Keeping Track: After the Appointment

There’s a lot to be done after my visit to the optometrist or the eye specialist. Most of us have heard suggestions about how to prepare for our visits to our healthcare professionals, but what about afterwards? I’ll get to that in a moment.

Preparing questions

First, though, what should we do beforehand? I know I should prepare questions to ask the doctor and write them down. Sometimes I rank my questions in order of importance in case we don’t get to them all! This is much better than walking out of the doctor’s office or optometrist’s room and realizing that I have forgotten to ask something, or to tell them something.

Usually now I write my questions on a note app on my phone.

The last time I used a paper list of questions, I left my whole notepad on the doctor’s desk after my appointment. I was so embarrassed. I imagined the doctor and the receptionist going through my shopping lists and old to-do notes (as if they had nothing better to do). And I wondered what other private thoughts I had written on that pad that were about to be exposed!

What I do when I get home

But how about when we get home after the visit? Do we always remember everything else the doctor said? If I’ve written down the answers to my questions, I’ll have that. But often the doctor gives me other information, and I have a tendency to switch off after I’ve heard what I think I need.

So, this is what I do when I get home.

Make a full record of the visit

I make a full record of the visit immediately. I do this for every specialist I see, and I’ve collected quite a few by now! I use my laptop and I record what happened, and what was said. Even if I’ve scribbled answers on my pad, I type them up fully at home. I use a spreadsheet so I can have columns for the date, the doctor’s name, and details of the visit. This way, I can look back at details of previous visits, and add to it at later visits. Then I can see over time how things have progressed, and I can remember what happened and when.

Any type of file would work for this, if it is saved safely and can be added to and updated after each visit. I send mine up to the Cloud so I can open it on my phone, if necessary, even in an appointment! Well, confession time here: I didn’t actually send it up to the Cloud, the Cloud grabbed it without me knowing. Two Clouds in fact. That’s on my other list: remove private files from all Clouds!

What I include in my records

Some things that might be included in my write-up after each visit to the optometrist or eye specialist are:

• What tests were done, if any, and on which eye?
• What were the results of these tests for each eye? Are my eyes still as dry, or are they a bit better?
• Have I developed any other conditions, such as blepharitis?
• Did the doctor say to keep using the same drops, or to try something else? How often a day for the drops?
• What instructions did the doctor give, if any, for the time between this visit and the next?
• When is my next appointment?
• What is the doctor planning to do at the next appointment? Sometimes they say, “We’ll check that next time,” and I think “Well, yes you will, because I’ll remind you!”

Advocate for yourself

It’s important to advocate for yourself in the medical world. While I don’t need a doctor for my memory (yet), I’m hoping these steps help me to take responsibility for my own healthcare. I may not be able to control the outcomes, but at least I know where I’ve been!