with me all the time. When the war came and I joined up, you became a nurse so that you could be near me. When the depression came and we lost everything, you were still there. Here I am now, sick as a dog, and, as always, you are still with me. You know what, Sarah? YOU’RE NOTHING BUT BAD LUCK!"

AFTER OSTOMY SURGERY

Listed below are a few of the types of people who fare better after ostomy surgery:

1. Those who think of others before themselves.

2. Those who look outward and upward.

3. Those who are busy and active.

4. Those who are interested and always inquiring and learning - knowlege always helps.

5. Those who are not bogged down in the grief process.

The three phases of ostomy surgery are:

1. Denial.

2. Anger.

3. Acceptance.

The four L’s of the ostomy patient are:

1. Learn - through the ostomy chapter.

2. Lean - on each other.

3. Laugh - through troubles and with a positive outlook.

4. Lead others through your time, by volunteering.

If you are an ileostomate, chances are at some point you may experience a blockage. Almost always food blockages are caused by too much fiber at any one time. You can probably get away with eating small amounts of high fiber foods, but when you eat too much or too many different kinds at one time, you can get into problems.

These foods do not digest well, and the result can be an actual "plug" of fiber which obstructs the small bowel. The first sign of blockage can be a slight cramping or maybe just flutter sensations. This occurs when your intestine tries to get things going by pushing a little harder. At first you may have no drainage at all, but this is usually followed by great quantities of watery drainage; also the pain may increase and become quite severe.

If these symptoms are recognized early, it is a simple matter to get things straightened out. First, eat crackers and drink tea, either hot or cold. Some people prefer grape juice. Eating or drinking these does two things. It gives you something to push with and it helps to replace the salt you are losing with all the watery drainage. Avoid drinking carbonated beverages.

Next, get down on your hands and knees and rock back and forth while rubbing your abdomen. This helps break up the blockage so it can pass through. This is usually all you need to do. If this doesn’t work right away, change to a disposable appliance, as your stoma may swell causing the faceplate to cut into your stoma. Also don’t lie still; get up and move around.

GO AHEAD & SNEEZE

Those around you would rather you stifle a sneeze but you’re better off going ahead and letting it happen. Shutting your mouth and holding your nose during a sneeze creates enormous pressure in the nose and throat that can force infection into your sinuses and ears, says the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter.

NEW LIFE FOR PANTYHOSE

Cuff off the legs of worn out panty hose and use the panty part to keep your appliance in place under a swimsuit. The panty hose are lightweight, reduce the bulky bulges under the swimsuit and best of all, don’t cost anything.

Another use? Pantyhose can also be worn at night (after cutting the main length of leg off) to keep the appliance from flopping around and perhaps getting a fold in it so it can’t fill. This is especially good for ileostomates, whose appliances are very apt to fill several times at night, and if they aren’t lying straight might pop lose and who wants the results of that in the middle of the night?

This helpful hint comes from Francis Block, a general practitioner in Paducah, Kentucky. For people who have trouble swallowing foul-testing pills, he suggests daubing them with a little butter or margarine before taking them. This not only makes the pills slippery, it eliminates any lingering bitter aftertaste.