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OTAGO OSTOMY SOCIETY INC

Patron Mr Mark Thompson-Fawcett  MBChB(Auck) MD, FRACS

Charities Commission Reg No. CC 34497

Patron:
Mr Mark Thompson-­FawcettMB, ChB[Auck], MD, FRACS

____________________________________________

2014–2015 Committee

Phil ‘Frosty’ Elliot
President
3 Hare Road
Ocean View 9035
phone 4811847

Lindsay Bryant
Vice-­President
152 Sidey Street
Calton Hill 9012
phone4879608

Fergus Meehan
Secretary
588 Brighton Road
Westwood 9035
phone 4811347

Heather Keen
Treasurer
5 Penrich Street,
Abbotsford 9018
phone 488 2939

Norma Bethune
Newsletter Editor
4 Kura Place
Mosgiel 9024
phone 4893382

INTRODUCTION

As your new President, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Phil Elliot, otherwise known as ‘Frosty’. I’m 68, partner of Linda Smillie, and have two adult daughters and four grandkids. Although officially retired, I drive tour coaches part-time. I’ve been an ostomate for 24 years, and was involved with the South Canterbury Ostomy Society in Timaru and the Canterbury Ostomy Society in Christchurch before returning to Dunedin in 2000. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made to our Society over many years by our outgoing president Dawson Murphy and his wife Sadie. Thank you both so much, from me and from all our members, past and present. With the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the Otago Ostomy Society coming up on 19th October, we’re planning a bit of a celebration so … … watch this space!!!

AGM Report

The society is reaching out to ostomates around the Greater Otago region this year, so in May we travelled to Balclutha for a luncheon and our AGM at the South Otago Town and Country Club … very enjoyable! Elected at this meeting were a great Committee who all have the interests of our members at heart; your support will make their efforts all the more worthwhile.

The current committee are:

Phil ‘Frosty’ Elliot, President                                               Lindsay Bryant, Vice-­President         

Fergus Meehan, Secretary                                                 Heather Keen, Treasurer         

Dawson Murphy, Immediate Past President                   

Robyn Tourell          Elaine Dasler          Elaine Nelson          Martin Hair          Gregory Scott

Linda Smillie, Child/Youth members                                                
Lois Peat, Meetings Tea-lady                                                              
Norma Bethune, Newsletter Editor                                                                                                                                           Syd Dobbs, Auditor

NEWS

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 10am on Wednesday 27th August 2014 at Toitu Early Settlers Museum at the Queens Gardens in Dunedin, just along from the Railway Station.

This meeting will be a morning tea especially for those who don’t like going out on cold winter nights. We’re hoping that this will encourage a few more people to venture out to an ostomy meeting to find out what we can do help and support you. Our committee thought ‘out-of-towners’ might like to come along to meet members and chat, then spend the rest of the day relaxing in town.

Annual Conference

The NZ Ostomy Society’s Annual Conference this year is being held in Rotorua from 1st–3rd August. Robyn Tourell who did such a great job of organizing our own conference in Dunedin last year will be attending as our delegate.

In August 2015 Auckland will be hosting conference … but now is the time to start planning if you’d like to attend! Conferences are a great way to meet other ostomates from other areas, as well as being able to learn about new products as they become available. It was fantastic to see so many new ostomates and first-time attendees at our conference last year.

How Come I Got To Be Here???
Norma Bethune, Newsletter Editor

Reading Roy Colbert’s experiences with an Ostomy [NZ Ostomate, Aug 2014] andthe troubles he had with bags not sticking got me thinking about our family’s issues with the same problem. In December 2012, my husband John and I were minding our own business and enjoying retirement when out-of-theblue, and in an instant, our life changed forever. A weakness in the wall of John’s aorta ruptured, triggering off a series of events that saw him fighting for his life and in hospital for a couple of months. John is one of the lucky minority whose aortic aneurysm ruptures to makes it to hospital alive so the aneurysm can be surgically repaired. Only hours after this initial operation, however, it was found that part of John’s bowel had died so he was back in theatre for a ‘temporary’
colostomy to save his life for the second time in under 24 hours. The colostomy was followed by several more operations … one to refashion the stoma that withdrew into his abdomen as the swelling went down. We now know medical misadventure necessitated these operations and eventually lead to one of John’s kidneys being removed before he could begin regaining his health. Anyway, back to the non-sticking bags! In the first 18 months of colostomy-life, John had major issues with his bag at least once a week. Usually it’s been some variation of ‘pancaking’ which forced the contents to ooze out under the seal. Sometimes John was able to remedy the situation early, but many times he had major ‘explosions’ where large quantities of contents managed to escape! Although we had suggestions from Ostomy Nurses and fellow ostomates, it was only while reading about the various types of ostomies that I realized John’s stoma lying flat against his tummy was causing the problem. A phone call to the Stoma Nurse, a quick trip in to see her, and she agreed that a convex fitting on his bags would force the contents into the bag rather than having it seep out via a tiny dimple on John’s tum! After morereading we enlarged the hole about ¼” sohis stoma could stretch while discharging. At last the problem’s pretty much fixed!!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

