I’m not sure how many of you are as anal about tracking your bloodwork as I am but I’ve at least 4 inches of folder containing the various copies of bloodwork and charted results of the numerous tests that I’ve taken over the past two years. Right from the beginning (as I am almost at my two year anniversary of wondering WTF a protein spike is) I’ve been tracking my bloodwork in an excel spreadsheet. At first I wasn’t sure what all the numbers meant but as I’ve gone along, I’ve started to get a base understanding of what each means and how it impacts my condition or what it helps identify.
When my friend came down with acute-AML, I started talking about numbers, results, platelets, RBC, Hemo/Hemato, etc. He looked at me in wonder and asked how I knew all this. I told him that within four weeks he would be speaking a language he had never thought of before. And I was right!
So for those of you wondering what to do with your reams of paper, I am happy to pass along the spreadsheet I am using to help track my data. I originally did this in excel and then migrated to excel for Mac (lovin it!) There is a bit of work required to update the charts but it’s usually just cut/paste or extending the time the chart covers. Bottom line, I can help get you setup but you would need to learn a bit of excel to maintain!
Some screen shots with captions below explaining each:
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This is a grab of the entry form. I’ve set this up to mimic the report I get from the hospital so that the data entry is simple. I’ve got a script written to copy the data so I can easily paste into the actual database.
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| The main database simply pastes the data coming from the entry form into the next row. The hi/low ranges are maintained and the value changes red for hi and blue for low. This database is the source for the charts and is an easy record for each value in the event you want to look back historically. |
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| I have a few “base” charts that maintain two representative values, show me hi/low ranges and simply chart how I’m doing. These need to be updated with each entry to include the new date but other than that, it’s simple to maintain. |
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| My main chart calls out to the database to get values on two different data points and then charts them for the time frame, shows percentage change for each value and represents the hi/low range within the chart. |
If anyone would like a copy of the file, please post a comment with your email address and I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible. I would need one or two sets of results to setup the database for your needs. Alternatively, I can just send you a blank spreadsheet and you can run with it on your own. Just let me know. When I first started all this I was amazed how little there was available to me. The IMF website has a program (that’s not compatible w/ Mac) but their hi/low ranges were always different and the charting ability was limited. I don’t want to dismiss what they’ve built but I found it easier to create my own.