What is More Convincing For Your Treatment Doctor’s Advice OR Your Family’s?

You probably all look a lot of articles in those dinosaurs called magazines, and newspapers. Most likely you like the written word on line much more. It seems to be the current wave. Maybe that’s why there is a thing called Kindle too. This generation likes a computer board better than a thin sheet of paper and black ink on your fingers. Me, I like to feel the papers and underline the important points of an article with a pen when I read. A computer is only a secondary thing for me. A toy. Yeah, I grew up in the dark ages when you had to do math in your head without a calculator or in the dark days when you read books. (Though not like Lincoln at the fireside, we had electric lights.)

But I do admit the web and internet have some good things about them. One excellent point is that one can obtain instant information just by typing in a word or a phrase. Heaven forbid you would have to look for something in a library in a card catalogue. Whoops. Sorry, that’s all computerized now too. Go ahead and Google it or whatever. It all comes up on Wikipedia or some magazine and article on line.

But that is the rub and what really irks me. For instance, when you read all this stuff out here in the ether, how do you decide what is valid, real, the truth or not good? Or is this is just some slob’s opinion? (Now the following is of course a good opinion because its mine.)

But getting back to being irked. A family member just came back from visiting his doctor. He had a biopsy done on an organ in his body which turned out to be a cancer. The doctor suggested a therapy. This was a very sensible, routine and conservative therapy. Did he do it? No. He went to his family for opinions. After they talked among themselves, visited the ether to obtain medical advice and opinions and consulted, at a distance of 3000 miles, a family member who was a doctor, it was decided not to do the suggested treatment.

My own experience comes from my doctor putting me on a therapy written about before. I went o the web to read more about it so I could write intelligently and give a more fact based opinion than I had on hand. What did I find? Somebody asking the blogosphere if it was right for their doctor to prescribe for them “X thousands of milligrams” or units or whatever? Another one wrote in that his very elderly mother had taken this compound and (it was a benign compound) and almost bled to death. Not that it could cause any bleeding type side effects. So you know what that meant. Another doctor screw up no doubt. Just can’t trust any of them even though they have the training and experience. Better to trust those jokers who give advice on a blog. Be serious already, would you take advice about your health from someone you don’t even know? Has no medical training? Has not examined you or seen your history and blood tests? I guess I’m still just an old dinosaur. It irks me that people can be so dumb.