Make The Most From Your Dr. To Avoid Nursing Homes.

To avoid going to a nursing home, go to your doctor on a regular basis and keep up with the medications. In fact, make sure that you get in the habit of every time you go to the doctor, write down questions before you get into the doctor’s office and just make that a systematic habit.

Yes, I know how much that sounds like common sense, but it’s amazing the number of times, including myself, that we don’t do those things. We don’t systematically make that habit. So, when you go to the doctor, especially if you want to avoid going to a nursing home, have those questions written down in advance, ahead of time. That way, you know what to ask in the moment because usually, we do forget, no matter who we are. Once we get in front of the doctor, we get going on with other things, and they’re moving fast, checking this and checking that, it can be very easy to forget, “Oh, I should have asked this. I should have asked now,” or “I had that symptom,” or whatever it might be.

So, write down the questions in advance as they come up, and then you’ll have everything you need when you go to the doctor. Making sure that the medications are correct, making sure that you don’t have too many medications, or side effects with certain medications, or little symptoms that are creeping up that you don’t know if they’re a problem or not, all these things need to be brought up.

Because you don’t know when that one little symptom is going to be a big deal, or if that medication interaction that’s causing a little bit of a symptom is going to become a big deal or not. A lot of people end up in the hospital and end up in a nursing home simply for these simple reasons, because the medications and the medical management is not addressed the way it should be.

Speaking of medical management, just making sure that your blood numbers are where they need to be, your vitals are where they need to be, your blood pressure, heart rate – making sure that your medications are keeping your vitals where they need to be. Making sure that your blood pressure is not getting too low, but also that it’s not getting too high. These things need to be checked regularly to avoid going to a nursing home.

And if you’re getting to that level of medical complexity, so to speak, then checking these vitals on a regular basis can make a big impact on preventing yourself from going to a nursing home. It’s these little things that make the difference that we do on a consistent basis.

In fact, it’s also a good idea to just basically check your blood pressure on a regular basis, daily or even multiple times throughout the day, to make sure that the type of coverage that you’re getting with your medication – if you are on medication – is what it needs to be. Because, if you’re getting to that point where you’re thinking about or worrying about going to a nursing home, then it’s important to check these things on a regular basis.

So, investing in a blood pressure cuff can be very beneficial, especially one of the automated ones that are simple to use. I recommend the ones that go up on the arms, not the ones that go on the forearm, and getting a pulse oximeter, the device that goes on your finger to measure oxygen and heart rate, that can also be very beneficial as well. To make sure your heart rate and your oxygen is where it needs to be, it’s very simple to buy these things nowadays, especially on Amazon.

You don’t have to have connections to a medical supply company to get this type of stuff anymore, you don’t even have to walk to the drugstore. You can have Amazon deliver it for you, or wherever you want to buy all this stuff online. These things can easily be delivered to your doorstep. So all you have to do is just take action and get it done.

Get it in there and start monitoring your vitals on a regular basis. So, monitoring your vitals and going to the doctor on a regular basis, ask those questions about your medications, about your medical situation, and make sure that all your bases are covered. It’s a great way to prevent yourself from going to the hospital and avoid going to a nursing home.