Health

The Waukon Lions Club recently made a sizable donation to the Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Education Program in support of their mission to promote self-management and learning relating to diabetes and vision impairment. This donation is two-fold and will fund the purchasing of diabetes education reference materials for patients, as well as offer the option of funding one-on-one diabetes consultations for those without insurance who need this scholarship to obtain this useful education.

“One of the main missions of Lions Club International is to improve the lives of those living with diabetes, and to help the blind and visually impaired,” states Neal Daley, Secretary of the Waukon Lions Club. “Since diabetes and visual impairment can go hand-in-hand, we feel this donation meets the Lions Club mission on a local level, supporting our nationally certified Diabetes Education Program that is offered right here at Veterans Memorial Hospital.”

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital is devoted to providing the hospital and its patients and visitors with many services. Their annual membership drive is on now. Auxiliary membership dues are just $10 for active members and $15 for inactive members.

The Auxiliary meets monthly the second Monday of each month, at 1 p.m., in the ICN Conference Room at Veterans Memorial Hospital.  In addition to their annual membership drive, they host several events each year including the Women’s Health Day which will be held Tuesday, September 26; the feather pillow Pillow Perk which is set for October 16, as well as their spring garage sale, all in addition to the gift case items located just inside the main entrance to the hospital.

The free sports physicals that were offered at the Veterans Memorial Hospital Clinic-Waukon in July of this year served 196 area student-athletes who needed the physical for participating in school sporting events. For those who may have missed these free physicals, appointments can still be made at both the Waukon and Postville Medical Clinics to have the required paperwork completed before the start of the school year.

For school-aged children, most insurance companies will cover one well-child check-up per year, as long as it is scheduled as a well-child checkup and not a sports physical. For those who may not have the annual well-child visits covered on their health insurance plan, a sports physical can be held and will be charged a fee per appointment. These well-child check-ups will include a full-physical, plus will also include all necessary documentation, including a concussion screening, for participation in all school athletic activities.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, August 17 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

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

For many years, Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon has not stocked the antivenom for rattlesnake bites for two reasons. One, rattlesnake bites are extremely rare and two, the cost of keeping the antivenom on hand was astronomical at nearly $30,000 for an initial course of treatment. Then, whenever the antivenom outdates, a new course would need to again be purchased at that cost. The hospital discontinued stocking the antivenom many years ago, as did many other Iowa hospitals, and made back-up plans to transfer any patients to larger facilities if the antivenom was needed.

Due to this summer’s dry conditions forcing more rattlesnakes to venture from their dens, there have been a few rattlesnake bites in the area. Because of this, Veterans Memorial Hospital pharmacist Brittney Snitker began searching for alternative resources to allow the hospital to stock the antivenom once again.

by Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife and Nurse Practitioner, Veterans Memorial Hospital and Medical Clinics

Choosing whether to breastfeed or formula feed your baby is only one of the many decisions expectant parents will make. It takes time to make such an important decision because it will not only affect your baby’s life but also the lives of the entire household.   Breastfeeding is a commitment that both parents are involved in as it takes support from the partner to be successful.

“National Breastfeeding Week is an excellent time to think about lots of issues around how we feed our children,” states Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife at Veterans Memorial Hospital and Clinics. “The neat thing about breast milk is that it’s always ready, it’s made specifically for that one child, and there are many ways to involve the whole family.”

Point of Contact Testing Proves to be Life-Saving

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering free Blood Sugar Testing and Blood Pressure checks with immediate results at the Waukon Corn Days celebration held downtown the evening of Friday,  August 4. The tests will be performed by staff, in the Veterans Memorial Hospital first aid tent. Both of these checks take just a few seconds to perform and are free of charge.

The hospital typically offers these two tests at most all area events and often times catches individuals who unknowingly have high results. Jane Wedo of Castalia was one of those. She visited the Veterans Memorial Hospital fair booth in 2022 and had her blood pressure checked. After finding a very high result, she was directed to seek medical attention right away. She returned to the hospital fair booth this year, to thank them for saving her life.           

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital Tuesday, August 8 at 5 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital. 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 meets the second Tuesday of each month at the hospital.
 

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, August 7 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church located in south Waukon.  Blood drives are held once a month in Waukon, to allow for more donors to give. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

Blood centers across the United States see a decrease in blood donations during the busy summer months.  During the summer, people become more active, have busier schedules, spend more time outdoors and take vacations. While donations decline, hospitals see an increase in the need for blood.  More driving can mean more automobile accidents.  A person who has suffered severe injuries from an automobile accident can need up to 50 units of blood.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Speech-Language Pathologist Steven Mazzafield offers a Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke.

Monthly meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. The next Stroke Support Group meeting will be held Thursday, August 3 at 2 p.m. in the Large Conference Room.

The Stroke Support Group provides opportunities to share tips, tricks or trials among participants, offer support for caregivers, and provide an opportunity for socialization.

While strokes can happen at any age, risk of stroke is greatest as individuals get older with the majority of strokes occurring after the age of 70. Risk factors for stroke include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, binge drinking, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.