My Kidney Stone Journey Online
September 18, 2007 by Pablo Palatnik
About a month ago I was home and felt a pain like I never have before. I thought it was a real bad stomach ache but the pain was so unusual to me that it scared me a bit…I felt I couldn’t breath from the pain after a while.
It went on for 15 minutes and stopped. Came back…and stopped. I was taken to the hospital 3 days later. They found blood in the urine and the doc was sure it I had a kidney stone.
I went to the specialist (urologist) to find out what we I can do to get this thing out of my body. He told me the only thing I can really do is drink lots of fluids and wait OR said surgery would be the other best option. SURGERY? That quick you diagnose the problem so intense that you suggest surgery?
There have been many articles in the past month actually that I recall reading about the the web being used more for medical and health reasons than almost any other form of research, etc. Why? Our health is the most important aspect of our lives. Websites such as WebMD have tremendous amounts of content on all types of diseases and the traffic they drive is incredible, and well deserved.
The internet was my #1 friend during this whole process (besides friends and family) who also used the internet to help me find out about diet changes, etc. The doc might as well have told me, “go and google kidney stones†and that would have been more satisfying. Paying hundreds of dollars for someone to tell you nothing can really tick you off…especially when the best source of information is free online. From the misfortune of having this kidney stone, also came a new born business idea that is related to it that I may roll out. If I do…I’ll post it.
NOW…don’t be fooled by all content online. There are many trying to scare you with crazy stories exaggerating experiences but you learn to distinguish good content from bad content…especially if you’re a regular surfer, by the way a site looks, etc.
For anyone going through any health issues, all the info you need is here…free…and always…always…stay positive.
Reading through some good articles, one just came out today on MarketingVox, “Nine of 10 Women Online Seek Health Info via Web.” It has some really good statistics:
-23.5 percent of respondents say they have clicked on a prescription or OTC drug/remedy ad
-78.1 percent of respondents use the internet to gather health information.
-90.1 percent of women age 25-34 search for health information online.
-45.2 percent of respondents say the internet is the primary source of health information
-Women more than men use the internet as their primary household health resource: 49.9 percent vs. 40.3 percent.
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Comments (2)
A few years ago, I had what I believed to be a kidney stone, and the doctor I was seeing actually used her blackberry to look up kidney stone symptoms while I was sitting with her.
That’s just proof that some online health content is worthwhile. Although it’s disturbing as well, because doctors may not know as much as they should.
Thanks for the Internet as a Health Information Resource stats.
Ash-
I agree with you 100%. After my experience I actually learned that the internet may be a better resource to find out what you may have than the actual doctor.
not to say you shouldn’t go to the doctor, but I think you can find out more online…I really do. Then talk to your doctor about what you found out, etc…and they can make some determinations from there.