Board of DirectorsPresidentDeb Pelletier Deb Pelletier was diagnosed with Crohns Disease after having her appendix removed at a very young age. After being put on medication and restrictive diets that didn't seem to help, she had her first small bowel resection within months of her appendectomy. She continued having painful symptoms and anemia even after the surgery, but wasn't readmitted to the hospital until soon after getting married at 19. Once again, she had another bowel resection to remove the diseased area and felt much better for awhile until the symptoms resumed. Crohns Disease continued to disrupt her life, but fortunately Dan and Deb were able to have two healthy children. As is somewhat common in Crohns patients, Deb felt fantastic when she was pregnant, but immediately after giving birth she needed further bowel resections and surgery for multiple fistulas and abscesses. Finally, in 1986 when her youngest son was 4 years old, and after a particularly long hospital stay, Deb asked her gastroenterologist if a temporary ostomy would allow her to get back home to her husband and boys. Her temporary ostomy was great for a short while but after a particularly bad Crohns flareup she had a proctocolectomy. Looking back, her only regret is that she didn't ask for an ileostomy earlier. Vice PresidentVacant Visiting CoordinatorVacant TreasurerVacant John Norrie John Norrie's first experience with Crohn's disease was when he was 12 years old. Later, during his teens he was repeatedly hospitalized with serious Crohn's flare-ups, and bowel obstructions. John had a bowel resection at the terminal Ileum/colon location at 18 and later had a complete Ileostomy when he was 21. The Ileostomy procedure had to be re-done in his early thirties. John, one of our newest members to the board, has taken on the Treasurer's role at Ostomy Toronto. John is married and loves to stay active by jogging, but most of all has a passion for boating. To quote Kenneth Grahame's book the Wind in the Willows "There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats." SecretaryOpen DirectorsProgram DirectorLorne Aronson Lorne Aronson had his surgery in 1988 for Ulcerative Colitis. The operation included the removal of his gall bladder as well as the creation of an ileostomy. Lorne became involved with Ostomy Toronto six months after his surgery. He served as a director and later served 10 years as President. During that time, Lorne became involved at the national level with UOA becoming a director in 1997. Lorne was involved with the successful implementation of Canada's decision to become an independent National Association. He became the Chair of District Support Services. He later went on to become Vice President of the United Ostomy Association of Canada and in 2002 assumed the responsibilities of President. Lorne continues to serve the Ostomy Toronto Chapter as a director and immediate Past President. Lorne is married and his wife Louise is a member of Ostomy Toronto as well, serving as a member of the Spouses and Significant Others Committee. Lorne continues to help in areas of fundraising and policy. Bulletin Editor & MembershipMary Bigelow I got my ileostomy as my fortieth birthday present. That was the day of my first surgery. My birthday, January 10/78. I was very ill for the first year after my initial surgery. Oh by the way, I had suffered from Crohn's disease for over fifteen years and had been taking prednisone for most of that time. Anyone who has been on prednisone for any length of time knows what that can do to your system. After thirteen months in hospital (yes, thirteen months) I was finally unleashed onto the community. Almost immediately Dianne Garde, our E.T. adviser corralled me into being the secretary for a regional conference in 1980 and that got me going in the going the ostomy comings and goings. I had an uncle with a colostomy and at that time there were two separate organizations - 1 for ileostomies and urostomies and one for colostomies. We had one joint meeting a year, hosted by each group biannually. In the fall of 1980 I joined the Board of directors for the Ileostomy association as secretary. I was basically responsible for initiating the joining of the two groups into one as both groups at the time were not doing so well on their own, particularly the Ileostomy group which was really in a bad way financially. At the time of the joining of the two groups in 1982 I was president of the Ileostomy Association. After the amalgamation I served as secretary and newsletter editor for the new amalgamated Ostomy Toronto. In 1984 I became president and served as such for the next six years. During the entire time since the amalgamation I have been the Newsletter Editor. I took on the membership approximately 6 years ago. Helping other ostomates has given me a great deal of satisfaction and also helps me to keep my head on straight and keep my life in the proper prospective. Social ConveanorMuriel Kinnear Muriel had colostomy surgery for cancer in 1980. Soon afterwards she joined Ostomy Toronto. A few years after joining, she adopted the position of Social Convenor, a position which she holds to this day. She decided to undertake the Visitor Training Program and is quite an active visitor. She volunteers at the Resource Centre every Friday, mails out our monthly newsletter and helps out at the occasional Ostomy Toronto bingo session. She, uncategorically, makes the best shortbread in Toronto and thankfully brings some along to our monthly meetings! Program DirectorRobert Wychers Robert Wychers first experienced Ulcerative Colitis at the age of twenty when he was a student at the University of Guelph in 1970. He suffered an attack every five years until 1990. While he was in remission, he enjoyed life and planned for the future without giving his disease any thought. However, between 1990 and 1994, his health deteriorated progressively as his UC expanded further in the colon. After gathering enough courage to contact a surgeon, a colonoscopy confirmed that the disease had spread throughout the entire colon. They set a date for an ileostomy and total proctocolectomy which took place in July of 1994. Robert has enjoyed every