All posts by Marsha Hughes-Johnson

Medical Transcription Week – May 15-21

MTWEEK2016PICThough it is the end of the week, I have not forgotten that this week is National Medical Transcription Week.  I’ve been busy…. well transcribing!  There are not many  MTs around as compared to years’ past, but I still want to say a big thank you to those of us who are still here transcribing for doctors, nurse practitioners, fellows, etc., who have withstood  the many changes that have taken place over the years with being a medical transcriptionist, and lastly, being loyal to what you know and love.  A patient’s medical record would not be in existence if not for the medical transcriptionist.  As the trend of medical transcription has drastically changed over the years and evolved into more of the voice recognition editing, there are quite a few who are still doing the standard transcribing, which MTs consider ‘straight typing’ or ‘straight transcription.’

Speaking of voice recognition, here are a few ‘bloopers’ of voice recognition that we as medical transcriptionists/medical language specialists have to correct:

  • Voice recognition picks up:  ” Family accompanies her to the adult.”  This should be: “Family accompanies her to the toilet.”
  • Voice recognition: “Mother took patient to another antibiotic physician.” Should be: ” Mother took patient to a naturopathic physician.”
  • Voice recognition: ” Vaginal exam also somewhat superman genitalia. Should be: “Vaginal exam reveals normal external genitalia.”

Though these ‘bloopers’ are our transcription funnies, there really is nothing to laugh about when it comes to these types of errors in a patient’s medical record.  That is why it is extremely important to have a skilled, knowledgeable medical transcriptionist who knows and is thorough in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and pharmacology to do this job, not just a typist!  There is finally controversy and action being taken now regarding voice recognition versus traditional transcription and these types of errors occurring in the patients medical record. As voice recognition was designed to ‘pick up’ the doctors voice as he is dictating, it is actually doing more harm than good – something now even a very keen patient recognizes in his or her medical record, leaving the patient to take legal action for these gross negligent errors, all in the name of trying to ‘produce’ a certain amount of work rather than being quality conscious. A well-trained medical transcriptionist who remembers traditional transcription realizes that even to this day, it would be simpler to transcribe the entire report than try and ‘fix’ the edited/voice recognition version.  That is a completely different subject that I will not acknowledge right now……

Again, Happy Medical Transcription Week everyone. Thank you for your hard work, your unique listening ear, your fast fingers on the keyboard, the long hours you put in, and your dedication to helping keep safeguard of each and every patients medical record!

Mother’s Day 2016

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From here at “You Empower Your Health”, I’d like to wish ALL mother’s and expectant mothers-day-754730_1280mothers a very special Happy Mother’s Day to you. We as mother’s will always be mother’s not just this day but forever!

In being a medical transcriptionist, I really get to transcribe really raw, heartbreaking things that REAL mother’s go through. These are the kind of mother’s who deserve awards, accolades and at least have the red carpet rolled out for you – if not but for a day!  I’m speaking of mom’s of chronically ill children (and children who are now adults) with such disorders as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism, Down syndrome, children suffering from traumatic brain injuries, just to name a few, and mother’s who have terminally ill children stricken with either cancer or some other disease.  You guys are the toughest, most wonderful mother’s on earth!  I get to’see’ (in my transcribing) how you are with your children day in and day out in that hospital – and I’m talkin’ months and months of long-term hospital stays with your child, long monthly, sometimes weekly trips as far as traveling to different states to get the continued, ongoing and lifelong care for your child.  You are the epitome’ of the definition of mother – loving, caring, patient, showing  true affection. There’s nothing more beautiful of God’s creation than the natural, nurturing spirit of love that a mother has for her child.

Sure there are days you want to give up, but you don’t! There are days and days and DAYS that you cry until you can’t cry anymore, but you never give up!  So many other people walk out of your life because you have a ‘special needs’ or ‘different’ child (or children), but you keep going!  God chose YOU, more than any other woman because He knew only YOU could withstand, have courage and the strength to handle your unique situation.

So, to YOU I salute you, honor you and wish you the best Mother’s Day ever.

Establishing Preventive Medicine CAN Help You

meditation-1023497_1920So this, what I call ‘new wave’ of health called preventive medicine is sweeping this country as opposed to many and often long ER visits.

