Health Companion

I saw my neurologist two days ago and I went prepared with my "Health Companion" that I received when I was in the Women To Women Study. It is a binder that I feel lucky to have gotten. It makes my life easier! There is a section that I fill out with all my medications, a section for symptoms experiencing currently, a section for my insurance info, questions that I have, past medical history section, past hospitalizations section, family history section, immunizations, past surgeries/procedures, laboratory results, and a lot of other sections that I would never had thought of putting together on my own. It is nice to bring it along to all physician visits so I do not have to stop and try to think of everything and perhaps miss something along the way. So many times I used to leave a physician's office feeling frustrated that I had forgotten to discuss something and this helps me out and I cannot say enough good about it. I also have added to the binder all documents regarding visits from any physicians/ER/lab results etc that I feel are pertinent to have handy when I travel in case I need to see a physician that has no knowledge of what I am going through in order to avoid repeat testing etc.

I wish I could leave the physician's office with the "answers" to what is happening to me and a way to fix them but I know that living with MS means a lot of quessing and hoping.

My recommendation to anyone out there who is reading this is to put together a binder with all the pertinent information you can think you might need in order to take with you. I currently am seeing a neurologist, a urologist, a physical therapist, and my general physician. As I am bouncing from one to the other, it is nice having the information at my fingertips. If you would like any tips on what other things to place in it or would like to share what you have put in yours, feel free to share in the comment section.