Keep a Symptom Journal That Supports Your Spinal Cord Injury Claim

If you were hurt in a crash and think your spinal cord was injured, your own notes may matter as much as your scans. This guide explains how to document spinal cord injury symptoms for a claim in New Mexico, one day at a time.

The short answer: keep a dated pain and symptom journal, record what you feel and what you can no longer do, and keep it next to your medical records. The journal supports your medical care. It does not replace it.

What a Pain and Symptom Journal Is, and What It Can and Cannot Do

A pain and symptom journal is a dated personal record of how your body feels and what daily tasks you can still do. It sits alongside medical care, not in place of it.

Your doctors’ notes, imaging, and test results form the clinical record. The journal adds the day-to-day picture those records often miss, such as pain that flares at night or a hand that drops things by afternoon.

The injured person can keep the journal. So can a spouse, parent, or other family member who helps with daily tasks. Note who wrote each entry.

In a claim, the journal is one kind of evidence among several. It works best with medical records, photos, and witness details. Plain, factual notes are easier to follow than dramatic ones.

Starting the Journal in the First Days After the Accident

Start the journal on the day of the accident, or as soon as you can after it. Early entries matter because symptoms often change over days and weeks.

Early notes capture what you felt before treatment changed it. Write the date, time, and location of the crash. Note the first symptoms you noticed at the scene or at the hospital.

Include the names of anyone who saw the crash or helped you. Their details can matter later.

New Mexico law sets reporting steps for crashes. Under NMSA 1978, § 66-7-206, a driver in a crash with bodily injury must immediately notify police, the county sheriff, or state police, depending on location.

Use a notebook or a phone app. Keep a backup copy, such as photos of each page or a cloud copy. Tell your treating doctor about the journal and bring it to visits.

What to Record Each Day: Pain, Sensation, Movement, Bladder, and Bowel

Record pain, numbness, weakness, balance, and bladder or bowel changes every day. Use the same method each time so the entries line up.

Rate pain on a 0 to 10 scale. Note the time, the body area, and the type of pain, such as burning, sharp, or aching.

Track numbness, tingling, and weakness by body area, like left hand or right foot. Write when each change started and whether it is better, worse, or the same.

Note spasms, stiffness, balance trouble, and falls. For each fall, write what you were doing and what you reached for.

Bladder, bowel, and sexual function changes are common concerns after spinal injuries. Record them factually and privately, with dates. Your doctor needs these details too.

Log how you slept and how often pain or symptoms woke you.

Recording Lost Function and Changes to Daily Life

Write down what you could do before the injury, what you can do now, and how much help you need. This is often the clearest picture of how the injury changed your life.

Pick everyday tasks: dressing, cooking, driving, lifting a laundry basket, climbing stairs, or walking to the mailbox. Note which ones have changed and how.

For help from family or friends, write the task, the helper’s name, and how long it took. A caregiver can keep this log too.

Note any wheelchair, walker, brace, or grab bar you use. Write the date you first needed each one.

Describe emotional effects in your own words. If you sought counseling or support, note the date and the provider’s name. Specific examples are easier to follow than general words like “bad days.”

Tracking Appointments, Treatment, Medications, Work, and Costs

Log every appointment, medication, missed workday, and out-of-pocket cost with its date. Small gaps in these records can make a claim harder to follow.

For each visit, note the provider’s name, what was discussed, and any new instructions. Bring this list to your next appointment.

List every medication and therapy. Include the dose, start date, and any side effects you noticed.

Record missed work, reduced hours, or pay changes, with dates. Keep pay stubs or a written note from your employer.

Keep receipts for copays, prescriptions, equipment, and mileage to appointments.

Keep a file of every letter from an insurance company. Write down the date, the caller’s name, and what was said.

Keeping the Journal Alongside Medical Records, Photos, and Witness Information

Keep the journal with your medical records, photos, and witness details. Each one covers a different part of the story.

Ask for copies of hospital, imaging, therapy, and other treating providers’ records as they become available. Those records carry the clinical detail: diagnoses, test results, and what doctors wrote.

Photograph visible injuries, bruises, braces, and equipment. Include the date. Photograph the vehicles and scene if you can.

Gather the accident report and the names and phone numbers of witnesses. Under NMSA 1978, § 66-7-213, accident reports made by people involved are for confidential use. The statute generally bars using them as evidence at trial, with listed exceptions. Your journal is a different kind of record.

Link each journal entry to a record where you can. For example: “Hand numbness, March 3; therapy note from the same day.”

Later symptoms can still connect to a crash. Clear, early notes help show that link.

Accuracy, Privacy, and Common Mistakes to Avoid

Write each entry the same day when you can, and date it. Never erase or rewrite a past entry.

If you write an entry late, label it as written later. To add something you missed, make a new, dated correction.

Describe symptoms honestly and specifically. Exaggerating and minimizing both cause trouble later, because the other side will compare your entries with your records.

Do not use the journal to diagnose yourself or change treatment. Ask your doctor before changing medications, exercise, or activity limits.

Assume the journal may be requested during a claim. Write only what you are comfortable sharing with your lawyer, your doctors, and the other side.

Early contact can add pressure. Under NMSA 1978, § 41-1-1, during the first fifteen days, a person whose interest is adverse to an injured patient may not negotiate a settlement, seek a general release, or obtain a written or oral statement from that patient for use in negotiating a settlement or obtaining a release. That applies when the patient is under medical care or in a hospital. Talk with a lawyer before you sign anything in those first days.

Talking With a New Mexico Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

A free, confidential first consultation can help you decide how to use your journal and records. The consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue.

Josh Wood is the responsible lawyer for this page. He is licensed in New Mexico and Arizona. El Gringo Law represents people hurt in accidents across New Mexico, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Our Albuquerque spinal cord injury lawsuit guide explains how these claims move forward. Our catastrophic injury guide explains which injuries fall into that category.

Common Questions

Is a symptom journal evidence in a New Mexico injury claim? It can be part of the evidence, along with medical records and other documents. It works best when it matches what your doctors record.

Does an offer to pay my medical bills prove fault? Under Rule 11-409 NMRA, an offer to pay medical bills generally cannot be used to prove liability for the injury.

Does New Mexico still use comparative negligence? Yes. Under the UJI 13-2218 comparative negligence instruction, where comparative negligence is an issue and there is no apportionment of negligence among defendants or non-parties, a jury reduces the injured person’s damages by that person’s percentage of negligence.

How long do I have to file? Under NMSA 1978, § 37-1-8, the general deadline for an injury to the person is three years.

If you’re tracking symptoms after a spinal cord injury and sorting through records alone, you don’t have to face the claim by yourself. We can talk through your journal in a free, confidential first consultation. Reach Josh Wood and the El Gringo Law team through the contact page or by chat.

Frequently Asked Questions