Let me tell you a story……….Managing the medical treatment of yourself or a loved one can be a very complex undertaking. It can be mentally demanding, and emotionally stressful.

The story of the development of MyMedeicalFile involves three people. My father Michael Quigley, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple and my mother-in-law.

1. My Father, diagnosed with skin cancer.Around 2003 my father was diagnosed with skin cancer on the right side of his face just below his cheek bone.

He served in the British army in North Africa during the Second World War.

He reckoned that long sentry service standing in the baking African sun, while guarding a soldier who had been sentenced to death for shooting a sergeant in a fit of rage, had caused the damage to his skin.

Dad was granted free cancer treatment in the Dublin cancer treatment centre as he was an old age pensioner. The treatment involved radiation therapy. My sister and I were looking after my father and I agreed to go with him to his initial consultation at the cancer centre.

When we arrived, after some initial paperwork, we were ushered in to see the consultant managing Dad’s treatment. After settling my father down in a comfortable seat the following conversation took place, no word of a lie:

Consultant: “Now Mr. Quigley you are here today to commence radiation treatment for skin cancer on the right side of your face, is that correct?”

Dad: “Yes doctor”, said my father in a hushed solemn tone.

Consultant” “Mr. Quigley do you suffer from any other medical ailment other than skin cancer”.

My father looked at me in disbelief and I looked at him, stunned, but we both said nothing.

Dad: “Well doctor I am blind in one eye and deaf in one ear and I had an aneurism which required a major operation. There were complications during that procedure and I ended up needing a colostomy bag”.

Consultant: Aghast, “Oh Mr. Quigley you are blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and have skin cancer, an aneurism and have a colostomy bag”.

Dad: “Yes doctor”.

Consultant: “Mr. Quigley that’s very interesting. Do you mind if I bring in some of my colleagues to sit in on this matter, as I think they will greatly benefit, training wise, from your case”.

Dad: “No not at all doctor”, replied Dad.

The consultant immediately left the room and rounded up whatever trainee doctors and nurses were about and ushered them into the room. He gave the assembled group a quick summary of what was going on, and continued his interrogation of Dad.

Consultant: “Now Mr. Quigley, in addition to being half blind and deaf, having skin cancer, an aneurism and a colostomy bag, do you have any other medical ailments?”

Dad: “Yes” replied dad, “I am an MRSA carrier but I do not suffer from it”.

Consultant: “Oh”, said the consultant in increasing disbelief, “You are an MRSA carrier. Really and is that it Mr. Quigley, I mean to say is that the extent of your ailments”?

Dad: “No, no I also have diabetes, Doctor, type 2 in fact.”

At this stage the consultant’s mouth dropped.

Consultant: “Mr. Quigley ….. you….. have ……. diabetes?”

Dad: “Yes” said dad, “type 2, in fact”.

Consultant: “Type 2, and anything else Mr. Quigley?” queried the consultant who at this stage spoke in whispers, barely able to contain his astonishment and admiration at dad’s stoicism.

Dad: “Well I have an expanded heart as a result of the delayed aneurism operation and corresponding high blood pressure”.

At this stage there was a distinct pause in the room. The consultant looked to the assembled doctors and nurses and they all stared at dad in wonderment.

Consultant: “So Mr. Quigley, to summarise, you are blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, you have skin cancer, an aneurism, a colostomy bag, are a MRSA carrier, have an expanded heart and high blood pressure, and diabetes, type 2. Is that it?” said the perplexed consultant as he prepared to close his written file.

Dad: “Well no, sir” replied my father “I have mild leukaemia”.

Consultant: “What” said the consultant, who at this stage found himself a seat to sit down directly beside my father. “Let me get this clear Mr. Quigley” he blurted. “You are blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, have skin cancer, an aneurism, a colostomy bag, are a MRSA carrier, and expanded heart, high blood pressure, diabetes, type 2 ……and mild leukaemia. Surely that is it Mr. Quigley?”

Dad sat back and thought for a moment and gently moved forward in his seat, eye-balling the consultant.

Dad: “What sort of food do you serve here? Do you have a printed weekly menu”,

Consultant” “What?” whinged the consultant in exasperation. “What do you mean Mr. Quigley”.

Dad: “Sir, respectfully I have to ask you what type of food do you serve here, do you have a weekly printed menu”.

Consultant: “Why do you ask Mr. Quigley, What bearing has it on your cancer treatment?” he queried.

Dad; “ Well”, said my father “you asked if there was anything else wrong with me and in truth I think I should mention that I am allergic to chicken”.

Well at that stage the whole room comprising of patient, son, consultant, doctors and nurses collapsed into guffaws of laughter.

When the laughter had subsided the consultant took up his file and scratched something onto the front of the file and said in awe and wonder to my father. “Mr. Quigley you are going to be the most complex case we have ever treated here at the Cancer Centre”. He said looking straight into my Dad’s eyes: “I am going to rename your file and while you are under my care I am not going to call you Michael I am going to call you “Die Hard Quigley”.

