Have These Ready

ITEM 1:  You have been working on this  now, I hope.  This is the caree’s “Medical Binder.”  The Medical Binder is just that a 3″ to 4″ binder with any and all medical information you have collected over time from the visits to their primary care physician (PCP), the Emergency Room (ER), any specialists they’ve seen (neurologist,  kidney specialists, cardiologist, etc.).  From these visits you will have, appointment findings, prescriptions, status, referrals, surgeries, even possible x-rays and CT scan information.  To make sure you or your caree’s doctor has “ALL” the information when treating you why not have as much as possible, if not all of the information in one place?

A medical binder solves just that, it’s set up so that all your medical information is on hand, easily accessible and quickly accessible.  Have you ever had an issue where you doctors office had to call another doctors office to get treatment information?  Or, you went in and the list of your current medications on their computer is not up to date?  what about when you have to call 911, they arrive and first thing emergency response or the fire department ask is, “Do you have a list of their current medications and any allergies?  Well, do you?  With the Medical Binder, all that information is in one place and even on one sheet, which is the first page(s) in the binder. We have this for myself (chronic back pain), my mother (neurological, cardiac and speech issues) and one on my brother in-law (epilepsy, mental and in-continence issues).  Every medical personnel, fire fighter, emergency response, registration desk or specialists we hand this to, which is at every appointment are amazed at how much faster it is to complete and when the Medical Binder comes out they are very thankful for use taking the time to put the binder together and most have asked if they can borrow the idea.

ITEM 2:  This is what we have come to call our, “Hospital Bag” and no it’s not for when a baby is due, that would be amazing but not the case.  It is my belief that anyone that is currently caring for or those who may be caring for soon should have at least one of these in their car someMountainsmith Travel Trunk Heritage Redwhere.  The idea for the Hospital Bag came about the second or third time my mom was in the hospital ninety minutes away.  We are a retired military family and when ever something big comes around we have to set up appointments for Travis AFB (Travis) which is for me a two-hour drive as it takes that long to pick up mom and drive her to the Travis hospital.  Some twelve years ago mom had her first major medical issue (not including replacement of both knees) no this was a stroke which affects her memory and speech.  This put mom not only into a physical therapy situation but also into speech therapy.  The stroke also meant she could not drive, for six months.  So I became her taxi, grocery shopper, mild house keeper. We  were able to use private physical and speech therapy, yet this also required having to travel to Travis for Neurology appointments every week and if she had another appointment that week for say, the cardiac clinic and same day appointments could not be made we were heading there twice a week (sometimes 3-4).  There were many time when we were traveling on Monday and Tuesday to two other connected days.  This is where the Hospital Bag came in handy. If we knew or at last-minute found out while in Travis that we needed to be back the next day for another appointment, blood work, EKG, CT scan, etc. then instead of driving home then back down in 12-24 hours we would just grab a hotel, we already had cloths and toiletries in the car.   I did                                                                                                           find that the following items kept getting left at home so I purchased a second of each for in my medical bag, just in case.

THINGS TO ADD and FORGET:

  • Medical Information Sheet (Several Updated Copies)
  • Medications (You and your caree’s)
  • Cell phones charging cable and wall adapter
  • Cash for the Cafe or vending machines
  • Hoodie, hospital get cold at night
  • Family Phone List, everyone will want to know
  • Cloths
  • Toiletries

THINGS NOT TO FORGET:

  • Drivers License, Medical Id Cards
  • Your Wallet or Purse (You’d be Surprised What You Forget When in a Rush).