When you have an ostomy you can eat, work and play normally. But there are new skills to learn. Fortunately, there are many resources to help and give you moral support.
• An enterostomal therapist (ET nurse) is a registered nurse with special training in the care of ostomies and
ostomates. ET nurses work in hospitals or have private practices. With their information and caring, they are a
godsend for both new and long-time ostomates. Ask your doctor for the name of the ET nurse in your hospital
or community.
• The United Ostomy Association (UOA) is an organization of more than 50,000 people with ostomies. The
association holds local meetings and provides ostomy visitors—volunteers matched for sex, age and type of
ostomy—for the new ostomate. Some people come to the meetings for information, some for moral support,
some for the social contact. Some people come because they are having problems, others because they have
solved problems and are happy to pass on their experience.
Some are desperate, discouraged, depressed. Many of them find answers and all of them find support and a
place where they can talk freely about what concerns them. Local chapters of UOA may be listed in the phone
book or can be located through the American Cancer Society. The national organization publishes a quarterly
journal and holds regional and national conferences.
Keeping a Positive Attitude Hearing that you have cancer and need an ostomy is a double jolt for anyone. It takes time, information and support to adjust. But it's not the end. Definitely not.
