You are talented in many ways

Daily Totals:

Parking Fees: $0

Miles Driven: 5

Social Interactions: 1

Keeping track of appointments, phone calls, prescriptions, and receipts for FSA can present an interesting challenge for someone with short-term memory issues. Okay, it is a really big challenge for me but I’ve decided to tackle it with all the project management skill I can muster. My solution is lists and binders and calendars, oh my! Well, it’s really only one calendar but it is very well loved.

The keys elements in my organizational arsenal are my medication list, the physician’s list and a chart note and test binder. The lists get updated monthly and my binder gets updated daily. The benefits of these organizational aids are actually three-fold:

·         One – they save me from trying to remember which medications have and haven’t tried (especially when meeting a new physician and the chart notes from some other necessary physician haven’t been sent yet). When you are taking a dozen different meds at a time, you lost track pretty quickly

·         Two – when trying to get those chart notes sent, it is best if you can simply hand over a list with physician’s names, addresses, and phone numbers. ANYTHING that prevent the office staff from sticking your request into their massive pile of other similar requests will get you what you need a whole lot more quickly.

·         Three – being on disability requires filling out lots and lots and lots of paperwork. The long term disability insurance company wants proof of all the meds, all the doctors, all the tests, all the office notes, you get the idea. If you’ve already put together what they want, you don’t have to spend hours on the phone with them (I really hate spending hours on the phone with them…)

And those physicians? They really are the crucial actors that make up this little drama that is my life. I’ll introduce you now to the cast of characters who fill the majority of my new “professional” life these days.

NOTE: Their names have been changed.  I really like working with these people and I’m not feeling generous about sharing them. Do you know how long it took me to put this team of people together?!?  It’s hard enough to get in to see them as it is...

Dr. Olive: endocrinologist (and the de facto coordinator of care which means she's fabulous)

Dr. Capitol: nephrologists (taciturn and treats me like an equal – a unique trait in a physician)

Dr. Redmond: podiatrist (I like to think I make his day interesting with all my weird foot challenges)

Dr. Greenlake: psychologist (she is both a mirror and a window and I'm eternally grateful)

Dr. Bella: nutritionist (the first “food” person who has no interest in scolding me. Love that!)

Dr. Northgate: rheumatology (she’s new but she’s scary smart. I’m hoping for good things)

Dr. Trader: physical therapist (he sees me twice a week and he always has something interesting to say)

There are others, many, many others who come and go from my routine (which means I only see them every three to six months instead of every week or every other week). Look for their names to be added to the list as they appear in my daily travels.

Tomorrow is an appointment free day. Yippee! Now, if only my phone hadn’t been possessed by demons, I might have been able to make some plans with my good friend, T. Perhaps the phone is trying to say it is just as tired of calling the insurance company as I am. Something to ponder…