Health

Veterans Memorial Hospital, together with Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, will begin offering the ‘Baby and Me - The Basics’ class Tuesday evening, March 14, from 5-8:30 p.m. in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

Helping Services’ Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians Barb Fjelstul and Rachel Weber will teach the basics of how to correctly secure children in their car seat and getting the seat secured in the vehicle. Barb Fjelstul, also a breast-feeding educator, will guide participants through the challenges and rewards of breast-feeding and provide techniques to ensure baby is getting the most benefit from nursing.

Rachel Stone, RN, a labor and delivery nurse, will give expecting mothers education on breathing techniques and coping with pain during labor.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will be offering Grandparenting Classes again this spring. Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will teach the next Grandparenting Class Saturday, April 15 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 Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 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 who may have a friend or loved one with diabetes.  For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call  Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon at 563-568-3411.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Teresa Myers by Lyle and Barb Wilkes; in memory of Larry Evans by Patsy Kerndt; in memory of Bruce Langland by John and Charlene Loven, and in memory of Pat Curtin by Mike and Sue McMillan.

Memorials were also received in memory of Ronald Hesse by Mary Beth Regan; in memory of Deb Metz by Danny and Sue Schlitter; and in memory of Donna M. Ward by Dr. Bill Withers.

Memorials and donations are appreciated by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation, a 501C3 organization. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Memorials and donations can be sent to Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation, 40 First Street SE, Waukon, IA  52172.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Radiology Department now offers a CT Cardiac Calcium Scoring test for a quick, convenient and noninvasive way of evaluating the amount of calcified (hard) plaque and build-up of cholesterol on the walls of the arteries in the heart.  The calcium score gives the medical provider an idea of how much plaque is in the patient’s heart arteries that hasn’t yet caused problems. This calcium score may help predict the risk of a heart attack and determine ways to reduce these risk factors.

The goal of the cardiac CT scan for calcium scoring is to determine if coronary artery disease is present and to what extent, even if there are no symptoms. It is a screening study that may be recommended by a physician for patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease but no clinical symptoms.  For anyone who has already had a heart attack, coronary bypass surgery or a coronary stent, calcium scoring will not provide additional information.

by Jill Fleming, MS, RD
Dietitian at Veterans Memorial Hospital
 
Successful people develop routines so they can reduce friction in their lives and focus on what they do best. For example: Steve Jobs wore a daily uniform of a black turtleneck, blue jeans and white sneakers. His goal was to make as few daily decisions as necessary, as he had too many other important decisions to make. This simple routine clearly paid off, as he made the company Apple very successful.

Another habit of super successful people, according to Forbes, is that they utilize the early morning hours to exercise. Early rising is a common trait found in many CEOs, government officials and other influential people such as: Margaret Thatcher, Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Iger (the CEO of Disney). If you are planning to make some positive changes to your life, the best way to start each day is with a “Morning Routine for Success.”

For many Iowans, understanding Medicare and related health insurance can be confusing and overwhelming, asking themselves questions like, Where do I start? What are my options? Am I making the right decision? What will it cost me? Is there help if I can’t afford my insurance? If I’m still working do I have to sign up for Medicare?

Trained Iowa Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) volunteers can help answer these and other questions about navigating health care insurance options for Iowans on Medicare. SHIIP is a free health insurance counseling service of the State of Iowa Insurance Division sponsored locally by Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon.

Veterans Memorial Hospital, together with Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, will begin offering the ‘Baby and Me - The Basics’ class Tuesday evening, March 14, from 5-8:30 p.m. in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

Helping Services’ Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians Barb Fjelstul and Rachel Weber will teach the basics of how to correctly secure children in their car seat and getting the seat secured in the vehicle. Barb Fjelstul, also a breast-feeding educator, will guide participants through the challenges and rewards of breast-feeding and provide techniques to ensure baby is getting the most benefit from nursing.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon Tuesday, March 14 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.
 

by Amy Rolfs, RN, VMH Cardiac Rehab Supervisor

If you have a heart attack or other heart problem, cardiac rehabilitation is an important part of your recovery. Cardiac rehabilitation can help prevent another, perhaps more serious, heart attack and can help you build heart-healthy habits. About 800,000 people in the United States have a heart attack every year. About one in four of those people already had a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation not only can help a person recover from a heart problem but can also prevent future heart problems.