The Complete Cancer Organizer. Jamie Schwachter
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How will we know that the radiation has worked?
What if I miss a radiation treatment?
Whom do I call if I have further questions about my radiation treatment?
Do you have any written information about the radiation and/or recommendations of where I can find more information about this treatment?
Visit www.sprypub.com/CancerOrganizer to download.
Some Suggested Questions for Your Care Team
Primary Care Physician (PCP)
What role will you play during my cancer treatment?
Will you receive updates about my cancer treatment or do I need to ask my oncologist to update you?
Visit www.sprypub.com/CancerOrganizer to download.
Organizing Your Cancer Care Information
Dealing with the information related to your cancer treatment can become overwhelming quickly. It may be difficult to figure out what information is needed and how to organize it all. However, the process could be as simple or complex as you want to make it. Some people may be only comfortable with paper, notebooks, and folders. Others may do their organizing using technology. Most people in this day and age settle on a mixture of both electronic and paper.
No matter what tools you plan to use for organizing, a good starting point is to decide which information you need to have readily available (for example, what you might need to take to your appointments) and what information can be set aside but easily located if you need it. It may help to break the information into categories and then decide how to handle each category. Some of the categories of important information are:
Personal Health Information
• Ask for copies of your lab work and test results.
• Keep an updated list of your medications (prescription, over-the-counter, vitamins/supplements). Each time you see a doctor, they will likely ask to review what medications you are taking.
• Treatment records—any surgeries, radiation therapy (start and stop dates), chemotherapy (drugs, dosages, start and stop dates).
Schedules and Contact Information
• Doctors’ appointments.
• Treatment appointments.
• Personal schedule.
• Important phone numbers.
• contact numbers for your healthcare team.
• your pharmacy number.
Insurance and Billing Information
• Insurance policies and other insurance records.
• Explanation of benefit records.
• Medical bills and receipts, including prescription receipts (these are helpful at tax time).
Articles and Research
• Educational information about your diagnosis and treatment that you would like to keep.
Legal Documents
• Advance directives, living will, and healthcare power of attorney forms.
• Will, living trust, and guardianship papers.
Now that you can visualize the categories of information you will accumulate, you can start to develop an organizational scheme that fits your style. You might use separate binders per category and/or scan all documents and store them in a cloud-based storage application so you will have them readily available anywhere. Be sure and apply your organizational skills to the results of your Internet searches by creating a bookmark with subfolders.
Tools to Consider for Organizing
• Calendar for appointments.
• Notebook for doctors’ visits.
• A 3-ring binder divided into sections by the previously listed categories. (Your calendar and notebook could be part of this binder that you bring to and from appointments so you have information that you may need in both places.)
• Folders to keep important papers. A Pendaflex folder with separate labeled manila file folders may work well as different categories of information could be separated, yet in one folder.
• A box or file bin that you could use to hold papers that you’re not sure if you will need or don’t have time to organize. Using this method, you will know where the information is if you find you do need it. You can always review the box once treatment is completed, shredding papers you no longer need and filing those you want to keep.
• In our high-tech world, there are numerous features on our hand-held devices, tablets, and computers that can help with organization of information during treatment.
• A shredder is handy to use to be sure all personal information is discarded safely.
Physician Visit Record
Physician’s Name: . . . . . . . . Specialty: . . . . . . . .
Address: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .