Farmer Shannon L. - Blood Works: an Owners Guide

An Owners Guide

What Every Person
Needs to Know BEFORE
They are a Patient

Published by City Point Press 2022

Copyright Human Touch Media

www.humantouchmediafoundation.org

All rights reserved. No part of his book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-947951-56-3

eBook ISBN 978-1-947951-57-0

Designed by Alexia Garaventa

This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to learn more about health issues. It is not intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with advice given to you by a physician. The ultimate decision concerning health care of an individual should be between the patient and the doctor. Information in this book is offered with no guarantees. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. All URLs in the book were accurate at the time of publication but that the publisher has no responsibility for changes or removals of URLs in the future. However, the eBook will be updated periodically.

There is no doubt that our own blood is still the best thing to have in our veins.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION POLICY BRIEF
The Urgent Need to Implement Patient Blood Management 2021

1. , reference 1.

DATE: April 2017

LOCATION: Shannon & Kristen Farmers home, Perth, Western Australia

O BJECTIVE: Discover More About Patient Blood Management (PBM)

OUR BACK STORY

As we relaxed under the stars with the barbeque sizzling and a glass of Margaret Rivers finest, our discussion suddenly turned. We went from compelling clinical data to an unforgettable family story so powerful and relevant to the journey of this book, that it must be shared.

The story starts in 1972, where an 18-year-old Shannon Farmer found himself facing the greatest trauma of his young life. His father, David, had been struck down while overseas with an unidentified syndrome paralysis. He was unable to move from the neck down and could only communicate by blinking his eyes.

Shannon was in a total state of shock. He walked in to see his dad, this former professional ice-hockey player, tall, strong, and healthy now lying in the intensive care unit hooked up to life support machines.
Kristen

Doctors did not expect David to live. Shannon and his mother Kaye were by his side day and night. At such a young age, Shannon came face-to-face with a scenario where a patient needed a voice. Shannon became that voice. He exhausted all efforts, including learning to lip read, so that his father could be involved in the medical decision-making while fighting for his life. Shannon was so grateful for the empathy and awareness shown to his family by the anesthesiology team who ran the ICU. He has never forgotten their individualized patient care and the way they involved the family in a shared decision-making process in order to achieve the best outcome for his father. This left a profound impression on him.

Tragically, it became clear David was not going to recover and so plans were made to transport him back from Canada to his home in Australia. The specialist transporting him on the long journey needed an assistant, and Shannon stepped up and went through the training required in respiratory and ventilatory care of critically ill patients.

Dad was still completely paralyzed, on a ventilator, needing oxygen, medications, regular suctioning of his lungs, physiotherapy, feeding, etc. He required 24-hour care on the multiple long flights to Perth. This was an incredibly emotional journey for us, we nearly lost him twice on the way.
Shannon

After a short stay in the ICU, Shannons father was moved to a specialist spinal injury unit and after 15 months paralyzed and on a ventilator, he developed a serious lung infection and died. There were no words to express the grief of a 19-year-old Shannon and his dear widowed mother. However, through all this, his training in intensive care and supporting and advocating for his father helped him to understand the importance of patient-centered care and shared decision-making. Throughout their life, Shannon and his wife Kristen have always made themselves available to help and support others who are sick or suffering trauma, and understand the importance of showing compassion and kindness.

That very memorable evening and the entire trip to Perth was the start of our adventure to create this book, and what an adventure it was. Lockdowns, displacement, tragedy, illness, and of course highly inconvenient bike accidents, but we did it! And we are thrilled with the result.

We have received tremendous response from a select group of reviewers that includes everyone from medical experts to patients, and from teenagers to moms and granddads. The most exciting feedback was that not only is it easy to read, but it had immediate health benefits.

We thank Shannon, Irwin, Aryeh, our entire team of contributors from around the world, and our behind-the-scenes production team for their tireless efforts to bring this incredibly exciting book on blood health to light.

We thank you all
Human Touch Media, 2022

Youve heard about heart health, liver and kidney health, and gut health. Have you heard about blood health?

This book is about the fascinating and complex fluid that keeps you alive and healthy your blood. It looks at how blood is made, what it contains, and what it does. Blood carries life-giving oxygen from the lungs to all the cells, tissues, and organs of your body. It carries metabolic wastes from cells for elimination as it passes through the kidneys, and carbon dioxide for removal through the lungs. As an important part of the immune system, it helps protect your body from disease. And blood contains an elaborate system to repair any breaches in the blood vessels to limit and stop bleeding and blood loss. It really is your lifeblood an indispensable part of the infrastructure of your bodys systems and life processes. In fact, the circulatory system, and the blood it contains, is the largest organ system in the body. Like any other organ or system in the body, its balance and health must be maintained.

If blood fails and because it is so complex it can fail in many ways it results in reduced physical and mental function and increases your risk of health complications and death. Blood failure can be mild or severe. Even mild blood failure requires investigation and treatment. You have a role both in maintaining your blood health and in making treatment choices if it fails.

One of the most common forms of blood failure is