🎯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 Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) course.
What a DVT Actually Is
A blood clot in a deep vein, usually leg. Can extend or break off to lungs (PE).
Learn ItWhy You're on a Blood Thinner
Prevents extension and embolism. Several months minimum, sometimes lifelong.
Learn ItSpot a PE Fast
Sudden shortness of breath · sharp chest pain with breathing · cough up blood — 911.
Learn ItTriggers & Prevention
Long sitting (flights, surgery), immobility, dehydration, hormones, clotting disorders.
Learn ItProvoked vs Unprovoked
Provoked = surgery, leg cast. Unprovoked = your body did this on its own. Treatment duration differs.
Learn ItAnticoagulant Adherence
Take it on time, every day. Don't double up. Don't stop without team OK.
Live ItCompression Stockings
Reduces post-thrombotic syndrome if prescribed. Wear them as directed.
Live ItMove & Hydrate
Walking, ankle pumps, hydration — especially on long flights or car rides.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring your meds, recent INR if on warfarin, any leg changes.
Live ItYour Care Team
PCP, hematologist for complex cases, anticoagulation clinic if on warfarin.
Live ItTelehealth
Anticoagulation management works well via telehealth.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
DOACs are pricey. Warfarin is cheap. Compression stockings — get a Rx for coverage.
Live ItSurgery & Anticoagulation
Anticoagulation plan around procedures matters a lot. Don't stop without a plan.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
People mid-flight need this knowledge. So do post-surgery patients.
Share ItAdvocate
DVT/PE is preventable in many settings. Push for prophylaxis awareness.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Newer anticoagulants, factor XI inhibitors, IVC filter outcomes.
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?
DVT is about preventing extension and embolism. The ladder is about leg and lung signs.
Handle at home
- Mild residual leg swelling that’s stable
- Following anticoagulant schedule
- No new symptoms
Log it. Compression stockings if prescribed.
Call the office / message the portal
- Mild new swelling or warmth
- Bruising more than usual on anticoagulant
- Running low on anticoagulant
- Skipped or doubled a dose
Same day. Anticoagulant management is precision work.
Urgent / Acute care
- Leg getting more swollen and painful
- New warmth or color change
- Calf tenderness with walking
Urgent care. May need imaging to check for clot extension.
ER NOW / call 911
- Sudden shortness of breath
- Chest pain that’s sharp or worse with breathing
- Coughing up blood
- Fainting
- Severe leg pain with pale or cold skin
- Major bleed on anticoagulant
Call 911. PE is the dangerous downstream — act fast.
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 has been getting more swollen for 3 days, a 5, worse standing, elevating helps, and I missed two doses of my anticoagulant last week.”
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 Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT):
- “How long do I stay on anticoagulation — provoked vs unprovoked DVT?”
- “Am I on the right anticoagulant for me — DOAC vs warfarin?”
- “Should I be screened for clotting disorders?”
- “Compression stockings — needed, what kind, how long?”
- “Travel and surgery — what precautions during my treatment period?”