Congratulations. You're now in charge of keeping track of 12 medications, their interactions, refill dates, dosage changes, and whether Grandpa's blood pressure pill conflicts with his new arthritis medication. No medical degree required. Just dedication, obsessive note-taking, and the willingness to sacrifice your own wellbeing.
Step 1: Accept That You Are Now a Pharmacist
You're not a pharmacist, but you're going to spend the next six months learning more about medications than you ever wanted to know. Your parents' doctors will expect you to remember complex details. Your parents will immediately forget those same details. You are now the human medication Wikipedia.
Start by creating a spreadsheet. Make it detailed. Print it. Laminate it. Your mom won't use it. She'll prefer to keep all her prescriptions in a bag, loose, mixed with old receipts and candy wrappers.
Step 2: Master the Art of Negotiation
Your dad's cardiologist says he needs to take his blood pressure medication every morning. Your dad read something on the internet suggesting medication builds up in your system. He's decided to "take it easy" on the medication some days.
You are now in charge of convincing a grown man that the cardiologist went to medical school for a reason. Enjoy the daily negotiations. Nod politely. Die inside.
Step 3: Become a Pill Organizer Enthusiast
Purchase a premium pill organizer. Cost: $40. Amount of time your parent will spend using it as designed: zero minutes. Instead, your mom will keep her pills in their original bottles. Then lose the original bottles. Then ask you to figure out which pill is which based on a vague description: "It's round and white. Or maybe blue. Definitely not red."
Step 4: Navigate the Pharmacy Nightmare
Call the pharmacy to refill your dad's medications. The pharmacist says one medication needs prior authorization from his doctor. The doctor's office is closed. It's Friday afternoon. You now own this problem until Monday.
Monday arrives. Call the doctor's office. Wait on hold. Explain the situation to three different people. Finally, someone agrees to call in the prior authorization. Call the pharmacy to confirm. The pharmacist says they never received it. The loop begins again.
Step 5: Handle the Side Effects Discovery
Your mom's been taking a new medication for two weeks. She mentions, casually, that she's been having dizzy spells. Was this a known side effect? Did the doctor mention this? Should she stop taking it?
Google the medication. Spend 45 minutes on WebMD. Convince yourself it's either a normal side effect or a sign of imminent heart failure. Call the doctor. Wait for a callback that may or may not come today.
Step 6: Manage the Medication Review
Once a year, the doctor asks to review all medications. Bring your spreadsheet and your color-coded pill organizer. Watch the doctor go through it all quickly, confirming everything is appropriate. Feel momentarily proud of your organization.
Step 7: Be the Barrier Between Your Parent and Bad Ideas
Your dad heard from his friend Bernie that he should take extra vitamin D. And maybe some fish oil. And definitely some supplement Bernie gets from his cousin that's "all natural and totally safe." You are now in charge of gently explaining why adding random supplements is a terrible idea. This conversation will not go well.
What If Someone Else Did This?
What if medication management wasn't your second full-time job? At Reflections Management and Care, our care managers handle medication coordination as part of comprehensive care management. We maintain detailed lists, coordinate with pharmacies, and ensure your parent is actually taking what they're supposed to take.
Hand Off the Juggling