How Keeping A Medical Journal Can Improve Your
Health Care
Author: Rusty Ford
I am a two-time survivor of cancer. Chemotherapy did
significant damage to my heart and lungs.* Because of this I
have spent a lot of time in the health care system. I have an
ology problem. I have more ologists in my life than I know what
to do with. I have a Cardiologist, Neurologist, Urologist,
Anesthesiologist, Hematologist, Oncologist, Pulmonologist,
Rheumatologist and a Nephrologist. My brain is not able to keep
up with just one of these. If you have any chronic illness then
you understand the dilemma that I have. How does a person keep
up with all of this? The simple answer is by keeping a medical
journal. It does not matter if you have one doctor in your life
or like me a dozen, keeping a medical journal will not only help
you manage your health care but it will improve the quality of
the care you get as well.
There are four sections that I keep in my medical journal.
There is a section for notes I take at the doctor's office, a
section for questions I have for the doctors, a section for
research and a section for the drugs I take. Each one of the
sections has a purpose and each can help insure improve the
quality of care you receive.
The first section is I have in my journal is for notes I take
at the doctors office. This is important for two reasons. It is
hard to remember the things you talk to your doctor about when
you get home, much less to remember it a month later when you
are seeing a different doctor. Create a separate page or section
for each doctor you see. When you have a chronic illness you
have different doctors from different specialties that you see.
This helps you keep up with what you have talked about with
each. Always take notes while you are at your appointment with
the doctor. It is important to get the information down when it
is fresh in your mind. It is ok to be brief with your notes
while you are in the room with the doctor because you can sit
down before you leave the medical office and finish them.
Remember to date your entries for the doctor visit section of
your journal. If for any reason you need to go to court then
these notes are admissible.
The second section is your research section. As you look over
your notes from your doctor visit if there is anything you do
not understand you can research it. This research can be on the
Internet, asking friends and family or talking with others in a
support group for your condition. Personally I use all three.
While in the doctor's office, if we talk about something I do
not understand, I put it in my notes. Sometimes I even ask the
doctor to spell the term. You are the one who has power in
making your medical decisions. These decisions are best made
with as much understanding as possible. When you get home from
an appointment go over your notes and see if there is anything
you need to have more information about. Then write this in
question form in your research section. Say your doctor says
that your hematocrit in your CBC is off. First of all you ask
your doctor what that means. If after his explanation you feel
you would like to have more information you can look it up. For
example he tells you that your hematocrit showed that your white
blood cell count was elevated you can lookup to see what that
means.
The third is a very important section. In fact if you only have
one section this is the one to have. It is the questions you
want to ask your doctor. All of us have been to the doctor some
time and after we left we remember that we forgot to ask the
doctor something. This helps prevent that from happening. This
should include questions from your self and from your medical
support team. First if there are any questions you have after
looking over your notes from a doctor visit write it down. If
while doing any research a question comes up you write it down.
If a question comes up while talking with friends and family,
someone in your medical support team or condition related
support group you write it down. Before you go to a doctor visit
you go over these questions and write down all that are relevant
to discuss with this doctor. This way when you go to the
appointment all the questions I want to ask are right there in
front of you.
The last section is for drugs. This section lists all the drugs
you are on. Every time you see a new doctor they want to know
what drugs you are taking. It also should list all the drugs you
have been on before. It is important when you stop taking a drug
to write down why you stopped taking them. If the doctor takes
you off of a drug because it is not working you should write
that down. It is really important to write down any drugs your
doctor takes you off of because of side effects. You should have
a page in this section that lists drugs you can not take and the
reason you cannot take them. I have been taken off so many drugs
because of side effects that I cannot remember them all. When a
new doctor recommends a drug to me I look to make sure it is not
one I have stopped taking for a specific reason.
After a while this notebook may get large. You do not have to
carry it to every appointment. Usually I take a spiral notebook
that includes the questions I want to ask and room for me to
take notes on. When I see a new doctor or I am seeing several
doctors about the same condition I take the whole notebook with
me.
If you keep up with your medical journal I am sure you will
find that the quality of your health care will improve.
* For those of you considering Chemo this is a rare occurrence
of two of the specific chemo drugs I was taking.
* For more information about a medical support team look up my
article "How to make the most of your health care with a medical
support team."
