Several years ago my partner, Dr. Joe Salisz, was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent lifesaving surgery, but in the process, he was left with a urostomy. As urologists, we were very familiar with the surgical techniques needed to create ostomies. However, we soon found out that we had no idea about what it was like to live with an ostomy.
The Challenge of Living with an Ostomy
Dr. Salisz initially struggled with a number of issues with his urostomy. He found it unsightly, and he was conscious of the odor from the urine in the ostomy bag – especially when he was seeing patients in the office. In addition, he was frustrated with the the moisture that would develop around the bag after showering, and the perspiration that inevitably developed around the ostomy bag during a workout.
StomaCloak and the Western Michigan Community
Fortunately, we live in a manufacturing community, and Dr. Salisz has a lot of friends. Thanks to many people in our community, we were able to put our heads together and develop StomaCloak – a carbon impregnated ostomy cover.
StomaCloak serves not only to hide the ostomy bag, but also to reduce odor, and wick away moisture and perspiration from around the bag.
Dr. Salisz has since won several awards for his work on StomaCloak. Recently, Dr. Salisz had the opportunity to thank the many members of our community that have helped make StomaCloak possible in his TEDxMuskegon presentation “Something from Something”.
I couldn’t be more proud of Dr. Salisz and our work on StomaCloak. Everything that we do is in an effort to mainstream ostomy patients back into normal activities with confidence as quickly as possible.
Manufactured in Michigan, Available Around the World
StomaCloak is designed and manufactured right here in Western Michigan, but available to Ostomates around the world. You can learn more about StomaCloak by visiting our website at www.StomaCloak.com.
