Spring Meeting

The London Group of the SSO had their spring meeting this past Saturday.  There were approximately 18 people in attendance including a couple of new members which was encouraging.  

Our speaker was Sally Bell, B SC. Pharm., Rheumatology Pharmacist, St Joseph's Hospital.  Sally gave a very informative talk on the various pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of Raynaud's and GERT, two of the more common manifestations occurring in scleroderma patients.  

I learned a lot but a couple of things stick out in my mind,  both of which might be helpful to readers of this blog so I'll share them.  The first concerns diet which is an important factor in conjunction with medications for controlling reflux.  The fact that surprised me though is that high fibre diets, something we hear about frequently these days, is not always a good idea for scleroderma patients, in fact it can be counter productive.  I did a little research and there is some evidence that a high fibre diet in patients with scleroderma can actually cause severe constipation or bowel obstruction.  So beware.

Another interesting discussion centred around calcinosis.  Someone brought up using salt water to ease the skin  eruptions which can accompany calcinosis and one of our members, Jill,  informed us that this has been very helpful in her case but that one should avoid using table salt containing iodine which can further irritate the area.  Instead, she recommends pickling salt which has no iodine.  She suggested using approximately one tablespoon of pickling salt per gallon of water.  So there you have it.

Our next meeting will be on September  26, 2009 at which time we will be hosting the AGM of the SSO.  Dr. Janet Pope will be our speaker.

 

Scleroderma Society, London Chapter - 2009 Events

Here, we are, another year has come and gone and a new one has just begun.  I don't make new year's resolutions but there are a number of things I want to accomplish this year.

First off,  as one of two key contact people for the local chapter of the Scleroderma Society of Ontario (SSO) I am organizing  an awareness/fund raising event to take place in June to coincide with scleroderma month.  The tentative date is Sunday, June 7 and the event itself will take the form of a music concert with the help of  three or four local blues and rock bands.   I have never done anything like this before but with the help of my daughter, Lisa, and her partner Dave, who are very much a part of the local music scene, I think we're up to the challenge.   Who knows I may even work up the courage to join in on a song or two myself - no promises though.

London has also agreed to host the AGM of the SSO which we will combine with our fall meeting in September.  We are hoping that Dr. Janet Pope, our local and internationally recognized scleroderma expert, will be able to take time out of her busy schedule to be guest speaker.  

And then there's the spring meeting to plan for as well.  Exciting times for the London Chapter of the SSO.

Happy New Year everyone.