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Managing Heart & Cardiovascular Disease effectively during this time

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Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
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Posted 4/8/2020 4:38 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Everyone,

My name is Alysia I am a registered nurse and a baccalaureate nursing student. I am interested in learning more about your experiences with cardiovascular disease. Many times, I am able to briefly learn about a patient’s experience when they are having a crisis but this setting will help me understand the real-life challenges of patients with cardiovascular disease outside of the healthcare setting.

As the COVID-19 virus has generated more use of phone and video visits, many healthcare providers including nurses will have to assist people without being in-person for prevention of the COVID-19 virus. I think it is wonderful there are support forums such as this one to help people dealing with similar health concerns have a common place to support one another.

Joining this forum and sharing experiences or responses will be help me understand how to better serve and care for my future patients. Has anyone started communicating with their physician via telephone or video to manage their heart/cardiovascular condition? Are you using any at home methods or exercises during this time to maintain good health?

I look forward to learning and sharing.

Best,
Alysia
Posted 4/10/2020 7:14 AM (GMT 0)
Alysia--Yes I had a telehealth appointment with my physician to discuss statin dosage and side effects. The appointment went well, although I did have to go in to the lab for some blood tests.

During the cv19 stay at home orders it has been easier to get exercise completed each day. I went over this exercise routine with my cardiologist in January and he said it was excellent. It includes cardio, stretching, balance, core and strength training.

I eat a diet based on American Heart Association guidelines. During theblast month I've been able to adhere to it well because I'm at home and prepare meals here.

I'm motivated to follow my cardiologist's recommendations because I'm at high risk for a cardiac event and doing the right things helps me lower my risk. Also, I feel better.

Post Edited (Tim G) : 4/10/2020 1:18:15 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/11/2020 6:39 AM (GMT 0)
Telehealth very active in Australia. Esp hospitals. All specialists are ising it through this pandemic however it neen in vogue for rural and disadvantaged people with didabilities etc and genetally in hospitals for wuite awhile now.

I am post my heart stuff but yes home exercise id a must.
Take care.
Was a little unsure of posting as was unclear on the research....but it seems it pertains not to a research program.

Regards HT
Posted 4/12/2020 10:03 PM (GMT 0)
Approved
Posted 4/13/2020 6:36 AM (GMT 0)
Excellent. HT.
Great thread.
Posted 4/15/2020 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Tim,
Thank you for sharing your experience. Good for you following the CV19 stay at home orders. Additionally, exercise is so helpful in many of areas of our body in addition to the heart. Not sure about you but the exercise should be helpful in keeping mood and attitude more balanced while we are all at home more during this time.

Do you think tele-health will be more used to conduct healthcare visits in the future, even after the CV19 is not at a pandemic level? or would you still prefer to go back into the office for a traditional visit.

At my current job, the telehealth visits have not been an issue but I do think we have to improve the technical part of this, just to make sure the visual and audio is best for both the patient and physician. I have found that most people have the hardest time changing food habits, keep up the good work on the diet.

Stay, safe.
Until next post,
Alysia



Tim G said...
Alysia--Yes I had a telehealth appointment with my physician to discuss statin dosage and side effects. The appointment went well, although I did have to go in to the lab for some blood tests.

During the cv19 stay at home orders it has been easier to get exercise completed each day. I went over this exercise routine with my cardiologist in January and he said it was excellent. It includes cardio, stretching, balance, core and strength training.

I eat a diet based on American Heart Association guidelines. During theblast month I've been able to adhere to it well because I'm at home and prepare meals here.

I'm motivated to follow my cardiologist's recommendations because I'm at high risk for a cardiac event and doing the right things helps me lower my risk. Also, I feel better.

Posted 4/16/2020 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
Hi theHTreturns,

Thanks for posting. I will look up more information on Australia and their use of telehealth. I see you mentioned that telehealth is more difficult among rural, disadvantaged and people with disabilities, what do you think communities with some of the disadvantaged people can do to help if telehealth is the only option during a time like this?

In the meanwhile, I will be doing some research on my end.

Stay safe.
Until next post,
Alysia

theHTreturns... said...
Telehealth very active in Australia. Esp hospitals. All specialists are ising it through this pandemic however it neen in vogue for rural and disadvantaged people with didabilities etc and genetally in hospitals for wuite awhile now.

I am post my heart stuff but yes home exercise id a must.
Take care.
Was a little unsure of posting as was unclear on the research....but it seems it pertains not to a research program.

Regards HT

Posted 4/19/2020 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
Many rural reigions may have a locum dr....and indigenous communities may get a visiting nurse. No infrastructure for these communities......so some rural communities may not have internet access.

Cb radio and the royal flying dr service and a traveling dr or nurse for some is the norm.
I am in a large city but this country is vast. HT
Posted 4/23/2020 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Alysia--The CV19 pandemic has forced us to use telehealth and it will expand beyond what it was before CV19. One of the issues is that Medicare won't pay for telehealth visits, with the exception of the current health crisis. If they ok remote visits in the future, more and more PCPs and patients will use them. I have no hesitations to use remote medical visits in the future, unless my health issue requires an in-person visit. One aspect of medicine that I like is shared decision-making responsibility. At my recent tele-visit, I discussed options for upping the dose of a statin I'm taking. My physician wanted to move ahead faster than I did with a dose increase, but I wanted to go low and slow. I explained my reasons and he agreed with me to go this route.
Posted 4/25/2020 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Tim,

Good for you in being an advocate for your progress in using the statin at a pace you are comfortable with. Keep being an active partner in your health with your physician, I have found this partnership leads to better outcomes. I am not sure on the latest news; I try to limit that to avoid increasing anxiety unec, but it sounds like quaratine restriction will last a little longer, possibly into the summer.

With the unknown of how things will go until our country gets back moving, my hope is CMS will consider the safety and set new guidelines for the future for telemedicine, maybe it can be offered for based on each individuals circumstance. Many of the people I work with are uding telehealth visits and find it convenient to get there concerns assessed by the physician, especially those who do not want to be taking their children into the office at this time.

One thing is for sure, we all will have to continue thinking outside the box and change to improve beyond the operations prior to this time.

Take care,
Alysia
Posted 5/23/2020 10:37 AM (GMT 0)
I'm focusing on those things I can control, like trying to lose some weight, getting plenty of sun to keep my vitamin d level up, doing a lot of yard work, gardening, etc for exercise, and taking some supplements that hopefully will boost my immune system. I rescheduled my cardiologist appointment to August when hopefully we will see a lull in covid-19 cases.

I haven't used telemedicine, but I think it may prove to be more effective than actually going to doctor's office. The only way telemedicine can work is if the doctor is prepared for the session, something that too frequently doesn't happen with office visits.
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