Health

Many members of the First Presbyterian Church are pictured above and below on one of their many workdays, tying blankets to be donated to patients at Veterans Memorial Hospital and elsewhere. These ladies work on quilting and other service projects at their homes, then come together monthly to complete their work and plan for the deliveries of these service projects. Patients of all ages at Veterans Memorial Hospital enjoy the blankets as well as care facilities, the Allamakee County Relief Office, Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC), TASC, Abused Women division of Helping Services; the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Iowa City, a homeless shelter in Des Moines, and local fire, sheriff and police departments. Sue Schlitter and Dorothy Van Ruler, Project Coordinators, state, “We have been meeting for over 10 years, sharing our projects, sharing our stories and just enjoying one another’s company over coffee. We even go out for lunch together following.

In today’s fast-paced society, with people eating on the run and not planning ahead, eating has become a mindless act. Distractions have shifted our attention away from the actual act of eating towards televisions, computers and smart-phones. This can be problematic, since it takes your brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full.

When we are dividing our attention, we usually eat faster and often overeat. If you eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until you have already eaten too much. This is one of the contributing factors to our obesity crisis today.

Mindful eating is a technique that helps you gain control over your environment and eating habits.  Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings, and physical cues while eating. Using mindful eating has been shown to promote weight loss, reduce binge eating and help you feel healthier.

Beginning April 1, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Clinics will begin to collect the co-pay from patients at the time of their appointments. This will only apply to patients who have a health insurance plan that includes a co-pay option.  Patients are encouraged to review their health plans to know if their plan has a co-pay option or not.

“Most all health care facilities have been requiring payment of co-pays at the time of services for many years, so it is time for us to make this change as well,” explains Michael Coyle, Hospital CEO. “This will streamline our billing process and will actually make the billing more understandable for our patients. We are just trying to get the word out that this will begin April 1 so everyone is aware and has a chance to review their health insurance plans before their next visit.”

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be offering Grandparenting Classes again this spring.  Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will teach the next Grandparenting Class Saturday, April 6 from 9:30 a.m. until noon. The class will be held in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

In these classes, new or soon-to-be grandparents will learn all the new protocols to use when caring for their new grandchild.  Some topics covered will include basic baby care, car seat safety, Tylenol/ibuprofen dosing charts, home safety, poison control information, infant/child CPR, choking and other emergency medical information as well as tips to support parents such as handling the baby blues and postpartum depression.  Free-will donations will be accepted to cover the costs of the class.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Tuesday, March 12, 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 group meets the second Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 14 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 in Waukon.

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 Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

Chest pain is a common presenting complaint in any emergency room, including the emergency room at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH). There is always the possibility of heart disease in every complaint of chest pain or upper abdominal pain, and it must be taken very seriously.

The common signs and symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction, commonly called a heart attack, are:
1. Chest pain (crushing, squeezing or heaviness).
2. Sudden onset of weakness, nausea, fainting and sweating without an obvious cause.
3. Pain that radiates to the shoulders, neck or arms.

These symptoms occur when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked, often by a blood clot. This happens because coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood slowly become clogged from a build-up of cells, fat and cholesterol called plaque.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Rehabilitation is now able to offer more in-home occupational therapy care, thanks to the addition of Amy Evanson, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. Amy works closely with the hospital’s Community and Home Care Department patients, providing patients assistance with the day-to-day tasks of living at home following an illness, injury or surgery, helping them regain function and independence.

Currently, Amy travels to Village Creek to visit Judy Shogren three times per week, following her recent nursing home stay. Amy takes time to work with Judy on her routine in-home duties to build her function and independence.

“I don’t know what I’d do without this service, now that I have it,” states Judy. “I’m so glad to be able to be back in my home.”

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, March 4, from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

by Brandy Strub, Dietitian, Veterans Memorial Hospital

As most of you know, February is American Heart Health Month. But are you aware that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 382-541 per 100,000 people (age 35+) from Allamakee County died from heart disease from 2018-2020. That’s higher than the state average of 310-368 per 100,000 and the national average of 319.5 per 100,000!

In order not to be a statistic and to prevent dying from heart disease, it is recommended that you keep your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugars within a healthy range. What’s considered a healthy range? It’s not necessarily the same for everyone, so work with your health care professionals to see what is right for you. Eating healthy, getting active, lowering stress and not smoking is also recommended.