Despite a well-fought victory on Monday, golf great Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the 2008 golf season - he’ll be undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

Surgeries can certainly put a dent in your plans. Planning a hospital stay? Here are some top tips from doctors, patients and nurses - read them before you head to the hospital:

1. Before you go to the hospital, you need to think about what happens after your stay.

• For example, coordinate a ride home from the hospital (even if it is a short stay!).

2. You may want to consider having someone stay with you for a few days since you may be in some pain or even slightly immobile.

• Be sure to arrange the extra help well in advance so a family member or friend can take time off work, if needed.

3. You may need extended medical care services after a surgery or other procedure, which requires some planning.

• “If you’re having hip surgery and you know you have to stay in a rehab facility for a few weeks after your hospital stay, you may want to go visit those rehab centers (before your surgery) to make a good, informed choice about what your care is going to look like after you’ve had your acute care stay in a hospital,” Judy Pechacek, R.N., M.S., and vice president of Patient Care at Fairview Southdale Hospital in MN.

4. Keep reading…
Have a hospital stay tip? Post it in the Comments section below!!

Hospitals can be pretty confusing and overwhelming places, especially for patients and their families.

Designed to make the visiting process run a little smoother for everyone involved, we asked doctors, nurses, staff and patients for their top pieces of hospital visiting advice:

1. Call the hospital.
   Check with the nursing staff. Make sure the patient is available for a visit. Sometimes tests or treatments are ordered and require the patient to leave his or her room.
   – Priscilla Cutler, Community Care Coordinator, Monadnock Community Hospital, Peterborough, NH
2. Call the “gatekeeper”.
   Often, patients have an advocate or family member to manage visitors. Check with the ‘gatekeeper’ to determine the best time to visit.
3. Tired out.
   Patients get tired, even when there is not a lot of activity. So do family members who have to answer questions over and over again. - Jari Holland Buck, author of the Hospital Stay Handbook
4. Keep reading…

Related Articles:

• Patient Advocates
• Prepare For a Hospital Stay

In honor of National Older Americans Month, Dan Tomlinson, Director of Tax at Roni Deutch Tax Center, has written up these top tax tips for seniors:

Social Security

Nearly all older Americans receive Social Security payments. A few items to consider with regards to taxes and Social Security:

1. If Social Security is your only source of income, then you should have no tax due.

• Keep in mind, however, if you have other forms of income like a pension you may have to include some of your Social Security income on your tax return. The formulas are somewhat complex, but if one-half of your Social Security plus your other income is over a base amount ($25,000 for single filers, $32,000 for married filers) then the payments start to become taxable.
• Up to 85% of SS payments are taxable if you fall under the above formula.

Retirement Funds and Pensions

Pensions, Retirement Plans, and IRAs come in many forms. You should always contact the plan administrator and/or tax professional if you have any questions regarding these payments.

1. Pension payments are generally fully taxable.

• A portion of the payments can be non-taxable if you had contributed after-tax dollars into the plan. The plan administrator will usually make this calculation for you or provide you with the amount of total contributions to assist you the calculation.
• Generally, this “cost recovery” lasts for 210 to 360 payments based on your age when first received.
• Talk to your tax professional in the year before your retirement to see if this applies to you.

2. IRAs:

• Traditional IRA distributions must begin by April 1st of the year following the tax during which the taxpayer reaches age 70 ½. Failure to do so may result in a 50% excise tax of the required distribution.
• Care should be taken with Roth IRAs. For example, converting from a traditional to a Roth IRA may not be a good move since this conversion requires all taxes be paid in the year of the change. The Roth IRA will accumulate earnings that will later be tax free, but these earnings may not exceed the earlier taxes paid.
• The IRA plan administrator will usually contact you in plenty of time to plan for these distributions.
• Be sure to bring any 1099s or any other information you believe is pertinent regarding your retirement payments to your tax professional.

Medical Care

Medical, nursing home, and in-home care expenses add up very quickly. When you prepare your tax return have a list of all of these expenses ready. Some tips to assist you with adding these expenses on your tax return:

• Most pharmacies will provide you with a list of all prescriptions purchased during the year which you may be able to deduct on your return.
• Keep a separate file for each type of expense. For example, one file for doctor visit co-pays, another for medical equipment (canes, walkers, hearing aids), and another for dental visits.
• Nursing home expenses are deductible, but if they are fully paid by insurance or Medicare then they are not included on your tax return.
• “Medical mileage” is deductible. Going to see the doctor incurs a 19 cents per mile deduction.

