Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Day 22: why you should keep copies of your medical records yourself

Hi all today's going to be a written account instead of a vlog.

Did you know that doctors and hospitals routinely purge their medical records every seven years? Yes if you want all of your medical records you need to keep them yourself.

My current rheumatologist wanted copies of the results from my two previous kidney biopsies. (I have them because I request and keep copies of all of my medical records.)

Those results are from 1994 and 2002, so they would not be in any system any longer. I'm glad I took the time in 2002 to go back to all of my old doctors and request all my records. I didn't get everything, but I got most of it.

As I was making copies for him today, I realized I never requested my medical records from my hospital stay in 2006. It is now 8 years later. I called, and to my relief, the person who answered said they should still be in the system. So I filled out some paperwork and mailed it in. Here's hoping.


Word to the wise: if you want your medical records, request copies (before 7 years passes). You have a right to your own records. They can charge you up to $2 a page, but they do belong to you.

Had a guitar student, walked our dog with joe, beat back the daily barrage of emails, spent a couple hours rehearsing for Saturday's show. Really looking forward to that house concert. And I stuck to the plan- including a super healthy dinner (huge green salad with smoked salmon).

I'm now trying to fix my sleep schedule. I actually felt rested today when I got up! I can't remember the last time I felt actually rested when I woke up.

No nap needed today.

Had a dip in energy at one point but not the kind of dip that requires sleep.

I am going to try to be in bed and hopefully asleep by 4 AM. That sounds like a ridiculously late time but I'm often up until 5am.

I did have a minor recurrence of my shoulder issues today, so I had to take an Advil this evening. A bit of a disappointment, but I'll just call it a bump in the road. two days out of 22 and I've only needed one Advil each time. That's a major improvement over where I was before.

And now my dear friends I'm off to get flat. Here's to a good restful sleep for each of us, and to waking rested and refreshed!

(I know I'm not funny tonight. Must be the Advil)



http://www.thesingingpatient.com

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