Social Media and the Internet

For the past 6 years I have been chasing a medical diagnosis for our daughter. I have probably read over 10,000 medical articles, journals and healthcare websites during this time. There is no one more interested in solving your medical mystery than you and without the investment of time on your part the mystery can only be solved in the limited time you have in front of a doctor. 

Here are a Couple of Tips:

• Search – Simply type in all your symptoms into a search engine and see what appears. Personally Google has helped me.
  
• Start Reading – You will come up with thousands of places to search but you can’t just read one article and make assumptions. Reading multiple articles will guide you but relying on limited information can stifle you. Read, read, read.
  
• Credible Sources - Make sure you pull the information from credible sources. If you aren’t sure research that too.
  
• Blogs - Read Blogs from other Patients who may have similar symptoms. You may even be able to post a question or share your story for feedback.
  
• Know your Case – Guessing will not solve your case. Make sure you are referencing solid information when making a suggestion to your doctor. In other words – don’t just take a list of possible conditions to your doctor and ask them if any of them fit. Really dig into the condition and cross references lab results, medical history, family history and symptoms. Then ask yourself – do all of these things possibly fit my situation?
  
• Diagnosis? You think you have figured it out: Present the information to your doctor as if you were a medical student presenting a case. Explain your position, have visual aids that support your position and cross reference the information you pulled from the internet.
  
• Keep Track – Once you have eliminated a possible condition keep track. The longer your case stretches out the more you forget over time. Keep a running list of all the conditions that you’ve marked off so you don’t have to go back to that one time and time again.
  

Good Luck!