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| Coquitlam Connection |
| From the� Editor's Desk |
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| A man left from work one Friday afternoon. But, being payday, instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend partying with the boys and spending his entire paycheck. When he finally appeared at home, Sunday night, he was confronted by a very angry wife and was barraged for nearly two hours with a tirade befitting his actions. Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said to him. "How would you like it if you didn't see me for two or three days?" To which he replied. "That would be fine with me." Monday went by and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with the same results. Come Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye. |
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| Greetings Fellow Earthlings, Well March roared like a lion but was sufficiently lamb like for the meeting. This was our first official meeting at Jessoma Farm since our last attempt was snowed under. Given March's earlier performance it surprised me that the weather relented. The facilities are very nice, well worth the trip. We met in the old heifer barn which was converted into a "people barn". It has a large meeting room upstairs and a big kitchen and entertainment facilities downstairs. This year the annual picnic will be held there and I encourage you all to come out. I haven't made my participation speech for a while so at the risk of blowing an old horn... This group exists for your benefit and for the benefit of future ostomates. We can all profit from your input. If you have an idea for a meeting or fundraising, contact one of the board members. We are having a visitor training program coming up. If you would like to extend a hand to new ostomates in this way, let Sandra Dunbar know. Ok, I'll put away the soapbox now and get on to the facinating topics in this issue. And coincidentally our first topic is the value of an ostomy visitor. I guess I still have a little soap on the old toes. Then we have an interesting personal adventure of the ostomy kind, a new ostomate's first encounter with an open ended pouch and a novice nurse (well with ostomy devices anyway). That reminds me, Kwantlen College is looking for persons with long term health challenges to be interviewed by student nurses. If you are interested look on page 8 for more information. Hmmm, just can't seem to get away from that soap. Next we have another vignette from an ostomate and her blockage encounter. Things to watch out for in the hospital. Continuing in that vein, I found about another sort of blockage at the March rap session. I got curious and did a little research on the 'net' on a condition called ileus or intestinal psuedo obstruction. The resulting compilation of facts is not quite as interesting as the personal adventure that was related but hopefully if you ever encounter this condition you will be able to assist in your diagnosis. That is, just in case you doctor has never heard of ileus either. Next we have a general guide to appliance usage with a quick tip for stifling an 'operatic' stoma. This is followed by a more serious discussion on paraostomy hernias and the factors raising the risk of these hernias. And rounding off the month we have an article examining the role of the ET, the origins and evolution of ET nursing. Well it is time to say Au Revoir for another month. Make sure to catch Andy's talk on "Ostomies I have known" this month at the Dogwood Center and be sure to come to the picnic in May. Until next time, Stay Well, Bob |