Thanks to Dan Tomlinson for these great tips! Want more tax or senior living tips? Click on the links below:

• Taxes After a Car Accident
• Top Tax Safety Tips
• Get Prepared: Senior Living

You might have read about this in the news but the American Heart Association is saying that you can skip the mouth-to-mouth step when administering CPR: hands-only CPR — rapid, deep presses on the victim’s chest until help arrives — works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.

Another technique used after heart attacks is something known as an automatic external defibrillators or AEDs. You might have seen them in the hallway of office or medical buildings (usually with a heart symbol). But, according to a recent study, AEDs are often going unused because people don’t know how to use them.

You never know when skills like CPR may come in handy but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Your local Red Cross probably offers classes in CPR, AED use as well as disaster preparedness and emergency first aid.

Want to learn more? Listen to our podcast with Courtney Johnson from the Minneapolis Red Cross about AEDs and first aid/preparedness classes.

By Lauren W., our College blogger

It is the time of year when the common cold and the flu run rampant. Students flock back to school after the holiday festivities. Students catch up on every crazy little even that happened over break, but they also catch up on each other’s germs. Campus is infested with the sounds of coughing, sniffling, and sometimes even vomiting.

Without the comfort of home and parents to take care of students, there is only one place to turn, which is the on-campus health facility. On-campus health facilities are known by students to have a tendency of being uncomfortable and unhelpful, but there are ways to make the experience beneficial.

Be Honest

On campus health facilities have a reputation for being unhelpful and asking all sorts of obnoxious questions, so beat them in their own game and tell them exactly how you are feeling before they can start asking questions that can sometimes get too personal.

However, if personal questions do make it into the visit, answer them. Do not be worried about being judged, the employees are prepared to hear anything that may be confessed to them.

Be Careful

I was recently told a horror story of a male student going to the on campus health facility after feeling flu like symptoms. The health center claimed he was fine, and only had a cold. Two days later this boy was rushed to the ER and diagnosed with mono.

If you get an answer that does not satisfy you, it is completely okay to check in with an actual doctor. It is better to be safe than sorry!

Take Care of Yourself

With on campus health care facilities having such a negative reputation, avoiding them as much as possibly by taking care of your self. Get enough sleep, try to eat healthy, and exercise whenever possible.

If people are sick on your floor or in your class, no matter how great of friends you are with them, stay away! Getting sick will not only mean an possibly unpleasant trip to the health center, but it will also lead to missing class.

Thanks to Lauren for these great tips! Living in a dorm? Share your stories below!!

Chances are, you or someone you love will experience a hospital stay–either planned or unplanned.

As a matter of fact, more than 40 percent of all hospitalizations began in the emergency room, according 2005 figures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

And while you can’t always control the circumstances that result in an admission, you can help protect yourself from medical errors and hospital-acquired infections by being a proactive patient.

Here are past interviews and advice from experts on how to prepare for a hospital stay:

• What to Expect at the ER
• Expert Tips: Hospital Stay
• Get Prepared: Hospital Stay
• Finding the Right Hospital

By Jenna B., our Hospital blogger

“All I need is two stitches—why am I still waiting?”

“They gave me an IV for my dehydration—when are they going to take it out?”

Going to the doctor’s office, hospital, or emergency room is rarely a speedy process. Even if your complaint is minor, there are often many different factors that go into your medical treatment—and they all take some time! For a few helpful examples, see below…

STITCHES: If you have to get stitches, your doctor may use a numbing gel like TAC or LET (2 common topical anesthetics). This gel takes between 20 and 40 minutes to work. The longer the gel is on, the better it numbs the skin—so if you have a deep cut or a cut in a sensitive area (like your face), your doctor may wait even longer.

IVs: IV fluids can take between 30 and 90 minutes to “drain,” depending on the substance used and the seriousness of your condition. For example, Reglan (a medication used to treat nausea) sometimes takes about 15 minutes to administer, while medications like Vancomycin (used to combat bacterial infections) may take up to 90 minutes.

BLOOD DRAWS/LAB TESTS: The process of having blood drawn is so rapid that it is often difficult to understand why the wait to discover your results is so long. Most doctors’ offices send you home after having labs drawn (and call you only if your results are abnormal) for this very reason: it can take 60-90 minutes for your lab results to come back. If you are in a hospital or emergency room setting, you will often have to wait for your lab results because these results are very important: they can tell your doctor if you have low blood sugar, low iron levels, etc.

