Health

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 21 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or has a friend or loved one with diabetes. For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call  Angie Mettille, RN at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

When a person is diagnosed with a chronic illness, a lot of focus and attention is put on how to keep that person as independent and as healthy as possible. When a person loses some of their abilities to care for themselves the burden of care is often assumed by the spouse, a child (or children), or sometimes friends and neighbors. While everyone who becomes a caregiver handles the added responsibility with different skill sets, attitudes and understanding levels, there is no question that there is a very real strain associated with care giving.

Recent studies have estimated that the stress caused just by becoming the caregiver of an adult with a chronic illness or disability will take seven years off of a persons’ life. With more and more Iowans aging, this is a real concern in the local community.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will begin the next Prepared Childbirth Education classes (formerly called Lamaze) Monday, April 8, and those classes will continue for two more consecutive Monday evenings beginning at 6 p.m. in the Large Conference Room.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are offered in three sessions that allow the expectant parents to choose which topics they wish to learn more about. They may choose to attend one, two or all three sessions.  Session 1 covers labor, delivery and the postpartum period following delivery; Session 2 includes relaxation, breathing and pain management; and Session 3 covers infant care. Tours of the OB Department are available with each session as well.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its monthly Euchre Marathon for all individuals of the community interested  Thursday, March 21. Men and women are welcome to attend, even if not an Auxiliary member. The Euchre marathons are held the third Thursday of each month at the Senior Citizens Room at the Waukon Wellness Center.

The Auxiliary’s Euchre Marathons begin at 11:30 a.m. with dinner, if chosen.  Call Northland Agency on Aging at 877-838-8077 if choosing to eat dinner. Card playing will follow at 12:30 p.m. until approximately 2:30 p.m. Anyone wishing to stay and play cards following the Senior Citizens meal is more than welcome to do so. All proceeds go towards the Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Prizes will be awarded.

Anyone interested in attending, but preferring to play Bridge is also welcome to join in. It is asked that they come with their own table of four players, however.

The local Grief Support Group will hold its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital Tuesday, March 12 at 5 p.m. in the Education Conference Room.

This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief.

Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support group meets the second Tuesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Did you know how much blood is needed by certain patients? Here are some facts from the LifeServe Blood Center.

• Cancer patients can use up to eight units of blood a month.
• Bone Marrow Transplant patients can use up to two units a day.
• Cardiovascular Surgery patients can use between two and 25 units.
• Liver Transplant patients can use up to 100 units.
• Auto/Trauma Accident patients can use up  between five and 100 units.
• Premature infants can use up to between one and four units.
• Burn victims case use up to 20 units of platelets.
• Heart surgery patients can use up to three to eight units of red cells and one to 10 units of platelets.
• Organ transplant patients can use 10-30 units of blood.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, March 7 from 12:30-5 p.m. The blood drive will be held at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.

Memorials were received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Dr. Alden Wiley by Marcella Selberg, Kyle Selberg, Dave and Laurie Martin, Pat Pettingill, Jerry and Linda Siegrist, Carl and Betty Christianson, Dr. Bill & Libby Withers, Charlotte Reeder and Gayle Larkin.

Memorials were also received in memory of Marcella Quillin by Richard and Sue Schulte and Dave and Laurie Martin. In addition, memorials were received by the Gordon Gilbertson Family in memory of Robert “Bud” Nenovich.

Memorials and donations are greatly appreciated by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. The Foundation is a 501C3 organization. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Memorials and donations can be sent to the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation, 40 First Street SE, Waukon, IA  52172.
 

by Diane Butikofer, RN, ER Supervisor at Veterans Memorial Hospital

Individuals who experience any type of chest pain need to take that pain very seriously and seek medical assistance. There is always the possibility that pain may be caused by a heart attack or some other form of heart disease and must not be ignored. Immediate medical attention is the only way to stop or decrease the damage to the heart.

The common signs and symptoms of a heart attack include the following:

1. Any type of chest pain. It may be a crushing pain, a feeling of heaviness such as an elephant standing on one’s chest, or even a squeezing of the chest.
2. Pain that radiates down the arm, or other areas of the body such as the neck, jaw or shoulders.
3. Weakness or shortness of breath, nausea, light headedness and/or possible sweating.

These “CHAD” labels, as pictured above, are available for labeling of infant and child car seats. These complimentary labels can be found at the front desk of Veterans Memorial Hospital for anyone to take to label their car seats. This safety seat identification program was developed as a result of a traffic crash involving a 13-month old boy named Chad. The babysitter who was driving in this accident was killed. Chad was injured, but no one at the scene could identify him. So to ensure rapid identification of a child in the case of an emergency, the Travelers Protective Association is encouraging all infant and child car seats to be identified with one of these labels. Drop by the front entrance of Veterans Memorial Hospital between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, to pick up one of these complimentary labels. Submitted image.
 

Did you know that one pint of whole blood can save up to three lives? The next local LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, March 7 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.   Blood drives are held every month in Waukon, allowing for more donors to give.  LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Anyone who lives to the age of 72 will have a 95% probability of needing blood or blood products at some time in their life, so blood donors are greatly needed.