From Passenger to Pilot: How Lisa took Charge of her Cancer Care
DIY recording from day one
At a Glance:
Lisa went from scrambling to remember medical details to confidently advocating for herself. By using Neatly to record, organize, and revisit her appointments, she uncovered overlooked information, asked sharper questions, and finally felt heard and taken seriously by her care team.
When Lisa was diagnosed with lymphoma two years ago, she knew immediately that she wouldn't be able to remember everything her doctors told her. So from her very first appointment, she started recording on her iPhone.
Then she got more sophisticated. She began transcribing those recordings and running them through ChatGPT and Claude to help make sense of it all.
"It was really clunky though," she says. "I was copying and pasting between apps, trying to piece together my own system."
When she found Neatly, it felt like someone had finally built what she'd been trying to hack together herself.
Actually being present
The biggest change? Lisa can finally focus during her appointments.
"Before, I was so focused on trying to remember drug names or writing down every detail that I wasn't really listening," she explains. "Now I know the recording has it, so I can focus on the conversation."
She's also become a much better advocate for herself. She uses Neatly to generate questions before appointments, and her doctors have noticed.
"One of them actually said to me, 'You're not the typical patient. You've clearly done your homework.'"
The conversation she completely forgot
Lisa decided to upload over two years of her old recordings into Neatly to create a comprehensive medical history. When she went back through them with the AI, she discovered something she had completely missed.
Her hematologist had specifically said she needs her kidney transplant donor and bone marrow transplant donor to be the same person. But when she'd brought this up with other providers, they thought it was irrelevant or unnecessary.
"I had forgotten or missed it altogether," Lisa says. The old recording had been sitting there the whole time, but it wasn't until she uploaded it to Neatly that it extracted that information and included it in the summary.
Armed with that validation, she was able to go back to the other providers and make the specific request, knowing it was in fact what her hematologist had recommended.
"That's the kind of thing that could have blindsided me," she says. "Having everything in one place where I can search it and ask questions changes everything."
A seat at the table
Lisa used to feel intimidated questioning doctors. Not anymore.
"They take me more seriously now. When I come in with specific, educated questions, they give me more detailed explanations. They don't talk down to me.”
She pauses. "It's like I've earned a seat at the table in my own care."
No more repeating herself
Lisa also uses Neatly to create summaries for her mother, who worries and would ask many questions after every appointment.
"Now I can send her a clear summary and she feels informed without me having to repeat everything. It's helped our communication a lot."
Take charge of your healthcare
Curious about Neatly? The best way to get started is to simply download and start chatting and recording your appointments. It’s easy to use, and it’s free.
