Other Factors....

I work hard to understand injection site management issues across disease states, lifespan, socio-economic classes and cultural categories. It’s challenging to grasp the multi-faceted issues that stem from injectable medication administration. In researching complications from injection therapy, such as scar tissue accumulation and infection, I bristle at how many times medical literature label patients with these complications as “non-compliant.”  The use of this word clearly is meant to imply a willing disobedience or an intentional mismanagement of one’s health. HMMMMMM…..

Barriers to optimal self-care are much different than indifference or laziness as some professionals and others may choose to believe. Barriers (in my opinion) include those life circumstances that compromise or complicate our ability to care for ourselves or loved ones.  These may include finances, lack of support systems, other priority health issues, grief, stress, physical limitations etc…. Ironically these may be the type of life circumstances that are rarely taken into consideration when formulating a patient treatment plan. Assumptions can easily and erroneously be made about patients’ motives about how effectively they are managing their self-care and various dynamics in their lives.

Case in point: Around the same time my husband, Craig, was going through chemo therapy treatment for stage 4 lymphoma, our oldest son, Carter, was diagnosed with Graves disease. The medication Carter was on to treat his wonky thyroid had a host of side effects, including a depletion of his immune system. Strict parameters were put on Carter’s care from the physician and he was to go in for blood work anytime his temperature would rise over 100 degrees or a sore throat was present.  I was also on fever watch with Craig. The side-effects of chemo left him with no immune system and he was continually in danger of developing a life-threatening illness.  I carried around thermometers as if they were in holsters on the sides on my pants so I was ready to catch any fever that may be lurking around our neck of the woods.  Sleep deprived and emotionally exhausted, I was not as vigilant as I should have been one evening as Craig became sick. A fever went unchecked and my husband ended up in the hospital with a raging infection in is blood stream. The hospital personnel asked me a myriad of questions I could not answer because I was overwhelmed at this point. I was asked, “When did the fever start,” and “How high has it gotten?” If the staff had asked these questions the week before when I was fresh, alert, and not a walking zombie, I would have been able to answer all their questions with steely certainty, but not during this snapshot moment of my care giving.  

As Visual Medical moves forward, it is a deep running part of our mission to educate OURSELVES on the strengths and needs of others. We seek to look beyond the clinical application for our products and take into consideration the complexity of our clients’ existence.  Thank you once again for reading!