United Ostomy Association, Inc.
Evansville, Indiana Chapter
Re-Route

 
Contents:

EVANSVILLE OSTOMY CHAPTER IS ON THE INTERNET
NEW PRODUCT SAMPLES NOW AVAILABLE
MEASURE YOUR STOMA
CARE NEEDED WITH GRAPEFRUIT JUICE
LIQUIDS AND THE UROSTOMATE
KIDNEY STONES AND THE ILEOSTOMATE
A GIFT OF TIME
CARTOONSVILLE

Re-Route Archive

Volume 26, Number 10  July, 1999

EVANSVILLE OSTOMY CHAPTER IS ON THE INTERNET By: Larry Trapp
About two years ago, my neighbor, Steve Whitehead, an I.U. graduate who majored in Computer Science, and I, decided to take it upon ourselves to publish a homepage to the Internet for the United Ostomy Association - Evansville, Indiana Chapter . I had bought my first computer a year prior to this occasion and was feeling my Internet oats. Between the two of us we happened to compliment each other for this particular endeavor. I had all the information needed to make up the content for the Homepage and Steve had all the technical experience to design such a cyber net location. This whole process was very inexpensive in monetary terms. I simply used the free space on the server provided by my local Internet Service Provider called Evansville Online. However, the amount of time and energy used to create this Homepage was extensive. Steve had more than enough computer skills to interpret all the information he read about in several books on designing and publishing a Homepage. With this in mind, the two of us did a lot of on-the-job training. First, we had to create and then design a meaningful Homepage. And to do this, Steve mastered the computer language called Hypertext Markup Language. Once we did all of this we had to figure out how to publish this Homepage we had created to the Evansville Online Server. The young people called service technicians at Evansville Online were High School aged people with less knowledge of publishing on the Internet than our selves. So, we took our time and taught our selves how to publish our Homepage to the Internet. This was a major accomplishment, considering we had taught our selves everything necessary to accomplish our goal. This was not the end of all we had to do to lure visitors to the Evansville Ostomy Chapter Homepage. Next, we had to register with major Search Engines people use to find such helpful information that we had published. This process took several weeks in some instances to get registered. After once established, you go through a maintenance phase of Web Design. You are constantly thinking of new ways to attract new and old visitors to your Homepage. So, the Web Design process is ongoing and thought provoking. It is comparable to doing a magazine or periodical. I had publishing the Evansville Ostomy Homepage to the free server that came with my membership in Evansville Online for about 18 months. Then Rod Crick and myself decided to take the next step and purchase a software program necessary to publish a more polished Homepage. After this purchase we needed a separate server to publish to. So, I simply asked Evansville Online if they had a charitable program for a non-profit organization like ours. Luckily, Scott Hartig a salesman for Evansville Online provided this service through his company for our chapter for a very nominal sum. So our chapter has gone from low-tech to hi–tech in rather short order. And after twenty-five months online our chapter averages about twenty-four visitors per day. These visitors have the option of reading our monthly newsletter, reading our monthly schedule of monthly meetings or even filling out a membership questionnaire. The Internet is how you do business, regardless if you or for-profit or not at this point in time. In an attempt to keep up with the times, I am proud to announce that the United Ostomy Association – Evansville, Indiana Chapter is Internet bound and determined!

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NEW PRODUCT SAMPLES NOW AVAILABLE
Many of our members had re-quested product samples from Hollister when Barbara Davis ,our Hollister representative who spoke at our October, 1998 meeting. Since no one received their requested samples, obviously a foul up of some sort occurred at Hollister. Ms Davis , apologizes , on behalf of Hollister that the samples were not sent. For those of you interested in their NEW IMAGE product, Barbara asks that I publish the following announcement. The NEW IMAGE samples are now available. If you are interested in obtaining your free NEW IMAGE sample, please call Barbara Davis at 1-800-624-5369 extension 1056. Please leave the following information to receive your free samples: Name and Address, Type of Pouch, (fecal or urostomy); Cut to Fit Size Preference of 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 Inches. Please allow two weeks for delivery. Samples may also be ordered through The Ostomy Centre and Holiday Pharmacy. 

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MEASURE YOUR STOMA By: Alice Bowman & Bob Baumel, Stillwater, OK.; Via: Orange Oasis
We recently visited a patient with a two-year old colostomy, suffering from severe skin irritation caused by using appliances with pre-cut stoma openings of the same size as originally measured in the hospital. Immediately after surgery, the stoma is quite swollen; it then shrinks for about the next six months — sometimes a year or longer. During the initial period, while the stoma is shrinking, it is best to use a cut to-fit appliance and measure your stoma every time you change the barrier. Once your stoma has stabilized, you may wish to switch to a pre-cut appliance. However, you should continue to measure your stoma occasionally to see if you should switch to a different size appliance. If you fail to adjust your appliance size as your stoma shrinks, you will eventually be using an appliance with an opening much bigger than your stoma. This leaves a large area of unprotected skin around your stoma, making you a prime candidate for skin irritation. How big should the appliance opening be? For most types of barriers/face plates, the opening should provide clearance of a millimeter or two all around the stoma (up to 1/16 inch). On one hand, one should minimize the area of unprotected skin around the stoma; on the other hand, some clearance is usually necessary because many barriers contain hard materials (including plastic films) that can damage the stoma if they come in contact. Your appliance dealer or your ET can keep you informed on new products coming on the market. 