Some weeks ago, I had an encounter through my health insurance to establish a new primary care/preventive medicine, which now is no cost and no co-pay to the patient when you do have insurance. Actually I can say that that was a wonderful ‘experience’! With my many, many health issues, they (my ‘health coach’ and my nurse practitioner) spent an enormous amount of time with ME – not my medical record (EMR) but with ME.  Of course the health coach had to input all of my information into my newly established record, but I could SEE everything she was inputting!  Each and every health and/or behavioral issue I mentioned to her, she immediately stopped me to see what she and I can do to prevent further occurrences or problems.  This was the first time ever I didn’t feel rushed to get out of a doctor’s office so they can get to their next patient. I felt they were genuine in getting to the root of ALL my issues.

It feels really great to get a weekly phone call from my health coach just checking in on me, balloons-1175297_1280seeing if I’m reaching my goals for the action plan we put together, seeing if I’m doing MY part in staying healthy.  The problem I’m seeing though in the future is that these insurance companies, and I mean major ones, are pulling out of this state (as well as other states via the Affordable Healthcare Act) to put a halt to this preventive medicine.  Why? Because THEY are not profiting from preventive medicine!  (Sigh). It is already expensive enough to pay a monthly premium, to see other specialists and to pay for medications, etc.  If you don’t think your health, wellness and insurance won’t affect you starting 2017 and onward, think again! If you are not on top of your own health and wellness you better start because I believe this country is going to be in for a rude awakening very soon!  When is this country ever going to stop being greedy and really start caring about people again when it comes to health and wellness?

In the meantime, at least for this year, I will continue with conquering goals and actively participating in ways to prevent further health issues. A big, big shout-out to my Harken Health/United Healthcare through the Affordable Care Act for showing that you do care and believe in preventive medicine!

Religion or Prescription Drugs – What Killed Prince?

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PRINCESYMBOLThough I am writing this post weeks before any toxicology report has come back on the death of singer, songwriter, and performer known as Prince, I along with many others, especially those of us medically inquiring minds want to know what really was the cause of Prince’s demise?

I wrote a blog post a while back, “Hypocrisy Could Kill You!”  which dealt with people who practice the Jehovah’s Witness religion, whereas part of their beliefs are not to receive any blood-borne products, i.e. blood transfusions. I also mentioned how I do not comprehend how can a devout, practicing Jehovah’s Witness NOT accept blood transfusions, but yet they can drink a plethora of hard liquor, yet feel that accepting another’s blood to keep them alive is more dangerous than hard liquor.  (Previous blog link:   (https://youempoweryourhealth.com/2014/03/09/hypocrisy-could-kill-you/)

Prince became a practicing and devout Jehovah’s Witness in 2001.  His outward appearance, especially for a 57-year-old, personified one who was ‘very healthy’; not eating meat and very careful as to the foods he did or did not eat. Internally though, it is a known fact that over time he needed a double hip replacement from all the years of performing, dancing, doing splits, jumping off stages, long performances. As we get older, we as humans naturally become slower, bones age and muscles get stiffer.  Yes, it’s great to stay in shape, exercise, I’m not knocking that at all.  I’m saying that we cannot fool ourselves, or our physical bodies into thinking we will get younger!

As Prince’s autopsy came back (external) as no foul play, no bruises, etc. on his outward body, I can only imagine what his inward organs, blood draws, etc. looks like after the medical records and toxicology reports come back. A ‘healthy’ 57-year-old just does not drop dead for no reason. The ‘flu’ (which I never believed he had the flu) will not kill a healthy, fit person. IF it is true and revealed that he took prescription drugs such as opiates to deal with what I’m sure was excruciating pain of his hips for over 10 years, I CAN believe this is what caused his early and untimely death – especially if you’re taking them in an amount that is unfathomable to me to cause organ failure!

Could Prince have been saved had he not been a Jehovah’s Witness and sought out surgery and complied with undergoing the surgical procedures needed to have hip replacement? Is your religious beliefs, your particular religion causing you to be ill or suffer a long-term health issue?  Just sayin’!

Prescription drugs as well as narcotic medications are changing and killing people at an alarming rate – more so than I’d say marijuana!  Has plain ‘ole marijuana killed a person? I don’t know of it actually causing a person to die!.  Not advocating neither street drugs or prescription drugs, nor am I advocating or speaking ill of a person’s religion, but I am wanting you to give some thought on how or what is governing your life, spiritually, emotionally and perceptively!