April 2014 Newsletter

OTAGO OSTOMY SOCIETY INC

Patron Mr Mark Thompson-Fawcett  MBChB(Auck) MD, FRACS

Charities Commission Reg No. CC 34497

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday 3rd May2014 at the South Otago Town and Country Club in Balclutha.

An invitation is extended to all members to join us for a bus trip tmeet up with South Otago Ostomates for lunch and a                                                                                general get together. We will hold a short Annual General Meeting after lunch, prior to the bus returning to Dunedin.

As advised in our last newsletter because this is our 50th year in operation we are going to get out of the city and make                                                                              contact with as many Ostomates as possible.

The bus will be leaving Dunedin about 10.00am and will arrive backin Dunedin between 3.30pm - 4.00pm.

Lunch will cost $18 per person. The Society will coverthe cost of bus transport.

Please RSVP by Saturday 26lh April 2014 to Heather, phone 03 488-2939 or email desotobill@slinqshot.co.nz Dawson, phone 03 488-1149

Arrangements will be made about bus pickup points when you RSPV. Please come along for a great day out.

REPORT ON MARCH MEETING

We had a great turnout to hear Paul Larson and his Pharmacist speak. As usual Paul was able to answer and advise on any medication issues                                               members had. We also had Coloplast Representative, Nicola, in attendance showing us new products.

SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL

Payment of your annual subscription of $15.00 is due now. lf you wish to pay on-line our bank account details are included on the
subscription invoice. Please quote your first name and surname in the reference field.

BEAUTIFUL !

An elderly couple were celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple hod morried as childhood sweethearts and had moved bock to
their old neighbourhood ofter they retired. Holding hands, they wolked back to their old school. It wos not locked,
so the entered ond found the old desk they had shared , where Andy had corved "I love you, Sally."
On their woy bock home, a bag of money fell out of an armoured car,
practically landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and was not sure whot to do with it, so they took it home. There she counted the
money, fifty thousond dollars ! Andy said, "We've got to give it back". Sally replied, "Finders keepersl". She put the money back in the bog
and hid it in their attic. The next day, two police officers were canvassing the neighbourhood looking for the money and knocked on their door.
"Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of on armoured car yesterday?" Sally said, "No". Andy said, "She's lying.                                                                         She hid it up in the attic." Sally said, "Don't believe him, he's getting senile." The officers turned to Andy and began to question him.
One said, "Tell us the story from the beginning." Andy said, "Well, when Sally and i were walking home from school yesterday ........"
The first police officer turned to his partner ond said, "We are outta
here!".

Hope you can join us on our trip to Balclutha on 3rd May 2014.
Dawson

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

February 2014 Newsletter

 OTAGO OSTOMY SOCIETY INC

Patron Mr Mark Thompson-Fawcett  MBChB(Auck) MD, FRACS

Charities Commission Reg No. CC 34497

Hi Folks,

Welcome to 2014. I hope you have all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year and that 2014 will be good for you all.

March Meeting
The March meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th March 2014 at 7.30pm, in the Cancer Society Rooms, Great King Street, Dunedin.
The speaker will be Paul Larson B.Pharm.(Hons.) M,P.S. of Larsons Pharmacy Green lsland along with one of his Pharmacists. Subject will be Ostomates and their Medication. He will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your own medication and how it could affect your Ostomy. We will have a sales table, so please bring along goods and money to make purchases.

REPORT ON CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON
Our 2013 Christmas Luncheon was held at Forbury Park and was enjoyed by all. lt was great to have our eldest life member, Gwen Jones, joining us for the meal. She enjoyed the change to have a catch up with members. Raffle winners were Johnny Watt, Joanne Brown and Margaret Patterson. A lovely set of oven gloves, pot holder and apron were donated by Bella Willems which we made into three prizes for the raffle.
Thank you Bella.

