Time for Yearly Check-up

It is time for me to schedule my yearly physical. Last year this time I was getting my annual physical in preparation for surgery. That went very well after much preparation and many doctor visits over 2 years. Finding the right doctor is so important especially when you are dealing with medical conditons that are "unknown" so to speak. By this I am referring to conditons we don't know a lot about; therefore, treatment is usually not definitive if there is treatment that works.
That's why it is so important to know what you have and do research on it. The yearly physical is a way to keep up with your health before little things become big things.

As I look over my "grocery list" of things to discuss with the doctor, I am amazed to see how many are unresolved, and fortunately not life-threatening. It was a task to try to get them all taken care of before my surgery last year. I kept track of them, so I will include them in my visit for my checkup. I have noticed that if you have more than three medical conditions and if they are not in the "top three" - hypertension, arthritis, diabetes - your other diagnoses tend to get less attention, if any. Furthermore if you smoke or have obesity issues, these are more likely to take up most of the doctor's time. Furthermore if you smoke or have obesity issues, these are more likely to take up most of the doctor's time. Doctors, like most people, are most comfortable with what they know.

So you have to stick to your "grocery list". After awhile I had to expand to writing/ typing everything down in my "medical diary" because too much stuff was getting left out. That way I was able to keep up with the unresolved as well as resolved issues. Trying to get my doctor up to speed was less successful. This created a lot of anxiety so much so that I developed "white coat" hypertension! This is high bllod pressure associated with going to the doctor. Sure enough, my blood pressure checks at home were okay.

As I prepare for this yearly ritual, I try to ease my anxiety and keep my blood pressure down. After all it makes no sense to get so worked up over something good for your health. With all the life-saving medical technology we have today, the basic yearly physical checkup is still one of the best health tools ever.

TOC FOR PATIENT HANDBBOOK TO MEDICAL CARE

"Patient Handbook to Medical Care: Your Personal Health Guide" is a source for helping patients. The book's introduction states that "The goal of this book is to inform and educate patients about medical care...It is very important for patients to learn as much as possible about wellness, disease prevention, and disease management for themselves."


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Medical Records and Diary

Chapter2
The Doctor Visit

Chapter 3
Preventive Checkups and Health Maintenance

Chapter 4
Medical Tests

Chapter 5
Doctors and Specialists

Chapter 6
Health Insurance and Quality

My Health Notes (last pages)- blank pages to start medical diary