|
|
|
Reading Your Medical Reports
Your physician(s) will perform
a variety of medical tests to help them determine your
diagnosis. These reports are a wealth of
information, and you can pull terms and phrases from
them to help you with your research.
By law, you have a right to
obtain copies of all your records through your primary
doctor. Labs, or other specialists may not be
willing to provide them directly to you; but your
primary doctor must provide them, so contact him/her as
soon as you know results are available.
Test results handled through
pathology labs are the most informative, but any records
and results can yield useful information. They
follow very similar formats with sections for your
diagnosis, a clinical history, a gross description, and
notes. The process described below should work for
any report.
How to Use Reports for Your Research
|
1. |
Obtain copies of your reports from your
primary physician. |
|
2. |
Go
through the report and highlight terms, test
results, findings, and phrases that apply to
your diagnosis. (see
the sample for how this was done on a real
report.) |
|
3. |
Choose a format you like for taking notes
and keeping your findings organized.
You may want to use the
chart developed for diagKNOWsis. |
|
4. |
Get
online, and go to the main resource websites
listed here on our
Resources
page. In their search areas, input
some of the terms, phrases and findings.
Here's a great resource for learning more:
Lab Tests Online |
|
5. |
If
there are results of interest to you, print
them, link to them, or find new phrases and
terms to research further. |
|
6. |
If
you do not have a medical background, many
of the terms and phrases will probably be
confusing, or unclear. There are
several
resources online to help you with
terminology, so you can look them up. |
|
7. |
Many
online support groups will help you
through the maze of understanding your
reports. They can help you with
understanding test results or terms.
If something is still unclear, ask the
members of the support group if they have
any knowledge. |
|
8. |
Verify your findings with your
physician-partner. Ask questions based
on new information you come across. If
your doctor is unwilling to help you with
this, you may want to find another doctor
who will.
Learn more about talking to your doctor here. |
We wish you the best with your
research. We'd enjoy hearing your story.
Please feel free to send us
an email.
|
