Keep It Together Care

How to use this guide

Just Diagnosed: What Happens Next?

This pack helps you through the first days after a diagnosis: writing down what you were actually told, keeping the contacts, results and next steps in one place, and taking your questions to the next appointment. It doesn't explain what a diagnosis means for you; your clinical team does that.

Get the free guide

On a phone, tablet or computer

Fill it in by typing

  1. Download the PDF from your email or from the download page.
  2. Open it in a PDF app that supports forms, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (free on computers, phones and tablets).
  3. Tap a box and type. Tick boxes tick with one tap.
  4. Save the file. Your answers stay in your copy; nothing is sent to Keep It Together Care.

On paper

Print it and write by hand

  1. Print it on A4. The rows and boxes are sized for handwriting.
  2. Copy names, dates and numbers exactly as they appear on letters, labels and reports.
  3. Keep it somewhere easy to reach, and take the pages you need to appointments.

Video walkthrough

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A short video showing how to fill in this guide is on its way.

Common questions

Do I need to fill it all in now?
No. Start with "What I was actually told", your main contact and the next appointment. The rest can wait until you need it.
What if I didn't understand what I was told?
Write down the words you heard, as closely as you can, and add them to your questions for the next appointment. "What is confirmed, and what is still unknown" helps you keep the two apart.
Should I write down treatment options?
Only what the team discussed, in their words. The pack records options; it doesn't compare them or suggest one.
I typed into it, but my answers had gone when I opened it again. Why?
Some previews, such as a browser tab or an email preview, can't save answers in a form. Download the PDF first, open it in a PDF app that supports forms, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, then save.
Is anything I write sent anywhere?
No. The PDF doesn't send your answers to Keep It Together Care or to anyone else. They stay in the file on your device, or on your paper copy.

What’s inside

  • Start here: you do not need to organise everything today
  • What I was actually told
  • Confirmed and still unknown
  • Contacts and my team
  • Diagnosis facts, as given
  • Tests and results
  • Questions and the next appointment
  • Treatment options discussed
  • Next actions and owners
  • First-week checklist
  • Family and communication
  • Support and next packs

Practical organisation, not medical advice. Your own care team’s advice always comes first. See all free help