X-RAYS: X-rays are similarly quick to take, but longer to read. X-rays must be read and interpreted by a doctor (M.D.) or radiologist (a doctor who specializes in X-rays). Nurses, x-ray technicians, and other staff cannot read these results for you, so when you’re waiting for the results of an X-ray, it likely means that a doctor or radiologist is not immediately available to read it. (For example, if you break your leg at 3 in the morning, when no radiologist is on duty, the nurses may have to call a radiologist in—which, again, takes a while.)

WHN TIP: For some X-rays, you may have to drink Contrast (a chalky liquid that helps your internal organs show up better during the scan). If you have to drink this, you will need to wait 60-90 minutes before your scan can even be done.

The bottom line? On any medical visit (whether it’s a routine appointment or a trip to the emergency room), be prepared to wait if you’re scheduled for any kind of procedure (stitches, IVs, blood draws, and the like). Above all, bring your patience—and maybe a good book!

If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with a serious illness, you may have already discovered that dealing with actual health issues is just part of the individual puzzle you must reassess and reassemble.

One major hurdle: paying the health care bills. However, there are solutions out there. Our guest columnist and licensed insurance agent, M. Bryan Freeman, explains one often over-looked solution: life settlements.

What is a life settlement??

Basically, a life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy. Although life settlements are usually undertaken by relatively healthy seniors for financial- and estate-planning reasons, people with serious illness also may qualify.

Learn more - read M. Bryan Freeman’s article here…

Productivity and frugality blog, WiseBread, has a great post about the top 6 professionals that you should have in your phone’s contact list…just in case. I’ve narrowed their list down to three and added in one extra professional I think you really should have in case of emergencies:

Attorney: Whether it’s a car accident, medical lawsuit or helping you draw up a will or other important document, everyone will probably need or meet with a lawyer at least once in their lifetime. Before something major happens, do the scouting now:

• Nolo.com (this is a commercial site but they have good, basic information on how to find a lawyer and understanding fees)

Doctor: Even if it’s just a cold, having a doctor that you can trust can make the world of difference. Build that relationship now before you feel under the weather:

• Choosing a Primary Care Doctor
• Choosing a Pharmacy and Pharmacist
• Finding the Right Hospital

Insurance Agent: Auto, car, life, medical, home owner’s and rental insurance…doesn’t matter what coverage you’ve got, you’ll need a great agent to get the coverage you need and help you get the most out of your claims.

• Auto Insurance Coverage: What to Ask Your Agent
• Home Owner’s Insurance: What to Ask About Your Coverage
• Purchasing Flood Insurance
• Working With a Claims Adjuster

Mechanic: Let’s face it. Someday (could be tomorrow, could be next year), something in your car will break. You’ll need a great mechanic you can trust to get your car back on the road - and fast. Otherwise, you’ll be back in the shop before you know it.

• Choosing a Mechanic

What professional couldn’t you live without? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below! (Thanks, WiseBread!)

Jenna, our hospital guest blogger, writes: As a child life specialist in the ER, I never quite know what’s going to happen on any given day…especially a holiday. When I worked in the ER last year on Halloween night, I saw several Halloween-related injuries. Among them:

• A boy in a Star Wars costume who had accidentally poked himself in the eye with a plastic light saber
• Another boy with a gash on his knee from tripping on his Superman cape
• A girl who needed stitches on her forehead after tripping and falling on the skirt of her Cinderella dress
• A boy who needed stitches on his chin from crashing into a wall while wearing a Spider-Man mask.

From these injuries that I observed last year, there seemed to be three common “Halloween hazards” for kids in costume:

1) Tripping and falling over some piece of a costume.

• Be careful if your child wears a costume that is overly baggy or contains a cape, cloak, or other long piece of fabric. That costume can be an accident waiting to happen.

2) Masks or other head coverings that obstruct vision.

• It gets dark early at this time of year, so wearing a mask in the dark can lead to a painful collision with an unseen object. Encourage kids to use face paint, glitter, or stickers rather than covering their face with masks.

3) Weapons such as swords, spears, or light sabers can be particularly hazardous if children aren’t looking where they’re swinging these items.

• If your child insists on carrying a prop with their costume, encourage them to carry one that is rubber, plastic, or non-pointy, so that it won’t hurt if they poke someone with it by mistake.

Last but not least, in case of emergency, be sure to write your child’s name, your phone number and address in the inside of their costume, or make a hip ID bracelet to match their costume.

Want more? Read our additional costume and Halloween home owner’s safety tips…

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Read more tips from Jenna in our Hospital category. Have a question or tip for Jenna? Email her!!