Though obviously I did not know Prince, my perspective of him have the earmarks of an individual who was very interesting, caring, giving and most definitely a very gifted person. I’m grateful for the gift and talents that he shared with the world. For sure, he was a person way ahead of his time, a person who cared for others, and in his latter years gained a deep respect for women (and all people for that matter) yet seemed lonely, in pain and deeply hurting. All of us suffer events or what we consider traumatic events in our lives and for some reason, even I have noticed with myself as well as others I know, as we get older, these events continuously play out in our heads, never forgetting what happened. What little we did know personally about Prince, this seems to have been the case as he DID suffer a surmountable amount of what he considered traumatic events, yet never ‘getting over’ what happened.  That’s why it is extremely important to have a personal, intimate relationship with God, not a religion or make a god out of our religious organization, per se. We can go to ANY church and get caught up with the religious formatting of that church and never have a one-on-one relationship with God himself! I’m no one to judge, change or speak or think negative of another human being – we just need to sincerely pray more for, show more genuine love, compassion and concern towards one another. No matter how mean they become or seem aloof, get your feelings out of it and just love on them, as best we can and as best as the other person will allow – no matter what their status is in life!

 

Caregiving – No Place For The Weak

My apologies for not blogging recently – it’s been a hell of a 2016 thus far!

Never did I think 2016 would get off to the start that it has for me, but it has. Many of you know and many of you don’t know, but I’ve been in Jackson, Mississippi (from Atlanta, Ga) since January 2nd, caring for my mom who became ill. The illness part of it was not as bad as I was imagining (thankfully) – mom suffering a TIA (or transient ischemic attack) or in laymen’s terms a mini-stroke. Never did I dream, imagine or think that coming here would take on a whole new role for me as well as for my mom.

We all know that as we age, the roles of life reverse themselves for many; hands-578918_1920mom and dad raise you, teach you until adulthood, but as the parents age, we as their children have to reverse the roles and that in itself can be very awkward as well as challenging. As the product of 1950s parents, it’s very difficult to try and tell your parents what to do; one because they always feel they are correct, no matter what the issue, and me as the child, not wanting to be disrespectful to the elderly, having been taught to be respectful to your parents – even though I’m a senior citizen! (lol). It’s by trial and error that I’m learning how to deal with the elderly but I’m also learning to recognize that there are real, deep-rooted wounds in which that particular generation of parents’ themselves faced in their upbringing. These unforgiving and unforgotten problems seem to be ingrained and they cannot let go, which in itself brings on a whole new slew of issues.

When I use the term caregiving, I don’t mean just coming sitting with my mom and we share stories or reminisce on times’ past. What I mean is this:  Getting up when the sun rises, preparing breakfast, bathing, giving medications, checking vital signs, emptying urinal, cleaning house, cooking for lunch (as diabetics have to eat every few hours), checking vitals again, washing clothes, preparing a light evening meal, giving medications, checking vitals, doctors appointments 2-3 times per month, preparing physical therapy and occupational therapy coming twice per week to assist in getting mom back to her normal state of activity as best as possible, maintaining her business affairs (thankfully she’s still sharp and she can continue to maintain her bills, finances, etc. on her own for now) and oh yea, ME trying to maintain an income by working 7-8 hours at night!  Whew!  Just reading that makes me exhausted! This by the way is 7 days a week. That’s why I said caregiving is NOT for the weak.

Thankfully now days there is an abundance of assistance to assist the caregiver as caregiving can be overwhelming. There are support groups for caregivers who understand and have gone through similarities. There are hundreds of agencies that have very professional, caring staff such as nurses, nurses aides, physical therapy and occupational and even volunteers who will come and assist with the most minute task such as cleaning, cooking or even just sitting with a person so that the caregiver can get a break. Most of these services are covered either through Medicare, Medicaid and of course private pay.

My advice to those out there considering caregiving for your loved ones or know of someone who is thinking of becoming a caregiver to someone, really do your research carefully, think long and hard before you decide to take on this task yourself.  Your own health must be in order and in good standing to be able to help someone else because this is something that requires 10-12 hours per day, a situation which could become long-term – for a few months to many years – and it requires YOU to be in tip-top shape – physically, mentally and emotionally. Don’t hesitate to reach out to others who have had experience with being a caregiver and get their thoughts and ideas and most of all, always take care of you before taking care of someone else.

Welcome 2016!

Eyes

sylvester-723054_1280Happy 2016 everyone! Let’s get this new year off to a health-conscious start by taking control of YOUR lifestyle, YOUR eating habits, YOUR stress level.

How about I spent my New Year’s Eve (through 5 a.m.) being seen in the emergency room?! Nope – not a great start, but that just made me want to be ever the more attentive to, conscious of and ambitious about my own health.  Many of you who do know me and follow me on my personal Facebook page, I stated for the new year that I will doing me and me alone for 2016 – I truly mean that!  Not being selfish or self-centered, but these unnecessary types of ER visits I spent in 2015 were due to my own negligence – always concerned about others and their needs and not taking care of myself.

