The Easiest Cancer Binder For Important Documents Plus Free Printables.
When my dad was first diagnosed with Lung Cancer, we lost an important disk containing scans, records, and other information we needed for the admissions process at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
We wasted hours looking for that disk and then another full day (and the additional cost) of having another one made.
I still have no idea where that disk ended up…
Here’s what I do know…
- We were tossed into a terrifying crisis, and our mission was literally getting through the moment, rather than the day.
- We were completely overwhelmed with information and instructions flying at us from every angle.
- We were “all over the place” and our stuff was totally unorganized.
When cancer explodes into your family, life gets complicated really quick.
- You’re scared.
- You’re confused.
- You’re panicking.
You’re just trying to keep your head “above water.” It’s not the ideal scenario for anyone to perform at their best.
Whether it’s you who has been diagnosed or someone you love, a cancer diagnosis is one of those defining events that will change the course of your family’s life and nothing will ever be the same.
No matter how good you are, or how organized you are… you will miss things. There is way too much for anyone to be able to manage.
If you’re in a hurry and want to skip right to the system we use to organize medical information you can find that here…
The Easiest Way To Organize Medical Information
If you’re dealing with a diagnosis of cancer this is an absolute must-have. It’s the easiest way to deal with the insane amount of information that’s getting tossed at you constantly.
You can get started right now with the FREE printable Cancer Binder Pack which makes dealing with all this information a snap…
The Cancer Binder Pack includes…
- Printable calendar pages, medication lists, medical history sheets, and more.
- Step-by-step Instructions to get everything set up in less than an hour.
- An easy system to stay organized in minutes.
It has every page you’ll need to get your sh*t together, so you can find exactly what you need when you need it. And it’s FREE.
The Cancer Binder Pack will help you keep track of…
- Important Dates
- Prior Medical History
- Doctor’s Orders
- Appointments
- Medications
- Emergency Instructions
If you’re like us, cancer is not the only medical concern that you have going on. The doctors may need to be aware of other medical conditions or concerns in order to treat them in the best possible way.
For example, if there are heart-related conditions, the Oncologist may need to consider that when making treatment decisions.
You can get our FREE step-by-step Cancer Binder Pack to create your binder here …
Before You Get Started
Download the Cancer Binder Pack and print it out!
Make Your Binder Efficient
- Start with at least a 2-inch binder. Don’t try to fit all of this stuff into a 1-inch binder. It’s not gonna work and if you manage to fit it all, you’ll be upgrading really soon.
- Use a pencil (or these colorful and fully erasable FriXon pens, which are amazing) for the pages so you can make changes without making a mess.
- Keep a pencil case in the front of the binder to hold pens, pencils, highlighters… It’s also a great place to keep business cards.
- You can “pimp this binder out” with pretty dividers and an awesome cover. We have motivating cover pages inside the Cancer Binder Pack, choose the one that resonates with you.
Binder Sections
The sections of the binder should be based on your personal needs…but here are a few you’ll definitely want to have…
Hint: We have created FREE cancer medical binder printables for each of the sections below, you can grab them here…
Start with the Calendar Pages
They help you plan ahead for what’s coming (appointments, treatments, and scans) but they’re also a great place to keep a “timeline” of information.
A timeline is like an outline of what’s happening day to day.
- New symptoms popping up?
- Starting or stopping a new treatment or medicine?
- Blood levels low this week?
The calendar pages are going to help you keep all of that straight because those are the questions the doctors ask all the time.
- When did you finish chemo?
- Date you started radiation?
- When did the nausea start, stop, get better, or get worse…
For us, we had crazy symptoms popping up all over the place so we kept the calendar pages in the front of the binder and we documented EVERYTHING on it.
- New appointments
- Hospital visits
- New symptoms
- Sick days
- Medication change
- Starting a new treatment
- Scans
- Scan results
There is so much happening all the time. And, you don’t always know what’s a big deal or what’s even related to the cancer. Having it all mapped out means you have the “data” the doctors LOVE to analyze before they make decisions.
Plus, when you’re looking for something today, tomorrow, or months from now, you know exactly where to go.
