I realize that medical people want to know what my parents "parents/siblings" died from, to help in seeing if there is any heredity but does it really make any difference? My mother was raised in foster care, she knows her mother had a stroke, but has no idea what her father died from, so what do people do in that instance? I guess basically there is nothing they can do.
We use the MyFastTrack Organizer templates and keep a printed copy in a binder in the car for doctor visits and trips to the ER. It's Word and Excel files, so it's easy to add new fields, change the formatting, move things around, etc. The blank templates can be filled out by hand, but I prefer to keep Mom and Dad's health information on my laptop and carry a hard copy with me, along with their test results and so on. Last year I started using this method to keep track of my own health records; I've been so focused on their health history that I'm starting to forget a few details about my own.
This has saved me on many occasions. Between the family doctor, the dentist, Dad's neurologist, his podiatrist, Mom's GYN, and so on, there's a lot of details to try and remember--medication changes, test results, things we've been told, dates of hospitalizations, etc. I tend to go blank sometimes when a doc fires questions at me, but now I can just flip thru our binder to find the answer. Plus, I really hated wasting time filling out the same information over and over on new-patient forms. For most of the questions now, I just refer them to our health journal and hand our binder to the front desk to make copies. Or sometimes I bring a copy with me of the pages I know the office will need, like the medications page, the medical conditions page, the past surgeries page, etc.
As a caregiver at Home Helpers Home Care, we have a binder that holds all this information in a central place in the home. The binder needs to have a tabbed index so specific info can be found quickly. Extremely important to up date medications in binder EVERY time there is a change in medication or frequency. Indicate purpose of each medication. All Power of attorneys’ and living will directives to the binder. If your Grandparents, or you need to call 911, this book can be given to them and it has everything they need. ALL essential medical and legal info also needs to be in an envelope of varying sizes for emergencies when traveling outside the home. If a car accident, or a health emergency occurs at the store, you are prepared. Hope this helps.
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Managing Personal Medical Information
This has saved me on many occasions. Between the family doctor, the dentist, Dad's neurologist, his podiatrist, Mom's GYN, and so on, there's a lot of details to try and remember--medication changes, test results, things we've been told, dates of hospitalizations, etc. I tend to go blank sometimes when a doc fires questions at me, but now I can just flip thru our binder to find the answer. Plus, I really hated wasting time filling out the same information over and over on new-patient forms. For most of the questions now, I just refer them to our health journal and hand our binder to the front desk to make copies. Or sometimes I bring a copy with me of the pages I know the office will need, like the medications page, the medical conditions page, the past surgeries page, etc.