Page 3 - OASC July 2021 Newsletter

July/21
Minutes of the Wednesday, June 2, 2021 OASC Monthly Members’ Meeting...
} 23 members, 2 guests
} Chair: Maureen (Mo) Parkes, President, oAsC Guest speaker: Gordon Douglas, Hernia Helper
Order of business:
Mo called the meeting to order at 7:08 pm, invited members to stay for Jeopardy game at end of meeting, and introduced our speaker.
Guest speaker: Gordon Douglas, Hernia Helper
An abdominal hernia is an abnormal protrusion by an organ through a weak spot in the muscular
covering of the abdomen. “Thus, by definition, a stoma is a hernia,” Gordon told members.
“About 60% of people over age 50 have a hernia. If you have a waist over 41 inches, studies show you have an 80% chance of having a hernia,” he said. Symptoms range in severity from serious to none. “There are over 60,000 people in Canada with permanent ostomies: about 50% have a colostomy; 25% ileostomy, and 25% urostomy. Everyone is unique.”
Gordon’s main hernia (of 3) first appeared after his 2nd ileostomy was reversed and quickly grew to the size of half a football. He needed help to hold it in but the belts available then had elastic which didn’t give him enough support. So he made his own.
His belts are available in white, black, or beige (nude). They’re constructed in layers: a T-shirt type mate- rial against the skin, a light cotton/canvas layer, then a cotton poly dry weave that wicks away moisture. There’s no elastic so it won’t get bigger which helps keep your hernia in check. Some find the belt warm in hot weather, but most have no trouble wearing one all day, even in golf tournaments. Unlike belts made with a plastic ring, these belts feature an embroidered oval opening custom-fitted to your appliance to allow just the pouch to come through the band which helps hold your flange in place. He has also built in stays in the back of the band, using industrial strength plastic twist ties, to prevent rolling and wrinkling. The belt is machine washable with regular detergent and dries on the line indoors or out. Each belt is adjustable and lasts about 2 years.
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