Finally! Here is the final part of the Medical Workbook series. I have been using my Medical Workbook this week quite abit actually, a bout of Whooping Cough has hit some members of my family and I have used my MW to look up immunisation/booster shot information as well as my medical history (I had Whooping Cough when I was 15). As always, having this information at my fingertips makes managing a stressful situation much easier. In this final part of the Medical Workbook we will look at keeping a record of your Medical History as well as an Admission/Clinic Outcome Journal.

Medical History

A well recorded Medical History is a very usual tool for people who have multiple health issues and any number of other complications. It is never too late to start a Medical History. A good way to start one is to roughly list the year that you first experienced any health problems and the details of that problem and then work your way back from there, giving a rough yearly outline. You will forgot things, you are not expected to remember everything at once, don’t worry! Instead write down what you can and perhaps put it into a word document that you can update easily when the details come to you at a later occasion. Once you have an outline of any issues, complications, problems or newly introduced treatments/medications that you have come across in the past you can then look at keeping your Medical History up to date. To do this I recommend anytime something new comes up, whether it be a new treatment or health problem, that you record it as soon as possible. At the very least look over your Medical History a couple of times a year and make any updates and then print out an updated copy for your HW. You don’t need to go into massive amounts of detail. You just want to create a document that can be looked over quickly and easily if an emergency arises or to update a new member of your Medical Team. Your History may look like the following….

2006

• New Pain Management regime started in Feb.
• C. Difficle diagnosed in May, cleared by June. 1 week in ICU, 7 weeks on Vancomycin.
• Seizure in November. Possible causes low O2 or hypoglycemia.
• New portacath inserted in right arm.
• Whooping Cough booster in August.

You get the idea. You just need a brief timeline that can be scanned quickly. If someone wants further details they can look at your Admission/Clinic Outcome Journal, Medication list etc. Having an up to date Medical History helps you keep on top of things during clinics or admissions and can help you get details quickly. I use mine to jog my memory when I have forgotten when something happened or if I confuse dates etc. Once again, this is not an exercise in “how sick you really are”, don’t let your list get you down. Remember knowledge is power and being organised is can a life saver. And doctors love a pro-active patient!

Admission/Clinic Outcome Journal

Hospital admissions and clinics are part and parcel of your health journey and I don’t know any patient that does not have a diary of some sort to record dates and times of appointments or admissions. An Admission/Clinic Outcome Journal is an extension of that. Whether you simply use your current diary or have a special diary is up to you. I have a Moleskin diary that I use to record everything. And at the end of every year I archive that years journal. Throwing it away would be ridiculous, I have had to refer to old diaries many times to be able to find specific details, dates or times. It is also useful for looking at symptom patterns. So what should you record in your Journal? Anything and everything that could be needed in the future. For admissions I include:

• What the admission was for.
• The dates of the admission (including admission and discharge).
• Any issues or problems during the admission.
• The details of any thing important including the doctor that you dealt with, the date and outcome if resolved during the admission.

If your Medical Team sends you a discharge letter when you get home keep a copy of that with your MW also. It can help you keep track of medication changes, treating doctors and so on. For clinics I often include the following information….

• Medications needed from pharmacy.
• Medication changes (doses, new medications, etc)
• Current symptoms or issues (more nausea than usual, cramps, etc).
• Any forms that needed to be filled out or details that need to be changed.
• Any other news or updates. Your doctors also like to hear any good news that is going on in your world too, if something exciting has happened, let them know. When you have such a close “working” relationship with your team it is nice for them to hear about any of your wins. It really does give them a boost too.

Whether you include this information in your daily diary or separate in your MW just make sure that you keep it updated regularly and keep it somewhere that is easily accessible during an emergency.

Well, that concludes the Medical Workbook series! This is not the be all and end all of health management and you do not HAVE to create a Medical Workbook to be a good patient, the idea is for you to take any part that could help in your health management and create something that will fit into your life. Being proactive about your health care is quite empowering and really shows your team that you take your health seriously. How you do it is up to you, as long as you stay positive and organised your health can only benefit.

Take care, Lily.

lily@thelifewecherish.com

For more information on this website please see my first POST or the ABOUT page. You can find also find out more from the ARTICLES page.

To go over the Medical Workbook series, Part 1 can be read again here and Part 2 here.

Well the feedback from the first part of the Medical Workbook has been very encouraging. I shall waste no time in getting onto the next part…..

