Tracking Symptoms

When my daughter spiked her third fever in 6 weeks I became very concerned. Something was obviously wrong. We started running tests and scheduling appointments with doctors. But when we ended up in the emergency room which led to an ambulance ride which resulted in a weekend stay in a children’s hospital it became obvious the ownership of figuring out this mystery would be my responsibility. I became the “detective” and “medical researcher”. 
But where would I start?

1. I started by gathering all medical records – and I mean all of them!
   

• Primary Care
• Specialist Care
  
• Emergency Room
  
• Hospital Records
  
• Urgent Clinic Files
  
• Minute Clinic Files
  
• Dental Records
  

1. Then I started a spreadsheet listing all of her doctor appointments listing why she was there and results. This evolved into a color coded spreadsheet with colors that represented each condition she had over time. (Yellow =fever, blue =belly pain, orange=blood pressure, etc.)
2. Next I started pulling pictures from birth. I love scrapbooking so this was easy for me to look at all the scrapbooks and pull relevant pictures with medical concerns. 
   
3. The spreadsheet continued to evolve as I started to add in daily health concerns and/or symptoms. I noted everything from a rash to being lethargic. Each case is different but the more information you can add to your spreadsheet the better information you have long term when you forget the day to day.
   
4. Why? This spreadsheet has created a roadmap for me and our doctors. Each visit I give my doctors an updated copy of the spreadsheet so they can see her progression. It also helps our doctors put the entire story together without having to read her file again. 
   
5. Pictures – keep them with you. A pictures is worth a thousand words. Seriously a doctor can look at the picture and gather information that you wouldn’t even consider relevant. I mentioned rash before – we didn’t even consider that a symptom for years but when we actually tracked how many rashes my daughter had it became part of our case. 
   

I’m happy to share an example of my spreadsheet with you if it will help you in your healthcare battle. Simply email me and I’ll return it to you – susan@mycarecase.com