About The Author: Rusty Ford, Managing editor of
http://arthritis-symptom.com/
significant damage to my heart and lungs.* Because of this I
have spent a lot of time in the health care system. I have an
ology problem. I have more ologists in my life than I know what
to do with. I have a Cardiologist, Neurologist, Urologist,
Anesthesiologist, Hematologist, Oncologist, Pulmonologist,
Rheumatologist and a Nephrologist. My brain is not able to keep
up with just one of these. If you have any chronic illness then
you understand the dilemma that I have. How does a person keep
up with all of this? The simple answer is by keeping a medical
journal. It does not matter if you have one doctor in your life
or like me a dozen, keeping a medical journal will not only help
you manage your health care but it will improve the quality of
the care you get as well.
There are four sections that I keep in my medical journal.
There is a section for notes I take at the doctor's office, a
section for questions I have for the doctors, a section for
research and a section for the drugs I take. Each one of the
sections has a purpose and each can help insure improve the
quality of care you receive.
The first section is I have in my journal is for notes I take
at the doctors office. This is important for two reasons. It is
hard to remember the things you talk to your doctor about when
you get home, much less to remember it a month later when you
are seeing a different doctor. Create a separate page or section
for each doctor you see. When you have a chronic illness you
have different doctors from different specialties that you see.
This helps you keep up with what you have talked about with
each. Always take notes while you are at your appointment with
the doctor. It is important to get the information down when it
is fresh in your mind. It is ok to be brief with your notes
while you are in the room with the doctor because you can sit
down before you leave the medical office and finish them.
Remember to date your entries for the doctor visit section of
your journal. If for any reason you need to go to court then
these notes are admissible.
The second section is your research section. As you look over
your notes from your doctor visit if there is anything you do
not understand you can research it. This research can be on the
Internet, asking friends and family or talking with others in a
support group for your condition. Personally I use all three.
While in the doctor's office, if we talk about something I do
not understand, I put it in my notes. Sometimes I even ask the
doctor to spell the term. You are the one who has power in
making your medical decisions. These decisions are best made
with as much understanding as possible. When you get home from
an appointment go over your notes and see if there is anything
you need to have more information about. Then write this in
question form in your research section. Say your doctor says
that your hematocrit in your CBC is off. First of all you ask
your doctor what that means. If after his explanation you feel
you would like to have more information you can look it up. For
example he tells you that your hematocrit showed that your white
blood cell count was elevated you can lookup to see what that
means.
The third is a very important section. In fact if you only have
one section this is the one to have. It is the questions you
want to ask your doctor. All of us have been to the doctor some
time and after we left we remember that we forgot to ask the
doctor something. This helps prevent that from happening. This
should include questions from your self and from your medical
support team. First if there are any questions you have after
looking over your notes from a doctor visit write it down. If
while doing any research a question comes up you write it down.
If a question comes up while talking with friends and family,
someone in your medical support team or condition related
support group you write it down. Before you go to a doctor visit
you go over these questions and write down all that are relevant
to discuss with this doctor. This way when you go to the
appointment all the questions I want to ask are right there in
front of you.
The last section is for drugs. This section lists all the drugs
you are on. Every time you see a new doctor they want to know
what drugs you are taking. It also should list all the drugs you
have been on before. It is important when you stop taking a drug
to write down why you stopped taking them. If the doctor takes
you off of a drug because it is not working you should write
that down. It is really important to write down any drugs your
doctor takes you off of because of side effects. You should have
a page in this section that lists drugs you can not take and the
reason you cannot take them. I have been taken off so many drugs
because of side effects that I cannot remember them all. When a
new doctor recommends a drug to me I look to make sure it is not
one I have stopped taking for a specific reason.
After a while this notebook may get large. You do not have to
carry it to every appointment. Usually I take a spiral notebook
that includes the questions I want to ask and room for me to
take notes on. When I see a new doctor or I am seeing several
doctors about the same condition I take the whole notebook with
me.
If you keep up with your medical journal I am sure you will
find that the quality of your health care will improve.
* For those of you considering Chemo this is a rare occurrence
of two of the specific chemo drugs I was taking.
* For more information about a medical support team look up my
article "How to make the most of your health care with a medical
support team."
About The Author: Rusty Ford, Managing editor of
http://arthritis-symptom.com/
