Surviving Disease Begins with Education

Surviving Disease. 

Sounds simple to some and impossible to others; however, one of the best keys to surviving any disease begins with education.

I have been a registered nurse for 30+ years and continue to learn and evolve as an educator, patient advocate and health care provider. Please go to my “About Me” to read about my work experiences. 

My goal with this blog is to provide an educational resource to help people better understand their disease process and use my personal experiences to help guide them through the medical maze. 

I have found with some of my patients or my family, a simple  lack of understanding of why they got sick and what they can do along with their physician to get well. The internet, which is a fabulous tool, can be daunting due to the highly technical language and some recommendations may not be appropriate for your particular problem or set of problems.  

A great example was with my father. He had been a heavy smoker and dramatically overweight for years. These two things alone predisposed him to a multitude of health issues. He suffered a heart attack. Fortunately it was on the bottom of his heart, the right coronary artery, the most common place due to the angle of the blood vessel that services that area. He survived it and was started on a drug (which many of you know by name) called Lisinopril.  At the time I lived in California and he lived in Florida. We spoke regularly. One day he was telling me that he stopped taking his Lisinopril. I asked him why and he said “I don’t have high blood pressure”. I explained that after the heart has been damaged it is difficult for it to empty. It’s like having 2 sumo wrestlers holding the door closed and I tell you to walk through. He had the image and said, “that would be difficult”. I told him that Lisinopril removes the sumo wrestlers and then he can just walk through. So when the left side of his heart squeezes, the valve opens more easily, the heart does not have to work so hard. 

Lisinopril is used to treat high blood pressure, however in my fathers case, it was being used for treatment of his heart failure (HF). Once my father understood, he could then take his medication with confidence.

Another example was my sister who developed a persistent cough and had a history of getting colds and pneumonia. She went to her clinic who assessed her and started her on a round of antibiotics. She thought that would be the end to the cough, but it continued to persist for months later. During this time she had not told me about the problem. When visiting me, I asked her what was causing the cough? After telling me the story, I asked her what medications she was cudrently taking. She said “lisinopril”, which she had started a few months earlier. I told her that maybe her problem not from the virus persisting but might be a common side effect (persistent dry nonproductive cough). She returned to her medical clinic and, sure enough, her medication was changed to one that did not have the persistent cough as a side effect. Her weeks long cough was resolved. 

The educational portion of health care is critically dependent for successful treatment of disease. In my sister’s case, she did not know to think about going back to the clinic when the antibiotics were not helping. She just thought it was going to go away with her medication.

Knowledge is power. You can do much to extend your life and improve the quality of it by having a better understanding of your disease(s). Work closely with your primary care doctor, specialist, nurse practitioner, PA and follow their recommendations. It is where healing begins but most of it ends with you and the decisions you make.

My hope is that by sharing my experiences and providing education, I can help people better navigate the healthcare system. Maybe even add some humor to lighten a sometimes depressing topic – laughter is free and the best medicine!

In my next blog I will talk about my fathers journey with his heart failure (HF) and progression to congestive heart failure (CHF). It is a great story and I hope you all continue reading. There will be lots of educational tidbits and can help you understand the relationship of heart and lungs, valvular disease, signs and symptoms of worsening heart failure and the critical role diet plays in its management.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions or topics you would like to learn  about in my blog. You can also leave comments on my blog to share with everyone..  

Contact me directly at : [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.