Welcome to our UNM Ostomy Clinic Webpage. UNM Hospital currently offers the only full-time clinic dedicated to the support of Ostomy Care in the state of New Mexico. We currently serve over 600 patients with ostomies of various types across the state of New Mexico.
Our clinic is led by Era Tzamaloukas MSN, ACNS-BC, CWON-AP. Era is a Board-Certified Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist with an Advanced Practice Certification in Ostomy Care. She started caring for ostomies in 2005 and has been a dedicated provider for Ostomy Care, demonstrating a passion for patient education and support throughout her career.
What is an Ostomy?
An ostomy (also called a stoma) is a surgically created opening into an area of the body that changes the way a person gets rid of waste (either stool or urine). There are many types of ostomies, but the most common are colostomies, ileostomies, or urostomies. These types of stomas are located on your abdomen. Each of them is named for the body part for which they provide an opening.
If you have a colostomy or ileostomy, stool will now leave your body by the new opening on your abdomen. If you have a urostomy, urine will now leave your body through the stoma on your abdomen. There will be no control over when this waste leaves your body, so you will need to wear a bag (usually called an ostomy pouch) that sticks to your skin to catch the waste.
The pouches usually have a way to empty them out of the bottom as they get full. They are worn for an average of 3-4 days and then get removed and you will need to clean your skin with warm water. After the skin is dry, a new pouch is placed.
This page has many resources for people now living with an ostomy. Some of the sections have very specific information for a certain type of stoma (they will be labeled) and some sections apply to all stomas.
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Vinay Rai, MD, ACS, FASCR |
Clinic Nurse Ostomy Specialist
Era Tzamaloukas MSN, ACNS-BC, CWON-AP
505-272-2336
