TO SCHEDULE A VISIT OR OBTAIN
MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL:

Kathy Ray
(920) 468-9343
(Ostomy Visitor Coordinator)


If Kathy is not available, the following are alternate contacts:
Chris Demeuse (920) 499-8742 or Dave Drella (920) 899-2244


TOPICS WE CAN HELP YOU WITH:


Intimacy

Clothing Tips

Body Image Issues

Swimming with an Ostomy

Spouse/Partner Concerns

Traveling with an Ostomy

Gas: Causes & Remedies

Odor: Causes & Remedies

Information about Local Support Groups

Tips & Hints: Living Daily with an Ostomy

Undergarments & Pouch Covers for Ostomates

Other Resources for Ostomates and Their Families

Emotional & Psychological Adjustments of Ostomates

ALL VISITATION SERVICES ARE FREE & CONFIDENTIAL

OSTOMY VISITATION PROGRAM

WE'VE GONE THROUGH WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH NOW & WE WANT TO HELP YOU!!!


Whether you're still in the hospital or at home, there are often questions that arise about the actual day-to-day living with an Ostomy that doctors or nurses are not always able to answer. Because we have been through the surgery ourselves, and live with ostomies, we would love to help make your life a bit easier by sharing what we have learned with you. Please call us any time that you or your family members have questions, or would just like to chat with someone else who has experienced what you're going through. We have trained volunteers to help your transition to your new life with an ostomy or continent diversion.

TRAINED & CERTIFIED VOLUNTEERS
VISIT OSTOMY PATIENTS
(PRE- and/or POST-OPERATIVELY) TO OFFER:


HOPE
SUPPORT
HELPFUL HINTS
ENCOURAGEMENT
INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

Requests for an Ostomy Visitor can be made
by physicians, nurses, health care professionals,
the patient, or the patient's family.

We have members with colostomies, ileostomies, urostomies, and continent diversions, as well as some spouses, trained and certified to make visits to new patients and their families. These visits can be done pre- or post-operatively in the hospital, patient's home, nursing home, other healthcare facility, or even by phone, if necessary. In a hospital, a physician must sign a 'written order' requesting an Ostomy Visitor before the visit can be made.

Our Visitors do not offer medical advice. They are there to help the patient with the emotional and psychological adjustment to life with an ostomy, to give them hope and encouragement, to share tips about everyday life with an ostomy, and to tell them about the support groups and resources that are available to them and their families.

Often, just seeing someone else who has had the same kind of surgery, who is well-adjusted and leading a full life, is all that the new patient needs to begin to accept his or her ostomy. Our Visitors can add a dimension that health care professionals cannot...they live with it every day of their lives!

We find that the patients who had a chance to meet with another ostomate before their surgeries, tend to do much better accepting the ostomy. They can get their questions answered and see that ostomates can do almost anything they did before their surgery. They also tend to remember the information shared with them, because they are not yet under the effects of anesthesia or pain meds.