Daily Routine Outline

A Daily Routine Outline is very handy for a number of reasons. When you are not feeling well and your mind is elsewhere it can be handy to have a guide of what you need to take or do next. I have used it on days when I can barely get out of bed and my mind is not functioning as it should. It keeps me on track with medications and treatments which is great because it can be a real problem if you have medications that need to be taken at set times and being behind the eight ball can really throw out your medication and treatment regime. This can be risky. A Outline can spare you that dilemma. It is also useful for showing your team or other new medical personnel what you do and when. It also shows that you are organised and proactive in your health care. Having an Outline puts it all together so that you don’t have to struggle through a day, stumbling from one set of meds to the next, not quite on top of any of it. You have something that will help you take your meds and treatments at the right time as well have a useful tool for showing people what your regime is. A good Daily Routine Outline would……

• Be set out in a time table format. Starting with the first treatment or medication that you take in a day and at what time you take it. For example: 8.30am – Ventolin and Atrovent (nebulised). 9am – Morning Medications, check BGL, take Insulin (Protophane 32 units). 10.30am Monring tea – Calshake.
• Include any thing that you need to do in a day whether it be Blood Glucose Levels, Nebulised Medication, Physio treatments, exercise and so on. Any thing that you do in your day to help manage your health. This will give anyone who needs to know a good guide to what you do in a day to keep on top of your health.
• Be a GUIDE only! Remember this is an example of your daily routine. It is for keeping on top of matters when you are not feeling the best and for giving your Medical Team an idea of your daily regime. Do NOT create a regime and feel that you have to stick to it every minute of the day for the rest of your life!! Do not stress yourself out, you need to be flexible when living with any sort of illness, this is not something to add more pressure to your day. It is for being useful on days when you are not at your best or to help show others what your day generally looks like.

I have also found this useful for times when I have to add a new treatment or medication to my routine. I can look at where it will fit in best for maximum benefit. Like I said I have also found it to be a life saver on days when I wake up and cannot remember who I am and what I have to do next!

Health Issues List

Another important list for your Medical Workbook is a list of Health Issues. Once again I have created this for emergencies and so on. Times when you are not well enough to go through the list of problems you have or when you need to give a lot of important Health information to someone quickly with out missing anything critical. You only need to keep this brief, it is not a Medical History, it is just a list of known problems that Medical Personnel need to know in the event of emergency. Your medical List should include:

• Any diagnosis that you have. For example: Cystic Fibrosis diagnosed at 6 weeks of age. Diabetes Type 2 diagnosed at 19 years old. Chronic Pain Syndrome diagnosed 2005.
• Any recent surgery or procedures. For example: Portacath inserted in right arm in 2005. Embolisation on lungs in 2001 and 2009.
• Any Infectious Diseases that you have or had. For example: C. Difficile Colitis diagnosed in 2006.

Having this vital information close to hand gives a Doctor the necessary, essential background information they need to start treating you. I know for some people this list may be long, mine is. I have gotten down by looking at my discharge letter from hospital that lists all my Health Problems. It is not pleasant reading but I have had to teach myself that I am not my Health Problems. They do not have to define who I am. I am a fighter and these Problems will not get the best of me. When I was able to deal with that then I was able to create the List knowing that it was for good Health Management. And it certainly saves a lot of time and effort during a time when both are in short supply!

So that is Part 2 of the Medical Workbook. Having these Lists included in your Workbook will help keep you on top of your Health Management as well as serve you well in the case of emergencies. Part 3 will give you a guide to keeping a Medical History as well as creating an Admission/Clinic Outcome Journal. These will help you to further be prepared for emergencies as well as help you keep on top of your Health by keeping brief records that can help you problem solve new issues and so on.

If you have any questions about your Medical Workbook or Health Management Plan please do not hesitate to email me. Look out for Part 3 in coming days. Part 1 can be read again here. Until next post….

Take care, Lily

lily@thelifewecherish.com

For more information on this website please see my first POST or this collection of ARTICLES.

OK, here we are. This week we will be focusing on a very important part of your Health Management Plan (HMP)….. the Medical Workbook. This week I will show you the items that will make up your Medical Workbook which is a very necessary part of your HMP. This is your “go-to” tool for emergencies, for your Loved Ones to use in an emergency and to help keep track of your medical history as well as your medications. Your Medical Workbook can be a folder (display or arch lever) or a notebook. Anything that you can easily update and carry around. I keep mine in a display folder, keeping document templates on my computer for quick updates.

Today I will be focusing on the first two parts of your Medical Workbook. These are your Contact List and your Medication List.

