A bring-this sheet is one page you fill in before a clinician visit or a careful health conversation with an AI assistant. It holds dated observations, facts you already know, and the questions you want answered. It turns scattered notes into something the other side can use in the first few minutes. It is not a diagnosis sheet, and it does not try to reach a conclusion for anyone.
This page is for anyone getting ready for one of those conversations, for themselves or for someone they care for. The template is at the bottom. The sections above explain why each part is there, so you can cut what you do not need.
The problem a sheet solves
Most visits are short. Most AI chats start cold. In both cases, the first part of the conversation goes to rebuilding context: when did it start, what else is going on, what are you taking, what have you already tried. If you rebuild that from memory on the spot, the answers come out vague, out of order, or colored by the worst day of the week.
A sheet moves that work to before the conversation, when you have time and can check dates. Then the conversation can start on the real question.
If Alzheimer’s and ADHD are both part of the picture, two pages fit specific cases. If you care for someone with Alzheimer’s while living with ADHD yourself, see When Alzheimer’s care and ADHD share one household day. If both conditions are your own, see When Alzheimer’s and ADHD live in the same body: prep before you speak. This page is the general-purpose sheet.
What goes on the sheet, and why
1. One line of purpose. Write why you are having this conversation, in one sentence. “I want to understand why my sleep changed in the last month” is more useful than a list of ten complaints. It tells the other side where to look first.
2. A timeline of observations. Dated lines, oldest first. Each line says what you noticed and when, in plain words. “3 Sep: woke at 03:00, could not get back to sleep. Since then, four or five nights a week.” Avoid labels you have not been given by a clinician. The timeline is the core of the sheet. Dates let the other side see order and pace, which memory tends to flatten.
3. What changed around the same time. New job hours, travel, a move, a new device, a change in household routine, a new prescription someone else started. You are not claiming any of these caused anything. You are putting them on the same page so they can be considered.
4. Facts already known. Current medicines and supplements exactly as on the label, with the dose and timing as prescribed or as taken. Known diagnoses, with who gave them and roughly when. Allergies. Recent test results you have on paper. These are facts, not guesses. If you are unsure, write “unsure” rather than filling the gap.
5. Sleep and load notes. A rough picture of the last two weeks: hours slept, how many nights were broken, how heavy the workload or caregiving load was. Wearable or home-device numbers can go here, labeled with the device and date range. Raw numbers are fine. You do not need to interpret them.
6. What you have already tried. What you did, when you started, when you stopped, and what you noticed after. Keep the order. “Stopped coffee after 14:00 from 10 Sep; no clear change by 24 Sep” is more useful than “tried cutting caffeine.”
7. Questions. Three at most, ranked. Write them as real questions. If time runs out, the first one is the one you still get answered.
8. What you will take away. Leave space to write down what you were told, any next steps the clinician set, and when to follow up. For an AI conversation, note what you want to verify with a clinician later.
What stays off the sheet
- Self-diagnosis. “I think I have X” can go in the questions section as “Could this be X?” It should not be written as a finding.
- Instructions to yourself or others. The sheet records. It does not prescribe.
- Every detail you have ever noticed. If a line does not help answer your top question, cut it. One page is the limit for a reason.
- Identifying details you do not need to share, especially in an AI chat. Ages, dates, and circumstances usually help. Full names, addresses, and ID numbers usually do not.
Same sheet, two rooms
The facts on the sheet do not change between a clinician visit and an AI conversation. How you present them may. That difference is the subject of Same facts, two frames: talking to a clinician vs another AI. Fill in the sheet once, then use that page to adapt it.
A note on scope: this sheet is yours. It is not Life Node, and Life Node is not a place that stores your history for you. Life Node is a module for the AI agent you already use. It indexes other people’s shared, anonymous experience as perspective, and it does not advise or diagnose (why that boundary holds). A clear sheet simply makes any conversation, with any helper, start in a better place.
Takeaway: the bring-this template
Copy this block into a note or print it. Fill it in the day before.
BRING-THIS SHEET Prepared on: ____
For: [ ] clinician visit [ ] AI conversation Date: ____
1. PURPOSE (one sentence)
______________________________________________
2. TIMELINE OF OBSERVATIONS (oldest first; what + when)
[date] ________________________________________
[date] ________________________________________
[date] ________________________________________
3. WHAT CHANGED AROUND THE SAME TIME (no causes claimed)
[date] ________________________________________
4. FACTS ALREADY KNOWN
Medicines / supplements (as on label; dose + timing as prescribed):
- ____________________________________________
Diagnoses already given (by whom, approx. when):
- ____________________________________________
Allergies: ______ Recent results on paper: ______
5. SLEEP AND LOAD (last 2 weeks)
Sleep: ____ h/night typical; broken nights: ____
Work / caregiving load: ______________________
Device data (device, dates): __________________
6. ALREADY TRIED (what, start date, stop date, what was noticed after)
- ____________________________________________
7. QUESTIONS (max 3, ranked)
1) ___________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________
3) ___________________________________________
8. TAKEAWAY (fill in during / after)
What I was told: ______________________________
Next steps set by the clinician: _______________
To verify with a clinician (after AI chat): ____
This page is general information about preparing for a conversation. It is not medical advice. Diagnosis and treatment decisions belong with qualified clinicians.