Maggie’s House Assisted Living 107 East 2nd Street DeWitt, Iowa 52742 www.maggieshouse.com

MAY IS NATIONAL STROKE AWARENESS MONTH A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly interrupted or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells. Brain cells die when they do not receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or if there is sud-den bleeding into or around the brain. The symptoms of a stroke include numbness or weak-ness, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understand-ing speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble with walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination; or sudden severe headache with no known cause. Thera-pies to prevent a first or recurrent stroke are based on treating an individual’s underlying risk factors, such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation and diabetes. Medication or drug therapy is the most common treatment for stroke. Although stroke is a disease of the brain, it can affect the entire body. A common disa-bility that results from stroke is complete paralysis on one side of the body, causing one-sided weakness. Strokes may cause problems with thinking, awareness, attention, learning, judg-ment and memory. Stroke survivors often have problems understanding or forming speech. A stroke can lead to emotional problems as well and some stroke patients may have difficulty controlling their emotions. Many stroke patients experience depression and may also have numbness or strange sensations. The pain is often worse in the hands and feet and is made worse by movement and temperature changes. Recurrent stroke is frequent; about 25% of people who recover from their first stroke will have another stroke within five years. For more information you can visit this website: www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Stroke

From Our House

To Yours FROM THE DESK OF THE ACTIVITY DIRECTOR

Spring weather is finally here. The residents

were beginning to get cabin fever. Although our

first bus tripped had to be cancelled, we did eventu-

ally get our first countryside ride in.

Debbie Wallace from

Down By the Creek Animal

Rescue brought in several of her animals for the

residents to snuggle with and

love on. Some of the animals

reminded the residents of their

pets they once had. Everyone had fun passing the

animals from one to the other.

It’s always a treat to

have The Clintone’s come in and sing to the resi-

dents. This time it was nice to listen to their spring

music collections. in the spring and fall.

One of our new enter-

tainers this month was singer, guitarist, and song-

writer Stacy Webster who is from Iowa City. He

plays all kinds of music around the Midwest and

plays in several bands as well. All of the residents

enjoyed listening to him and we look forward to his

return soon.

Our first Residents Lunch Day Out was one

of our favorite places - Buzzy’s! You can never

beat the food and prices at Buzzy’s. Now that the

weather is nicer, we will be taking our monthly

lunch day trips.

The week of April 15-21 was National

Volunteer Week. We honored our volunteers with

a little reception and gift bag. We couldn't do

many of the things we do without our wonderful

volunteers. Thank You So Much!!

JaCi Leigh was our other new entertainer this

month and she was fabulous! Her husband is her

sound man and she sang many of the residents favorite

songs. We will schedule JaCi to come back and sing

for us again in the very near future.

MAY

BIRTHSTONE -

EMERALD

MAY FLOWER -

LILYOF THE

VALLEY

CINCO DE

MAYO

MAY 5TH

MOTHER’S DAY

MAY13TH

MEMORIAL DAY

MAY 28TH

FUN FACTS ABOUT MOTHER’S DAY

The first Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914, designating Mother’s Day to be held on the second Sunday in May.

The median age of women when they give birth for the first time is 24.8 years old. The odds of a woman delivering twins is 1 in 33. Her odds of having triplets or other

multiple births is approximately 1 in 539. August is the most popular month in which to have a baby, with more than 360,000

births taking place that month. Tuesday is the most popular day of the week in which to have a baby. Approximately 122 million phone calls are made to moms on Mother’s Day in the

United States Carnations are the most traditional Mother’s Day flower. Pink carnations represent

gratitude and love, while red ones signify admiration. White carnations are tradition-al flowers to give or wear in remembrance of a mother who is no longer living.

The most popular flowers for Mother’s Day include: lilies, orchards, tulips, roses, iris-es and callas.

Save The Date For Maggie’s House Brat Stands

Maggie’s House will be hosting two brat stands at Randy’s

Neighborhood Market this summer. The first one is Satur-

day, June 2nd and the second one is Saturday, July 21st.

The times are from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. The menu includes brats, hotdogs,

chips and a beverage. Please spread the word and let the staff from Maggie’s

House grill a yummy lunch. All proceeds go towards activities and outings for

our residents. We hope to see you there!

APRIL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Helen Soenksen celebrated her 97th birthday on Thursday, April 5th. She had many family members here to

help in the festivities.

MAY BIRTHDAY Lola Wiese will celebrate her birthday on

Monday, May 28th, which happens to be

Memorial Day

With Deepest Sympathy

We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the Family of Leona Jensen who

passed away on April 17th. She spent her days making beautiful embroidered pillow

cases as well as knit and crocheted blankets. Leona had celebrated her 101st birthday last December and she loved fried chicken and

mashed potatoes! She will be greatly missed by her Maggie’s House Family.

MORE RESIDENT PHOTOS

Gloria and Lola had fun Shannon Soenksen stops in Marilyn Notz gets to meet

Coloring Easter eggs for every month to make crafts. They her newest great-grandson.

the residents made May baskets this month Welcome Fin Notz!