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410-601-5528

Holiday Depression
Holidays are full of traditions and spending time loved ones. Unfortunately that can change when a loved one passes away. Sherry Myers, RN, and director of Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital�s Partial Hospitalization and Outpatient programs in Baltimore, has some tips to help manage the holiday blues, which include:

• Being honest and recognizing that the holiday may not be the same without your friend or family member
• Doing something to remember your loved one, such as putting his or her picture in a prominent place
• Taking care of yourself by avoiding activities that increase your stress level, but be careful not to isolate yourself�
• Making sure you eat a healthy diet, exercise if your doctor approves and get enough sleep

A Nurse at Sinai Hospital Provides Comfort to Wounded Soldiers
Karen Ames, R.N. and a nurse education consultant for the critical care unit at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, first learned about the Quilts of Valor project in her favorite quilting magazine. The project provides quilts for soldiers who have been wounded. Through this project she quickly learned more than 15,000 American soldiers have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2004, the non-profit Quilts for Soldiers has given out more than 3,000 donated quilts.

We hear all about the men and women who have died during the war, but we hear very little about those who are injured,� Karen says. This project is a great way to provide a wounded soldier with a small amount of comfort.�

Karen has successfully completed one quilt for the project and is presently working on two others she hopes to send out before the end of the year.

Sinai Hospital enhances its minimally invasive procedures
In a relatively new procedure, doctors at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore are performing thoracic aneurysm stent-grafts for thoracic aneurysm or ballooning of an artery in the chest. The procedure begins with a small incision in a patient�s leg, allowing them to thread a small tube through an artery to the chest. X-rays help doctors guide the tube into the artery. Once in place, the plastic tube channels blood away from the damaged tissue.

Thoracic aneurysms traditionally require major surgery to repair the damaged artery, which includes a large incision in the chest and the removal of several of the patient�s ribs. The invasive procedure usually entails a two to three-week hospital stay with an additional month of outpatient recovery. The minimally invasive surgery performed at Sinai requires patients to stay two to three �days in the hospital and are back to their normal routine within a few weeks.