Prairie Doc Perspective Week of May 19th, 2024
Grief: There is No Prescription By Amanda Kriens, CCHW As unique is our loss is as unique is our grief. What do we do when one day we can smile, laugh, and look back at memories with fondness and thankfulness for the life we shared with our loved one; the next day we feel paralyzed by our pain and sadness? We feel broken and feel as though we may never be our “old self” again? We may not like the answer…we feel what we feel. There is no twelve steps, timeline or prescription for our grief. New research supports that as unique as we are as humans, as unique as our relationships are, as unique as our brains, is as unique as how we will process our grief. By allowing ourselves to feel what we feel and becoming curious about those feelings we can, with time, heal. We may not ever be our “old self” again but we can become a new self. A new self that has become more resilient, more self-aware and has more compassion for ourselves and likely for others. We do not have to become bitter but we can feel angry. Anger is a common feeling to have when we are experiencing grief but so is laughter and sadness. By allowing ourselves to release our anger through healthy means such as exercising, journaling, writing a letter we can move through this feeling. By laughing when we feel like it we can release endorphins and increase our serotonin which in turn helps us feel good. By crying when we feel sad we can release stress through the actual tears coming from our eyes. Those tears chemical makeup are different than the tears our eyes naturally produce for moisture. By allowing our sad tears to flow we can help release that sadness out of our body. We may feel exhausted after this release but then while listening to our bodies, we rest. Suppressing our feelings is not only not good for our mental health it is also not good for our physical health. We are more likely to suffer from chronic illness if we are not processing our thoughts and feelings in a healthy manner. Some tips for caring for yourself while experiencing grief are:
Amanda Kriens, CCHW is a community health worker at Avera Behavioral Health in Brookings, SD. Amanda provides outpatient community health worker services to children, adolescents, families and adults. Her services are personalized to help those dealing with anxiety, depression, abuse, stress, cultural diversity, interpersonal issues and trauma related to sexual violence. Her practice includes cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness and solution-focused therapy, and helping patients find additional community resources. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook and Instagram featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show providing health information based on science, built on trust, streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. Prairie Doc Perspective Week of May 12th, 2024
Telegraph, Telephone, Telemedicine By Jill Kruse, DO Technology has come a long way in the past 200 years. The telegraph was invented in 1837 and made rapid long range communication possible. Messages could be sent around the world through a series of connected wires. The telegraph had medical applications in the Civil War. It was used to order medical supplies and report information about injuries and casualties to medical teams. This was cutting edge technology at the time, but it now is considered an obsolete method of communication. Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876. By 1900 there were nearly 600,000 telephones in use. At the end of 1910 there were over 5.8 million active telephones. The telephone was seen as a tool to connect doctors and patients together over a distance. A report in The Lancet Journal from 1879 described how a doctor could use the telephone to listen to a baby’s cough and diagnose croup. In 1924 The Radio News Magazine predicted a two way video encounter with a “radio doctor” using a television-like device. In 1959 the University of Nebraska became the first place to use two-way video communications for telemedicine applications. This was done using closed circuit television to connect medical students at the main campus in Omaha with patients at the Norfolk State Hospital 112 miles away. However, Telemedicine as we know it today did not get its start until the 1970’s. Telemedicine can also be used to send radiology images remotely to radiologists who can be in a different state or even a different country. With the improvement of cellular technology, EKGs can be sent from the back of an ambulance to the hospital. So before a patient even sets foot inside the door of the hospital, the Emergency Room doctors and Cardiologists can be prepared. This can not only save time, but can save lives when someone is having a heart attack. With the COVID 19 pandemic, there was an increased push to use telemedicine for virtual visits in the clinic setting. Telemedicine has also been used when patient transfer from smaller hospitals to larger tertiary care centers is not possible or when dangerous winter driving conditions make transfers unsafe. This technology helps bridge the gap in medical care between rural areas without specialists and urban medical centers. The jump from telegraphs to telemedicine with virtual visits is a big one. I can only imagine what the next 200 years of technological advancements will bring to how we deliver health care. No matter how we interact, there will always be a doctor ready to connect and help you, stay healthy out there. Jill Kruse, D.O. is part of The Prairie Doc® team of physicians and currently practices as a hospitalist in Brookings, South Dakota. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook and Instagram featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show providing health information based on science, built on trust, on SDPB and streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. Prairie Doc Perspective Week of May 5th, 2024
