Question:
I found an awesome planner and organization tool I just wanted to let you know about. I was totally impressed with it to say the least, with the beauty of its organization and design. I want to share this with all, since it has provided me help in multitude ways and can help any caregiver or families. It explains that it was designed to be a source of stability and comfort in the event of an emergency, or the day-to-day stress of dealing with health issues. It has a software version you can use to create a complete medical history electronic profile to be carried by you or your loved one. I hope everyone takes this to heart. Their website is I pray this can help others and it did for me.

Answer:

I'm not impressed with this at all. It would be much wiser to ask your "loved one's" physician for actual physical copies of his/her medical records so that what is actually useful (which is detail) is readily available....... for free. Example: Grandma Jones had breast cancer or skin cancer or a heart attack (etc). A listing of this information isn't as useful as an actual report would be which would list the type of breast cancer, where it actually stemmed from, and whether it was or was not invasive - was the skin cancer basal cell, squamous or melanoma? Was the heart attack due to disease, MVP, low potassium, arrhythmia, or a genetic arteriole problem? We learn from details and can improve our future health. These online records you speak of are not sufficient. There are too many unanswered questions. I dissuade anyone from buying into this.


Answer:
In Reply To
I'm not impressed with this at all. It would be much wiser to ask your "loved one's" physician for actual physical copies of his/her medical records so that what is actually useful (which is detail) is readily available....... for free. Example: Grandma Jones had breast cancer or skin cancer or a heart attack (etc). A listing of this information isn't as useful as an actual report would be which would list the type of breast cancer, where it actually stemmed from, and whether it was or was not invasive - was the skin cancer basal cell, squamous or melanoma? Was the heart attack due to disease, MVP, low potassium, arrhythmia, or a genetic arteriole problem? We learn from details and can improve our future health. These online records you speak of are not sufficient. There are too many unanswered questions. I dissuade anyone from buying into this.

Smithn. Your comments are incredible great. Indeed, what you are saying to be done is recommended within the planner/book. It has a binder format so you can attach all this information. It helps you get organized. In my case, I never saw this as a replacement of what the doctors have. About the online records information, what you create is you Medical History information handy for an emergency doctor to know more about you while the actual records come in. During an emergency a patient may not have the ability tell about his/her medical history nor recall dates and specific names, thus having this electronic records gives insight to doctors about allergies, medications, on-going data monitoring, and emergency contacts. My cousin said the other day This could prevent deadly drug interactions or reactions to allergies such as penicillin. This could save someones life! Save lots of grief to doctors, nurses and loved ones.

People, what I want to say here is: You dont need to buy anything, just get yourself organized, and get all your information together. Keep track of you medications. Maintain your doctors visit results such as blood pressure, blood sugar, Cholesterol (HDL and LDL), Sodium, and Hemoglobin in one place. Find out what immunizations as adult you should take and ask your doctor if are applicable to you. Make notes about your family history, if they have diabetes, cancer, lung disease, glaucoma, high blood pressure, etc, and take them with you. Make copies and give them to your caregivers. Emergencies are events you dont plan!

For those of you that go to the south to spend the winter. It is highly recommended you bring all your medical history information.


Answer:
My uncle told me just the other day that having all medications organized he was able to find out his father was taking twice the same medication. He was prescribed by two different doctors with two different brand names. His father was taking twice as much dosage! He took his organized list of medications to both doctors and indicated to stop immediately taking one. His father could have die of over dosage. Please, if you are a caregiver, pay attention to this. Some folks are taking thirteen or fifteen medications at one given time and managing this becomes chaotic. For every medication, record when to start, when to stop, frequency and dosage and who prescribed and the reason for taking. Keep it handy for the nurse or other caregivers taking turns in watching over for mom or dad. I hope this helps!

Answer:
The other day, talking again to my uncle about caregiving, he mentioned that his father had an advantage of logging his ongoing diagnostic monitoring data. When his father suffered his second stroke he was able to provide this data immediately. That was one huge advantage. Another one he noticed was during regular doctor visits. When the physician saw my uncle was asking and logging his father pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar and weight, the doctor felt more responsible about him. The physician wanted to make sure data was logged correctly and instructed his nurse to double check results before they would leave. Instead of providing the typical five minute visit, they turned into no less than fifteen minutes visits. Because of this, his father received more and better quality of attention. My uncle finished saying this simple management tool was -indirectly- able to provide better care!