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1.
What gave you
the idea to author a Personal Medical Journal?
I had an older neighbor named
Phyllis who was seeing a handful of doctors and taking a handful of
medicine. Her “caretaker” nephew
worked a day job and couldn’t take off and go with her to all of her
doctor appointments. He would say,
“Aunt Phil, what did this doctor say and what is this new medicine
for?” And she would say, “I don’t
remember and I don’t know.” So I
said, “Phyllis, I am going to make you a medical journal so you can keep
up with all that.”
I made her a crude personal
medical journal and that was in March of 1999. A couple of months later I began to
look around Tulsa in the drugstores and bookstores and discovered that
there was nothing on the shelves to meet what I saw as a great need;
therefore I decided to devote myself to developing the product that I
entitled the Personal Medical Journal.
Now that I have one myself, I
just wish I had one all my life and especially when I was raising my son!
2.
Do you have
any background in medicine?
No. However, the fact that I personally
have no background in medicine has helped to ensure that the Personal Medical Journal is very user friendly for “lay”
people like me. Anything that I
did not personally understand, I found the answers for and passed along to
everyone else who uses the book.
All the fill-in-the-blank charts are generic for each individual’s
personal records and the information given in the book is taken from
national professional health organizations/media.
3.
How do you
think your book will be received by the medical profession?
That was my primary concern when
I began to develop the Personal
Medical Journal. I was
concerned that they would not welcome the use of it because it
represented their patients becoming more knowledgeable and involved in
their personal healthcare—an arena that has been very one-sided in favor
of the medical profession in many respects. I am delighted to tell you that every
single medical professional—doctors, nurses, and pharmacists—that I have
presented the Personal Medical
Journal to have been very positive and have encouraged me to get
it out to the public. They, like
me, see a great need for such a health tool.
4.
What elements
is the book composed of?
There are 20 different sections of fill-in-the-blank charts where
you chronicle your health test results, your immunizations, your family
medical history, your prescriptions, your doctor appointments, and
virtually everything that is involved in your health care over the course
of your life. Dividing these 20
sections is information put out primarily by national health
organizations that pertains, in an educational sense, to the following
sections to be filled in. Either
the sections of information or the fill-in-the-blank charts are more than
worth the price of the book. Much
of the information is put out by the national Department of Health and
Human Services in various brochures and booklets but I have compiled it
into one book.
5.
What are the
four large envelopes scattered throughout the book?
Those four envelopes, as stated on their fronts, are for storing
copies of your medical legal documents (such as your living will/advanced
directive, birth certificate, organ donor form, etc.); your prescriptions
waiting to be filled; your official immunization record; and your medical
receipts waiting to be filed.
6.
What do you,
the author, see as the primary benefits of using this book?
Knowledge is power. People
need to be greatly empowered in their health journeys. Our health determines the quality and
quantity of our lives. Something
as important as our health requires our personal involvement in it—the
greater the degree of our involvement in our own health care, the greater
the quality should be.
The Personal Medical Journal answers a great many strategic
questions in our health care. For
instance, who should get what immunizations and how often, and what was
the date of my last physical, my last tetanus shot, etc.? Your blood type, allergies, chronic health
problems, prescriptions, family health history, and dozens of other
things that will help medical professionals diagnose and treat your
health needs are included.
This
book will be of great value immediately and that value will increase exponentially
with time!
7.
Who do you
think would primarily benefit from using this book?
That is a difficult question to answer because everyone needs to
stay on top of their health concerns.
However, obviously those that will benefit the most will be those
who use the Personal Medical
Journal the most!
8.
Do you
consider your book a good gift item?
I cannot think of a better gift item. It’s something that every individual
needs and almost certainly something they will not already have. Newlyweds, newborns, and caregivers
would be especially good Personal
Medical Journal recipients. Also I think it is a particularly kind
and thoughtful gift for those with chronic health problems or
hospitalized patients. People who
tend to be organized (or want to be) will immediately see the great value
of such a book.
9.
Should you get
one book per family or one per individual?
The Personal
Medical Journal is designed for individuals; therefore each
individual in the family needs one.
Each individual will have his own test results, his own
immunization record, and, really, almost everything about a person’s
health is individual. When a child
leaves home, he will want to be able to take his own medical records
embodied in the Personal Medical
Journal with him.
10. Where are your books presently available?
Freeland Brown Pharmacy in Tulsa, OK
Or on the Internet at Amazon.com and PersonalMedicalJournal.com
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