“I never thought I would be creating an album like this. No one does, but here I am.” This is how I started my album description in 2019 when I created my breast cancer journey album in FOREVER. If you or a loved one have ever found yourself in a health situation, keeping everyone updated can become quite exhausting. The texts, emails, phone calls, and social media posts are just too much! While in this whirlwind, I needed a way to keep track of all the information for my own records.

I created two FOREVER albums, one to tell my story and one private album to keep track of medical documents. Like pages created on care sites, I figured using a FOREVER album would be great way to keep everyone up to date with the added benefit of keeping my journey in a safe place that I could refer to. I uploaded photos, videos, and digital scrapbook pages created in FOREVER Artisan to keep people informed.

I am so grateful that I started that album, because in February 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer again. I was able to pick up where I had left off and continue to tell my story. The letters, cards, and stories I saved five years ago have served as encouragement to me again now.

To view my personal journey, visit my album here.

My friend’s son has a very rare autoimmune condition. They’ve traveled from California to Washington, DC many times over the last year and needed one private location to organize all their documents. She put her son’s medical records in a FOREVER album, while using nested albums to keep his records organized, portable, and sharable.

When I asked her how it helped her this year she replied, “It has been life changing. Your timing is perfect. I just got off the phone with SSI, trying to get supplemental insurance for him. They needed all his medical records. I just sent over my album with 22 nested albums. They can access everything. I have used this countless times since I organized everything while he was at the National Institute of Health. The patient portal is good but has so much that I do not need. Just when you think you will not need the records for anything else, you need it all. I was tired of digging every time. I am also going to scan my daily journals soon of our journey. Thank you for sharing FOREVER with me!”

Read about my friend’s story here.

Hopefully, by sharing my album, you’ll be able to learn how to walk alongside those going through a similar situation. If you, yourself, have walked through a health struggle, you may also benefit from creating an album in FOREVER that documents your journey and what you learned along the way.

– Paula