60 year-old mother, grandmother, operating room nurse who suffers from Hypercoagulability. For over 20 years, Shirli has been living with Hypercoagulability, a condition where blood has an abnormally increased tendency to form blood clots within a blood vessel. Managing her disease means living on anticoagulants and blood-thinning medications, like Coumadin, to maintain her blood clotting balance.
Sticking to her treatment plan and treating this disease with the proper dosage and timing of medication involves a lot of planning and remembering. Even for an OR nurse, with 40 years of experience, a person who is all too aware of the importance of proper dosage, Shirli would still miss a dose before ReX. Shirli was introduced to the ReX Companion over 4 years ago. It’s the only unified remote therapy management platform with built-in sensors that precisely dispenses Coumadin directly into Shirli’s mouth and captures the data, accounting for every dose.
Meet Shirli
What is it like with living with Hypercoagulability? With my condition, I take blood tests in the morning, so I take Coumadin in the evening, but sometimes I have plans, and I do not always go to bed at the same time. I must take the correct dose at the right time. If I don’t take the medications, I may have a stroke, and if I take too much, I can bleed to death. Coumadin was originally a rat poison. It is very dangerous and must be handled appropriately. Coumadin also effects everything and comes with side effects. You have to maintain a specific diet. My doctor told me I should act like a diabetic, pay attention and write down everything I eat. Every so often, you have to go to the hospital or clinic because things happen.
What helps you overcome the challenges of routine care? When you must take a lifelong medication, every day, the days can be hard to separate. I ask myself all the time, “Did I take my pill today or not?” The phone might ring and I’m distracted. It’s dangerous. It all blends together. ReX provides provides peace of mind. It empowers me because I know that I am being actively involved with and responsible for my treatment. I know I will not overdose. Also, the device is so simple, so light and convenient for me. I can take it anywhere. I travel with it and I know I will not miss a single pill nor will I accidentally take too many pills. It is very comfortable to use. It goes directly into my mouth and the pill falls onto my tongue. I swallow and ReX records the dosage accurately.
Does your experience as a nurse make you more equipped to manage your condition?
I have been in many extreme situations in my life, and I know how to act under pressure and do the right thing. Long-term illnesses over time do not look like one big emergency. The responsibility can be managed with simple actions that facilitate a treatment routine and success.
What is your advice to other patients with chronic disease and strict treatment plans that involve dangerous medications? If you’re going to take part in your care, you know there is no room for error. The breadth of dos and don’ts of managing chronic disease and the side effects of the medications can be overwhelming. ReX does so much of the heavy lifting for you. You can be confident that the device is with you and keeping you on track. You have assistance. It gave me and my family confidence. I warmly suggest to anyone who is required to take such medications regularly to get themselves a ReX device, it significantly reduces the therapeutic load.
More than anything, Dosentrx aims to decrease a patient’s treatment load and the associated burden with the simplest, yet critical tasks. ReX makes people’s lives easier with the support it provides through close monitoring and an open communication channel to their care team that they would not have otherwise. With ReX, patients with chronic conditions requiring lifelong or dangerous medications are never alone.