Health

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 (VMH). The next Stroke Support Group meeting will be held Thursday, September 7, at 2 p.m. in the Large Conference Room.

This month, Mazzafield will be giving a presentation on the different types of strokes.  Anyone is welcome to attend who may want to learn more.

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

Every two seconds someone needs blood! The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Thursday, September 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.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital Tuesday, September 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 meets the second Tuesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

As if Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever didn’t offer enough to be wary of ticks about, there’s a new syndrome the insects are capable of spreading that can cause an allergic reaction to the meat and byproducts of certain animals and animal byproducts.

Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergic reaction to red meat such as beef, pork, lamb, venison, rabbit and the products that come from these and other mammals. It’s transmitted when a tick - primarily the lone star - bites an animal and collects sugars in the animal’s meat called Alpha gal. Should a tick carrying that sugar bite a person, it could trigger a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction should the person consume red meat with that same sugar.

According to Gundersen Health System infection preventionist Megan Meller, the symptoms of Alpha-gal syndrome “can vary based on that person’s immune response. “It’s an allergic response that, at this point, has no cure.”

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care Allamakee Public Health began offering monthly free blood pressure check clinics all around Allamakee County in June.  Nurses from Allamakee County Public Health visit each library in the county once per month to take a blood pressure reading. Blood pressure results are recorded on a log card given to all visitors to bring back each month so their next results can be logged. These blood pressure clinics have been successful and will continue, as originally established, on these recurring days:

• Lansing: First Monday of the month, 9:45-11:45 a.m.
• Postville: Third Monday of the month, 9-11 a.m.
• Harpers Ferry: Third Wednesday of the month, 9-11 a.m.
• New Albin: Fourth Monday of the month, 2-4 p.m.
• Waterville: Second Tuesday of the month, 2-4 p.m.
• Waukon: Fourth Monday of the month, 10 a.m. - Noon

submitted by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans noted that many school-aged children are not eating enough of the recommended amounts of certain food groups, including vegetables, fruits and dairy. As a result, they may not be consuming the nutrients they need to support their growing bodies.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its Foundation say parents and caregivers can play a significant role in children’s nutrition and health by teaching kids about healthful foods, being good role models and making sure physical activity is incorporated into each day.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be visiting Lansing’s Music in the Park Thursday evening, August 24, offering free Blood Sugar Testing and Blood Pressure checks with immediate results by Angie Mettille, Diabetes Educator.  The hospital typically offers these two tests at most all area events and often times catches individuals who unknowingly have high results. Both of these checks take just a few seconds to perform and are free of charge.

This summer, Veterans Memorial Hospital has been offering “Be the Match” stem cell sampling for everyone ages 18-40 at all events they are attending.  “Be the Match” sampling is quick, easy, painless and can truly save a life. This is the same program that Robin Roberts from Good Morning America endorses following her own successful bone marrow transplant match 10 years ago.

Did you know one in seven people entering the hospital will need blood?

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon invites the community to attend the next LifeServe Blood Center Blood Drive Thursday, September 7, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once per month in Waukon. 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 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 in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.

Cathy Buhl from Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank will attend the meeting to discuss common scams and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.  Everyone is invited to bring friends or family with them who may be interested.   

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 Emergency Department at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon was recently surveyed by five professionals from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Emergency Medicine and Trauma Services, who intensely investigated the policies, procedures and equipment in the department. Callie Thorson, Emergency Room (ER) Supervisor, coordinated the survey with the team members.

To be a level IV trauma facility, there are several criteria that need to be met yearly. This verification happens every three years to ensure Veterans Memorial Hospital is meeting that criteria and to offer feedback on what can be done to improve the trauma program.