BOOST TO OUR GENERAL OPERATING ACCOUNT
Thanks to the great effort of Robyn and her Conference Committee fund raising they had a surplus in the conference account of $4,415.00. This has been transferred to our generalaccount. Thank you to Robyn and the Committee.

50 YEARS OF OSTOMY IN OTAGO
Otago Ostomy Society started in October 1964 by the late Ruth Wedlake. Ruth after having surgery for an ileostomy was back in hospital a year later for a total colectomy. During this stay she meet an English Nursing sister with an ileostomy wh lent her literature and newsletters. On discovering there were support groups overseas and because she knew there were no such support groups in Otago, Ruth with the help of Red Cross posted letters to known Ostomates inviting them to a meeting to form a support group here. To celebrate our 50 years the committee has decided we will take our meetings around the region.  We hope to arrange our Annual Meeting for Saturday 3rd May 2014 with a bus trip to Balclutha for a meal and meeting to follow.  Mark this date on your calendar. More information will follow in the next newsletter.

AROUND THE SOCIETY
Howard Moss has resigned as a Committee Member for health reasons. Thank you Howard for your support and input to theCommittee over the last few years. Gwen and Fred Earl celebrated their Diamond Wedding in December 2013. Congratulations Fred also had an article in the ODT about  his great vegetable garden. He has his own potato variety,
named Fred's Folly. Great work Fred.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday 12th March 2014, 7.30pm.
Dawson

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

March 2013 Newsletter

NNZOS CONFERENCE

Remember this is Dunedin Conference year 2013. Keep 9th to 11th August free.

Your conference committee is working hard towards making this an enjoyable event.

Please support Otago and FNZOS to make a memorable time for all.

MARCH MEETING

A Happy New Year and welcome to all Ostomates. I hope you all had a good holiday break and were able to enjoy the very hot weather we have been having.Our March meeting will be held on Wednesday 13th March 2013, at the Cancer Society Rooms (opposite the Dental School), Great King Street, Dunedin at 7.30pm.We are going to have an Open Discussion Night with our Stoma Nurses in attendance. We will run our usual sales table towards Conference Funds. Please bring along items for sale and a few dollars to purchase goods.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH & RAFFLE

We had a good turnout and enjoyed a lovely meal at Just Essence restaurant. Many thanks to Sharron Mayfield for organizing our function.

Thank you also for the donations towards the Christmas Hamper Raffle. The response was so outstanding that we made up three baskets of goodies so there were three prizes. Heather Keen and Elaine Nelson spent two days selling tickets at the Dunedin Warehouse and found public were very generous with their support in purchases of tickets and also wanting to know about the society. We raised $400, with all money going to our Conference Fund.

The winners Were :

1st Draw Card 8 No. 25 Dianne Smeehuyzen
2nd Draw Card 4 No. 28 Phil Elliot
3rd Draw Card 2 No.27 Robyn Hollander

LIST OF DON'TS FOR OSTOMATES

The following is a list of hints from Ruth Wedlake (also an Ostomate). Ruth was the first Stoma Therapist in New Zealand and the founder of the Otago Ostomy Society. Most of these still apply today :-

. Don't be afraid to take a bath without your appliance. Soap and water cannot hurt your Stoma.
. Don't be afraid to wear a foundation garment if you need one.

. Don't be afraid of the word Pregnancy. Lots of female ostomates have borne children and lots of male ostomates have sired children.
. Don't shave under your disc, the risk of a cut is too great. . Don't forget to wash your belt regularly.
. Don't be afraid of new foods. Do be a little cautious with foods such as nuts and other roughage items.
. Don't hesitate to call your doctor or stomal therapist if in doubt about anything.
. Don't get caught short on ostomy supplies.
. Don't forget to clean the bathroom after you use it.

. DON'T LET YOUR OSTOMY RULE YOU.

DONATION

Our Society received a donation of $880.00 from Aotea Electrical Ltd. Proceeds from their staff annual charity fund raising. On a Friday staff have turns bringing in home baking which is sold to staff members for their morning tea. All money raised goes to charity. We received it with thanks for the help and support our society had given a family member of their staff. Many thanks to Aotea Electrical. This money will go towards cost of printing and
postage of our newsletter and postage of the NZ Ostomate.

