Don't Panic: Simple Ways to Get Organized

By Megan

From The Occasional Hot Flash

If you're like me when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, you may panic and feel as if you need a medical degree to decipher information and make treatment decisions. I pass on to you the advice I found most helpful back then.

You do not need an advanced degree in science but the ordinary skills you learned in high school: taking notes, making to-do lists, writing down questions about information you don't understand, reading handouts.

Keep Records in Folders

One of the most valuable gifts I received when I was going through my diagnosis and treatment was not flowers or chocolates or pink ribbons but a packet of school supplies: a spiral notebook, a dozen manila folders and an accordion file to store them in. The friend who gave me those tools had just nursed her mother through a long illness, and she knew firsthand how important it was to be organized.

I'm still using the supplies my friend gave me. My folders are labeled:

• Pathology Reports
• Labs
• News Clippings
• Insurance
• Correspondence
• Prescriptions
• Handouts

My advice to women who are just starting out on their breast-cancer journey: Make sure you have a document for every procedure and lab test.

Even if you can't bear to read these reports right away, request copies and put them in a folder. Some day you'll be able to face reading them, and if you need to consult another doctor at some point, it's easier to bring your own documents than to nag your original doctor to send them.

As for your financial records, every time you pay a bill, write the check number and date on the receipt and attach it to the relevant insurance form and put it in your insurance folder. Breast cancer treatment can be lengthy and expensive, and it is not uncommon for an insurance company to suddenly balk at a bill. Being organized gives you a leg up on fighting for your coverage.

Maintain a Breast Cancer Timeline

I maintain a Breast Cancer Timeline in my spiral notebook. I record the date of every medical appointment I've had and a brief note about what was discussed. I also record the dates of future appointments with a list of question I want to remember to ask. I take the notebook to every appointment.

I also keep it handy when I'm making a telephone call related to my illness -- even if it's a casual information-gathering call to, say, a friend of a friend to compare notes about a long-term side effect. I write down the name, identification, phone number and e-mail address of every person I speak with about medical issues. I never know when I'll want to talk to that person again.

Getting Organized Helps

It takes just a few minutes to set up an organizational system, and once you've got it set up, it's easy to maintain. And, somehow, getting organized helps you sort out and manage your fears about your illness and treatment. Once you've jotted down, say, the concerns you want to bring up with your doctor, you may be able to stop lying awake at night rehearsing them in your head.

And after studying your pathology and lab reports and all the American Cancer Society literature you inevitably accumulate, you begin to master the language of your disease and gain the confidence to make informed decisions.

Posted March 30, 2010.