Acceptance Is Key: Three Part Series - Part 1
Lois Moskowitz
Being a Lifeline and Shining Light on Ostomy
“It gave me my life back,” says Lois Moskowitz of her ileostomy. Lois had her life changing surgery about 13 years ago and is now a board member of the Ostomy Association of Southern New Jersey.
She’s all about being a lifeline ... for patients who are starting out on ostomy life or struggling to reclaim a feeling of normal. Lois says that ostomates can stay stuck if they don’t connect with likeminded people who are going through the same experience.
For the almost one million ostomy patients in the United States alone, the attention is needed. Their surgeon sends them home from the hospital and has no real sense of the psychological and emotional stresses a person can face—particularly in the adjustment period immediately following their surgery. Sometimes even the wound care nurses don’t get it. Lois is quick to point out that it’s not that the medical professionals don’t care. It’s just that they’re not living it.
The result is that people feel alone because they have no one to talk to. That’s where our group comes in along with the many support groups across the country and around the world and, of course, the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA). There’s no question that attention is needed. There are almost one million ostomates on record and increasingly, many of them are children.
“In our group, we talk about everyday things,” she says. And every day includes anything from
Having your kids or grand kids get used to the fact that mom or grandma wears an ostomy, to ...
Simple remedies for skin irritations or loosening of the adhesion around the bag (Maalox dabbed on with a cotton ball seals and comforts as well, if not better than any medicine, she says), to ...
Making ostomates aware of the range of bags and aids. (We’re sent home from the hospital believing that one bag is the only one that will work. In fact, there are others that may fit a patient more comfortably, she says) to ...
Intimacy and sex
“Let’s face it. Everyone—and that means ostomates—has a life,” she says.
She adds that buddying up support group members by gender and age has been helpful in making them feel comfortable enough to open up and start talking. And it’s helpful to come to talk to and see people.
“We give real life answers to any question,” she says. If you think about it, where else would you go to talk? “No one wants to talk about poop,” she says, adding that this has been discouraging for her. A real crusader, she has worked hard to shine light on the subject in the mainstream media. Despite her efforts, so far, there are no takers. “It’s a subject that’s been kept in the shadows.”
Still, many babies and preschoolers wear ostomies. They know no other normal.
Dolls are one attention breakthrough, she adds. These days there are dolls for everything.
“Ostomy dolls are no exception.”
Written by Barbara Mannino
Writer, Speaker, Brand Storyteller and Content Marketing Consultant
www.barbaramannino.com