Bryan was in his late 30s and hadn't seen a physician in more than 20 years.
No routine physicals. No blood work. Not even a recent blood pressure check.
His health did matter to him, but access to healthcare had been difficult and periods without health insurance caused concerns about the cost of care.
When Bryan finally connected with First Stop Health physician Dr. Benston Johnson, they were starting almost from scratch. What happened next shows why getting someone through the door is only the beginning.
Dr. Johnson began by getting to know Bryan.
They talked about his health history and discovered a family history of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. There were also some risk factors worth exploring. Bryan was slightly overweight, and without recent lab work, there was little information about what might be happening beneath the surface.
So they made a plan.
Start with lab work. Collect basic biometric information. Then see what the results told them.
“We made a plan.”
Simple words, but after two decades without regular care, having a plan was significant.
Much of Bryan's lab work looked normal. But not everything.
Testing indicated prediabetes. His cholesterol was slightly elevated. A blood pressure reading was also high. Those findings meant they needed to gather more information.
The First Stop Health team helped Bryan obtain a blood pressure cuff so he could check his readings twice a day at home and keep a log.
Meanwhile, he was connected with nutrition and health coaching support to begin working on diet and exercise.
Within about a month, Bryan had started putting those recommendations into practice and was beginning to lose weight.
His home blood pressure readings also started to reveal as normal.
The elevated reading appeared to be white coat hypertension, when blood pressure is elevated in a medical setting but isn't consistently high elsewhere.
That changed Bryan's care plan.
Dr. Johnson didn't believe he needed medication for his blood pressure.
“Sometimes the best thing you could do in primary care is not overtreat the patient.”
Without follow-up, a single elevated reading could have resulted in unnecessary treatment. Instead, ongoing monitoring gave Dr. Johnson a clearer picture of Bryan's health and allowed them to focus on the areas that did need attention.
Bryan kept going. He continued working with nutrition and health coaching, followed an exercise plan and made changes to his diet.
A couple of months later, it was time to repeat his lab work. This time, there was encouraging news.
His prediabetes was no longer present on the repeat testing.
His cholesterol had come down, although Dr. Johnson noted it wasn't yet at goal.
Bryan had also lost additional weight.
The man who had gone more than 20 years without routine medical care was now actively participating in his health.
“He seems to be on a very positive path going forward.”
Bryan went from having little connection to routine healthcare to having a physician who knew his history, follow-up testing, tools to monitor his health at home and nutrition and coaching support to help him act on what they found.
One appointment identified the risks.
Continued care helped determine what actually needed treatment.
A team helped him make changes.
Follow-up showed whether those changes were working.
That's the difference between an encounter and a relationship.
For Bryan, finally accessing primary care created an opportunity to identify risks while there was still time to act on them. Dr. Johnson says Bryan was grateful for the chance to address some of the same health problems he'd seen in his family and work toward a healthier future.
That's what preventive care can make possible. Not knowing exactly what the future holds, but understanding where you are today, what you can do next and having someone there to help you keep going.
Compassionate care makes a difference. See what’s possible.