I started to search the internet for blogs and social media, mainly to support my idea of blogs being a waste of time. I have finally found a reason to blog!
I found a story of baby Abby. When her parents, the Leach's, went in to the hospital for their sonogram the doctors noticed a malformation of her jaw. The doctors had no diagnosis or explanations, so the parents turned to the internet and social media. They performed search after search online for similar cases. The Leach's wanted to be more educated on the subject matter in order to have a better conversation with the doctors at the next meeting. Once the group met and had a concrete diagnosis of CCMS, Cerebrocostomandibular Syndrome, the Leach's again turned to the internet. This time they turned to the social media side. Mrs. Leach blogged about Abby's condition and even found connections with other families in similar conditions. The blogging has allowed the family to cope with their daughters condition, share their story, and ultimately given the family hope!
I finally have an understanding of how blogging can be used and more importantly be used with importance. My title, the pharmacy ladder, is ironic because as I go through this process of learning about social media, I am slowly climbing the ladder of social media enlightenment.
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/04/after-grim-diagnosis-parents-turn-to-internet-social-networks/?test=latestnews
I'm kinda of surprised that the doctors didn't have a diagnosis initially, but its good that the family was able to blog, people responded and that gave a direction to identifying the condition. Its unbelievable how something as simple as blogging can open up doors that were otherwise closed.
ReplyDeleteIt seems more and more these days people are turning to the internet to better understand their medical conditions or a loved ones medical condition. I also wonder if some people do this because the doubt the doctors initial diagnosis. I understand that doctors can not possibly know every medical condition out there, even though television makes it seem that way in shows like House. I believe that doctors may even use the internet and medical journals accessed through the internet to help them better diagnose their patients. On the other end it is truly amazing how blogging helped these parents find hope and comfort and were able to find support from other parents who had children with the same condition. What I think would be awesome is that maybe doctors could have a blogging website that puts a patients symptoms, labs, etc, while remaining HIPPA friendly, and ask other doctors to help with the diagnosis of complicated conditions that are difficult to diagnose.
ReplyDelete