Tag: my journey

I can’t stress enough how important it’s been for me to keep all of my medical and financial records in order. Since the start of my journey in November of 2013, I had an insane amount of paper work to keep track of. Even the educational materials I received in the form of books and pamphlets were starting to accumulate.

I immediately decided at that point to come up with a system that would not only keep my information organized, but also make it easy to travel with. A binder was the easiest way for me to achieve that kind of organization and portability. The educational materials however, I left in a designated spot at home.

I kept my binder pretty basic, so that anyone that had to access it could clearly understand my method. To start, each doctor was labeled and separated with a divider. On each section, I printed the physicians contact information. This made it easy for me to share this with any other doctor that needed it.

Now, the testing I had done could have easily been filed 2 different ways. I could separate it by location of the facility or, simply place the test results in with the physician who ordered it. I chose to place the results of each exam in accordance to the physician that requested it. Most of them were ordered by my primary doctor anyway, and I wanted to reduce the amount of dividers in my binder. Whatever method you choose, just be sure it’s the right one for you, and that it’s user friendly to the person that will be assisting you during your journey. They may need to reference it during a time you may not be feeling your best.

After a while, however, I had to keep the financial records aside because my original binder was starting to get to crowded. This was an easy binder to divide as well. I made a tab for radiology, doctors, pharmacy, hospital, Moffitt, and pathology. I also included a spiral notebook for me to keep monthly track of my expenses, as well as the mileage associated with anything medical. I highly recommend documenting these things, as it will make it easier to calculate later for your taxes. Now, you may opt to do it with a software program which is great. I just like having a hard copy of everything, just in case. This goes for medical records as well. A few people I’ve met have chosen to scan their records and keep them on a USB. That’s a great idea but, you may run into trouble if you come across a doctor who is unable to load the information into his system. Bottom line, I found keeping a hard copy to be much more effective.

My last piece of advice for today is simply a reminder. As a patient, I encourage you to exercise your right to request a copy of your medical records. Often times, your physician is able to give you a copy right after your visit. If not, most offices are happy to provide you with a copy by mail. Many doctors now even offer the option to access your chart online through your patient portal. Remember, an informed patient is a good patient. Too often patients assume doctors never make mistakes and that’s not true.

Doctors are human too, and though they don’t mean to, they can document something incorrectly or forget to document it at all. For example, you may have mentioned an allergy you now have to a medication, but while expressing that to your physician, you also mention another symptom you were having or the amazing vacation you just came back from. In the moment your doctor is intently listening to what you have to say, they could easily forget to go back and input that bit of information. I know it’s happened to me before in my own life when trying to multitask, so why would it be okay to assume it couldn’t happen to my physician. What is it that I’m trying to tell you? Review your medical records. It could prevent something terrible from happening later…

Stay tuned,
Elizabeth 🙂

 

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