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During our meetings some valuable suggestions have been made by the Attendees that their experiences have taught them. Some of these suggestions are listed below.

I. Chemo or Radiation
If you are having chemo therapy or radiation treatments and eating is a problem, you might obtain a copy of Betty Crocker's "Living With Cancer" Cookbook. It has many recipes to help with your problem.

II. Bag Disposal
         If you are a camper or going on a trip where disposal of your appliance or bag may be a problem or are tired of kneeling on a dirty bathroom floor or sitting backwards on a dirty toilet, try Colo-Magic pouch liners. They can be purchased from www.colostomymagic.com or Edgepark also carries them.
     This is a very thin liner to insert into your bag that is disposable and can be flushed down the toilet. They are not only convenient but they are relatively inexpensive, 300 for about $52.00. It is a much more sanitary way of disposing of your body waste and adds longer life to your bag usage. Your cost will be about $10.00 per month.

III. Appliance Disposal
I use small "baggies' for the disposal of my used appliance or bag.

IV. Blood Relatives
            Bob Pleski was told by a Nurse, when he was having a colonoscopy, that a blood relative of a colon cancer patient may be eligible for Medicare payment to have a colonoscopy examination because the person is considered higher risk to develop cancer of the colon. Most private insurance companies follow Medicare policy, so they may also cover the cost of this diagnostic procedure.

V. Edgepark Surgical
             Many of us use Edge Park Surgical to obtain our supplies. They have a very large selection, will bill your insurance companies for you and ship in three to five days. You can also set up your delivery on line and they will ship automatically to you within the time you specify. Very, very convenient. Go to www.edgepark.com/

VI. Stoma Paste

If you have deep creases in the skin then some use it to fill depressions or maybe some other reason. If you can stop using it successfully, it then reduces your monthly costs.

VII. Pouch Ballooning
    I want the venting to work for about 7 days, my normal appliance change time, and to neutralize all of the odor, all of the time.
    I have been using a system for about 6 years that generally meets the above criteria.
    I start with a Convatec vented pouch 401557 and punch a hole in the top of the removable filter holder and the put on a Coloplast filter #0509 on top of the removable filter holder. I use a couple of squirts of a liquid drop bag de-odorant Hollister M-9 or “STOP”,on each new pouch and again each time that I empty the pouch.

I remove both filters when showering and cover the opening in the pouch with tape. When done, I remove the tape, dry the holder and reinstall both filters. Sometimes the inner Convatec filter will get wet from liquid in the pouch working it’s way up after 4 or 5 days. Then dry it the best that you can and install another Convatec filter. ( A box of 5 pouches comes with 10 extra filters) Even if I need to temporally remove the Convatec filter and throw it out and don’t have a spare with me, the second Coloplast filter seems to catch all odors.
    The Coloplast filter and the removable filter holder I keep reusing for months or until it gets wet.
    If you have questions on this modification I can be reached at Bob Pleski pleski@comcast.net or phone at 530-432-3699.
    The attached photos should help clarify.
    If anyone knows of a vented pouch that I can buy and that will do what I want, I would like to know who to contact and the part numbers.

(Double click on picture to enlarge it)

VIII. Skin Problems
I have very sensitive skin so I still use the cut to fit appliance. If I have a problem with skin irritation, I can cut the hole off center which allows me to let the air cure the affected area.

IX. Colonscope
When you are going to go in for a Colonscope inspection, before you start taking the laxative, that you install an irrigation sleeve, a very large container, so that it does not over fill a normal pouch, and cause a mess.