A Personal Medical History

Your Personal Medical History... Keep an ongoing record of your medical history (your medical diagnoses, blood type, medication list and updates, physicians' contact information, emergency contacts and their contact information, a list of allergies, a record of your daily vital signs, a log of your food intake and exercise routine, shots and vaccinations received, tests you've undergone and the results, a list of your surgeries, information on your insurance policies, notes taken during doctors' visits and hospitalizations with discharge orders, treatments received, and a list of health care provider options) along with important documents (a copy of your insurance cards, a Living Will, Power of Attorney, etc.) all in one handy book. Bring your medical history book with you to doctors' appointments and to the hospital to write notes. Review previous entries periodically to look for patterns and for cause and effect relationships between reoccurrences of illnesses and symptoms, medication changes and reactions, treatments and results, etc. Never put your life or the life of someone you love totally in the hands of other people without keeping track of what's being done.