“Learning to Adapt after a stroke” By Carter Holm, RN Working as an RN in inpatient rehab, I am often called upon to care for patients who have had a cerebrovascular accident, or more commonly called a stroke. I have observed that every stroke patient experiences a unique combination of symptoms but the one of the most important tasks they accomplish in rehab is learning how to be adaptable. According to the American Stroke Association, left sided strokes (which affect the right side of the body) cause patients to experience more difficulty with language, both in speech and understanding. Right sided strokes, can cause more behavioral changes that may lead to uncharacteristic impulsivity, and may affect the patient’s vision. Based upon the type of stroke, each patient's experience is different and they will have their own set of challenges to overcome as they work towards recovery. Identifying the challenges is a crucial aspect of stroke rehabilitation. A main focus of the rehab team, for example, is balance and gait. Physical therapy is crucial in recovering strength and coordination in the affected side. If a patient is experiencing weakness to the left or right side of their body, they may require the use of a walker to allow for safe ambulation. Some patients may instead require the use of a cane, quad cane, or hemi-walker. Finding the correct assistive devices is one way stroke patients work to return to some normalcy. Stroke patients may regain their freedom of movement with the help of an adaptive foot brace, or the use of a specialized cane. They may adapt to using their non-dominant hand for eating or writing. They may learn tools to adapt their speech patterns, or use electrical stimulation of the facial muscles to increase strength, and improve oral function. What all of these things have in common is learning how to change, how to adapt. And while each stroke is different, and symptoms vary from patient to patient, one common thread is that all stroke patients, their families, and friends must learn to adapt. And it isn’t just the physical recovery, people must adapt to the emotional and psychological changes as well. Depression, anxiety, altered moods or sudden mood changes are all common symptoms following a stroke. Often, I have had patients who are so frustrated that they feel like giving up on therapy, even giving up on life. Patients and family members may experience grief: mourning the loss of the person that they were, or that they once knew. Author Delanie Stephenson wrote of her stroke, “While my body and mind were healing, I was learning to be a new person”. Just as the body needs time and practice to adapt to the physical changes, the brain also needs time and practice. Neuroplasticity does not return overnight, and may take months to return to normal. Regaining function requires setting goals, hard work, patience, and most important an acceptance of the need to adapt! Carter Holm, RN is a Registered Nurse at Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls Specializing in inpatient rehabilitation. Holm is a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse and works with patients through their rehabilitation from strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and trauma. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook and instagram featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show celebrating its 22nd season of health information based on science, built on trust, broadcast on SDPB and streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. Prairie Doc Perspective Week of April 28th, 2024
Based on Science, Built on Trust By Jill Kruse, DO As we approach the end of our 22nd season, I would like to thank our audience for trusting us to bring them health information that is current and accurate. There are many doctors out there who cannot make the same claims as the Prairie Doc’s and I would like to take this opportunity to help sort out those charlatans and quacks from trusted sources of health information. While tasty and refreshing, I would not trust Dr. Pepper for medical advice. Nor would I trust Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, despite his claims that he went to “four years of Evil Medical School”. I like to read Dr. Seuss’ books, but I would not let him take a look. While I think he is a dear, I would not let him peek in my ear. He is not the doctor that I want to see if I needed an appendectomy. While you can trust Doc Martin and his shoes to help you look cool, I am certain he has no medical training. Doc Brown from Back to the Future is another doctor I’m not sure I would listen to. Beside the fact that he likely has a PhD rather than an MD/DO degree, can you really trust someone who would make a time machine out of a Delorian? “The Doctor” from Doctor Who, is someone whom his companions trust with their life. Unfortunately a sonic screwdriver will not replace a stethoscope for making a medical diagnosis. The Doctor has also been known to put those companions in grave danger from Darleks and Cybermen. Although Dr. Steven Strange from the Marvel Universe is a legitimate doctor by training, I suspect he allowed his license and board certification to lapse when he became an Avenger. Thus he would not be my first choice for current medical advice or treatment. Similarly, I would not let Doc Octo, a known villain from the Spider-Man series, use any of his mechanical arms examine me. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Pierce, aka “Hawkeye”, from M.A.S.H. was an excellent surgeon, but his treatments and techniques are decades out of date. We have come a long way in surgery and anesthesia since the Korean War. I would also trust Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, but only if I was living back in the 1800’s on the prairie. The current Prairie Docs have much more training and knowledge than she had access to at the time. As you can see, there are many doctors out there. However, when looking for medical advice, you need not only someone you can trust, but also someone who has the training to give you the most current and up to date advice. The Prairie Docs strive to answer your medical questions each week with such information. So tune in and ask anything. We are here to help you stay healthy out there, with health information that is based on science and built on over twenty years of trust. Jill Kruse, D.O. is part of The Prairie Doc® team of physicians and currently practices as a hospitalist in Brookings, South Dakota. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook and Instagram featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show providing health information based on science, built on trust, on SDPB and streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. |
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