🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track personal progress in your Course and 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 lives in the Prepared Patient Atherosclerosis (ASCVD) course.
What ASCVD Actually Is
Plaque builds up across arteries. Heart, brain, legs, kidneys all at risk.
Learn ItWhy You're on a Statin
Statins lower LDL AND stabilize plaque. Backbone of prevention.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags
Chest pain · FAST stroke signs · cold pale painful leg · sudden vision loss.
Learn ItRisk Factors You Can Change
BP, lipids, smoking, diabetes, weight, exercise, sleep apnea, stress.
Learn ItVascular Beds
Coronary, carotid, peripheral, renal — knowing yours guides care.
Learn ItAntiplatelet Therapy
Aspirin or clopidogrel based on your risk pattern. Don't stop on your own.
Live ItBP Tracking
Daily/weekly home cuff. Trends matter more than single readings.
Live ItCardiac/Vascular Rehab
Supervised exercise + risk-factor education. Real outcomes data.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Use the Visit Tool. Bring lipid, BP, glucose, and weight trends.
Live ItYour Care Team
Cardiologist or vascular doctor + PCP + dietitian + pharmacist.
Live ItTelehealth & Wearables
Activity trackers, home BP cuff, telehealth med adjustments.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
Most preventive meds are generic. PCSK9 inhibitors costly but assistance exists.
Live ItYour Rights
Workplace accommodations for cardiac rehab and follow-up visits.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
ASCVD is the most common cause of death. Your story can change a friend's path.
Share ItAdvocate
Push for primary prevention in family + community. Smoking cessation especially.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Anti-inflammatory therapies, novel lipid agents, plaque imaging.
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?
ASCVD is everywhere — coronary, carotid, peripheral. The ladder watches for problems in any of those beds.
Handle at home
- Stable baseline
- Following meds and exercise
- Mild side effects you can tolerate
Log it. Stay consistent.
Call the office / message the portal
- Running low on medication
- New leg cramping with walking that wasn’t there before
- Side effect issues
- BP creeping up
Same day. Vascular changes can be subtle.
Urgent / Acute care
- Calf or thigh pain that comes on at a predictable distance walking (claudication)
- Skin changes on your legs or feet
- New cool blue toe
- Pattern of chest tightness with effort
Urgent care. Vascular workup matters.
ER NOW / call 911
- Chest pain at rest or with sweating
- FAST stroke signs
- Sudden cold, pale, painful leg (acute limb ischemia)
- Sudden severe abdominal pain (mesenteric ischemia)
- Loss of vision in one eye
Call 911. Vascular emergencies are time-critical.
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.
“My right calf cramps when I walk to the mailbox, a 6 worst, started a month ago, worse on uphills, rest in 2-3 minutes brings it down, and my BP has been running 10 points higher this month.”
Questions worth asking
Four for 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 Atherosclerosis (ASCVD):
- “Which vascular beds is my disease in — coronary, carotid, peripheral, renal?”
- “Am I at LDL target and BP target for secondary prevention?”
- “Should I have ankle-brachial index or carotid ultrasound now?”
- “Am I on the right antiplatelet for my pattern of disease?”
- “Is cardiac or vascular rehab right for me?”