It all started last Tuesday when I woke up with a headache. I thought I was grinding my teeth and/or gums again, but neither of my teeth nor my gums were sore. As the day progressed, my right eye continued to be watery (as it had been for a couple of months now), but it also became very sore.  I was able to get in to the ophthalmologist’s office on Wednesday morning and he diagnosed me with blepharitis. Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelid. There’s lots of crusting of the eyelids/lashes, so my physician just prescribed an eye ointment as well as vigorously washing the eye with warm water and baby shampoo. Well, the headaches continued as well as becoming increasingly more painful, so much so that I compared it to a pain being worse than labor pains and/or having a toothache.  I have a very high tolerance for pain, but there are certain physical pains that are just unbearable and that was one!! Trying to diminish the pain in my mind and trying to enjoy the last of 2015, my intentions were to attend night service at my church – obviously that didn’t happen. I came to the realization that I might as well make use of my insurance for 2015 on this last day and just go on to the emergency room to see what is really going on. I was concerned because with my history of having glaucoma, I was worried I was having what’s called a ‘glaucoma attack’ which can happen sometimes when a person has the closed-angle closure glaucoma (which is what I have). A glaucoma attack is when the pressure in your eyes suddenly rise (similar to having high blood pressure) and  the normal drainage of your iris becomes completely blocked. The symptoms of this attack are sudden blurred vision, headache, along with possible nausea and vomiting. This is considered a medical emergency.

The ER visit was sort of kinda helpful – same diagnosis as what my eye doctor gave me of blepharitis, but the ER did a very thorough job of making sure there was no infection behind the eyeballs, lens, etc. by doing a CT scan and taking laboratory tests as well.  The only thing done differently in the emergency room than my eye doctor was that I was given a prescription of antibiotics. Why my ophthalmologist did not prescribe any antibiotics is beyond my understanding, but that is a whole different conversation that I may blog about later…..  🙂

When I talk to you guys, I am always including myself in maintaining better health. As it is good for me to be passionate about helping other people to learn to empower their own health, this year and going forward, I will take charge of my own health better than I have so that I can be an example to others in maintaining healthy living!

2016 is my year!  I will educate you as best I can with the knowledge I’ve obtained over the 20+ years in transcribing, knowledge in medical terminology, medical records, etc. which I love so dearly, as well as my own personal experiences and help to decipher medical terms, advocating health empowerment and sharing all that I know to help you and your community live healthy and happy!

 

Happy Holidays 2015

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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from here at http://www.youempoweryourhealth.com.  Being thankful for ALL that 2015 brought me and looking forward to more exciting features on my blog in 2016!  I pray that each and every one of you have a safe, happy, and prosperous holiday season!merry-christmas-1097751_1920

Holidays – Depression and loneliness becomes very real

woman-902213_1920Depression:  The definition that Merriam-Webster gives is this:  (1) A state of feeling sad. (2) A serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant. (3) A period of time in which there is little economic activity and many people do not have jobs.

As you can tell by the definition, the holidays can bring about many emotions, thoughts and lots of memories to all of us – good and bad. Thanksgiving and Christmas symbolizes being thankful and grateful and lots of giving, but to many it can generate depression, anxiety and loneliness coupled with lots of suicidal tendencies. The world has commercialized these two holidays in particular so much for so many years to the point that now, many no longer look forward to the holidays. I hear so many people now say, “I’ll be glad when Thanksgiving and Christmas come and go”!

It has become so overrated, filled with many putting on a facade, becoming arrogant and selfish – pretending to be ‘givers’ by buying gifts for their loved ones, but at the same time despising the very person they’re giving the gifts to!

Getting back to the basics is simple – take away the selfishness and do something different cornucopia-587613_640this holiday season by spending time with those who are alone, those who are burdened in the minds with sad or traumatic memories. I know many right now who are very ill, those who are deceased either days before the holidays or even burying a loved one days after the holidays and those are very dark, very hard times. Instead of feeding ourselves until we’re sick or spending money on gifts we will later not appreciate, take that energy and time to be a gift to someone else by lifting their spirits through our selfless acts of kindness!

