Parkinson's: the medication schedule and the records around it
This is a records page, not a medical page — ask your parent's neurologist or pharmacist about the medicines and the condition itself. What this page covers is how to write the schedule down, what to log between appointments, and what to hand over the moment your parent is admitted anywhere. The schedule your prescriber sets is the document; your job is to carry it accurately.
Ask for the schedule in times, and write it that way
Ask the prescriber to write the schedule as clock times rather than as a frequency, and to give it to you printed or written out. Then copy it into your record exactly as they wrote it — same order, same times, same wording. Do not tidy it up, do not convert it, do not average it.
Keep this page at the very front of the binder, in a plastic sleeve, with a date and the prescriber's name on it. Photograph it and keep the photo on your phone where you can find it without scrolling.
When anything changes, do not overwrite the page. Print a new one, date it, and file the old one behind it. The run of dated pages is the medication history, and at some point somebody will ask you for exactly that.
A second copy goes in your parent's bag or wallet, in an envelope marked with their name.
- Medicine name as printed on the label, and the strength
- The exact times, as the prescriber wrote them
- Prescriber name and the date the schedule was set
- A blank column for you to note anything a professional told you to note
- Version date at the top, old versions kept behind
- One copy in the binder, one in the bag, one photo on your phone
Hand it over on arrival, every time
Any hospital, any emergency department, any respite stay, any new facility: the schedule page goes across the desk within the first ten minutes, and you ask one administrative question — who do I give this to so it reaches the pharmacist.
Wards run their own medication rounds on their own clock. Whether your parent's times can be matched to that is a question for the ward pharmacist and the treating doctor, and they can only answer it if they have the page. Ask for the name of the pharmacist you spoke to and write it down.
Keep a small envelope in the go-bag with three printed copies of the current schedule, the insurance card copy, and the contact page. Replace the copies whenever the schedule changes so that the envelope is never out of date.
Write down who you handed it to, and when. If the schedule matters, the handover is worth a line in the log.
- Three printed copies of the current schedule, in the go-bag envelope
- Handed over on arrival, before the first round
- Ask: who takes this to the pharmacist, and may I have their name?
- Write down who received it and at what time
- A copy of the insurance card and the contact page in the same envelope
- Refresh the envelope every time the schedule changes
What to log between appointments — ask first, then log that
Do not invent a tracking system. At the appointment, ask the neurologist or the specialist nurse one question: what do you want me to write down before I see you again. Then build a grid with exactly those columns and nothing more.
Whatever the columns turn out to be, the format is the same: date, time, what was observed, who was present. Observations only. You are recording raw material for someone trained to read it.
A week-per-page grid on the kitchen wall gets filled in. A notebook in a drawer does not. If more than one person is around, everybody writes in the same grid.
Before the next appointment, summarise onto one page: the dates covered, anything that appeared repeatedly, anything that started or stopped, and any day the schedule could not be kept — with the reason, factually stated. Take the summary in and keep the grid in the binder.
- Ask what to record — do not decide it yourself
- Date, time, observation, who was present
- One week per page, on the wall, not in a drawer
- A note on any day the written schedule could not be followed, and why
- A one-page summary before each appointment
- The raw grid stays in the binder in case detail is asked for
Refills, pharmacy and the running-out problem
The administrative failure that causes the most trouble is a prescription that runs out on a Friday. Fix it with a calendar rather than with vigilance.
Write the day-count of each prescription and count backwards. Put a reorder date in the calendar a full week before the last dose, for every medicine, and set the reminder on your phone as well as writing it in the binder. Note which medicines come from which pharmacy, because they are not always the same one.
Ask the pharmacy three administrative questions and write the answers: how much notice do you need for this one, do you deliver, and can these be synchronised so they all come due on the same date. Synchronising refills is a routine pharmacy service and it removes half the problem permanently.
Keep a simple record of every refill collected, with the date. When a professional asks whether a medicine has been available continuously, you will have the answer.
- Reorder date for each medicine, set one week before the last dose
- Which pharmacy supplies which medicine, with phone numbers
- How much notice each one needs — ask, and write it down
- Whether they deliver, and the cut-off time for orders
- Whether refills can be synchronised to one date
- A refill log: medicine, date collected, quantity
- A note of any day supply ran short, with the date
Appointments, therapy and the practical access questions
There are usually several appointment streams — the neurologist, the primary care doctor, and any therapy that has been arranged. Put them all on one calendar so you can see the month, and so you can spot two appointments in the same week at opposite ends of town.
Ask each office the practical questions the receptionist can answer: how far is the walk from the parking area, is there a drop-off point, is there a wheelchair available at the entrance, and how much time should we allow. These facts decide whether an appointment goes well far more often than anything else does.
Ask whether appointments can be booked back to back on one day, and whether any labs can be done at the same visit. It is a reasonable administrative request and offices grant it more often than families expect.
After each visit, file the after-visit summary in date order and write the next appointment on the calendar before you leave the building.
- One calendar for all appointment streams
- Parking distance, drop-off point, entrance and lift notes per location
- Time to allow, door to door
- Can visits be combined onto one day?
- Cancellation numbers and required notice
- After-visit summaries filed in date order
- Next appointment written down before leaving
Do the schedule page today: the medicines as printed on the labels, the exact times as the prescriber wrote them, the prescriber's name and the date, in a sleeve at the front of the binder. Then put three copies in an envelope in the go-bag. That envelope is what you hand over at a hospital desk, and it is the difference between being asked and being able to answer.
Questions
How should the medication schedule be written down?
As clock times, exactly as the prescriber wrote them, with the prescriber's name and the date on the page. Copy it without tidying it up. When it changes, print a new dated page and file the old one behind it rather than overwriting.
What do I do when my parent is admitted to hospital?
Hand a printed copy of the current schedule across the desk in the first ten minutes and ask who takes it to the pharmacist. Write down the name of the person who received it and the time. Keep three copies in the go-bag envelope.
What should I be recording between neurology appointments?
Ask the neurologist or specialist nurse what they want recorded, then build a grid with exactly those columns. Log date, time, what was observed and who was present. Summarise onto one page before the next visit and take that in.
How do I stop prescriptions running out at the weekend?
Count backwards from the last dose and put a reorder date in the calendar a week earlier, for every medicine. Ask the pharmacy how much notice they need, whether they deliver, and whether refills can be synchronised to one date.