From that day on my father was always referred to as Die Hard Quigley.

My father finally succumbed to prostate cancer, but only after a very long and gallant battle to hold onto life.

During his illnesses my sister and I had to manage, over the space of many many years, hospital appointments, X Rays, CT Scans, biopsies, medical operations, rehabilitation treatments, blood testings and medication regimens.

It was out of this experience, managing my father’s complex health care treatment, that the initial idea for “MyMedicalFile” evolved.

2. Steve Jobs, my hero.Steve Jobs was always one of my heroes.

Single handed, through his amazing APPLE company, he redefined the computer business, the mobile phone business, the music business and finally the printed media business.

His commencement speech at Stanford University in June 14 2005 was a classic. In this presentation he urged the students to “find what they loved in life”. He was also there that he announced to the world that he had cancer. He said:

“About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.

No one wants to die”.

Steve Jobs died on October 5th, 2011. He did not live for the decades he sought. Like my father he fought a brave fight for life. As my sister and I had cared for dad, Steve’s wife looked after Steve; her husband, partner, soul-mate and best friend.

Steve Jobs death affected me deeply. I had lived for 6 years in California near Palo Alto and regularly passed by the Apple factory. Strangely I felt “connected” to the dream that was Apple. When I first heard that he had died, I reacted as if an old friend had passed away.

After Steve’s death his wife commented that even though the Apple leader was one of the wealthiest men in the world, managing his health care was a complex challenge and in the end she herself had to co-ordinate Steve’s treatment. She, like my sister and I, had come to the realization that every medical discipline looks after its own area of expertise but nobody seemed to co-ordinate the whole. In today’s complex health care industry the responsibility for this co-ordination must be taken by the individual or, as in increasingly the case, their families.

Thus Steve Job’s experience was similar to my father’s, even though Steve was billions of dollars richer, of a different generation and was living on the wealthiest continent in the world.

It was then I had the epiphany that everybody, rich and poor, could benefit from the simple medical file system I had developed in my mind during the stressful times my sister and I managed dad’s health care treatment.

3. My Mother-In-Law, a real soldier in adversity.My mother-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2011.

Through excellent health care and minor radiation treatment the cancer was brought into remission.

In the main, the co-ordination of nana’s treatment was managed by my wife and my brother-in-law. What they went through organising appointments, hospital visits, biopsies and medication management was reminiscent of what my sister and I experienced with dad.

To help them I put my medical file epiphany into physical format. That is, I put together my first: “My Medical File”.

In essence this file comprises of a calendar and diary and schedule to manage appointments. It has a section for important phone numbers. It has sections for every hospital department so that letters and reports, pertaining to each treatment, can be filed and stored. It has a section for blood reports. It has a section for current medication regimens. It has a section for notes and sundry items. In short, over time through use, it becomes a complete health care management system for an individual or a family.

This file became a great help to nana, my wife and her brother-in-law in their co-ordination of all medical visits and treatments.

Then something happened that I had not imagined.

In January 2014 Nana’s came back from a short break with her active retirement group feeling very poorly.

Overnight her breathing turned bad and the doctor advised that she be brought into the nearest hospital emergency room.

While preparing transport, with great presence of mind, my brother-in-law took the “My Medical File” with him.

What later transpired I will never forget.

When I went into meet Nana after 3 days in hospital she looked great. She was on intravenous liquids and anti-biotics and was scheduled to be released in a few days.

She had caught a bad chest infection but was now “on the mend”. The infection had been caught in time.

During my visit she pointed to the medical file I had made and said that the file had helped “save her” and by this stage was becoming “famous within the hospital ward and beyond”.

She said that because of it her doctors and nurses, when she initially came in, were immediately able to see her medical history from the file. In addition they could see what medications she was on. (This point, an experienced nurse pointed out, was crucial to medical staff being able to act quickly in any emergency treatment).

It turned out that a senior nurse had been so impressed with the file that she called the nursing team and showed them nana’s “file”. Individual doctors also visited nana’s bedside to have a quick review.

It was this experience that made me finally realise that the medical file system was much needed in today’s complex, pharmacological, inter-departmental, multi-disciplined heath care environment.

SummaryThe “My Medical File” is a practical yet simple system to assist you to plan, manage, organize and control your own health care treatment, or that of a loved one.

It has been developed out of experience.

When being admitted to a hospital in an emergency, vital data is readily available to nursing staff. Very often this information cannot be obtained from the patient due to their medical condition.

If you want your own custom hand made “MyMedicalFile” please email me at cmqesquire@gmail.com or call 086-8118-600 (353-86-8118-600). The cost is 55.00 Euro plus postage. I hope it will help your family as much as it has helped mine.

Thank you,

Christopher------------------------------------------------------------------Christopher M. Quigley B.Sc., M.I.I. (Grad.), M.A.

© “MyMedicalFile” 4th. August 2014, Dublin, Ireland.