🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. They tell you what kind of square you’re reading. Where you actually track progress is your Prepared Patient Course and the Skills Lab.
📘 Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
🛠 Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
📣 Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Read each square. Deeper detail for each lives in the Prepared Patient Aortic Aneurysm course.
What an Aneurysm Actually Is
Weakened, bulging spot in your aorta. Most slow-growing; rare ones rupture.
Learn ItWhy BP Control Matters
Tight BP slows growth and prevents rupture. Beta-blockers often used.
Learn ItSpot a Rupture
Sudden severe back/chest/belly pain · 'tearing' · faintness — call 911. Don't drive.
Learn ItWhat Speeds Growth
Smoking, uncontrolled BP, family history, connective tissue conditions.
Learn ItSize Matters
Diameter and growth rate drive intervention timing. Know your numbers.
Learn ItBP Meds Daily
Tight target. Don't skip. Smoking cessation = single biggest growth slower.
Live ItImaging Schedule
Ultrasound or CT at intervals your team sets. Don't miss them.
Live ItActivity Limits
Avoid heavy lifting, Valsalva, contact sports if larger aneurysm.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring your BP log and imaging history.
Live ItYour Care Team
Vascular surgeon, cardiologist, PCP, sometimes genetics.
Live ItTelehealth
Med management via telehealth; imaging in person.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
Generic BP meds; imaging usually covered.
Live ItRepair Timing
Open surgery vs endovascular (EVAR). Surgeon picks based on anatomy.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Family screening saves lives. Be the family member who knows.
Share ItAdvocate
Smoking cessation + family screening — your story can drive both.
Share ItResearch & Trials
EVAR durability, drug therapies to slow growth, genetics.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
This is the teaching. Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
Most days are uneventful. The ladder is mostly about catching expansion or rupture early.
Handle at home
- No symptoms; following imaging schedule
- BP stable at target
- Tight med adherence
Log it. Keep your imaging appointments — size trend is what matters.
Call the office / message the portal
- BP creeping up
- Mild new back ache that doesn’t fit a usual cause
- Skipped imaging appointment to reschedule
- Running low on BP meds
Same day. The aneurysm itself doesn’t hurt — but tight BP control is everything.
Urgent / Acute care
- New persistent back or abdominal ache
- Pulsing sensation in the abdomen that’s new
- BP poorly controlled despite medication
Urgent care or vascular surgery clinic. Get imaging if not recent.
ER NOW / call 911
- Sudden severe chest, back, or abdominal pain — especially “tearing” or “worst pain of my life”
- Pain radiating to back, hips, groin, or legs
- Lightheadedness or fainting
- Cool or numb leg with severe back pain
- Hoarseness or trouble swallowing with thoracic aneurysm
Call 911 immediately. Tell them you have an aortic aneurysm. Don’t drive yourself.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
Six questions clinicians listen for every time.
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“Back ache started this morning, a 5 most of the day, no obvious cause, lying flat helps a little, and I missed my BP medication yesterday because my pharmacy was out.”
Questions worth asking — what good questions look like
Four that apply to every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Aortic Aneurysm:
- “What size is my aneurysm now — and at what size do we discuss intervention?”
- “Is my BP target right for an aneurysm patient — should it be tighter?”
- “What activity restrictions apply — heavy lifting, contact sports, Valsalva?”
- “What’s the imaging schedule and what trend would change the plan?”
- “Should family members be screened for aneurysms?”