Health

by Steven Mazzafield, Speech-Language Pathologist, Veterans Memorial Hospital

Diabetes is a disease that causes high levels of glucose or “sugar” in your blood. When you have high levels of blood sugar over a long period of time, it can be harmful to the brain in several ways.

First, it raises your risk of heart disease and stroke. It damages blood vessels that feed the brain, which leads to cognitive decline. High levels of blood sugar affect how brain cells communicate with one another. Lastly, it causes inflammation, which damages brain cells, leading to dementia.

Having high blood sugar can also damage nerve cells outside of the brain resulting in numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, which is called neuropathy. There is also a strong association between diabetes and developing depression, which can affect management of blood sugar levels.

A generous donation of $5,000 was recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation from the Waukon Feed Ranch in support of the new Waukon Medical Clinic. Pictured above, left to right, at the Feed Ranch Agronomy Building are Brad Herman, Judy Herman, Brian Herman, Kim Winters, Ron Winters and Michael Coyle, CEO of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Nightingale Pharmacy will be hosting a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic for ages 12 and older Wednesday, June 9 from 4-7 p.m. at the Waukon High School (cafeteria entrance) located at 1059 Third Avenue NW in Waukon. Anyone under age 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Advance registration for an appointment is available at https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/NightingaleDrugWaukon@nightin.... Walk-ins are also welcome.

Hartig Drug, 21 West Main Street, Waukon has vaccine available for ages 12 and older. Parental/ Guardian consent is required. Advance registration is available on their website at www.hartigdrug.com or call 563-568-6315 to schedule an appointment. Hartig currently has Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccine available.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, June 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. Masks will be required to be worn.

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.

The Caregiver Support Group meetings that were held monthly at Veterans Memorial Hospital continue to be held through conference calls during COVID-19. Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging (NEI3A) is offering weekly Caregiver Support Group conference calls every Monday from 10-11 a.m.

To join a call, just dial 1-800-264-8432 and then enter the participant code 961847# to be connected to the support group conference call, joining other caregivers.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will hold a Prepared Childbirth Education class (formerly called Lamaze) Saturday, June 26 from 8-11 a.m. in the Large Conference Room at the hospital.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are now offered in one half-day session. Tours of the OB Department are available with these sessions as well. These Prepared Childbirth Education classes are available for a small fee per session and will be offered every three months at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Following the June 26 class, the next class is scheduled for September 25.

Pre-registration is necessary, as seats are limited. To register, email childbirth@vmhospital.com or contact Jayne McCormick, RN, Nursing and OB Manager at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s 28th annual Three Person Best-Shot Golf Tournament will be held Monday, June 21. The tournament will be held at the Waukon Golf and Country Club beginning with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m.

Thanks to Wade Bucknell and Andy Moore, agents of Farm Bureau Financial Services, Waukon, the first person hitting a hole-in-one during the first round at the tournament will be awarded a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Also, thanks to Waukon Implement, anyone hitting a hole-in-one during the second round at the tournament will be awarded a new John Deere riding lawn mower.  As always, many other gifts and prizes will be awarded to all the golfers participating.

Teams of three will play 18 holes of golf. Breakfast rolls, lunch and dinner and prizes for everyone are all provided for the donation of just $75. All those interested are asked to pre-register their team by calling the Waukon Golf and Country Club at 563-568-9939.

Since Veterans Memorial Hospital is a health care facility, masks are still required to be worn by every patient and visitor to the hospital. Masks  are effective against the COVID-19 virus and should be worn by everyone not vaccinated at all other locations that are non-health care related. At this time, the Centers for Disease Control does mandate that even those vaccinated must wear masks at all health care facilities.

According to the CDC, once an individual is fully vaccinated for COVID-19, they can resume activities they did prior to the pandemic. Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by law or regulations, such as a health care setting.

Those who haven’t been vaccinated yet are urged to find a vaccine. Being fully vaccinated begins two weeks following a second or final COVID-19 vaccination. Keep using all personal protective tools until that two-week wait time has expired.

There are a few spots still available for any six- to 14-year-old children who would like to attend the Veterans Memorial Hospital Safety Day Camp. This camp will be held Thursday, June 10, at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The day camp is designed to increase children’s awareness of a wide variety of safety hazards, as well as provide them with hands-on, first aid training to help themselves or someone else survive an accident should one occur.
Individual topics covered at this year’s safety camp will include the following:

• ATV & Motorcycle Safety
• Farm Equipment Safety
• Electrical Safety
• Lawnmower/Weed Eater/Chainsaws
• Pinch Point Safety
• Bicycle Rodeo
• Grain Bin Safety
• Internet Safety
• Firearm Safety
• First Aid
• Water Safety
• Drone Safety
• Snake Awareness

Another generous donation of $5,000 to the Veterans Memorial Hospital Waukon Clinic was recently received from Brad and Judy Herman of Waukon. Pictured above, left to right, are Veterans Memorial Hospital CEO Michael Coyle, along with Judy and Brad. Judy is also a member of the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. “We believe it is extremely important to support our local health care for the overall growth and stability of our community,” states Brad and Judy. “We are very fortunate to have the outstanding facilities that we currently have. We encourage everyone to consider a donation to the new clinic to meet current and future demand and to maintain continued access to quality health care in our area.”