Senior citizens need to be on their toes at all times. We need to be especially knowledgeable about our health and medical history. Without the old-time general practitioner who knew all about us, today we have the advantage of specialists who keep us healthier. Each of us has the added responsibility of being alert and asking questions.

Over the last month and a half, I’ve visited at least four health professionals and several other auxiliary medical offices and/or laboratories. In each case, a thick folder appears on the counter or desk, with what I imagine is my life story including all my measurements and vital statistics right down to my temperature.

At every appointment, I’ve been asked the same questions: name, address, work and home phones, etc. Blood is drawn. Temperature and blood pressure checked. I’ve had so many needles that if a police officer looked at my arms they’d surely be suspicious. The list of routine medications I take has been memorized like a nursery rhyme so I can reel it off at a moment’s notice.

It boggles my mind that with all of the technological advances in the last several decades, one major file isn’t readily available via the touch of a computer keyboard.

The patient has to be on his or her toes and take notes from each appointment so that coordination of information really takes place. I wonder sometimes if these very special specialists talk with each other. Instead of asking all the same questions and taking more vials of blood to be tested, I expect them to type in my name and see my life story right there on the screen!

There was a time, and most of you can remember those days, when one doctor served all needs. He (it was always a man) treated measles and delivered babies. He had machines in his office and didn’t have to send you anywhere – except, on rare occasions, to the hospital. He could fix a broken bone and treat pneumonia. He knew your family and therefore, knew more about you than you did. He had evening office hours and seemed to be on call 24 hours a day.

The family doctor was the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, the pediatrician and the eye, ear, nose and throat man. One doctor we had in Windham was also the hunting companion of my late father. I remember one November when my father and the family doctor were deer hunting and my mother went into labor and had to call a “substitute” to the house to deliver my sister. Everything worked out fine; by the end of the day we had a new baby and also a deer. I don’t think my dad and the doctor went hunting together again, but they did spend a lot of time fishing.

It’s a little off-putting today to have four or five medical professionals, each with their own specialty, each with their own personality and each, of course, far away from the hometown. Our town’s rescue personnel handle emergencies because appointments for what we may consider an emergency need to be made so far ahead and some things just can’t wait.

Along with your driver’s license, Social Security card, and Medicare card, it’s a good idea to carry a card listing the medications you take and have it ready to show at every appointment. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have a list of your various doctors and their phone numbers. And do you know the medical history of your siblings and parents?

In this day of advanced technology, we have to be prepared.