Did you take the pill yet, or do you still need to take it? From antibiotics for an infection to medications for chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes to simple vitamin supplements, it can be tough to keep track.
A Pasadena mom’s battle with breast cancer led her to a simple solution. Leeanna Gantt was diagnosed in December 2017 and began a course of treatment that included six rounds of chemotherapy, seven months of infusions, surgery and 31 radiation treatments. She was in bed for five months and, to manage the side effects of these treatments, she was prescribed medications for bone pain, nausea, cough, heartburn, rashes and other reactions. All were on different schedules. Even with the help of her husband and daughter, managing the multiple medications was a challenge.
Gantt considered pill organizer boxes, but wanted to keep her medications in their original packaging. She began making labels out of sticky notes in different colors for each medication, so that she would know what she had taken and what she had not.
She continued to refine her system and, by the time she had finished her last infusion in December, had created tooktake. The tooktake labels stick directly to medication packages and feature tabs that you pull off whenever you take your medication. There are labels for daily (once or twice) doses and medicines you take multiple times a day at hourly intervals, plus a set for medicines prescribed for a set number of days.
Gantt says she places the used tabs on top of each medicine bottle so that she can easily see the last time she took something. For kids, she has also created free, fun tracking charts in the form of cute monsters. With each dose, your child can help Mort get his 14 spines, Sami get her 30 fins or Tallulah get her hair strands (all seven of them).
The labels cost $4.99 for a package of four, which could take you through several weeks’ worth of doses, or as a three-pack for $14.97. Learn more at www.hellotooktake.com.