year since his surgery and regards it as a blessing! About a year after his surgery, he became a Director with Ostomy Toronto. He has been the Program Director for several years and thoroughly enjoys this position. --> Director - Fundraising CoordinatorDan Pelletier Dan officially joined Ostomy Toronto's Board of Directors in September 2004, after years of supporting the chapter through his wife and chapter President, Deb Pelletier. He is a trained visitor representing Spouses And Significant Others (SASO). Dan can attest first hand how ileostomy surgery dramatically improved the quality of life for his wife and their entire family. "Deb's ileostomy surgery provided her with a dramatic reduction of agonizing pain associated with acute IBD. As a family, we happily watched Deb regain her freedom and mobility as she was finally able to venture beyond the 2 minutes to any washroom life style she had grown accustomed to." At the board level, Dan shares his professional experience and business acumen with fellow board members, to help the chapter raise funds and expand their media exposure. DirectorsRanjit Hira Ranjit was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 1987.The disease was kept under control till 1992 when an emergency total colectomy was performed. This was followed by two surgeries to fix a hernia and clear a blockage. Since then he has led a very fulfilling life style. He enjoys playing golf, bridge and walking. After living and working in Sudbury for 36 years Ranjit and his wife Malkeet moved to Brampton in 2003, to enjoy their retirement and be closer to their family. Ranjit was involved with Ostomy Sudbury as a Secretary until 2003.He joined Ostomy Toronto in 2004 and became a Director in 2005. Ranjit is easing slowly into Chapter's fund raising activities and hopes to be useful in other areas as he gets comfortable with the workings of the Chapter. Helen Kizer John Norrie Resource Centre CoordinatorCarol Rodda Carol Rodda was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 1984. After years of in and out of the hospital, she was told in 1993 that she would have to have ostomy surgery. She was devastated; she remembers her gastroenterologist had assured her that he would try everything possible to avoid ostomysurgery. She was given the phone number for Ostomy Toronto and that night an ostomy visitor called her. She remembers they must have talked for an hour. After getting off the phone she felt a little more comfortable with the idea of going through with the surgery. A couple of days before her surgery she went to an ostomy visitor's home. For Carol--that was the best thing that could have happened to prepare her for the surgery. As Carol mentions, she saw a living, breathing person that had an ileostomy yet even when wearing tight pants Carol couldn't tell she had an ostomy pouch. Although she had a few remaining reservations, she was confident going into the surgery. A month later she attended her first ostomy meeting. Everyone was so welcoming. Needless to say Carol kept attending meetings and in the spring of 1994 she joined the Board of Directors for Ostomy Toronto. In the spring of 1999 Ostomy Toronto and UOAC opened the Ostomy Resource Centre at Mt. Sinai Hospital; Carol immediately volunteered as a visitor. She enjoyed talking with the patients who just had their ostomy surgery. In the spring of 2000 Carol Rodda was appointed the Coordinator of the Ostomy Resource Centre—a position that she continues to hold. A lot of things of changed since OT's ORC opened in…it is now located at 344 Bloor St. W. Although Carol is no longer a Director, she serves on many of the committees and she works many of the bingos that OT runs at Delta Bingo. Enterostomal Therapist AdvisorDianne Garde After being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and having surgery for an ileostomy in December, 1959, Dianne Garde joined the local ostomy association and became involved with the visiting program. As she visited new ostomy patients in the hospital she soon realized that ostomy patients were not being given adequate care and advise. The nurses she met were not trained in managing an ostomy or assessing what ostomy appliances should be used. Through the United Ostomy Association (UOA), she heard about Norma Gill at the Cleveland clinic. Dianne Garde spoke to a gastroenterologist at Toronto General Hospital and asked if he felt that there were enough ostomy patients to warrant this kind of position. Arrangements were made that she would take her enterostomal therapist (ET) training at the Cleveland Clinic in 1969. She returned to Toronto and began working as an ET at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH). She was the third ET in Canada (the first two being in Montreal). She worked at TGH until 1992 when she lost her position due to a new policy…an ET had to also be a nurse. From 1969 to 1992 she saw over 10,000 ostomy patients. She has had four articles published and edited a chapter in the book The Intelligent Patient, and has spoken and organized numerous educational sessions over the years. She still sees some ostomy patients in the community and attends both Ostomy Toronto's two monthly meetings as well as another local chapter's meeting. Dianne Garde has received the following awards:
Medical AdvisorR. Gary Sibbald, MD, FRCPC(Med)(Derm), ABIM,DABD Associate Professor and Director of Continuing Education
Medical AdvisorMarcus J. Burnstein, MD, MSc, FRCSC, Dr. Burnstein trained in general surgery at the University of Toronto and in colorectal surgery at the University of Toronto and at the Lahey Clinic Medical Centre in Boston. Dr. Burnstein is the Program Director for the University of Toronto Residency Training Program in Colorectal Surgery, Chairman of the Royal College Specialty Committee for Colorectal Surgery, and Vice President of the Canadian Society of Colorectal Surgeons. Dr. Burnstein is an associate examiner for the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, and is an associate editor of Diseases of the Colon and Rectum. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and practices at St. Michael's Hospital.
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