Hawthorne Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2075 & Ladies Auxiliary

Remembering Our Veterans & Their Families: Past, Present and Future

Website launched recognizing and honoring America's veterans

The new website, www.honoraveteran.com, was created by Nick Russell, from VFW Post 8813 in Marinette, Wisconsin. Nick wanted to provide a place where people can submit a short biography of their veteran friends and family members, to honor their service to our country. Hopefully it will help raise public awareness of the brave men and women who have answered our country’s call to duty.

There is absolutely no charge to read the website or to submit veteran biographies.

FREE! 6-week internet course for family members and informal caregivers

This course, offered by the VA California Offices on Caregiving & Stanford University School of Medicine, is designed for Family members and informal caregivers who take care of veterans, or are veterans, with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dementia, or Doctor Diagnosed Memory Impairment.

This course covers:

• Skills that may lead to stress reduction for the caregiver and Veteran
• Self care methods to maintain or enhance health
• Dealing with difficult emotions
• Managing difficult patient behaviors
• Planning for the future
• Information about VA and community resources
• Communication skills to increase effectiveness with the patient and the medical staff
• How to ask for help when you need it

Caregivers of veterans and veterans who are caregivers in California, southern Nevada and Hawaii are eligible. A caregiver can be any relative, partner, friend or neighbor who has a significant personal relationship with the patient and provides at least 10 hours of assistance for someone with TBI, PTSD or Dementia (examples of care include - providing transportation, personal care, cooking, cleaning, shopping, lifting, making appointments, etc.) These individuals may be the sole caregiver or one of several that live with or separately from the person receiving care.

To enroll please go to: caregivers.staqnford.edu.
You will asked how you were referred, or where you learned of the program, when you register.

For additional information either e-mail: caregivers@med.stanford.edu
Or call the VA CA Offices on Caregiving toll free at 877-820-8820

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is conducting an exciting new study on PTSD

PTSD affects up to 8% of the population, but not much is known about this disorder. Therefore, the Pituitary Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center wishes to further the understanding of PTSD by seeing if changes in the stress hormone axis are involved in the biology of PTSD. The plan is to explore the stress hormone axis by looking at pituitary volumes and hormone levels.

Who: Men and women 18 to 80 years old.

What: There will be three visits. The first visit is a screening history and physical with basic blood and urine tests. The second visit is to draw baseline hormone levels. The third visit involves pituitary blood tests, an MRI of the pituitary and questionnaires.

Where: At the Pituitary Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Complimentary parking and a meal voucher will be included.

Contact: If you or someone you know may be interested in learning about this study, please contact Alexis Jacobs at (310) 423-3395 and ask about the PTSD study.

Questions may also be directed to Auxiliary member Kyle Orlemann who recently completed the study.

There is compensation.

WLA VA is conducting a study on Risperidone Treatment for Chronic PTSD

Many people with PTSD still have symptoms despite available treatments. The goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of an antipsychotic medication called risperidone in the treatment of military service related chronic PTSD. Participants in this study will receive either risperidone or a placebo for six months, in addition to receiving their usual care for the treatment of PTSD and other psychiatric and medical disorders.

You may qualify if you

• Are age 18 years or older
• Have been diagnosed with military service related PTSD
• Have tried antidepressants in the past for your PTSD
• Are living in a stable situation within 50 miles of WLA VA
• Use birth control if you are a woman of childbearing age

You are not eligible if you

• Have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder
• Have a serious medical condition
• Have tried risperidone in the past
• Have had a drug problem (except nicotine) in the past month
• Are participating in a research study which provides treatment

For more information contact Sabrina Ereshefsky or Anna Melnick at 310-478-3711 ext 44187.

There is compenstion up to $230.

Frank Watson believes in Angels. In fact, he claims to have met one.

Frank is an in-patient at the WLA VA facility. He's there because, as he puts it, “I failed to take care of my health.”

His right leg was in such bad condition that the doctors wanted to take it off at the hip.

After receiving that good news, Frank was on the verge of leaving the hospital and just going home to die. It was while wandering around the hospital that he saw a lady who was knitting and selling coupon books to raise money for vets and they began to chat.

“I began to see a person with a real heart for vets,” Frank said. “She talked with great joy about vets, what we go thru and the organizations that she loves and supports - VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) and the VFW.”

She also told him about her project of knitting caps and lap blankets for disabled vets. As she finished up a cap that she had been working on, she gave it to Frank.

Such a small gesture.

But not small to Frank.

“You just never know when God is going to send an angel around to cheer you up,” he said. “Something happened that day and the old fighting spirit came back into my heart!”

With renewed energy, Frank went back to his doctors and demanded other options. After considerable discussion, the doctors determined an alternative course of treatment involving a series of operations to try to save Frank's leg.

Frank is no longer considering just going home to die.

“I know for sure: that fateful day, God sent around a coupon selling angel!”

The lady selling coupon books that day was Auxiliary member Kyle Orlemann.

Scenario: You are alone in your home and you experience some medical problem. You make the decision to call 911 and request help. The paramedics respond to your call and arrive shortly. Your medical condition has deteriorated and you're unable to respond to the paramedics questions. How are the paramedics able to treat you? What are they to do?

You might want to follow the program that the city of Torrance, California has initiated. The program is called the Vial of Life . Type or handprint your emergency contact information, your current medical conditions and the prescriptions you are currently taking on a sheet of paper. Do the same for each member of the household. Fold the paper and place it in a recycled prescription container and place it in your refrigerator, preferably in the door. You will want to place a label over the bottle and mark it Vial of Life . If you cannot make your own label, you can ask your family, neighbors or pharmacy to make one for you. A second identical label should be made and placed on the front of the refrigerator.

