🎯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 Coronary Artery Disease course.
What CAD Actually Is
Plaque narrows the arteries feeding your heart. Causes angina, MIs, sudden death.
Learn ItWhy Statins Matter
Statins lower LDL AND stabilize plaque. They prevent the next event, not just the number.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags
Chest pain at rest >10 min · radiation to jaw/arm · sweating/nausea — call 911.
Learn ItTriggers
Cold + effort, big meals + effort, emotional stress, untreated sleep apnea, smoking.
Learn ItRisk Factors You Can Change
BP, lipids, smoking, weight, diabetes control, exercise, sleep apnea.
Learn ItAntiplatelet Therapy
Aspirin alone or with another agent. Don't stop without your cardiologist's OK.
Live ItNitroglycerin Use
Sublingual for angina. Sit, take, wait 5 min. Three doses 5 min apart, then 911.
Live ItCardiac Rehab
Supervised exercise + education. Best post-MI investment you can make.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring your BP, lipid, exercise tolerance, and nitro use log.
Live ItYour Care Team
Cardiologist, PCP, cardiac rehab team, pharmacist, sometimes dietitian.
Live ItTelehealth & Tech
Wearables for HR/exercise. Home BP cuff. Cardiac rehab apps.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
Cardiac rehab is covered. Generic statins are cheap. Don't skip meds for cost.
Live ItYour Rights
Cardiac conditions are protected under ADA. Workplace accommodations for cardiac rehab.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Be the post-MI patient who shows others recovery is real.
Share ItAdvocate for Heart Health
Spread the word: heart disease is the #1 killer, but mostly preventable.
Share ItResearch & Trials
PCSK9 inhibitors, anti-inflammatories, plaque imaging — your data helps.
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?
CAD lives at a stable baseline. The ladder is about noticing change.
Handle at home
- Your usual chest tightness with exertion that resolves with rest in 5 minutes (stable angina)
- Heart rate elevated briefly with stress
- Normal energy for your baseline
Log it. Keep up your meds and your cardiac rehab/exercise plan.
Call the office / message the portal
- Angina happening more often than usual
- Lower threshold — comes on with less effort
- Running low on antianginal or statin
- New medication side effect
Same day. A pattern change is a real signal.
Urgent / Acute care
- Angina at rest
- Angina lasting >10 minutes
- Angina not relieved by usual nitroglycerin
- New symptoms (jaw, arm, back pain with exertion)
Urgent care or office urgent slot. Bring your nitro log.
ER NOW / call 911
- Chest pain at rest lasting >10-20 minutes
- Chest pain with shortness of breath, sweating, nausea
- Pressure radiating to jaw, arm, back
- Pain not relieved by 3 nitroglycerin doses 5 min apart
- Fainting
Call 911. Chew an aspirin (if not allergic and not bleeding). 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.
“Chest pressure came on twice this week with light walking, an 8 worst, lasts about 5 minutes, gets worse going up stairs, nitro brings it down, and I stopped my statin two weeks ago because of muscle aches.”
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 Coronary Artery Disease:
- “What’s my LDL target and am I at it — could we add or change therapy?”
- “Am I on the right antiplatelet — aspirin alone, or dual therapy, and for how long?”
- “Should I have a stress test or imaging now — what would change my plan?”
- “Am I a candidate for cardiac rehab?”
- “When and how should I use nitroglycerin — and when does the pattern of use trigger a call?”