The Chronic Condition Appointment Checklist: Turn 3 Months Into 15 Minutes
A chronic condition appointment can feel like a performance. You walk in carrying weeks of lived reality, and you get 10 to 15 minutes to explain it.
Most people leave thinking: I forgot the important part. I didn’t explain it well. I sounded fine even though I’m not.
This isn’t your fault. It’s a system problem. The fix is not trying to remember everything. The fix is a repeatable structure that turns daily life into a clear summary.
Not medical advice. This is planning support to help you communicate with your clinician.
The appointment prep goal
A good appointment summary answers four questions:
What changed since last time?
How bad was it, and when?
What did I try, and what happened?
What decision do I need help making now?
The 10-minute checklist (copy/paste)
Use this structure before every appointment.
1) One-line status
“In the last X weeks, I’ve had more fatigue and joint pain, and it’s affecting work and sleep.”
2) Your top 3 symptoms (with severity)
Symptom 1: ___ (0–10), frequency: ___
Symptom 2: ___ (0–10), frequency: ___
Symptom 3: ___ (0–10), frequency: ___
3) Function impact (choose one)
low impact: annoying but manageable
medium impact: changes my day
high impact: prevents normal activities
4) Timeline (3 bullets)
Week 1: “felt stable” / “started slipping”
Week 2: “bad stretch started”
Week 3: “recovered” or “still ongoing”
5) What seems linked (no overclaiming)
“I noticed symptoms often worsen after poor sleep.”
“Stress weeks tend to correlate with worse days.”
“Travel seems to trigger a slide.”
6) What you tried
tried: ___
result: better / same / worse
note: any confounders (sick week, travel, major stress event)
7) Medication and adherence notes
current meds: ___
changes since last visit: ___
any missed doses or timing issues: ___
any new side effects noticed: ___
8) Your top 3 questions
Examples:
“Based on this pattern, what should we watch next?”
“Is this within expected range for my condition or medication?”
“What are the options if this continues for another month?”
9) What you want from the visit
Pick one:
clarity on whether this pattern matters
plan for the next bad stretch
medication adjustment discussion
referrals (PT, specialist, labs)
next steps and monitoring
10) Your follow-up plan
“After this appointment, I will track X and follow up in Y weeks.”
Why this works
This format prevents the two common failures:
you spend 12 minutes narrating, then run out of time for decisions
you sound “fine” because you forgot the worst parts
Instead, you show a structured story that a clinician can use.
If you want to go one step further
Bring one sheet, not a novel:
a 3-bullet timeline
your top symptoms and function impact
your top questions
Doctors can work with that.
Theme Health is designed to generate these kinds of summaries over time. If you want early access, request it here.