GUT HEALTH NETWORK MEETING

I Attended this meeting oR Saturday 2nd February in the Hunter Centre. Aims of the Gut Health network Commerical and Clinical Trials - Results and Ongoing Studies Chaired by Assoc. Prof Michael Schultz. Speakers spoke on many aspects of Bowel Cancer, Chrons, Colitis and Coeliac disease. Studies show red meat and alcohol can lead to diabetes and irritable bowl. The study also links many troubles back to the gut. I thought the research and suppoft was of interest to Ostomates and enjoyed the mornings talks.

Have a look at the website www.beatbowelcancer.org.nz.

See you all on Wednesday 13th March 2013.
Dawson

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

February 2012 Newsletter

OTAGO OSTOMY SOCIETY INC

Patron Mr Mark Thompson-Fawcett  MBChB(Auck) MD, FRACS

Charities Commission Reg No. CC 34497

March Meeting

A Happy New Year and welcome to all Ostomates.  I hope you all had a good holiday break and were able to enjoy the very hot weather we have been having.

Our March meeting will be held on Wednesday 13th March 2013, at the Cancer Society Rooms (opposite the Dental School), Great King Street, Dunedin at 7.30pm.

We are going to have an Open Discussion Night with our Stoma Nurses in attendance. 

We will run our usual sales table towards Conference Funds.  Please bring along items for sale and a few dollars to purchase goods.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH & RAFFLE

We had a good turnout and enjoyed a lovely meal at Just Essence restaurant.  Many thanks to Sharron Mayfield for organizing our function. 

Thank you also for the donations towards the Christmas Hamper Raffle.  The response was so outstanding that we made up three baskets of goodies so there were three prizes.

Heather Keen and Elaine Nelson spent two days selling tickets at the Dunedin Warehouse and found public were very generous with their support in purchases of tickets and also wanting to know about the society.  We raised $400, with all money going to our Conference Fund.

The winners were :   1st Draw    Card 8 No. 25    Dianne Smeehuyzen

                                      2nd Draw  Card 4 No. 28    Phil Elliot

                                      3rd Draw   Card 2 No. 27    Robyn Hollander

LIST OF DON’TS FOR OSTOMATES

The following is a list of hints from Ruth Wedlake (also an Ostomate).  Ruth was the first Stoma Therapist in New Zealand and the founder of the Otago Ostomy Society.  Most of these still apply today :-

• Don’t be afraid to take a bath without your appliance.  Soap and water cannot hurt your Stoma.
• Don’t be afraid to wear a foundation garment if you need one.
• Don’t be afraid of the word Pregnancy.  Lots of female ostomates have borne children and lots of male ostomates have sired children.
• Don’t shave under your disc, the risk of a cut is too great.
• Don’t forget to wash your belt regularly.
• Don’t be afraid of new foods.  Do be a little cautious with foods such as nuts and other roughage items.
• Don’t hesitate to call your doctor or stomal therapist if in doubt about anything.
• Don’t get caught short on ostomy supplies.
• Don’t forget to clean the bathroom after you use it.
• DON’T LET YOUR OSTOMY RULE YOU.

DONATION

Our Society received a donation of $880.00 from Aotea Electrical Ltd.  Proceeds from their staff annual charity fund raising.  On a Friday staff have turns bringing in home baking which is sold to staff members for their morning tea.  All money raised goes to charity.  We received it with thanks for the help and support our society had given a family member of their staff.  Many thanks to Aotea Electrical.  This money will go towards cost of printing and postage of our newsletter and postage of the NZ Ostomate.

GUT HEALTH NETWORK MEETING

I attended this meeting on Saturday 2nd February in the Hunter Centre.  Aims of the Gut Health network Commerical and Clinical Trials – Results and Ongoing Studies Chaired by Assoc. Prof Michael Schultz.  Speakers spoke on many aspects of Bowel Cancer, Chrons, Colitis and Coeliac disease.  Studies show red meat and alcohol can lead to diabetes and irritable bowl.  The study also links many troubles back to the gut.  I thought the research and support was of interest to Ostomates and enjoyed the mornings talks.  Have a look at the website www.beatbowelcancer.org.nz.

FNZOS CONFERENCE

Remember this is Dunedin Conference Year 2013.  Keep 9th to 11th August free.  Your conference committee is working hard towards making this an enjoyable event.  Please support Otago and FNZOS to make this a memorable time for all.

See you all on Wednesday 13th March 2013.

Dawson