‘Legs for Life’ screenings popular at hospital

Two hundred Lawrence-area residents made appointments for Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s “Legs for Life” free screening program.

LMH’s radiology department and Radiologic Professional Services, P.A., conducted the screenings Thursday and Friday.

The five-minute appointments used ultrasound technology and blood-pressure cuffs to screen participants for peripheral vascular disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PVD is a common circulatory condition caused by a blockage in the blood vessels and the legs. AAA is a weakening or ballooning of the aorta, the main vessel that delivers blood from the heart to the body.

Legs for Life screenings are not a complete medical exam but are intended to help identify people who have risk factors for PVD or AAA and to refer them for treatment.

Above, Ann Sand, left, and Larry Koerner, right, both registered vascular technologists at Lawrence Memorial Hospital perform an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening and check Gwen Seibel, Eudora, for pulmonary-vascular disease.

Health: Help available for seniors obtaining drug discounts

Douglas County Senior Services will help eligible seniors sign up for prescription-drug discount cards.

Staff members will be at the Lawrence Senior Center, 745 Vt., from 9 a.m. to noon Friday.

Eligibility criteria include: Medicare eligibility; no prescription coverage under Medicaid, Medicare supplemental or retiree policy benefit; and meeting drug companies’ income guidelines, which are approximately $26,000 or less for singles, $35,000 or less for couples.

Those wishing to sign up should bring a complete list of current medications, proof of income for 2001 and current income information for 2002.

For more information, contact Douglas County Senior Services’ community services department at 842-0543.

Community: Dinner raises money for sister cities program

More than 50 people attended a dinner and auction Saturday evening to help send Lawrence students to sister cities in Japan and Germany.

Proceeds from the dinner in Stidham Union at Haskell Indian Nations University will help finance Lawrence students’ trips to Hiratsuka, Japan, and Eutin, Germany, said Kathleen Hodge, chairwoman of the Lawrence Sister Cities Advisory Board.

It was the first year for the dinner and the first year the advisory board distributed need-based scholarships. About 30 students travel to the two countries each year. This year the advisory board distributed about $7,000.

“This is to raise money se we can continue this program,” Hodge said. “Otherwise it becomes an elitist thing.”