Team Sid, a way forward

As part of my way forward to myeloma survival I created a team, “Team Sid”, a network of help and support for medical, emotional and logistical reasons.
“Team Sid” comprised myself of course, my wife Myra, family, GP, Haematologist, Hospital day stay staff, cancer society, Leukaemia and Blood, work, neighbours and others when needed. My number one team member was Myra who is a trained caregiver, I had the best. More about Myra and others in another posting.
Being the Boss and chief administrator of “Team Sid” I compiled a list of contacts; contact name, designation, address, phone and email.
Another list was a” how to/what if” list, how to do anything that arose without panic. How to arrange transport if I could not drive myself, public transport timetables. How to use the St John’s ambulance service in an emergency. How to use the hospital shuttle bus. What to do if my temperature rose. Who to contact if I fell ill at home, etc, etc.
One of regular my tasks was to maintain my appointment book up to date. Every appointment and meeting was entered then added to the kitchen calendar as backup. Another task was to maintain a daily diary of how I felt, medication, anything that could be of use at appointments. Initially I did not realise the significance of recording my test results. My doctor and Haematologist gave them to me verbally. Later I learnt from a support group member that I could have the results posted to me. Once that commenced I created a spread sheet to record results electronically.
There were times when I could not cope due to health and side effect issues. Myra had been briefed on the lists so stepped in to take over my role...
“Team Sid” members were all told that I was living with myeloma and would recover to good health again. I led by example with my positive attitude, negativity was not to be tolerated.
“I will get better”.
By creating “Team Sid” I took an active role in my recovery giving me a sense of control over my illness.
On reflection the main benefit of “Team Sid” was organisation. Having all my contact and what if information up to date and in one place. A system I still follow today.