🎯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 Atrial Fibrillation course.
What AFib Actually Is
An irregular heart rhythm in the upper chambers. Not always dangerous, but raises stroke risk.
Learn ItWhy You're on an Anticoagulant
Blood pools in fibrillating atria. Anticoagulants prevent stroke-causing clots.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags Early
Chest pain · severe shortness of breath · stroke signs · major bleed on anticoagulant.
Learn ItTriggers & the Loop
Alcohol · caffeine · sleep loss · stress · dehydration · thyroid. Knowing yours = half the battle.
Learn ItRate Control vs Rhythm Control
Two strategies. Beta-blockers vs cardioversion/ablation. Your team picks based on you.
Learn ItAnticoagulant Adherence
Daily dose, no gaps. DOAC or warfarin — both require consistency.
Live ItHome Pulse Check
Feel for irregularity. Some patients use smartphone ECG monitors (Kardia, Apple Watch).
Live ItAlcohol & Sleep
Both directly trigger AFib episodes. Knowing your patterns matters.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Use the Visit Tool. Bring your pulse log and any palpitation diary.
Live ItYour Care Team
Cardiologist or electrophysiologist (EP), PCP, pharmacist, sometimes hematology.
Live ItTelehealth & Wearables
Apple Watch, Kardia, and other devices can catch episodes you don't feel.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
DOACs are pricey. Manufacturer assistance, generic warfarin alternatives — ask.
Live ItYour Rights at Work
Bleeding risk + activity restrictions. ADA accommodations available.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Share what you've learned with newly diagnosed AFib patients.
Share ItAdvocate for Awareness
AFib is undiagnosed in many. Share the pulse-check + stroke prevention message.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Watchman, ablation refinements, new DOACs — research opportunities matter.
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?
AFib lives in a managed range; the ladder is mostly about stroke prevention and rate control.
Handle at home
- Usual irregular pulse without symptoms
- Brief palpitations that pass with rest
- Tired evening after a busy day
Log it. Take your meds. Keep your ECG monitor (if you have one) handy.
Call the office / message the portal
- Palpitations lasting hours
- Running low on anticoagulant
- Bruising more than usual
- Skipped or doubled a dose
Same day. Anticoagulant changes need a careful conversation.
Urgent / Acute care
- Fast heart rate (>120) at rest for hours
- Lightheadedness on standing
- Marked exercise intolerance
- New leg swelling
Urgent care. Bring your medication list.
ER NOW / call 911
- Chest pain or pressure
- Severe shortness of breath
- Stroke signs (FAST)
- Major bleed on anticoagulant — black stools, vomiting blood, large nosebleed that won’t stop
- Any head injury on a blood thinner
Call 911. Tell them you’re on an anticoagulant — it changes their plan.
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 heart was racing for two hours yesterday afternoon, felt like a 6 out of 10, came on after coffee plus a stressful meeting, sitting and breathing slowed it back down, and I had a glass of wine the night before.”
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 Atrial Fibrillation:
- “What’s my CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED — and what’s my net benefit on anticoagulation?”
- “Am I on the right anticoagulant for me — warfarin vs DOAC, and why?”
- “Should we try rhythm control (cardioversion or ablation) vs continued rate control?”
- “Am I a candidate for a Watchman device if I can’t tolerate anticoagulation long-term?”
- “What triggers should I avoid — alcohol, caffeine, stress, sleep loss?”