I'VE BEEN MIA..........Putting lab draws on spreadsheet

Hi everybody.  Sorry I've not been on here much.  I am working on a new spreadsheet that lists all my bloodwork labs that have been drawn in the last
10 years.    OMG  Trust me folks, start doing this when you are pre-op, not 10 years later. 

I consider myself a good organizer, thus I have all of them stacked up in front of me for the last 10 years, but I am a better organizer than I am computer literate. I actually have my records going back to at least 1989 but there's no way I'm gonna enter all of those.   

I always get my labs drawn faithfully, at least once a year and in the beginning every 3 months, then every 6 mos.....but I didn't have the common sense to log them all into a spreadsheet.  Now I have a ton of work to do. 

When I was fighting for my divorce years ago, I got copies of all my medical records.  I have a whole box full of records, tests, x-ray, scans, dr. notes, etc..  You name it, I got it.    I'm a good "PAPER" keeper, which I really don't have room for but......I really think medical histories are so very important.  That may be why I was approved in 3 days for my WLS.  I had EVERYthing I needed.  
     
Glad you are home and doing well, Peggy and Keith. 

I'm praying for Terry and Lyn and others personal needs.

Love and hugs,
Kat

Thanks for the idea Kat. I am a paper keeper too. I also had my surgery scheduled quickly because I had everything in order. I would love to see your spreadsheet that you put together. Would you mind sending me an outline so I might be able to take a look at making one up for myself? I just had my 12 month labs drawn and want to get copies of what Doc Jones has on file so that I can log them into a document to keep a record of them as well. That is a very good idea.
Again, thanks

Yeah, Johnna.  I'll share it with you when I get it done.  But I'm warning you, mine is very comprehensive and detailed.  Darn that OCD and perfectionism in me.  I got my start on it from others that have posted their spreadsheets but they are outdated and don't have several things on there that I've had labs on. 

If others know of some template available on the internet, I haven't found one that is comprehensive enough for WLS patients.  And since I'm not a nurse, some of these things are foreign to me when you get down to the nitty gritty. 

Today we need to be our own advocate in tracking these things.  Of course my docs, go over all my labs when I have them and we discuss the results, but its not the same as having all of them together in one place where I can MONITOR myself what has gone up and what has gone down, etc.

WLS labs have always been important to me but when you are years out from your surgery, I think they are even more important because they're like a blueprint of what's going on in our body.  We may appear to be healthy when we really aren't.  And many docs really are NOT experienced and knowledgeable about what WLS patients require vs the typical patient.  We DO have different needs on our labs and I am still learning things all the time.  So if anyone has insight, let me know.