Hi all,

I just noticed Soph's post here, I guess I am not the only one procrastanting... I had my takedown over a year ago and have had a bag in my front closest with the good intentions of taking it somewhere but that hasn't happened yet so I thought I would see if anyone is interested.

I have some coloplast flanges and bags, some left over tubes of paste, odor drops, etc. If anyone is interested please email me at fish.family@rogers.com and I can give you more specific information about what is there.

I also have a ton of unopened packages of 4x4 gauze pads that I used for change days.

Hope someone out there can use them...

Hi Christine,

It's very good of you to think of others and I'm sure you'll have plenty of takers. Just wanted to add that you should check the use by date on them, particularly the wafers because they do lose their adhesive properties with time and it has been a year since you needed them.

P.S. Can't believe it's that long already!

Best wishes.

Shell

Hi Christine,

I still haven't had my first surgery yet, so it may be a little premature for me to be looking into ostomy supplies. But another option, which I mentioned in another post (see link below), is to donate them for use in developing countries. Some of the key people in Friends of Ostomates Worldwide Canada are in Ottawa.

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3351071921/m/9101...681018832#1681018832

Best wishes,
Kevin

Christine - Do you have an ostomy nurse? I've swapped out supplies with mine. You may just want to donate them to her. My nurse has such a massive supply of goodies, she trades with me when I have something I can't use or wasn't right for my tiny body.

Cat

Thanks for the link Kevin. I came on here today to specifically look into donating my husband's old ostomy supplies. When we were in PA where he had his surgery we were giving to his surgeon's office and ostomy nurse but apparently had even more we didn't realize and brought to CA with us! Don't think (fingers crossed!) he'll ever need them again (he has a j-pouch now) and even if he does, we have insurance coverage for these. I would like to see these go to the truly needy and it looks like this site (FOW) finds those people and helps them. We all know how terrible it is to go through this in the US/Canada/EU, etc. but can you imagine going through all of this in a developing country??!! Especially if you are poor? It breaks my heart. So thank you for pointing me in the right direction so we can hopefully make even a small difference for someone in need!

FOW is a good charity. But there are also plenty of people that need ostomy appliances here in the US. Local clinics, catholic hospitals, perhaps Catholic Charities, this discussion board, local support groups, YMCAs/YWCAs, local CCFA chapter, etc. are all places that can point you in the right direction.

The reality of the way this stuff works is somebody knows that a person they know is uninsured and needs supplies. Somebody contacts them, and the donation is made through middlepeople. I have heard stories of people on the streets of Baltimore using plastic grocery bags instead of actual ostomy supplies.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions on where the supplies can be most greatly used. I will get them donated very soon.

Shell, never realized that there were best before dates on the wafers. I did check them and they are good for another year! And I can't believe it's been over a year either! I have been feeling so well these past few months I feel like a new person.