Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.
Symptoms Diary
About Your Symptoms Diary
How To Identify The Week For Which You Record One Or More Symptoms
When you first open the chart, the current week is chosen by default. If you want to choose a different week click on the small calendar next to the date box.
Use the calendar that pops up to select the week you want (all weeks start on a Monday, so only Mondays are selectable).
If you choose a week for which you have already entered and saved symptom information, your information will be loaded into the diary so you can view or modify it.
If you can choose a new week, you will get a blank diary.
How To Insert Symptom(s) You Want To Track
Click on the down arrow in the Symptoms box to see the most common symptoms.
If a symptom you want to keep track of is not listed, click the button and add the symptom.
If it helps, you can list various aspects about that symptom that you may want to think about when making future notes. For example, with respect to the symptom "Pain", we mention:
What starts pain
Where does it hurt (include where it travels)
Type (shooting, throbbing, continuous, etc)
Duration
What worsens pain
What relieves pain
As you will see, you can keep track of as many symptoms as you like.
How To Note The Severity Of The Symptom And Any Other Notes That Are Important To You
Note severity on a scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being the least and 5 being the most severe, frequent or painful.
If there are particular facts you want to keep track of, note the fact(s) in the comment section for the day in question. For example:
The constancy of the symptoms. For example, a symptom is constant throughout the day, or you experience the symptom when you do certain things such as lift, or walk, or you experience it at certain times of the day.
Attempts to make the symptoms better, and the result.
If the symptoms affect your usual activities, which ones.
Include ongoing treatments (other than drugs which are included in your List of Medications) plus treatments you start or stop.
How To Save Your Work
In order to keep track of an entry, it must be saved. You can save your work either of two ways:
Click the button.
Click the Create a Graph button. Your work will automatically be saved as the system is creating the graph.
Once saved, the chart with all information you entered is accessible through your Individual Home Page. (Note: If you prefer, you can click a button on the Individual Home Page and the list of charts will appear as your default - in other words: when you return to the Individual Home Page, each chart will be accessible with just one click.)
How To Create A Chart Which Shows Your Symptoms In Graph Format
To create a graph which shows at at-a-glance the occurrence and severity of your symptoms (as well as your comments), click the button that says:
A new page will open with a graph of your symptoms for the current or most recent week. To see a graph for a different range of weeks, select the start and end weeks using the Graph Range pulldown menus:
and click on the button that says:
How To Add Symptoms For Another Week
To add symptoms for another week, repeat the above process Ð starting with a new date.
When you note symptoms each week, note that the symptoms do not have to be the same ones you noted in previous weeks. You can include just the symptoms that are relevant to you that week.
Uses Of The Symptoms Diary
To review how you've been doing
During and after a treatment
While on a particular drug or drugs
For your own information
To show the doctor in graph format which can be read in seconds the symptoms you've experienced since your last visit (or other time period).
Use the Symptoms pulldown menu above to add symptoms to this chart. If you don't see the symptom you'd like to add, click the Add your own symptom button.