April is Donate Life Month and serves as a reminder to the public to register to be an organ and tissue donor. According to the Iowa Donor Network, organ and tissue donation is a gift that saves and heals hundreds of thousands of lives each year. For transplant recipients and patients on the transplant waiting list, the gift of donation offers a second chance at life; a chance to move forward and fulfill the legacy left behind by the gracious donor.
Over 106,000 men and women in the United States are waiting for a life-saving transplant. That includes over 600 Iowans. One donor can save the lives of up to eight people through organ donation and heal and enhance the lives of more than 300 through tissue and eye donation. Every nine minutes another name is added to the national transplant list and 17 people die each day waiting.
Occupational Therapy at VMH ... April is National Occupational Therapy Month. Pictured above, at left, is Occupational Therapist Tami Gebel treating Dacia Regan’s broken wrist. After having surgery in La Crosse, WI, Dacia asked if her therapy could be provided at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, just a few miles from her home instead of an hour drive back to La Crosse every day. This is another example of how patients must advocate for themselves in asking their providers to use their local health care services. Submitted photo.
Dacia Regan of rural Waukon fell and broke her wrist in December, needing surgery in La Crosse, WI to repair broken bones and for a carpal tunnel release due to bone fragments being pushed into the wrist. Two weeks following surgery, she began coming to Occupational Therapy at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH)seeing Tami Gebel. Dacia was progressing well, however after her one month follow-up with her surgeon, she was instructed by her surgeon to see the occupational therapy department in La Crosse instead.
VMH Babysitting Seminars to take place April 7 ... Babysitting Seminars at Veterans Memorial Hospital are scheduled for Friday, April 7. Students will learn the qualities of being a good babysitter including the basics of child care, accident prevention and first aid, as well as hands-only CPR as pictured here, led by class instructor Corinne Cook, RN. Submitted photo.
Veterans Memorial Hospital will sponsor the next Babysitting Seminars Friday, April 7. This class will be broken down into two different sessions with a morning session held from 9 a.m. to Noon and an afternoon session from 1-4 p.m. The same information will be taught at both sessions, so students can sign up for one session or the other. A total of 20 students will be taken in each session.
Both classes will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital.
Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children in or outside of their own home. Girls and boys are welcome and encouraged to attend. Topics covered include fire and personal safety, accident prevention and emergency actions, nutritious snacks and basic care of children.
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 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.
Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Speech-Language Pathologist Steven Mazzafield is now offering a Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke. The next Stroke Support Group meeting will be held Thursday, April 6 at 2 p.m. in the ICN Conference Room. Future meetings will be held the first Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital.
The Stoke 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 people 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.
The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, April 20 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital in the Large Conference Room on the lower level of the hospital.
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 in Waukon at 563-568-3411.
The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Tuesday, April 11 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.
Memorials were received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of George Pickett by the 9 O’Clock Club and Bill and Sue Blagsvedt; in memory of Leone McKee by Chuck and Lois Votsmier; in memory of Dr. Jim Rixen by Bill and Sue Blagsvedt; in memory of Deb Tweedy by Alan Tweedy and Bill and Sue Blagsvedt; in memory of Joe Cunningham by Bill and Sue Blagsvedt; and in memory of Teresa Myers by Craig and Barb Lensing, Sigurd and Barb Ness and Margo Sweeney.
Memorials were also received in memory of Larry Magner by Gladwin and Darlene Anderson, Mary Ann Hager, Carl and Julie Johnson, Randy and Lori Hesse, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Patsy Kerndt, John and Sheryl Prestemon, Diane Regan, Arlen and Karlene Wonderlich, Dave and Sandy Lyons, Brad and Erin Berns and the family of Larry Magner.
Wayne and Nona (Mork) Sawyer of Waukon are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. They were married April 6, 1958 at Marion Lutheran Church in Gunder. Their family includes three children: Robin (Lani Nobles), Scott (Chris Boston) and Mike (Shari); five grandchildren: Haley, Hannah, Megan and Owen Sawyer, and Megan (Trevor) Gadsmith; and one great-grandchild: Sawyer Isabel Gadsmith. Submitted photo.
