Medical Journals

I had a friend who gave her daughter some prescribed medication one morning. Her husband didn't know she'd already done it so he did the same thing. The poor child ended up in the hospital. Adults take a double dose of something and might feel a bit ill. You do that to an infant and it can cause serious harm. Keeping a medical diary will ensure that you don't overdose your child.

I keep a medical diary for each of my kids. Whenever I give them any medication, I write it down - the name of the drug, the dose, what time I gave it. I jot down their symptoms, their temperature, anything else that might be relevant or helpful to the doctor if I end up having to take them to the hospital.

These records will also provide a thorough medical history for years on down the line. There's no way I'll be able to remember every case of chicken pox or shingles, Hand-Foot-Mouth, flu, bronchitis or allergic reaction my kids have had. Keeping a record has even helped us see some patterns developing.

I keep a medical diary for myself as well - pretty good idea for anyone, but especially for people with a chronic condition like cancer. Since my diagnosis three years ago, I've kept a medical diary with notes of doctors' meetings, my treatments, drugs, doses, blood counts, weight, oxygen saturation level, and other relevant vital statistics.

I've also kept a binder with copies of every formal medical report, starting with my histology/pathology report diagnosing my cancer. In that binder are radiologist reports, tumor marker tests, blood count reports, and other medical records tracking my cancer. This information has been extremely helpful to me and to my doctors.

Remember, you're just one of hundreds of patients your doctor sees in a year. Don't expect him to remember everything about your medical history, even if he does have your file open in front of you. He might just be doodling when you think he's writing notes about your symptoms.