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CARE NEEDED WITH GRAPEFRUIT JUICE Via: The Journal, Philadelphia, PA & Kenosha-Racine OA.
For certain people, many kinds of medication become much more powerful if taken with grapefruit or grapefruit juice. The increase in potency could be especially dangerous with drugs that affect the blood pressure and heart rate, lower the blood levels of sugar or calcium, and with sleeping pills and other drugs that become toxic at high dosages (e.g., some drugs taken by mouth for fungal infections). In this way, some people have accidentally overdosed. This increase in potency is not just imaginary, and researchers have found that something in grapefruit inhibits intestinal enzymes that would otherwise break down certain drugs. So, when purchasing any medication for the first time, be sure to read the pharmacy’s printout (especially the precautions and warnings section) to find out whether grapefruit would affect them. Alternatively, to be on the safe side when taking medication, you could temporarily do without grapefruit or grapefruit juice. 

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LIQUIDS AND THE UROSTOMATE Via: Spacecoast Shuttle Blast & Madison OA
People with urinary diversions no longer have storage area (bladder) for urine. Hence, urine should flow from the stoma as fast as the kidneys can make it. In fact, if the urinary stoma has no drainage for even an hour during the day, it is time for concern. The distance from stoma to kidneys is markedly reduced after urinary diversion surgery, and external bacteria have a shorter route to the kidneys. Since kidney infections can occur very rapidly and be devastating, prevention is essential. It’s vital to use clean appliances and empty the bag frequently. Equally important is adequate intake of liquids, particularly, those which make the urine acid and odor problems during warm weather, with increased activity or with a fever, fluids should be increased even more to make up for their loss from the body due to increased metabolism and perspiration. It is important for urostomates to learn about the symptoms of kidney infection. These are low back pain, chills, elevated temperature, lower urine out-put, and cloudy and bloody urine (normal mucous in the urine gives a cloudy appearance, but bloody urine is the danger sign). Thirst is a great index of liquid needs. If you are thirsty, drink up! Also, develop the habit of sampling every time you see a water fountain.

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KIDNEY STONES AND THE ILEOSTOMATE By: Jill Conwell, RNET, Corpus Christi, TX, Via: Orange  
Kidney stones are fairly common medical problems. They occur in about 5 percent of the population. They are more common in men with a sedentary life-style and in families with a history of kidney stones. The average age of first occurrence is about 40, but they can occur at any age. For ulcerative colitis patients, the incidence of developing kidney stones is about double that of the rest of the population. For ileostomates, the incidence is 20 times greater. 
There are two basic types of kidney stones: uric acid and calcium. Both may occur in ileostomates since the underlying cause is dehydration. Uric acid stones are more frequent. One reason for this is the chronic loss of electrolytes, producing acid urine. The stones may vary in size and shape, some being as small as grains of sand, while others entirely fill the renal pelvi renal pelvis. They also vary in color, texture and composition. Symptoms during the passage of a kidney stone include bleeding due to irritation, cramping, abdominal pain, vomiting and frequent cessation of ileostomy flow. When ileostomy flow stops, distinguishing between an obstruction versus a kidney stone may be difficult since the symptoms are similar. Treatment of most kidney stones is symptomatic and in most cases the stone passes spontaneously through the urinary tract. Medication for the spasms is usually administered. The urine should be strained in order to collect the stone for analysis. Once the composition of the stone is determined, steps should be taken to prevent recurrence of an attack. The physician will prescribe medication or dietary modifications depending on the type of stone.The best preventative measure is to drink plenty of fluids (8 glasses) every day. If the urine appears to be concentrated, increase fluids and use a sport drink that is rich in electrolytes to replace losses.

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A GIFT OF TIME Via: Hemet-San Jacinto, CA. Chapter
What does your ostomy mean to you? Does it mean a constant nuisance and care, problems, embarrassment, leakage and resentment: Or….do you relegate it to a significant but minor part of your daily routine and now enjoy a new lease on life? What would have happened to you if the surgery hadn’t been done? Did you get to choose between a box six feet under or a bag on your belly? That doesn’t leave much room for negotiation, does it? A surgical diversion to create an ostomy or internal pouch is usually done as a life-saving procedure. Some are temporary solutions to an acute problem and some are permanent diversions. Some are done as cures for whatever ailed you in the first place and some alleviate a lot of worry, pain , misery and medical expenses. All of them buy you a gift of precious, extra time. For those who have been given that gift of precious extra time, what are you going to do with that precious extra time? Are you going to waste it – now that you have it – or are you going to do something productive or memorable with it? Are you going to crawl into a psychological hole and remain there, feeling sorry for yourself until your time runs out, or are you going to appreciate and live life to the fullest, making good use of the time you have left? THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!!

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