WEEK 2: Pestilent Poison
Hello! Thanks for checking into my Week Two blog post!
My current schedule for this month is popping into the clinic for 7-9 hours from Tuesday to Thursday. I plan to continue researching through the Google search engine and dropping by the library to find out additional information relating to Osteoporosis, such as how a DEXA scan is done. Here are my week’s new findings!
According to the National Health Service UK:
- Patients have to lay flat on an X-Ray table and it usually takes about 10-20 minutes
- Sometimes patient can remain fully clothes unless the clothing has metal fasteners then a gown would be needed
- A scanning arm will move slowly over the patient’s body using a narrow beam of low-dose X Rays
- Usually, they are paying extra attention to the hip and lower spine to check for weak bones
- XRAY detector inside the scanning arm will measure the amount of X Rays that have passed through the body
- They will compare the bone density result to a healthy adult of the same age, gender, and ethnicity
- The difference between the patient’s result to the healthy adult results ( T score) would be calculated as a standard deviation score
- Z score is used for children and people under 30 who are still growing
- It is recommended to get a DEXA scan once every 2 years and no more than that
This past week, I have continued to wreck my at-home-printer-station to compile more surveys. Luckily, the printer managed to help me produce an additional 15 surveys which means we have a total of 50 surveys ready to be given out! We got 7 participants this week (woo hoo)!! Hopefully, in this coming month, I can reach a personal goal of 15 surveys per week. As for now, the surveys are organized into a binder and kept inside a locked cabinet at the clinic for safekeeping.
As I spoke to a participant this week, she gave me a personal insight into what her journey is like as an Osteoporosis patient. Through her primary care provider, she has tried all kinds of treatment from oral medications to injections. She had to drop oral medications because it gave her difficulty in her jaw over time. She alludes to how treatment for the disease is like ‘picking your own poison.’
An exciting surprise awaits us! I connected with an RN who oversees treatment for Osteoporosis. Hopefully, I will be shadowing 2 Nurses on how they educate their patients about the treatment at the Flexcare Infusion Center! This will give me far more insight into the provider’s lens of how they address questions and guide their patients throughout the entire treatment journey! The set date is on March 12th so wish me luck!!
Check in next week for week three updates!! See ya later Alligator!
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