| | Reading Your Medical ReportsYour 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.
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