Organizing a medical binder
In my professional career, I have the incredible privilege of being a special education teacher. I never would have thought how valuable my career would be to “prepare” me for navigating a loved on going through a TBI. The night I came home after learning about my husband's accident (Yes, this was during the height of the COVID pandemic when guests were not allowed at the hospital) I grabbed an extra spiral notebook we had in our house and started documenting. The pandemic added an additional layer of complications, worry, anger, and grief by having to solely rely on Facetime and phone calls. Knowing how severe things were, I knew I needed a system in place where I could keep all the information I needed in one organized place. Chalk it up as a teacher intuition or what have you but I never would have thought how valuable it would be.
For those of you who are navigating a loved one sustaining a TBI or know someone currently going through the trenches and wondering how to get a system like this set up - here is the nitty gritty.
Grab a binder- I prefer a view binder to give it more stability. I originally started off with a 1 inch binder and as time went on- it became too small- but any binder would do
Grab a pack of Business Card Binder Pages- These are great to organize all your loved ones' health care providers cards. I know…. in the digital age we are in it may seem odd that business cards are even a thing still, but still grab them. You probably only need one sheet (maybe 2) as you can use the front and back
Grab a pack of DVD Binder Sleeves These are a great way to store the DVD’s of your loved ones imaging results (MRI’s, Xrays, CT Scans)
Tip: Be sure to request this at your appointment or before your loved one gets discharged from the hospital so you don’t have to go back and pick it up. Sometimes you have to fill out a record request and wait a few business days, but sometimes they can give it to you right at the appointment. This was great in the event we saw another provider- it allowed us not to repeat imaging. Some providers may want more updated imaging, but it’s always good to have these on hand.
Binder divider tabs- this will help keep your papers organized by categories
Download the FREE digital version of The Resilient Brain’s Medical Journal Template- you can access this by going to the Resources page on my website and click the link
What’s included?
Communication logs
This is to help keep your notes documented- it is also a place for you to jot your questions you have for provider and/or insurance agents
Medication schedules (Summary, daily, and a start and end log for a history of medications)
To do lists
Weekly progress notes
Observation Log (this is a place to reflect and jot down what are you noticing in your loved ones healing journey)
This is great to see not only from a caregiver perspective, but your loved one may want to look back on how far they’ve come in their rehabilitation journey down the road
Generosity Log
To help you keep track of the awesome people in your life who dropped off meals, gift cards, flowers, etc
Procedure Log
In the event surgeries are needed this is a place to document the date and which procedure took place
The Resilient Brain’s Medical Journal template was created in collaboration with many families who had to navigate this overwhelming part of the TBI world. As each brain injury is unique and different, it was great to get other families input to include what was valuable for them or what could have been useful for them if they had a system like this.
In chatting with my dear friend Mika (which our story is a small world story!) her husband was involved in a ski accident and sustained a TBI while in Colorado. When I think of Mika and Bo’s story, she had to pack up and get on the next flight to Colorado with her young baby and travel thousands of miles to be with her husband…. a Target/Amazon pick up just wasn’t a realistic option for her. At that point, she would’ve been willing to write her notes on napkins! Which lead us to talking about the next big idea.
If you are caregiver interested in a medical journal binder, or know someone who would benefit from this please contact me. Part of my goal is not only to create an empowering children’s book to help children understand the complicated world of Traumatic Brain Injuries, but also to create a space of support for caregivers and their families
For those of you who are reading this and may not need this exact system, but would love to help those who would– you can help! Below is a link that you can donate to help provide a completed medical journal binder system to be shipped to a family (currently within the US) who is navigating a TBI.
Navigating the life a TBI is hard enough in itself. My hope is that this is a valuable resource that can take one big overwhelming task and make it manageable, organized, and simplified.
From my organized teacher heart to yours,
Katianne