Health

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Tuesday, February 13 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 Veterans Memorial Hospital.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital 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, February 1 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.

Cutting down on stress just might cut down a person’s allergy and asthma symptoms. “Studies show stress can cause a number of negative health effects, including causing more symptoms for allergy and asthma sufferers,” says Gundersen Health System allergist Jared Darveaux, MD. “It makes sense that if you want to make your life more fun and less challenging, you might focus on ways to bring peace and wellness to your household.” Dr. Darveaux has four tips to help people stay calm, and thus reduce symptoms this winter season.
 
Exercise  
Exercise helps maintain an emotional balance but with caution. Exercising in cold weather may make asthma symptoms worse. If symptoms like coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest or shortness of breath occur when exercising in cold weather, they may indicate undiagnosed asthma. Darveaux suggests seeing an allergist for a potential asthma diagnosis in an effort to work to help control symptoms.

Ness Pumping and Porta Potty Rentals hosted its seventh annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walk Saturday, October 21 in the Waukon City Park to raise funds for breast cancer awareness and detection. Breast Cancer survivors were asked to sign a pink porta potty displaying the breast cancer ribbon, sweatshirts were distributed and refreshments served.

The family awarded the proceeds raised from that walk to Veterans Memorial Hospital to be used towards the new 3D mammography machine at the hospital that was just installed a year ago in October. The $3,310 donation helps Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) finance this 3D mammography machine. This machine is clinically proven to significantly increase the detection of breast cancers, while simultaneously decreasing the number of women asked to return for additional testing.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Waukon and Postville Clinics welcome Nurse Practitioner Minji Na, who joined the practice January 8. Minji is now seeing patients in both the Waukon and Postville Clinics spending a couple of days each week at each location.  Postville provider Michelle Crary is now also spending a couple of days each week seeing patients in both clinics as well.

Minji had been practicing as a family nurse practitioner for Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Albert Lea and Austin, MN, in family medicine and urgent care the last two years.

“I am excited to become a part of the VMH family here in Waukon and Postville and I  look forward to meeting patients and building a comfortable patient/provider relationship,” states Minji. “Taking the time to listen and understand their concerns will help us work together as a team to make meaningful changes to improve their health and overall well-being.”

There’s still time to receive the flu and COVID vaccines. A flu vaccine is the best way to help protect yourself and your loved ones against flu and its potentially serious outcomes.  A flu shot can safely help prevent the flu and lessen flu symptoms if you do get sick. A flu shot also can help protect your baby from flu for several months after birth.

Every year flu puts thousands of children in the hospital. Getting your child a flu vaccine can lessen flu’s more serious symptoms - reducing the risk of serious illness and flu-related hospitalization if they do get sick.

The flu and COVID vaccines continue to be offered each Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee Public Health. Flu shots are recommended for all those who have not yet received the vaccine, and they will be effective throughout the rest of the flu season.

This Thursday, January 25, is National IV/Infusion Nurse Day. Pictured above is Pat Daigle, RN, Infusion Nurse at Veterans Memorial Hospital in the hospital’s Infusion Room. Infusion treatments, also called IV Therapy, have become a popular option at the hospital. These services are offered close to home in a well-organized, clean and comfortable environment to save patients and their family members time and energy. Some examples of the services offered include IV antibiotic therapy, IV anti-inflammatory and steroid therapy, blood transfusions, iron therapy, hydration and electrolyte replacement, medication injections, pain management, immunoglobin treatments, port and PICC line care, and more. The hospital encourages everyone to ask their provider to have their IV/Infusion therapy at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, convenient and close to home. Submitted photo.
 

Alzheimer’s disease is expected to impact nearly 13 million Americans by 2050, including 66,000 Iowans today, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. So, while contemplating New Year’s resolutions for 2024, consider taking steps to maintain and improve cognitive function.

There is increasing evidence to suggest that what is good for the heart is good for the brain. Research has shown lifestyle changes like improving diet and exercising regularly have helped drive down death rates from cancer, heart disease and other major diseases. These same lifestyle changes may also reduce or slow the risk of cognitive decline, which is often a precursor to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Keeping brains healthy is not something to be worried about only as a person gets older. It should be a lifelong effort.

According to the Association for Blood Donor Professionals, every two seconds in America, someone urgently needs blood. This need extends beyond unexpected emergencies like car crashes, encompassing a wide range of treatments such as cancer therapies, cardiovascular and orthopedic surgeries, and organ and bone marrow transplants.

Only three percent of eligible Americans currently donate blood, despite 65 percent of the population being eligible to do so. Additionally, less than 20 percent of blood donations come from individuals in communities of color, and donations from individuals aged 19-24 have declined by nearly 32 percent from 2019 to 2021. This drop is largely attributed to restrictions imposed on blood drives at school campuses during the peak of COVID-19. Given the current state of blood donations, there is an urgent need for younger, more diverse donors.

Maternity Services remains a strong option for anyone expecting and wanting to deliver their child close to home, being cared for by family and friends.  For over 73 years, the hospital staff has been welcoming babies into the world and continues to offer these local services in the hospital’s Birthing Center.

Dr. Dave Schwartz, Halie Ruff, Nurse Practitioner, and Katy Maker, Nurse Midwife and Nurse Practitioner, make up the Maternity Services Team at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Medical Clinics. Both Dr. Schwartz and Halie see maternity patients in the Waukon Clinic building, and Katy Maker sees patients in both Waukon and Postville. They follow moms all the way through their pregnancy and post-partum care with Dr. Schwartz or Katy Maker assisting with the delivery.