The more you have written down, the better you will be able to manage it all.
Medication List
A complete and updated medication list is a non-negotiable. You need to have that information available quickly and easily. EVERY TIME you go to any doctor, it’s the first question they ask. “Do you have any changes to your medications?”
Life will be much easier if you keep that information updated and in one place.
You can write it on a plain piece of paper… Or, you can grab these cancer medical binder printables for FREE…
Make sure you include…
- Name of the medication
- Reason for taking it
- Dosage
- Time or frequency it needs to be taken (morning and night, every 12 hours, as needed, etc.).
Here’s an example:
- Pradaxa
- 150 mg
- Blood thinner
- One tablet in the morning and one tablet in the evening.
Medical History
A complete and thorough medical history should be compiled on an easy-to-read document.
Do you have a history of Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, or even high blood pressure? Include any past or current diagnoses, past surgeries, etc.
Keeping this information as up-to-date as possible is really important as things are happening.
Cancer is the most important diagnosis, but it may not be the only concern happening. Other health issues need to be managed at the same time. It’s really important that the doctors are able to factor in all the relevant information when making decisions.
You’ll be asked these questions over and over and it’s much easier when you have it all together laid out in an easy to read document.
Again, you can write it on a plain piece of paper… Or, you can grab these cancer medical binder printables for FREE…
Doctor/Insurance Information
Names, phone numbers, fax numbers, and addresses of your care team and insurance company are always helpful to have. Especially, if someone else has to figure this out in order to help you.
- Who is in charge of what?
- Who should you contact if you have a problem or a question that can’t wait?
- How can you quickly get a hold of the people who can help you?
And of course, if another doctor needs to share information with your Oncologist, you’ll want to have that number.
You can grab these cancer binder printables for FREE…
Healthcare Proxy & Will
This experience makes you see and think about things very differently. A Health Care Proxy documents should be on-file for everyone. Even you.
- What are your wishes?
- Who should make medical decisions if you can’t?
- How do you want your affairs handled?
My husband and I now have a will, a healthcare proxy, and living wills all drawn up and filed.
Hey, you never know. We want things to be easy for the kids if something terrible happens to us.
You can grab these cancer binder printables for FREE…
Notes
You need a space with a notebook or lined paper so you can take notes during doctors’ visits. There is a ton of information coming out of these appointments and you don’t want to miss anything…
They talk about…
- Strategies that make you feel better?
- Referrals to specialists who can help?
- Directions you need to follow or questions you want to ask?
Anything that you want to remember can be written here.
It’s easy to get distracted and overwhelmed during appointments, especially if you’re constantly preparing for bad news… But this is your opportunity to get the information you need. This way you’ll be able to write down important information or questions you want to ask.
More Categories
There are so many other categories you can include in your cancer binder…
- Lab reports
- Hospital discharge papers
- Emergency Info
- Treatment
- Side effects
- Insurance statements
- Travel expenses
The list is endless, but the categories we discussed first will give you a solid foundation as you figure out what you need.
- Bonus: We have created all of the cancer binder printables for you, so you have everything you need to get this binder started. You can get them here for free…
Having a cancer binder all set up and ready to go is going to save you a huge amount of hassle. Trying to keep everything straight during cancer is a huge part of this fight…
The whole binder can be set up in one hour and after that, you’re ready to roll.
And, as a bonus medical staff LOVE this. They will think you’re super organized and on top of everything! (Which is awesome if you’re like us and started out as a hot mess).
Just grab these FREE cancer medical binder printables here…
And the next time you find yourself scrambling around searching for information, you’ll have everything you need updated, organized, and right at your fingertips.
P.S. If you’re overwhelmed by all this cancer business, we can relate!
The Cancer Binder Pack will walk you through the quick and easy system we used for organizing medical information.
Step-by-step instructions, printable forms, and monthly calendar pages so you can ALWAYS find what you need when you need it.
And, the best part it’s 100% FREE when you sign up for our weekly emails which are packed full of quick tips and inspiration to help you keep going through this insanely stressful situation (from someone who is living it)…
You can get the Cancer Binder Pack here…
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