Your Contact List

A Contact List is an essential part of being a “Professional Patient”! Every Professional has one and as a “Professional Patient” you are no different. A Contact List of everyone and anyone who has a hand in your health care is very important for obvious reasons. In an emergency you need to have those numbers close to hand and in one place. When you, or if you are unable to, when your Loved One has to get in contact with your medical team, your doctor, your physiotherapist or your hospital it is very handy to be able to turn to one page and be able to start dialling. Items that I include in my Contact are:

• My Consultants/Specialists – no many how many you have! I have 4! You need to be able to get in touch with them all if need be. Include all the numbers you have for this person, i.e. practice number, emergency number, mobile number, extension number, secretaries number, etc.
• Your local General Practitioner (GP) – include week day number and emergency or weekend numbers.
• Your Physiotherapist – as above.
• Your Chiropractor – as above.
• Your Medical Team – this may include your Team Coordinator, they are often your first port of call in an emergency as they can get you direct access to your Medical Team QUICKLY.
• Your hospital – the general switch board number and your ward number.
• Your pharmacy – both Hospital and Private.
• Anyone else you see for some aspect of your health including massage therapists, acupuncturists etc.
• Your Family and Loved Ones – Although you might know your family contact numbers it is important to have a comprehensive list of your next of kin so that if there was an emergency and someone who doesn’t know you has to make these calls they will have it all together, in one place and can make those calls very quickly. Quickly being the key word here.

It may seem a lot but if you see a lot of people for your health then you need to include them in your Contact List.  My Contact List is rather long but it sure as hell beats trolling through an address book at a time when I am not really with it. It is also important to give a copy of this Contact List to your Parents or Loved Ones to have handy just in case as well as having one in a central, easily accessible place in your home (even in your car, if you want). And don’t forget to update it as often as needed. I find that keeping a Word document on my computer makes it easy to make changes and print out a new copy to keep in my Medical Workbook and to keep my Loved Ones updated. I put mine in table form and type it in large, easy to read print. I also keep a copy in my diary for easy reference. Don’t you feel more on top of things already?!

Your Medication List

Having an up to date list of your Medications is also another ESSENTIAL part of being a “Professional Patient”. Like anyone with health issues, if I had a dollar for every time I was asked to list my medications then I would be living on my own island in the Caribbean! And like anyone in the same situation, I find it very easy to forget some important medication here and there, especially when I am on at approx. 30 different medications and treatments daily. Having a Medication List that you update regularly does away with that problem. I have also found it useful when having to call an Ambulance to your home, instead of having to list your meds when you may not be coherent, let alone conscious, you or your Loved One can give them the List. It is also always handy for Clinics/Outpatients appointment or when meeting a new Doctor or other Medical Personnel. A thorough Medication List would include:

• Your daily Medications including dosage and how many times a day it is taken. I include the Pharmaceutical Name (and the Generic name if applicable) as well as the main ingredient (for example: Panadol – Paracetamol 2x500mg four times daily).
• The reasons that you take that Medication (for example: Panadol – Paracetamol 2x500g four times daily. Taken for chest pain.)
• A comprehensive list of your Allergies (to any Medications, foods and additives, tapes, adhesives, bees, whatever it may be) and the reaction you have to that item (for example: Ceftazadime (a antibiotic) – facial swelling, difficulty breathing, rash.)
• For the fun of it I also create a Daily Schedule Outline of my Medications including what I take and at what time. This is to give anyone who needs to know an idea of my daily schedule and the Medications I take and when. This is very helpful actually, I have used it to keep myself on track on days when I am not feeling the best as well as when a new Medication is added to my regime so that I can work out when I need to take it and with what else. More on a Daily Schedule Outline next post.
• I also keep a note of any changes in my Medication Regime so that if there are any problems or issues that arise I can go back to check if it could be caused by any changes in my Medications. This has proven to be an invaluable tool.

As a “Professional Patient” it is SO important to know what medication you are on and why you are on it. It makes your doctors job that much easier and can help you manage your health a WHOLE lot better. Knowledge is power and I have found it very useful to be aware of what I am taking and why. You are putting these chemicals into you body so you also want to know what the possible adverse reactions may be to that medication and what other medications it is compatible with or not compatible with. Talk to your Pharmacist or Doctor about these issues. Once again keep a copy of your List at home and in your diary. You will also need to keep your Prescriptions in one place so that they are easy to find. I also mark on my diary/calender when I will run out of Medications. This is important so that you are able to keep on top of your Medication stock and do not run the risk of running out of an important drug (especially during holidays or long weekends when Pharmacies are not open).

By just creating the above two Lists you will be a lot more organised as well as being more on top of your health issues. Feeling in control and on top of things will allow you to be able to do things you felt you couldn’t do when your health was taking control of your life. You are more likely to go places and achieve things that you would not have been able to do otherwise. And that is only a good thing.

Next post I will be writing about creating a Daily Routine Outline and a List of Health Issues that you manage. Once again, my goal is that by the end of this series of posts you will be able to create a fully functioning and effective Medical Workbook and Health Management Plan. Doing so will give you some freedom to go out and achieve those dreams that you have. To live a life where you manage your health, not the other way around! Until then…..

Take care, Lily

lily@thelifewecherish.com

For more information on this website please see my first POST or this collection of ARTICLES.