Allow us to introduce Syliva Rabinowitz:
Sylvia was born in London. Her father was partially blind because of an injury he sustained at war when shrapnel flew into his eye. Her brother was also visually impaired, and the experience of watching her father and brother cope with their disabilities affected Sylvia profoundly.
Sylvia moved to New York City in 1983, exactly 40 years ago. She has lived in her same Brooklyn apartment ever since. She went on to raise two girls and two boys with her husband. After her children were grown, Sylvia went to work in a stationary shop, a job that she loved.
In the past couple of decades, Sylvia has faced some health obstacles. She had three spinal surgeries, leaving her with hardware in her neck and back. She also developed diabetes, and more recently a detached retina that has impacted her eyesight. The similarities between what her father and brother went through with their eyesight and what she is now experiencing are not lost on Sylvia. About a year and a half ago, Sylvia’s husband passed away. Now that he’s not around anymore, maintaining her home and health by herself has become more difficult for her.
Sylvia has been receiving home health care for some time now, and relies on the help of her Home Health Aide (HHA) to assist her with daily tasks like grocery shopping, home maintenance, and picking up mail.
Managing her diabetes was becoming a challenge for Sylvia. Making it to frequent appointments with her endocrinologist was becoming more and more difficult for her. She needed a different type of support than her primary care doctor or HHA could provide.
That’s where Pod Health came into the picture.
One day, Sylvia got a call from her HHA agency, True Care, informing her of a new partnership they were launching with Pod Health. The program, called Remote Patient Monitoring, promised to help Sylvia manage her chronic conditions without having to leave home or see a provider every day.
Sylvia was curious, so she decided to give it a try.
When she joined Pod Health’s Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program, Sylvia received a free blood glucometer and blood pressure cuff to help monitor her diabetes and blood pressure. She learned how to use these to track her blood glucose levels and blood pressure, and how her health data is automatically uploaded to the remote dashboard for monitoring.
Now, Sylvia takes her blood glucose and blood pressure every day. She loves the peace of mind she feels from knowing that her provider is checking on her vital signs regularly. While she may have been a bit apprehensive about remote-first healthcare before she tried it, Sylvia reports no major challenges in adapting to RPM and telehealth-based medicine.
Following a period of hospitalization and around six months in a nursing home, Sylvia is happy to be back in her long-time home in Brooklyn. With the help of her friends and family, her HHA, and her providers at Pod Health, Sylvia looks forward to spending the rest of her life in charge of her health and happiness.
DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information in this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen.
