🎯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
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Tuberculosis (TB) course.
What TB Is
Bacterial infection of the lungs (usually). Curable with long course of antibiotics.
Learn ItYour Treatment Regimen
Usually 4 drugs for 2 months, then 2 drugs for 4+ months. Total 6-9 months minimum.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags
Hemoptysis · severe SOB · drug reaction (face swelling, severe rash) · yellow eyes — 911.
Learn ItSide Effects to Watch
Liver toxicity, vision changes (ethambutol), neuropathy (isoniazid + B6 deficiency).
Learn ItContagious vs Not
Generally non-contagious after 2-3 weeks of treatment. Sputum cultures confirm.
Learn ItDaily Adherence
Don't skip doses. Skipping creates drug-resistant TB. Some patients need DOT.
Live ItLab Monitoring
Liver enzymes, vision testing, hearing if on certain drugs.
Live ItNutrition Support
TB depletes you. Calories and protein matter for healing.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring meds, side effect notes, sputum culture history.
Live ItYour Care Team
TB clinic (often public health) + PCP + sometimes specialist for drug-resistant TB.
Live ItVideo DOT
Many programs use video directly-observed therapy now.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
TB care often free through public health for the treatment course.
Live ItWork & Travel
Return-to-work timing depends on cultures. Travel restrictions during contagious period.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Stigma still exists. Sharing recovery stories matters.
Share ItAdvocate
Global TB elimination needs funding and attention — your story helps.
Share ItResearch & Trials
New short-course regimens, MDR-TB drugs, vaccines.
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?
TB treatment is long and adherence-driven. The ladder mostly tracks side effects and progress.
Handle at home
- Taking meds daily; gradually feeling better
- Mild side effects you can tolerate
- Following directly observed therapy (DOT) if assigned
Log it. Don’t skip doses — resistance is the risk.
Call the office / message the portal
- Mild GI upset, mild rash, joint aches
- Running low on TB meds
- Side effect worth asking about
- Liver tenderness or yellowing of eyes
Same day. TB drugs need monitoring.
Urgent / Acute care
- Severe nausea / vomiting / can’t keep meds down
- Significant skin rash
- New vision changes (ethambutol toxicity)
- Persistent fever past first month of treatment
Urgent care or TB clinic. May need medication adjustment.
ER NOW / call 911
- Coughing up significant blood
- Severe shortness of breath at rest
- Severe allergic reaction to a TB drug (face/tongue swelling, breathing trouble)
- Yellow eyes/skin with severe abdominal pain (hepatotoxicity)
- Confusion or seizure (isoniazid neurotoxicity)
Call 911. Tell them you’re on TB treatment and list your medications.
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.
“I’ve had nausea for 4 days, a 5 most days, worse 1 hour after my pills, taking them with food helps a little, and the yellow tint to my eyes started yesterday.”
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 Tuberculosis (TB):
- “Am I on the right regimen — standard 4-drug, or do I have drug-resistant TB requiring different therapy?”
- “What labs are we monitoring — liver, vision, hearing?”
- “Am I still contagious — and when can I return to work, school, my normal life?”
- “What about my close contacts — family, coworkers — have they been screened?”
- “When will my sputum cultures be checked, and what’s our endpoint?”