If the above scenario were to happen in Torrance, the various city emergency services have been trained to look on the refrigerator door for the sticker labeled Vial of Life . If this information is available then the right treatment can be performed.

Possibly, the emergency service in your community has a similar program. If they don't, you should make it a point to inform those departments to initiate one. The scenario is not age driven. The Vial of Life . is applicable to all ages. Heed the advice. It can save your life.

Project to Help VA Patients Grows

Auxiliary member Kyle Orlemann knits for vets. Her original project was making caps for cancer patients at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. That quickly grew to include patients at the West Los Angeles facility. Today Kyle is knitting caps for patients, military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and lap blankets for wheelchair bound patients.

She had been using her own funds to buy supplies until the Post Auxiliary and the Vietnam Veterans of America South Bay Chapter 53 began donating yarn. Then VVA Chapter 53 surprised her with a check for $253 to buy more materials. Temple Beth Emet of Burbank has also started donating materials.

But the project has outgrown her ability to keep up. Kyle now knits whenever and wherever she can sit down, whether it’s while dining out at a restaurant, in the Post canteen, during her VVA and AVVA meetings, while watching TV, or just visiting with friends. She needs help, particularly from people who knit. It's easy to learn and Kyle is willing to teach whoever shows an interest.

The project is beginning to grow. Leigh Adams has taken it up and has taken it with her to the east coast. Susie Bryant has picked up the cause and is knitting when she's not busy behind the bar in the canteen. The Occupational Therapy Unit at the WLA VA facility will be meeting with Kyle to explore the feasibility of introducing knitting as part of patient physical rehabilitation.

Yes, the program is indeed growing, but more volunteers are needed. Anyone else who would like to join Leigh, Susie and Kyle in this project to help VA patients and active duty personnel should call Kyle at 310-725-0019. More volunteers are needed! Anyone wishing to contribute materials or funds can mail their donation (designate it for Kyle’s Knitting) to the Post or drop off materials at the Canteen.

Helmets to Hardhats is an organization that

• connects Veterans to promising careers in construction,
• is the fastest way for Military, Reservists & Guardsmen to transition from active duty to a career in the construction industry, and
• is the fastest way for building & construction trades organizations to find & hire the best transitioning military service members & veterans.

For more information please visit their website at www.helmetstohardhats.org.

At its February 24th Council Meeting, the City of Hawthorne passed Resolution No. 7241 adopting and establishing discounted animal license fees for certain military personnel and disabled vets. The new fee schedule applies to the following:

1. deployed active duty military personnel who are determined to be the head of household, or
2. veterans who are 50% disabled as the result of military service.

Proof of eligibility is not automatic and must be filed each year. Full penalties still apply for renewals not paid on the due date for renewal. The discounted fee of $10.50 will only be provided for altered dogs pursuant to the policy required by Los Angeles County. The senior rate of $7.50 will remain as is.

This City Council Resolution was introduced by Hawthorne Mayor Pro Tem Ginny Lambert at the suggestion of Auxiliary member Kyle Orlemann.

Have you ever wondered how your newsletter gets to you? Most of you have probably never thought much about it. Your newsletter comes in the mail (the Jan/Feb issue was an exception) and the thought never occurs to you of what goes in to getting the newsletter to you.

Well, it can get to be complicated.

The first step comes when everybody who has an article to put in the newsletter gets their article to the editor.

Then the editor puts all the articles into the newsletter, fitting them into the space available. If there isn't enough space, then the editor has to edit out some of the articles. If there isn't enough in the articles to fill the space, then the editor has to find filler to balance out and remove the so-called white space from the newsletter.

After that is done, and the proofing of the copy is completed, the newsletter has to go to the printer.

Then one of the busiest parts of the process begins. After the copies of the newsletter are delivered to the Post, Rita's team takes over. Inserts (if any) have to be inserted, each newsletter must be folded and have the sealing sticker applied, labels have to be put on each newsletter (Did I even mention that someone has to print off mailing labels on the computer?), the newsletters have to be sorted by zip code, they have to be “bagged” in accordance with U.S. Postal regulations, and they have to be delivered to the Post Office.

This is all accomplished by a well-honed team, often on short notice due to complications that often come up in the editing or printing (or both) processes.

So just who are these unrecognized people who are able to accomplish so much, often mundane work so that you receive your newsletter in the mail?

Rita Kurtz heads the team. She and Val Braun take care of the labeling.

Caroline Clanin, Glenn Clanin, and Phyllis Waszkiewicz work together at putting the little round stickers on to hold the newsletters closed.

Steve Braun makes sure the newsletters are bagged according to U.S. Post Office regulations, and finally, Steve and Val physically take the newsletters to the Post Office.

Did I mention the folding?

This crew works hard to make sure they are never a clog in the wheel preventing the newsletter to go out on time.

So, every time you open your newsletter after having received it in the mail, remember the effort put in by these people. Without them, there would be no newsletter.

Remember:

1. To continue receiving your newsletter by mail, you must let us know and provide a current mailing address.
2. The fewer members we have receiving the newsletter by mail, the more we can cut costs.

It has been my great honor to be editor of The 'Top of the Hill' Journal for these past few issues.

I wish the best for whoever will be replacing me as editor and I have nothing but the highest regard for all of you readers.

Take care out there!

Jerry Orlemann, former Editor