Olympia Medical Center Surgeon, Don J. Schiller, MD, FACS, Featured at Quality Life Association 25th Anniversary

Los Angeles, CA, October 10, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Dr. Don Schiller, a dedicated Los Angeles surgeon at Olympia Medical Center, who has worked for more than 20 years to treat patients with the modified Kock pouch, was active in all phases of the seminar. He spoke on how he became a BCIR surgeon and appeared in a documentary about the advances of the Barnett procedure and the important role of QLA nationally.

This educational and informative seminar holds small group workshops, larger medical panel discussions and provides a comfortable opportunity for patients and families to speak face-to-face with the surgeons who perform this life-changing procedure. Attendees are encouraged to ask any and all questions pertaining to their BCIR – and life without a “bag” or Brooke ileostomy. As Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee, Dr. Schiller shared insights into all issues of living with a continent intestinal reservoir.

The BCIR, evolved from the Kock pouch, is for people who need to have their entire large intestine (colon) removed due to ulcerative colitis, familial polyposis, or colonic inertia. It is an important alternative to the conventional Brooke ileostomy with the bag, and also is performed for people who have had a poor outcome from the ileoanal J-Pouch or who cannot undergo the J- pouch procedure. Anyone in overall good health with a malfunctioning ileostomy, including people with a stoma hernia or stoma prolapse or retraction, is a candidate to be considered for the BCIR surgery. A malfunctioning ileostomy includes people with physical difficulties managing with their ileostomy appliance as well as people with emotional or psychological difficulties with their stoma. The Barnett pouch provides control over evacuation of intestinal waste via the painless insertion of a catheter several times a day and provides a vastly improved quality of life: a “bag-free” life is possible for ileostomy patients.

For more information contact: The Center for Ileostomy Surgery at Olympia Medical Center Phone: (310) 204-4565 Fax: (310) 204-4566

About Olympia Medical Center: Olympia Medical Center is a physician owned hospital located in the heart of Los Angeles and has been providing medical care to its community since 1948. Services at the 204-bed acute care hospital include comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services and a 24-hour emergency room. The hospital is dedicated to clinical excellence and delivering health care services in a patient-centered, community focused environment. Services include the California Digestive Diseases Institute, the Los Angeles Center for Spine Care and Research, the Southern California Sports Medicine Institute, the center for Wound Management and Hyperbaric Medicine, the Continent Ostomy Center, and the Center for Geriatric Health. Olympia Medical Center is fully accredited by DNV. To learn more about Olympia Medical Center, visit www.olympiamedicalcenter.com.

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