Tuesday, April 21, 2020

BINDER-A-LONG PART 4

It used to make me laugh when I would read things that said, "Talk to your doctor."  Especially since moving to California, I rarely felt like I had a big relationship with any doctor, or even saw them often enough to feel like I could talk through any health concerns.  And it probably is because our health concerns were very minimal.  Sure, there was the stretches of prenatal visits before a birth or other short-term issues.  In the last eight years, we also haven't had a doctor that we stayed with for very long.  Either they moved or I was looking for someone else.  Fast forward to now...with a medically complex kid I suddenly have whole health teams on my phone contacts.  I talk with Eliana's transplant Nurse Practitioners at least once every 3 to 4 weeks, and this is stretched out a lot longer than it used to be.

This week's Binder-a-long challenge has to to with Medical Records.  For me, this suddenly is super important.  Even if you do not have a family member with health issues, it is a good idea to gather some info.
  • Business cards for all doctors, dentists, specialists.  These fit perfectly in the 9 pocket pages. (If you do not have this information, consider including a page wtih names, phone number, addresses, email, fax, and phone numbers for each health care professional.
  • Health, dental, vision, prescription insurance cards (copy front and back)
  • Immunization Records
  • List of blood types for each family member
  • Medical history for each family member
  • Medical records, test results for any family member with a serious health issue.
  • Prescription Medication names, doses, and pharmacy information.
  • Medical Power of Attorney
I challenge you to keep going with your Emergency Binder.  Get caught up if you are not, and start if you haven't!  I promise some day you will want this information all in one place!

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