Second in being your own advocate series.

So, what do you do now that you have all your medical documentation, reports and CDs? Everyone will have a preference on what works for them and the way their brain works. For me, I found that a binder works best. My binder is set up with dividers and only has the current year and the year previous, all other years are kept in tonged portfolio type folders and separated by year (in some cases one year may take two folders), I find this is easiest because you can keep them in a fire safe, filing cabinet or book case.

Binder Organization:

• The first thing in my binder is a copy of my insurance card, this is handy if you want to take your binder to an appointment with you.
• Secondly, I have a printed copy of my spreadsheet with my doctors information first and then all my medications. Keeping a current list of medications is helpful when you see the doctor, if you are on a lot of different ones like me it’s hard to remember the names and dosages of everything.
• Third, I have a print out of my google calendar that shows my appointments. This is good to have a snapshot of your month but also if you are scheduling appointments you have a copy of your calendar in front of you. Yes, you can use your phone but sometimes it’s nice to have a printed copy, I color coordinate mine so one color is my medical appointments, one color is for my kids and a different color for the family.
• For me personally number 4 is lab work, I have printed copies of all my blood test results. I do extra on this because I like looking at my blood work and seeing if it’s changing so I have a spreadsheet that has all of my lab results for 10 + years, anything that flags high is red and low is green. This makes doctors appointments faster when they are discussing previous labs. When doctors use their portals they have to pull them up one at a time, this way it’s all right there and we can see a snapshot of what the last few months were.
• Fifth is blank sheets (or you can probably find forms) to make notes at appointments. On these I write the date, who the appointment is with, questions I want to ask at the appointment and then notes I take away from it.
• After that I have all my radiology reports and other tests that I have had done (EKG, hearing, eyes). These are separated by binder dividers and then the previous year information in the same order is after that.
• The last thing in the binder is CD copies of all of my imaging. Not only fun, if you have a computer and want to see your body but helpful when seeing a new doctor or following up with an appointment where the doctor may not have the images yet.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will happily address them if I can.