Health

Veterans Memorial Hospital physicians and staff will be awaiting the arrival of the first baby born at the hospital in the New Year 2020. This fortunate child and his or her family will receive a large number of beautiful gifts compliments of area merchants.

The first baby of the year will receive the following in cash and prizes:

Veterans Memorial Hospital in cooperation with the American Heart Association is offering a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for lay people (those not working in healthcare), which includes child care providers, Wednesday, January 15, from 5-8 p.m.

The CPR class, which will cover adult, child and infant CPR, will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of the hospital. The cost of the class, for certification or recertification, is the same. Upon successful completion of the class, the participant will receive an electronic card certifying them in Heartsaver CPR AED for a two-year time period. This class does not include a first aid certification.

CPR is administered when someone’s breathing, pulse, or both, stop. When both of them stop, the victim has suffered sudden death, which can be caused by poisoning, drowning, choking, suffocation, electrocution, smoke inhalation, or the most common cause, heart attack.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, January 16, at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital 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.
 

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding their monthly Euchre Marathon for all individuals of the community interested Thursday, January 16. Men and women are welcome to attend, even if you are 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 you wish 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 you come with your table of four players, however.

The next Caregiver Support Group meeting will be held Monday, January 20, at 1:30 p.m. in the Meditation Room in the front entrance of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

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 person’s life. With more and more Iowans aging, this is a real concern in our community.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Dr. Bill Clair by Julie Nordheim, RW Pladsen, Kerndt Brothers Bank, Dr. Steve and Judy Kurth, Neal and Nancy Daley, Hacker Nelson & Company, James and Sally Tieskoetter, Jim and Linda Ryan, Jim and Ele Klenske, Dave and Laurie Martin, Scott and Cheryl Livingston, Debbie Rixen, Justin and  Sondra Cue, Amy Paulus, Randy and Patty Nordheim, Mike and Kathy Clair, Jim and Ellen Mellick, Carl and Betty Christianson, Roger and Becky Mouchka, Ken and Gloria Krambeer, Bev Shafer, Jim and Mary Winters, Hugh and Nichole Steffens, Bill and Beth Shafer, Connie Hansmeier, Dr. David and Suzanne Hahn, Dave and Sandy Lyons, Meg Schaller, Lloyd Schulte, Chuck and Lois Votsmier, Kate Wooden, Gary and Marlene Houg, Eric and Stephanie Palmer, Ed and Karen Stamper, Dr.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Laboratory has the ability to draw and locally run many of the lab tests regularly ordered by physicians.  INR testing to test the thinkness of the blood is a very routine test that can easily be satisfied at the local Lab.

“It is important to work together with your healthcare provider to come up with the best plan for monitoring your INR and adjusting your dose,” states Beth Fitzpatrick, M.T., Laboratory Supervisor at Veterans Memorial Hospital. “To schedule an INR at Veterans Memorial Hospital, first have your physician complete a written referral. Your physician’s office will give you a copy of the referral to bring into us or they can fax it to our lab. It is important to schedule your INR for testing according to your healthcare provider’s instructions.”

Urgent Care will be available over the New Year’s holiday, Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The hospital offers Urgent Care in addition to 24-hour a day emergency room (ER) services each and every day. Twenty-four hours a day, the hospital’s ER is staffed with an emergency provider to see ER patients with little waiting. Urgent Care is offered every day as well including every week night, on the weekends and on holidays when the local clinic is closed. Urgent Care is designed for treating injuries or illnesses requiring immediate care, but not serious enough to require an emergency department visit.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, January 2, from 12-5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held every month in Waukon. The LifeServe Blood Center of Iowa supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with their blood and blood products.

The LifeServe Blood Center of Iowa is seeking donors to ensure a safe and plentiful blood supply in Iowa. Because there is no substitute for human blood, the need for donors is continuous. Many Iowans are encouraged to make donating blood on a regular basis their New Year’s resolution this year.

by the American Institute for Cancer Research

Quick to prepare and warmly satisfying, soups are an ideal way to eat well in the winter. When you stoke soup with vegetables, whole grains and beans, you’re adding foods that brim with phytochemicals. The beauty of phytochemicals is that they are naturally occurring compounds that, along with vitamins and minerals, help boost immunity and fend off disease.

Favorite vegetable soups like tomato, lentil and onion are teeming with valuable nutrients. Vitamin C-rich tomato soup provides a serving of vegetables in the liquid itself, and more can come from added vegetables. Carrots, cauliflower, peppers, cabbage and broccoli are just a few more great soup veggies that provide natural compounds that may protect our cells from damage that can lead to cancer. Soups made with vegetables, beans and whole grains have many phytochemicals, which seem to work together with vitamins, fiber and minerals to protect our health.