Our lunch venue for December 5 is changed to 3 Margaritas, 2350 Main Street, Longmont 80501. Time will still be 12 noon. Charles and Kelly will talk about their latest abstract submission for the latest patient study at LUH. And Mexican food! Hopefully this change will not be too inconvenient. Please RSVP to smbogatin@yahoo.com. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you, Mike Okada from Native Roots, for speaking at our November meeting. Mike gave a detailed presentation on the chemistry and effects of THC and CBD. He did his homework to understand our health issues and was generous in his time to answer questions. If you have any questions for Mike, you can reach him at mike.okada@nativerootsdispensary.com. Also, we experimented with streaming this presentation online. It seemed to go well, so if you think this would be a good thing to do in the future, please let me know.
Don’t have a subscription to The Phoenix, but wish you had? For a limited time, The Phoenix is offering free issues. Just fill out your information here, or give them a call at 800-750-9311.
The UOAA is Looking for Patient Advocates
The UOAA is working on several advocacy efforts that require patient stories and documentation. If you are interested in helping them and meet either of these initial criteria, please contact advocacy@ostomy.org for further details in the hopes you can be a volunteer patient advocate:
1) You are a Medicare beneficiary, and within the past 6 months your supplier submitted a claim for a product that you medically require greater than the allowable limit and the claim was denied.
OR
2) Within the past 6 months, you were receiving care in a rehab center, nursing home or from a Home Health Agency, and you received very poor, inadequate (quite frankly completely unacceptable) care with regards to your ostomy.
Telemedicine for Ostomy Care
We know that ostomy nurses are connected with all our suppliers, but I wasn’t aware that there were actual telemedicine groups specifically for ostomies. Telemedicine services can help patients receive remote care and are now offered across the country (services are offered for a fee). Care can be provided for those living in rural areas, in need of immediate consultation, those who are homebound or far away from outpatient ostomy clinics and certified ostomy nurses. Two services listed on the UOAA website are Corstrata and To-Day’s Ostomy Solutions. Both are available in Colorado and can assist with issues such as proper pouching and skin problems, nutrition and supply consultations.
Are you a New Ostomate?
UOAA Advocacy Committee member Susan Mueller, BSN, RN, CWOCN and UOAA Advocacy Manager Jeanine Gleba were recently interviewed by Everyday Health for an article “9 Questions About Living with an Ostomy”. You can read it here. Although focused on new ostomies for Crohns patients, it’s a good primer for all new ostomates.
UOAA Virtual Groups
Unable to attend our terrific group in Boulder County, but want connections with other ostomates? The UOAA has several Virtual Groups, organized within groups and with individuals:
- Gay & Lesbian Ostomates (GLO), Fred Shulak,773-286-4005
- Continent Diversion Network (CDN), 215-637-2409
- Pull-Thru Network (PTN), Bonnie McElroy — pullthru@bellsouth.net, 205-978-2930
- Thirty Plus Network, Kathy DiPonio, 586-219-1876
- Jim Murray, Membership #400, 850-982-9936
Six Signs That Clearly Prove You Love Your Ostomy WAY TOO MUCH!!!
This article in Ostomy Connections admits that it wasn’t all love at first sight (or should that be “site”?) when we got our ostomies. Some people love them more than others, but I think we can all agree we’ve made it this far!
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