In an effort to stabilize the financial side of our lives we have been working on something that we will be launching shortly. We are hoping that this will help to better provide for our children’s needs. The Vault (tentative name) is a medical record binder. Here is a summary of what this is and how it came to be.

Lizze wrote this to explain better what this is all about.

As the mother of three Autistic boys, I remember daydreaming with each pregnancy about their childhood. How their pediatrician would keep the medical records and I would only bring them in for appointments once a year, unless they were sick. Then my boys were born and things were obviously bound to be different. My oldest has numerous specialists mostly revolving around his struggle for psychological stability. My youngest has numerous specialists covering the gamut – from a gastroenterologist to a developmental neurologist. As the need for these specialists became clearer I began to put together medical binders so that I would have the ability to carry their medical records with us to all of their appointments.

These binders allow me to not only have a list of every doctor, dentist and specialist each child sees but to also keep a condensed version of their medical records on hand at all times. In this manner, I can carry with me the blood results from a blood draw that took place a week ago should they end up in the Emergency Room. That way the Emergency Room doctor(s) have a reference point should they need more lab work during our stay. It’s also been helpful when test results were supposed to have been forwarded on to another specialist or therapist and unfortunately the results never quite made it to their destination. That way at the appointment I already have the results and can simply hand them over to be copied. Rather than continue to play phone tag while we try and get them from Point A to Point B. There is also the added benefit each time my Boys spend the night with their grandparents or aunts and uncles; everything is right at their fingertips – from which over-the-counter fever reducer works best to a full list of their medications including dosages and times taken so there’s never any confusion.

When I first came up with these Binders, my husband laughed at me. He didn’t see the point in spending what little time I have to myself to create such a thing. He has since changed his tune. He has seen first-hand time and again the benefit to having the Binders and often helps me to remember to bring them to appointments; lest we be caught without their wealth of information.

The Binders come in two different sizes. The larger size is a 2” D-ring Heavy Duty Binder or the smaller 1” D-ring Heavy Duty Binder. The larger 2” Binder is better for children who have more specialists, doctors’ appointments, trips to the hospital and/or emergency room etc. The small 1” Binder is geared more toward those children with your typical lifestyle of once-a-year well-child check-ups with their pediatrician and twice yearly visits to the dentist. While children with the more typical medical lifestyle are not obvious candidates for a Binder they will still come in handy in those emergencies or long over-night trips to grandma’s and grandpa’s.

Each Binder, regardless of size, comes with a bright red Medic-Alert Page, first and foremost in the front of every Binder. The Medic-Alert Page lists all of your child’s known diagnoses and allergies – to medications and otherwise – and current medications with dosages. This way in the unfortunate case of an emergency a doctor or Paramedic is able to open the Binder up and gather all of the important information at a glance. Following the Medic-Alert Page are 8 Sections and Section dividers. Each divider has a folder in the front; making it especially easy to store paperwork and prescriptions from each appointment until you are able to get home and properly file them away. They also come with the basic set-up that I have found to be most beneficial; however, they are fully customizable. If upon receiving your Binder you find a section or few pages that do not pertain to your particular situation, it’s as simple as removing them. Likewise, if there is a Section that you find you need more of at a later time and date; you can simply order that Sections’ replacement.

Pricing and availability will be posted very soon….along with pictures of what you will get and how we have used these ourselves.