I have a message base locally called "The Doctor Is In".
Every 3 days, I have several posts (that recycle every 90
days) on several medical topics. They are not meant to
replace advice from your own PCP or specialist, but it would
add some traffic to this echo. I would like to know if it's
OK to post these before I proceed.

Daryl

... Deja Poo: What happens prepping for a colonoscopy.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)

Hi, Daryl! Recently you wrote in a message to All:

I have a message base locally called "The Doctor Is In".
Every 3 days, I have several posts (that recycle every 90
days) on several medical topics. They are not meant to
replace advice from your own PCP or specialist, but it
would add some traffic to this echo. I would like to know
if it's OK to post these before I proceed.

Thank you for your interest & continued support of this echo. When you asked a similar question a couple of years ago, I replied as follows (and feel much the same way now):



CUT HERE O/ _ _ _ _
O\

I've been so busy with taking care of my elderly Mom, then
doctors things for myself, that I haven't had the time to
get those topics from "The Doctor Is In" into the echo.

I can relate. Dallas & I have been so busy with taking care of our daughter that we don't answer as often as we'd like to. We do appreciate the input we get from readers like you who seem to keep coming back, though. :-)

In looking at what I had (it's not all inclusive), but
several topics are covered (noted below), with messages
split into several parts.

For various reasons, I also split long messages.

I recycle them every 30 days (I feel that messages
older than 30 days are no longer timely). Would that
be "overkill", or should I try to spread them out to
posting a message twice a week??

In this particular echo I think it would be "overkill" to post more than one or two such articles each month. Although we could use more traffic here & they may interest many of our readers, I wouldn't want to see messages overlooked amid a slew of material written by third parties.... :-Q

It seems to me that readers here often have difficult & potentially time-consuming situations to deal with. They may also be less likely to read &/or respond to these articles if they get too many within a very short time. But Dallas & I have a lot to say to people who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, e.g., and can't be bothered learning to use a machine which might save their lives... or who don't recognize the symptoms. SURVIVOR is an attitude, not a diagnosis. What really gets me interested in some medical condition is that somebody I care about has it... or, failing that, how they deal with it. Years ago I read a book written by a nurse in which she spoke of a young girl who didn't really understand why she was in hospital, but accepted it because her mother was there. I don't recall now whether the nurse specified why she was in hospital. What matters AFAIC isn't so much the diagnosis but the fact that Dallas & I were there for our daughter when she was in hospital, and I'm very glad to report that she's still alive & kicking twenty years later. The odds weren't so favourable in those days... and a lot of her ward mates died.

I did the research off of the WebMD website
(http://www.webmd.com), on various topics for
several topics for both males and females,

Sounds like a reputable source, which is always a concern in echoes like this one, and I like the idea of including both males & females.... :-)

Are there any copyright restrictions on the material, BTW? I think that's something we need to be careful about... particularly if you intend to post entire articles from this site. Some people get around such problems by quoting a few brief excerpts & saying "You can read the rest at [blah blah]."

Breast Problems (both men and women can get breast cancer)

I knew that... but a lot of others don't. People need to know it's not just elderly, overweight men who have heart attacks or sleep apnea & it's not just large-breasted middle-aged women who have breast cancer. Spread the word, my friend... just do it gradually enough that even I can keep up. :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

Ardith,

Thank you for your interest & continued support of this echo.
When you asked a similar question a couple of years ago, I replied as follows (and feel much the same way now):

Well, someone posted out the policy with items from WebMD, and even
though I was giving credit to them (like doing such with doing a term
paper in college), I decided it was better not do do it.

I can relate. Dallas & I have been so busy with taking care
of our daughter that we don't answer as often as we'd like to. We do appreciate the input we get from readers like you who seem to keep
coming back, though. :-)

This is one of my favorite echoes. Years ago, there was another medical
echo "Ask A Nurse" on the FIDONet backbone, but it disappeared long ago.

For various reasons, I also split long messages.

Maybe not so much now, but some readers or BBS programs may "choke"
on long messages.

In this particular echo I think it would be "overkill" to
post more than one or two such articles each month. Although we could
use more traffic here & they may interest many of our readers, I
wouldn't want to see messages overlooked amid a slew of material
written by third parties.... :-Q

As noted above, I decided not to do it. Folks can look it up on the
WebMD site. I do have it locally, though.

It seems to me that readers here often have difficult & potentially time-consuming situations to deal with. They may also be
less likely to read &/or respond to these articles if they get too many within a very short time. But Dallas & I have a lot to say to people
who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, e.g., and can't be bothered learning to use a machine which might save their lives... or who don't recognize the symptoms. SURVIVOR is an attitude, not a diagnosis.

This is true. With the darn sinus attacks, and hacking right after I
eat, and at bedtime, I can't wear a CPAP mask. They did allergy tests
on me, and have no idea why I have the problems.

What really gets me interested in some medical condition is that
somebody I care about has it... or, failing that, how they deal with
it. Years ago I read a book written by a nurse in which she spoke of a young girl who didn't really understand why she was in hospital, but accepted it because her mother was there. I don't recall now whether
the nurse specified why she was in hospital. What matters AFAIC isn't
so much the diagnosis but the fact that Dallas & I were there for our daughter when she was in hospital, and I'm very glad to report that
she's still alive & kicking twenty years later. The odds weren't so favourable in those days... and a lot of her ward mates died.

Arkansas Urology is doing a big deal on "Men's Health" in the coming
weeks, especially in screenings for prostate cancer. While I have BPH
(enlarged prostate, part of growing old), there's no sign of cancer.

Sounds like a reputable source, which is always a concern in echoes like this one, and I like the idea of including both males & females.... :-)

Before my wife died 13 1/2 years ago, I had a separate mens and ladies area...The Barber Shop for the men...and The Beauty Shop for the ladies.
They were separate areas where I didn't look at the women's area, and
she didn't look at the men's area. I know some get paranoid of having
other folks see topics...but at least I could set the poster's ID to
anonymous.

Are there any copyright restrictions on the material, BTW? I think that's something we need to be careful about... particularly if
you intend to post entire articles from this site. Some people get
around such problems by quoting a few brief excerpts & saying "You can read the rest at [blah blah]."

I decided not to do it...folks can look at WebMD and other related
sites for the info.

Breast Problems (both men and women can get breast cancer)

I knew that... but a lot of others don't. People need to
know it's not just elderly, overweight men who have heart attacks or
sleep apnea & it's not just large-breasted middle-aged women who have breast cancer. Spread the word, my friend... just do it gradually
enough that even I can keep up. :-))

The top 5 cancer killers (I don't think a single family has escaped
the scourge) are:

1) Heart Disease (men and women)
2) Breast Cancer (men and women)
3) Colon Cancer (men and women)
4) Prostate Cancer (men)
5) Cervical and Uterine Cancer (women)

I don't know of anyone who likes a colonoscopy, especially the prep work...but if I want to keep from getting colon cancer, I'm going to do
it. My next one is in April.

Daryl

... Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Naked.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)