🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track 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
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Hepatitis B & C course.
Hep B vs Hep C
Different viruses. Hep B chronic with antivirals. Hep C curable with DAAs.
Learn ItWhy Antivirals Work
DAAs cure hep C in 8-12 weeks. Hep B antivirals suppress to undetectable.
Learn ItSpot Liver Emergency
Vomiting blood · confusion · severe jaundice · severe abdominal pain — 911.
Learn ItLiver Triggers
Alcohol, acetaminophen overdose, certain herbs, hepatotoxic drugs.
Learn ItKnow Your Stage
Fibrosis: F0 to F4 (cirrhosis). FibroScan or biopsy if needed.
Learn ItDaily Antiviral
Adherence is everything. Don't run out. Don't skip.
Live ItLiver Surveillance
Ultrasound + AFP every 6 months if cirrhotic or chronic hep B.
Live ItAlcohol = Out
With chronic liver disease, alcohol is hepatotoxic. None.
Live ItVaccines
Hep A if not immune. Hep B vaccine for partners/family if you have hep B.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring labs, imaging history, symptom log.
Live ItYour Care Team
Hepatologist or ID, PCP, sometimes transplant team.
Live ItAdherence Apps
Pill reminders. Lab portals.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
DAAs are expensive but widely covered. Assistance programs.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Stigma around hepatitis is real. Sharing your story helps others test.
Share ItAdvocate
Push for universal hep screening — many people don’t know they have it.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Hep B cure research, hep C re-infection prevention.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
Chronic hepatitis usually quiet. The ladder catches treatment issues and liver complications.
Handle at home
- On treatment or in surveillance
- No symptoms
- Following labs and imaging schedule
Log it. Don’t skip meds (hep B) or follow-up (cured hep C).
Call the office / message the portal
- Mild fatigue, occasional abdominal discomfort
- Running low on antiviral
- Side effects on a new med
- Vaccine questions (especially HepA, COVID, others)
Same day. Liver issues develop slowly.
Urgent / Acute care
- Persistent fatigue
- Mild jaundice (yellow eyes/skin)
- Persistent right upper abdominal pain
- Ankle swelling
- Easy bruising
Urgent care — check liver function and INR.
ER NOW / call 911
- Vomiting blood or black stools (variceal bleeding)
- Severe abdominal pain with fever
- Confusion or extreme drowsiness (hepatic encephalopathy)
- Severe jaundice with abdominal swelling
- Loss of consciousness
Call 911. Tell them you have hepatitis.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
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.
“Fatigue and right upper abdominal discomfort for 3 weeks, a 5 most days, worse after fatty meals, lying flat helps a little, and I’ve noticed darker urine.”
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 Hepatitis B & C:
- “What’s my viral load, liver enzymes, and fibrosis stage?”
- “For hep C: am I a candidate for direct-acting antivirals (curative)?”
- “For hep B: am I on the right antiviral, and when do labs get checked?”
- “Do I need surveillance for liver cancer (HCC) — ultrasound, AFP?”
- “What vaccines do I need (hep A, others)?”