Health

The next LifeServe Blood Center Blood Drive will be held Thursday, November 2, from 12-5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once per month. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

The LifeServe Blood Center 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.

Over half of the United States population is eligible to donate blood, yet less than four percent donate on a regular basis. A single donation of blood can be used to save up to three lives and help in treatment of cancer patients, accident victims, hemophiliacs and surgery patients. The LifeServe Blood Center is committed to serving the needs of Iowans by saving lives through volunteer blood donation.

Veterans Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Self-Management Education Program will be offering another free educational program on “Diabetes Prevention” out in the area communities served by Veterans Memorial Hospital.  This time the diabetes staff will be hosting a program in the community of Monona,  Monday, October 30, at the Monona Community Center from 6-7:30 p.m. Teresa Myers, RN, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Angie Mettille, RN, will be teaching all those attending how to reduce the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

Pre-Diabetes is a condition that comes before Type 2 diabetes when the blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but aren’t high enough to be called diabetes. It is a silent disease, meaning someone can have it without even knowing it. Cutting back on calories and fat, being physically active and losing weight can reverse pre-diabetes and therefore delay or prevent Type 2 diabetes.

Veterans Memorial Hospital has set October 20 as the date for an open house at its new Monona Clinic. The event will be held from 1-6 p.m. that day with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Monona Chamber of Commerce at 1 p.m. Everyone from the area communities is welcome to attend.

The new clinic providers will be all be on site including Dr. Andrea Venteicher, Nurse Practitioner Krista Begalske and Nurse Practitioner Lori Vlazny. Dr. Venteicher is currently working at the clinic full-time. Begalske is scheduled to begin in mid-November. Vlazny will then begin working part-time hours at the clinic to help ensure two providers will be available most every day. Guided tours of the clinic will be available from the entire clinic staff.

Hospital staff will also be on hand to perform free blood sugar/diabetes tests. Hemoglobin tests and blood pressure checks will be provided by the Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care Department.

Veterans Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Self-Management Education Program will be offering another free educational program on “Diabetes Prevention” out in the area communities served by Veterans Memorial Hospital. This time the diabetes staff will be hosting a program in the community of Monona, Monday, October 30 at the Monona Community Center from 6-7:30 p.m. Teresa Myers, RN, Certified Diabetes Educator, and Angie Mettille, RN, will be teaching all those attending how to reduce the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

Pre-Diabetes is a condition that comes before Type 2 diabetes when the blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but aren’t high enough to be called diabetes. It is a silent disease, meaning someone can have it without even knowing it. Cutting back on calories and fat, being physically active and losing weight can reverse pre-diabetes and therefore delay or prevent Type 2 diabetes.

VMH will sponsor a Babysitting Seminar Saturday, October 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The class will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children in or outside of their own home. Girls are not the sole babysitters in this society. Boys are also welcome and encouraged to attend.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The Radiology Department at Veterans Memorial Hospital holds extended hours into the evening to allow for more mammogram appointments to be scheduled after work, making the option of mammography more accessible.

Mammography (an x-ray picture of the breast) is the single most effective method to detect breast changes that may be cancer, long before physical symptoms can be seen or felt. Early detection, followed by up-to-date treatment, provides women with better chances for long-term freedom from the disease.

But mammography screening must be done routinely.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will not be offering a CPR course in October. The next class available will be offered Monday, November 13.

The cost for all CPR classes, for certification or recertification, at Veterans Memorial Hospital is the same and all registrants should bring along their own pocket mask. The card received with the course does certify attendants in CPR for two years.

Pre-registration plus a minimum of three participants is required for the class to occur. For more information and to register for the next CPR Course, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, October 19 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 Teresa Myers, RN, C.D.E., Diabetes Educator, or Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its monthly Euchre Marathon for all individuals of the community interested Thursday, October 19. 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. The cost is $3 per person with all proceeds going 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 Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital will be holding its annual Pillow Perk Monday, October 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lower Level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Kraft Pillow Service will be on site to make old pillows look like new.

Everyone is encouraged to bring in their feather pillows to the Pillow Perk to be cleaned, sanitized and given new ticking. Foam and Dacron pillows may also be renovated by this process. People are also encouraged to bring in their feather beds and have them made into new pillows.