Offering Encouragement and Support for all Ostomates

January, 2019 News

We’re expanding! Our first meeting at Longs Peak Hospital will be January 3, at 5:00 pm, Conference Room A, 1750 E Ken Pratt Blvd., Longmont, CO  80504. At the request of Longs Peak, our guest will be Melissa Hood of Coloplast.  If you missed seeing her at Longmont United earlier this year, now is a good opportunity to come and see samples. The wound/ostomy nurse at Longs Peak will also be in attendance for questions and conversation.

One of the Christmas Trees on the Ship

I recently vacationed with the Ostomy United/Survivors group out of Los Angeles. It was so much fun! There were 34 that attended (20 of us had ostomies) and it was great to see the support from family and friends. The ages were between 10 years old and 80! We cruised the Mexican Riviera, and visited Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Everyone received a travel bag filled with various samples, a tee shirt and schedule of events. There were three days of seminars that were very well attended.

Measuring Stars – a fist or a finger?

Joe Vega and David Martinez manage the  San Gabriel Ostomy Association and the USC Community Ostomy Support Group in Southern California, and they did an amazing job organizing this event. There was a WOCN in attendance for anyone that needed help, and he was available one-on-one for questions. There were presentations on Tips and Tricks (there was a great hack using a sanitary napkin (!) for preventing sweat under your pouch), nutrition with an ostomy, the Power of Positive Thinking, and an evening event for star gazing and learning about the Hubble Telescope. There was also a day excursion to a tequila factory with lots of tasting and visiting around Puerto Vallarta.

Ready for Tequila!

The best part of the trip was meeting so many great people and the freedom to talk about, well, everything. Some people had multiple ostomies and it was interesting to see how they cope (one woman had three, a colostomy, urostomy and a nephrostomy on a kidney). There were breakout sessions so that ostomy patients could meet, and a separate session just for spouses and caregivers. I don’t often think about whether to tell someone about my ostomy, but being in such an open and safe environment felt very freeing.

Joe and David are planning another cruise for ostomates and caregivers in May, 2019, this time to the Caribbean. They will have ads in the next Phoenix Magazine, and I’m happy to share any information, if you’re interested. Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and very Happy New Year!

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2 Comments

  1. Desiree Williams

    Hello! I am a new ostomate and have been trying to find a wound care/ostomy nurse in Longmont. I see you had one in attendance at your January meeting, but when I called Longs Peak, they said they don’t have a wound care nurse. Do you have contact information for them? Thank you!

    • Susan Bogatin

      Hello, Desiree —

      Yes, there’s a really great ostomy nurse at Longmont United Hospital. His name is Charles Sloan and he also has an ostomy outpatient clinic, so you can schedule an appointment. The best way to contact him is either email, charlessloan@centura.org, or leave him a voice mail at 303-485-4193. I’m happy to also try to contact him and let him know you may be reaching out to him. Sometimes it can take 24 hours for him to respond. Until recently he’s been the only wound/ostomy nurse at LUH, and he sometimes gets busy. He’s a great resource for our support group and we all really appreciate his experience.

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