Living with a breast cancer diagnosis is difficult enough without adding the overwhelming load of information and paperwork. No matter where you are in your journey, managing and organizing everything — symptoms, notes, recommendations, lab orders, prescriptions, test results, etc. — can feel like a full-time job with no clear way to do it. In fact, a lot of practitioners, advocacy organizations, and even current and former breast cancer patients recommend getting a three-ring binder to keep track of and organize all the information.
It’s time to replace that heavy binder with KinKeeper — a single, convenient app where you simply and securely store and organize any important medical information in a way that works for you, and makes it easy to engage your support system when you need a hand. At a time when medical and financial paperwork is probably the last thing you want to deal with, having an easy way to manage it all can help you make the most of your time and focus on what's most important to you.
KinKeeper’s flexibility lets you to manage your information however you’d like, but here are some tips for organizing information you may need to store and share to manage your journey:
Medical History & Diagnosis
- Your diagnosis, including the specific cancer type and stage, along with date of diagnosis.
- Your medical history.
Tests & Procedures
- Copies of test results and pathology reports.
- Notes for each type of testing (e.g., bloodwork, biopsies and ultrasounds).
Treatment
- Notes on treatment plan, including start and end dates and treatment benchmarks.
- Chemotherapy and/or radiation dates and doses.
- Notes for each visit, including who you spoke with, the date and time, your questions and the answers you received.
Providers
- Create info items for each practitioner you see; you can include their contact information, a link to their patient portal (make a note of your password here, too!), their address and any notes you want to add.
- Snap a photo of business cards and add them here, especially if you receive a card for a referral or recommended provider but haven’t established care with them.
Insurance & Billing
- Add photos of the front and back of your insurance card(s).
- Upload documents or photos of any critical communications with your health insurance company, including screenshots of live chats and notes from phone calls, including who you talked to and what you were told.
- Add copies of cost estimates, bills and payment receipts.
Resources
- Add links to websites, blog posts, online communities and other helpful resources, like Living Beyond Breast Cancer and HelpGuide.org (which has a great resource for free online therapy).
- Share selected notes with trusted members of your support circle so they can directly add resources without overwhelming you with texts, emails and other messages.
