My eldest son had surgery two weeks ago and it bought to mind a great tip that I learned from a nurse. Whether or not you have a child this is an invaluable tool to have. She claimed having a medical notebook or journal for each person in your family. It has served me very well over the years. I have done this for each of my sons, who have asthma. I have a notebook for every one of them and I log in any major health events in their lives. Vaccinations, ER visits, major illnesses, surgeries, allergy information are all logged into the book. This is so helpful if you move frequently and / or have children with a chronic health problem, like asthma.
If you move often like we do, it takes time for our medical records to catch up with us, so sometimes our health care providers do not have access to our medical records right away. This tool helps me put a medical issue in context and / or provide further information to our new doctor.
This tool will come in handy when you have to fill out medical history forms for your new doctor. It is difficult to remember the details of doctors, health events, treatments, medications and preventative care. This notebook prevails the frustration of having to wait for all of your medical records to be transferred and making phone calls to your previous doctors to get the information you need. Instead, you will have a summary of these details to hand, which will help make the transfer to your new physician easier.