And to those who are alone and depressed, I speak to you also.  You too can do something different for the rest of your life starting now during this holiday season! Begin to speak positive words into your own life daily.  Keep the good memories, but leave your past, your pain behind you – even if it’s just for a day – and look towards today and the future. Watch how things can change for the better for yourself by giving yourself permission to feel differently!  You too can pick yourself up and go spend time with someone else, give of yourself – there is always  someone else worse off than you.  As I saw an excerpt from a promo ad of Joel Osteen’s new book, “The Power Of  I Am”, he says when you have those thoughts of I’m not well, or I’m not beautiful, turn those words around to a positive and begin to say I AM well. I AM beautiful and I do have lots to offer others! I am in charge of my life!  It doesn’t cost you a thing to show yourself as giving, as helpful to others and soon you will find yourself coming out of your depression.

On this Thanksgiving Day 2015, I am grateful to be alive, to be well, to have my strength and to wake up and see another gorgeous day that God has created!  I’m grateful for my 94-year-old mother who is still here, still in her right mind. I’m grateful for many, many things this year……From me at Empower Your Health, I want to wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy holiday season!

 

Epidermolysis Bullosa Week – October 25 – October 31

EBWEEK The week of October 25 through October 31 each year is designated as epidermolysis bullosa week. This is a skin disorder that I will explain below as that disease is so near and dear to my heart because this is the skin disorder I was born with.

What is epidermolysis bullosa

Epidermolysis bullosa (ep-ih-dur-MOL-uh-sis buhl-LOE-sah)  or (EB) is a group of rare, connective tissue diseases, characterized by blistering of skin, butterfly-892350_1920manifesting extremely fragile skin. “Butterfly children” is the term often used to describe children, especially younger children with EB because the skin is as fragile as a butterfly’s wings.  EB is the result of the anchoring between the epidermis and the dermis, resulting in the tearing of the skin.  To learn more about EB, I will refer you to the DebRA of America (Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America) organization  (or http://www.debra.org) for a more in-depth description regarding EB.

Causes of EB

Epidermolysis bullosa can be inherited, or caused by a genetic mutation.  With researchers identifying more than a dozen genes involved with skin formation, that if defective, may cause a type of epidermolysis bullosa.  There are varying subtypes of EB. The four types of genetically inherited EB:  Simplex, dystrophic, junctional and Kindler. Again I would refer you to DebRA of America (www.debra.org) for more in-depth look into EB.

Me and EB

I was diagnosed with EB at birth 57 years ago – can you believe there was even a diagnosis of that disease those many years ago? I have had my many challenges with it – even as an adult – I still suffer many symptoms, but I have learned many interesting things about EB along the way.  With the help of the DebRA of America organization since its inception in 1980, along with their many volunteers and workers and, of course the many concerned physicians who are still spending countless hours researching for a cure for EB, I have met a lot of great people along the way. DebRA continues to have an excellent support system in reaching out to those unfamiliar with EB, while also continuing to educate us who are living with EB. My blogging adventures began as I decided to tell my personal story of living with EB in 2013.   http://marshalivestotell.blogspot.com/

Check out the debra.org website and your local cities this week to see how you can become educated, donate, and get involved  in honor of Epidermolysis Bullosa Week!

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So the month of October serves as many different health awareness observances such as Breast Cancer Awareness, Spina Bifida Awareness Month (promoted by the Spina Bifida Association), Domestic Violence as well as other health observances. The week of October 25th through October 31st is observed as Epidermolysis Bullosa Week. The latter I will discuss next week as that is a disorder that I’m personally familiar with!

As many are more familiar with the more popular topics such as breast cancer and domestic violence, I tend to favor discussing medical topics that are not that popular or of familiarity, so this week I’d like to focus on spina bifida.

what_is_spina_bifida_image_2Spina bifida is a birth defect of the neural tubes (the structure that is present early in the embryonic life), resulting in incomplete formation of the brain, spinal cord and/or meninges. In other words, while a baby is in the mother’s womb, it means the infant suffers an ‘incomplete’ closure of the spine column. Though the exact cause of spina bifida is unknown, scientists suspect that a deficiency in folic acid in the mother’s diet has been linked to its development. There is no cure for spina bifida and treatment depends on the type and severity of the disorder. Some may not need treatment at all.

Children who suffer with spina bifida can grow to adulthood and live healthy, active lives. Again, depending upon the severity, some may use assistive devices such as wheelchairs, crutches or braces.

To help prevent spina bifida, it is so very important that all women of childbearing age take 400 micrograms of folic acid supplements daily, along with eating foods high in folic acid such as dark green vegetables, fruits, and egg yolks and to especially seek complete prenatal care at the onset of expectancy!

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