Health Tracking Journal

When I was diagnosed with chronic illness, I found doctors questions as confusing as they must have thought my answers were. The important stuff eluded me until after the doctor had left. Unaccustomed to keeping track of my health; I had no reason to do it in the past. This was all new.

I needed to find an easier way to keep dates, times, symptoms and how they changed. This was necessary so doctors would be able to put the puzzle together and find real solutions.

I observed as the nurses charted, tracked, and monitored my symptoms in the hospital and at each appointment. I decided that I had to mimic that because that is where the answers would be found.

Tracking

Tracking the questions, I began bringing my health tracker to appointments. Then I asked them to anticipate what they wanted to know at my next visit and why? I needed to know what, why, and how because everything about my chronic illness was a little different than anyone else’s.

We worked together to came up with a list of what to track. I started with Bullet Journaling and adapted it with changes to suit my needs. It is used to chart and track the ups and downs around my overall health and symptoms.

The book

Begin by choosing a book. Any book will do. Get a nice pen too, or if you are artistically inclined you can color and draw, or sketch to decorate the pages.

To begin, leave about 10 pages blank to fill in as you go along. In the back of the book, paste an envelope to hold loose documents.

At the bottom of each page, write page numbers as this will save you time when searching for information later.

Page #’s allow you to have an Index at the very beginning of the book and I anticipate using 3 pages for my index.

Follow the index up with these pages and add other information important to you, leaving as much room as you anticipate needing.

The information

Who to Call:

• Most used phone numbers and contacts

Doctors’ Appointments:

• Your appointments are at your fingertips
• Note when meds were changed and by which doctor

When Did I Last?

• Change the batteries in the smoke alarms
• The furnace filters
• Exported pictures from my phone
• Cleaned out my medicine cabinet

This is also a great place to keep:

• List of your medications
• Lawyers names and number
• Will’s location
• Your living wills instructions etc.

This book will become your ‘go to; for all things medical. You choose what you want to track and how much information needs to be kept.

I decided that I would track using 2 pages per week:

Daily:

• Daily exercises tracking steps, distance and time
• Weather conditions
• Weight increases and decreases
• Girth and ankle size
• How my day was and how I feel

Weekly:

• Books I read
• Movies I watched
• Weekly goals

Monthly:

• Monthly goals completed
• Create goals for next month
• Self-Improvement

Editor’s Note: We are extremely saddened to say that on January 7th, 2024, Barbara Moore passed away. Barbara’s advocacy efforts and writing continue to reach many. She will be deeply missed.