Ostomy support group to hold first meeting April 9

A new ostomy group will meet for the first time from 3 to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, at the Beebe Medical Arts Building, 18947 John J. Williams Highway, Suite 312, Rehoboth Beach. Sessions will continue the second Wednesday of each month.

Group founder Marty Vitale said, “I want ostomates to come together and share stories. We also want to learn and share information about the best appliances, fitness, nutrition and medical personnel in the area.”

Vitale created the group because, as a new ostomate, she wants to know more about other people’s experiences and create camaraderie with a group of people who often feel invisible and isolated.

“I want to talk about how we all are dealing with the new and some lifelong experiences. It is a different way of life. I wish to inform others about ostomies and empower those who have an ostomy to come together.”

An ostomy is surgical procedure such as colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy, to create an artificial passage for bodily elimination. Vitale had an ostomy last year as a result of colon cancer. An estimated 725,000 to 1 million people in the United States live with an ostomy. Approximately 100,000 ostomy surgeries are performed each year in the U.S.

Vitale’s vision for the group is to invite medical professionals and personnel from ostomy supply companies to share information about the latest state-of-the-art equipment. Vitale also hopes to develop a close relationship between group members and staff at the wound care center, who attend to ostomy patients regularly. The group is open to all ostomy patients, caregivers and family members, and it is not necessary that a participant’s ostomy be the result of cancer. Vitale encourages those who have had an ostomy for a while and are comfortable sharing some of their tips and tricks to join the group.

The United Ostomy Associations of America website reads,”Ostomies belong to every age and every stage of life. When we widen the lens, we find them at playgrounds and in boardrooms, at first dates and family vacations, in classrooms and grocery store aisles. We create space for anyone with an ostomy who wonders if there’s someone out there like them. We show them the truth: No matter their age, no matter where they are in life, they are not alone.”

To register, send a name, email address and cellphone number to marvitabella@verizon.net. To learn more, visit ostomy.org.