RESOURCE VAULT
Patient Toolkit & Resources
Where Patients and Caregivers Become the Safeguards
Modern medicine is complex, fast-paced, and often overwhelming. For patients and families navigating serious illness, it can feel like the system speaks a different language—full of euphemisms, fine print, and rushed decisions. The Resource Vault was created to change that.
This collection of downloadable tools transforms passive participation into active protection. Whether you're facing a diagnosis, preparing for a consult, questioning treatment escalation, or trying to make sense of your rights—this vault equips you to proceed with confidence, clarity, and control.
Each resource is built around a specific challenge patients face, and every document includes a ready-to-use read-aloud phrase—a sentence you can speak in real time to assert your priorities, request verification, or slow the process for safety. From decoding medical doublespeak to ensuring safe chemotherapy handling, these forms are designed to shift the power back into your hands.
This is not just paperwork. It’s a patient protection system.
Use these tools to:
Translate jargon into plain terms.
Pause high-risk treatments until risks are verified.
Ensure true informed consent, especially for trials.
Track decisions, costs, and records.
Anchor your care around your values—not just protocols.
Whether you’re a patient, caregiver, or advocate, this vault is your field guide. It doesn’t replace your medical team—it strengthens your voice within it.
Resource Vault Structure
Complete library of checklists, scripts, and templates. Each item includes a version stamp and last updated date. Changes are logged on the site’s Changelog.
R1 · Consent Decoder — Read-aloud translation of consent language; checkboxes for risks, alternatives, and off-label disclosures.
R2 · Doublespeak Keys — Quick glossary to reframe clinical euphemisms into plain, decision-ready terms.
R3 · Diagnostic Verification Checklist — Pre-treatment gate: second pathology, molecular profile, and imaging prerequisites.
R4 · Pathology Re-Review Request Kit — Scripts, forms, and chain-of-custody steps to obtain blocks/slides and request independent review.
R5 · Clinical Trial Readiness Sheet — Questions, eligibility prompts, and “stop rules” for trial participation.
R6 · Pause Protocol (Pre-Procedure Stop) — One-page “Is the diagnosis verified?” gate + safety stop if evidence is missing or contradictory.
R7 · Surveillance Sanity Check — Match biomarkers/imaging to disease; replace unreliable markers rather than repeat them.
R8 · HIPEC Risk Assessment Template — Side-by-side harms/benefits, ICU/complication rates, and alternatives; includes opt-out language.
R9 · Safety-in-Clinic Checklist (Cytotoxic Handling) OHSE-aligned PPE/engineering controls for infusion areas; patient & caregiver prompts.
R10 · Prior-Auth & Appeal Letter (Mad-Lib Template)
Purpose: give patients a plug-and-play letter to push or pause.
Openers (pick one):
“Given unresolved pathology, I am requesting a temporary hold on prior authorization until independent verification is complete.”
“This appeal includes medical necessity for [ALT OPTION] with citations in Appendix __; please expedite review.”
R11 · Post-Visit Summary & Paper-Trail Email
Purpose: memorialize what changed (or didn’t).
Subject: “Summary of today’s plan—verification pending”
Body (2–3 sentences): who said what, decisions conditional on verification, requested documents, requested timelines.
R12 · Financial Toxicity Snapshot (One-Pager)
Purpose: quantify the burden you describe in Ch. 9.
Fields: direct costs to date, OOP max, time off work, caregiver hours, travel/lodging, projected next 90 days; space for “what costs are avoided if we wait?”
R13 · Pause-Consent / Stop-Work Authority Notice
Purpose: create a formal “we’re pausing escalation until verification” record.
Read-aloud: “Consent follows comprehension. We’re pausing all escalation until diagnosis and options are verified.”
Core fields: date; decision(s) being paused; missing items (2nd pathology, molecular report, guideline status, price); requested timeline for responses; signatures (clinician/patient).
R14 · Second-Opinion Pathology & Tissue Release Request
Purpose: get slides/blocks out for independent review without friction.
Read-aloud: “Please release all slides/blocks and pathology reports to the named lab for independent review.”
Core fields: specimen IDs; dates; originating path dept contact; destination lab; courier details; confirmation checkbox that original tissue will be compared to new biopsy at recurrence.
R15 · Mid-Course Surgical Confirmation Trigger (When/If)
Purpose: pre-agree on the exact trigger to confirm pathology mid-treatment.
Read-aloud: “If markers/pathology are discordant or benefit is uncertain by cycle X, we will schedule surgical confirmation before further escalation.”
Core fields: option set; cycle/date trigger; specific tests/imaging; stop-rules; who decides; scheduled hold window; documentation route to tumor board.
R16 · Interview-Mindset Visit Planner
Purpose: flip appointments from passive to investigative.
Read-aloud: “We’ll need evidence, absolute numbers, and all reasonable alternatives in writing.”
Core fields: top 5 questions; “evidence requested” checklist (guidelines, absolute benefit, risks, costs, conflicts); space for answers; red-flags; follow-ups; next-steps.
R17 · Decision Matrix & Stop-Rules (Per Option)
Purpose: compare options on one page and pre-define when to stop.
Read-aloud: “Please fill the absolute benefit, serious risk %, monitoring burden, cost, and stop-rules for each option—including waiting.”
Core fields: table of options vs: OS/PFS/QoL (absolute), AE ≥ Grade 3 %, monitoring cadence, direct costs (est.), conflicts, stop-rules, re-eval dates.
R18 · Values, Boundaries, and Goals Statement (Patient Voice)
Purpose: anchor all decisions in what matters to the patient—on paper.
Read-aloud: “These are my priorities and boundaries. Recommendations should align or explain the mismatch.”