Army Veteran  publishes book about stroke

On May 23, 2007, author Philip R. Hanaburgh, a U.S. Army Veteran, suffered a stroke that left him unable to use his left side. In his moving and inspirational memoir, Are You Ready?, he offers advice, practical wisdom, and tips for anyone going through any sort of devastating medical episode, particularly a stroke.

Realizing that the market is filled with medical books about strokes, Hanaburgh seeks to reach readers on a more spiritual level, intimating that terrible experiences that force us to confront our mortality and death can actually lead us into richer, fuller lives. Warmly written, Are You Ready? is a testament to the indomitable spirit of one courageous man.

A Book About Surviving a Stroke   

Strokes, silent and deadly interruptions of the blood supply to the brain, come without warning. Would you be ready if you were suddenly felled by one? Author and stroke victim Philip R. Hanaburgh certainly wasn't. Just fifty years old, he was a contented family man with a good job, when he had a stroke that left him without the use of his left side. Rushed to the hospital in a helicopter, Hanaburgh endured a long recovery period, but soon realized that love, deep faith, and inner strength could help him survive and even triumph over this adversity.

AP-DENVER -- A former surgery technician may have exposed thousands of Colorado patients to hepatitis C when she swapped her own dirty syringes for ones filled with a powerful narcotic, federal authorities said Thursday.

Kristen Diane Parker faces criminal charges for allegedly making the swaps while working at Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs and Rose Medical Center in Denver.

VA MEDICAL CENTERS "STRANGE" FRIDAY CLOSING

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?

By Gordon Duff and Maj. Denise Nichols USAF MSN RN (ret.)

VETERANS:  PLEASE CHECK YOUR REGIONAL MEDICAL/PTSD CENTER AND REPORT BACK TO US!  WE NEED TO KNOW!

Holidays are critical times for veterans, especially PTSD vets.  They are the highest suicide risk of all.  This morning, we found the major PTSD treatment facility along with the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis actually closed prior to this all important holiday.

They closed on Friday for a long weekend, taking that "extra day" for some reason not entirely clear to anyone.  No other hospitals in the US are closed, only those serving veterans.  What makes veterans so special?  Could it be the expected spike in suicides tied to patriotic celebrations which combine painful memories and alcohol?

In a country where few people even have jobs anymore, the idea that vital, even emergency services, could be made unavailable on the basis of, well, we just don't have a clue what basis at all.  What could they be thinking?

By AMANDA DOLASINSKI
adolasinski@MorningJournal.com

LORAIN — From a simple check-up to substance-abuse treatment, veterans have been receiving care at the Veterans Affairs clinic in the St. Joseph Community Center, 205 W. 20th St., in downtown Lorain, for the past decade. But with the pending closing of the center, it is unclear whether the clinic will stay there or be forced out along with the other 11 tenants.

Sean Nelson, chief of external affairs for Cleveland Veteran's Affairs, said he's known for awhile moving would be a probability.

the Veterans Administration — consistently outperforms private providers in customer satisfaction surveys and a New England Journal of Medicine study examining the VA using 11 separate measures of quality found the VA to be "significantly better" than private providers on all measures. Similarly, Medicare was found to have substantially lower admin costs than its private sector counterparts.

By Bennet Kelley-In "The Art of War," Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu states that "the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself." Watching Congressional Republicans' response to President Obama to date, I am left to wonder "when did the GOP become so generous?"

Risk&Insurance.com

In the first of a three-part series, our workers' comp columnist Peter Rousmaniere explores the health, wellness and compensation burdens of America's returning military veterans.

http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=225884691

By Thomas H. Maugh II

Researchers connect the condition, called an increased PR interval, to a substantially higher risk of erratic heartbeats and need for a pacemaker, as well as risk of death.

A common heart abnormality often seen of electrocardiograms that has long been thought to be inconsequential is actually associated with a substantially increased risk of erratic heartbeats or a need for a pacemaker -- and with a modestly increased risk of death, researchers reported today.

Although there is no treatment to forestall such events, the presence of the abnormality should lead to increased monitoring of the patients to detect problems early, the team reported in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

By JIM MANIACI, Laughlin Nevada Times

LAUGHLIN - The Secretary of the U.S. Veterans Administration says its will take a minimum of 11 months to build and staff and outreach clinic in Laughlin, once the contract for the building is awarded.

In a June 16 letter to Third District Congresswoman Dina Titus, D-Nev., relayed to the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation, Eric K. Shinseki wrote that the VA's southern Nevada health care system “plans to contract for staffing and space to operate this new clinic. They are currently working on a solicitation which will be released soon. The contracting process will take at least 44 weeks before the clinic is staffed and activated. The lack of available commercial space in the Laughlin area for leasing and the possible need for new construction our build-out of space will affect the activation schedule.”

