Tricia, here is a fast start to your daily log: Get a 3 ring binder and some loose leaf note book paper and some tabs. Lable the tabs: Docs, nurses, and their ph numbers: appts for what and discussion there :list of current meds and what they are for;
A Daily chart of nutrition and fluids, temp, bloodpressure,bowel movements,pain,nausea etc. We set this up simply by drawing lines on the page vertically and horizontally and entered each item and the time it was done.[ 6 am- nutrition 475 cals. liquids 8 ozs water, 8 oz grape juice, pain med taken, bp 110\75, temp 97.6, etc: 10 am same routine, 2 pm same ].We logged into it anytime he did something along these lines. Either John or I make notes on the daily page as to what is going on and how he feels during the day. If he gets in trouble, all I have to do is grab that chart when we call or go see the Doc. to have a record of the preceeding days. [You can't remember it all} Think of it as punching a time clock for every part of a process. It will pay off in the long run to be very organized about this. If he loses weight over a month's period, you can look back and say "well, you only managed to take in 700 to 800 cals a day over the past few weeks, so we need to address that." It started off that I was responsible for the "journal", but John did not like how I was doing it, so he took it over after about 6 months, and now we have a cartoon sketch everyday along with the entries that are so important. But the entries are now in his words and I have a better insite into his personal journey thru this and he has a way to see that he has gained ground [or lost ground] Hope this helps, and I wish you both strenght and courage. Amy