I follow a woman's blog and facebook page who has a permanent ostomy just like me. She recently posted about an article she found that discussed banning people with ostomies from public swimming pools. Here is a snippet from that article:

Question: We have a person who wants to go swimming and has a colostomy bag. Has anyone ever dealt with this or do you have a policy in your facility about this issue?

RAC Background: We thought long and hard about this. The public parks and recreation agency that is asking the question is in Illinois and this question was asked by Terri Smith of Water Designs in Salt Lake City. Obviously, pool maintenance and patron safety are factors to be weighed. But the ADA makes it clear a pool operator cannot make a decision based on a fear or suspicion, but only on objective fact. With that in mind, here is the answer we sent to Terri.

RAC answer: Here are some thoughts. We suggest this is a good discussion between staff, the participant, and the swimmer’s doctor or physician’s assistant. Simply explain that the agency has never adopted a policy one way or the other and ask to sit down and talk about the issue. Start by asking questions about colostomy and focus on bag and seal integrity. In our opinion that’s really what this is about.

We did some research and some successful tactics used included:

First, limit swim time to 30 to 40 minutes. Water changes the wax seal around the ostomy and it loses its effectiveness. The swimmer must bring a second bag and be able to install it after swimming.

Second, swimmers should wear baggy suits and cover both the ostomy (the opening) and the bag.

Finally, someone smarter than us about aquatics ought to talk about cheek wash and compare daily cheek wash loads to the typical amount of fecal matter that leaks when the integrity of a colostomy bag or seal is breached. That’s above our pay grade, but we would love to hear the discussion.

My response is.... First of all I refuse to ask permission to swim in a public pool wearing my ostomy bag and if someone decides to make a federal case out of it, I will gladly remove the bag and swim without it. The stupidity of people who make decisions by talking out of their ass is amazing to me!

I made a smoothie today using a juiced apple, a couple carrots, some celery that was getting rubbery and threw them in a blender with frozen mango, a splash of soy milk, some orange juice, and spring water. It was delicious and reminds me of a creamsicle.

Eat your fruits & veggies!   xo  Inge

My 12 Commandments

http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/08/30/12-things-happy-people-do-differently/


and eat your fruits & veggies!    xo Inge

UCI Medical Center gave the volunteers a "thank you" lunch today. Some of us got "recognized" for doing good service for the patients. I was completely surprised to have received such a nice medal! I love volunteering at UCI and consider it a privilege to serve the patients undergoing treatment.

I have chemo brain...thats my story and I'm sticking to it!
http://youtu.be/GRa_LvBZjS4

eat your fruits & veggies!
xo   Inge

BREAKING NEWS!!!

I just got the call from my oncology doctor...PetScan results are in...no sign of disease anywhere in my body!   10 months cancer free!!!


eat your fruits & veggies!    xo   Inge

I was looking for a non-dairy beverage to add to my smoothie today and I found Silk among the almond drinks on the shelf. Their label claimed to be part of the non-gmo project, so when I got home I looked it up. Sure enough Silk is on the list as certified by the non-gmo project to be in fact gmo free. Well slap my face and call me happy! I can buy Silk again!

http://www.nongmoproject.org/take-action/search-participating-products/search/?brandId=389

A must see video that explains the relationship between gmos and illnesses

Making Smoothies for Better Health

http://www.naturalnews.com/035427_green_smoothies_recipes_health.html