CAREGIVER TIPS FOR MAKING EATING/FEEDING EASIER FOR LOVED ONES WITH DEMENTIAS/ALZHEIMER'S

BY CAROL WARE DUFF MSN, BA, Rn
STAFF WRITER AND EDITOR

AS A CAREGIVER, PROVIDING GOOD NUTRITION IS ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR LOVED ONE.  It is not known to what extent diet will affect dementia, but it is known that people with dementia do not eat properly because of various eating problems caused by dementia. 

WHAT ARE SOME CAUSES FOR PROBLEMS WITH EATING?

Physical reasons for eating problems are:

• Your loved one may have a dry mouth or a changed sense of smell and taste due to aging and/or medications.
• Side effects of medications such as Digoxin (a heart medication), mood elevators, or antidepressants may cause a lack of appetitie.
• Your loved one's teeth may feel sensitive or painful or his or her dentures may not fit properly.  
• He or she may no longer be able to coordinate the use of eating utensils.
• Constipation may cause discomft and a loss of appetitie.
• Vision changes may make it difficult to see the food.
• Depression may cause a loss of appetitie.  
• Muscles of the jaw and throat may no longer work properly due to the decline of motor abilities in advance dementia.  

By RINDI WHITE and BILL WHITE Anchorage Daily News | rwhite@adn.com

A federal judge has ordered a Mat-Su couple who run an incineration business to stop receiving and burning hospital, medical and infectious waste as of noon July 1.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A Colorado meat company is expanding a recall of beef due to possible contamination by E.coli O157:H7 bacteria after an investigation found 18 illnesses may be linked to the meat, the company and the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday.

Greeley, Colorado-based JBS-Swift Beef Co is voluntarily expanding its June 24 recall to include about 380,000 lbs of assorted beef products, for a total recall of about 421,000 lbs, USDA and the company said.

The affected beef was produced on April 21 and was distributed nationally and internationally.

By SHARON COHEN AP National Writer

Larry Roberta's every breath is a painful reminder of his time in Iraq. He can't walk a block without gasping for air. His chest hurts, his migraines sometimes persist for days and he needs pills to help him sleep.

James Gentry came home with rashes, ear troubles and a shortness of breath. Later, things got much worse: He developed lung cancer, which spread to his spine, ribs and one of his thighs; he must often use a cane, and no longer rides his beloved Harley.

By Cheri Carlson (Contact) Ventura County Star

Homeless veterans will get a place to stay, three meals a day and access to needed services from legal help to hot showers and new glasses at the 17th annual Ventura County Stand Down next month.

The long-standing grass-roots event will be July 24-26 at the California Army National Guard Armory in Ventura.

By Shara Yurkiewicz

"No news is good news" is what most patients assume when they're waiting to receive test results. But "no news" actually meant "bad news" for one out of 14 patients with troubling labs, according to a study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study, led by Dr. Lawrence P. Casalino of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, examined more than 5,000 records of randomly selected middle-aged patients from 23 primary care practices.

By Nancy Walsh, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

RIDGEWOOD, N.J., June 1 -- Hypertensive patients who had another condition -- related or not -- were more likely to receive good medical quality care than those with high blood pressure alone, according to a new Veterans Administration study.

Baltimore, MD (Vocus/PRWEB )

Researchers at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine are conducting research using a novel ankle robot ("Anklebot"), invented by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs, with stroke patients at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. The design, mechanical characterization and preliminary clinical application of this ankle robot are presented in the June issue of IEEE Transactions on Robotics: Special Issue on Rehabilitation Robotics, the premiere and most-cited journal in robotics research.

By Thomas H. Maugh II -L.A. Times-A defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization apparatus cuts fatalities by 29% in patients with mild heart failure, study shows. It is already approved for implant in those with severe heart disease.

"This is a breakthrough finding," ...

CAREGIVER TIPS ABOUT DRESSING FOR THOSE TAKING CARE OF LOVED ONES WITH DEMENTIAS/ALZHEIMER'S

By Carol Ware Duff MSN, BA, RN

Your loved one may be experiencing changes relating to his or her cognitive or physical functioning that may make getting dressed difficult.  However, you want your loved one to able to participate in dressing him or herself for a long as possible. 

Why is dressing difficult for your loved one?

Cognitive difficulties related to self-dressing:

The many steps of dressing are complicated.

• Your loved one may no longer understand how to get dressed.
• Your instructions to your loved one on how to dress may not be understood.
• Your loved one's attention span may be too short to complete the task of dressing. There are many steps to the dressing process.
• There may be too many distractions such as a television, radio, or conversations.
• He or she can no longer make decisions about what wear.
• Your loved one may no longer remember the word for a body part.
• There may be a fear or anxiety when dressing because your loved one may not want to be unclothed.
• Your loved one may be upset about being told how or when to get dressed.