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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that if you consider a medical problem to be URGENT you find someone else to consult about it other than Mumsnet?

82 replies

nameymcnamechange · 13/11/2010 22:50

Gawd knows I love Mumsnet and I think it is populated by fab people.

But if you were seriously worried about someone in your family, why would you post here for advice? Wouldn't you phone your doctor straight away?

We're mostly a bunch of amateurs on this site and we can't see the patient...

Aibu?

OP posts:
cumfy · 13/11/2010 23:58

Some people can go into shock/denial when faced with very serious situations.

Better they come on MN, which they presumably trust, than just freeze.

wukter · 13/11/2010 23:58

outside the UK?

Bairyheaver · 13/11/2010 23:59

BTLT, unfortunately (fortunately) mastoiditis is so rare nowadays it is never considered as a diagnosis.

It took me 4 GP visits and a visit to A+E before I could get anyone to take my 3 yr old ds seriously, culminating in a stay in paeds ITU with a mastoid abcess (and I'm a paed nursing sister - I dread to think what would have happened if I wasn't confident enough to keep going back).

A1980 · 14/11/2010 00:08

TBH I've never understood it. I've entered discussions about health issues, medications, etc. But if I was genuinely concerned the last thing I'd do is ask non-medically qualified people who can't see you.

You also have no idea if the advice being given is correct and don't take into account that different things work for different people and we all have different medical backgrounds.

I've seen it happen here before but with legal advice. A lady was concerned regarding sub-standard medical treatment her mother received. She wasn't asking about how to claim but people were advising her that the hospital would want to settle and that she'd get an apology along with all the medical notes.

I am a clinical negligence and personal injury solicitor and the legal "advice" given here is mostly completely and utterly wrong. But for the layman, there's no way to know.

wukter · 14/11/2010 00:27

it's just the modern day equivelant of asking Mrs NextDoor who reared 12 of them. You still have to use your own judgement after that.

ItsAllaBitDeathlyQuiet · 14/11/2010 00:47

Agree wukter, it's just experiences required, and appreciated. No NHS here either btw.

Ironically FIL is one of 14, and has 9 of his own kids, Ex being the eldest, and I still feel like I would have to go and organise everyone.

ItsAllaBitDeathlyQuiet · 14/11/2010 00:48
cumfy · 14/11/2010 12:43

.

Mummy2Bookie · 14/11/2010 19:16

Flyingzebra-
Why would you ask for advice on how to make your child keep her hand under the water I'd she is scalded/ burnt.
YOU MAKE HER KEEP IT THERE.
I know you'll say that you cannot force her to keep it there. But if it is for her own good then. YES YOU CAN.

A1980 · 14/11/2010 20:22

Mummy2Bookie

I didn't want to say that, but that's exactly what I thought. You hold the child by the arm and keep her hand under the water even if she cries and struggles. It wont traumatise her, she wont even remember it in a few years.

It astonishes me when parents say they can't make their kids do anything. TRY!

BonniePrinceBilly · 14/11/2010 20:28

Ìt could be that you aren't in the uk and aren;t lucky enough to have a) the NHS, b) an out of hours doctor or c) an a&e that doesn't cost more money than you have?

Hmm
FoxyRevenger · 14/11/2010 20:44

Agree OP.

Although I find it even stranger when people post saying "URGENT I have to go out in FIVE MINUTES, do you think I should leave my son/daughter alone in the house?"

I mean, surely the OP already knows how she feels about letting her children stay at home alone, why come on here asking a bunch of random strangers URGENTLY Wink

flyingzebra · 14/11/2010 21:19

Ummmmm. Believe it or not, I DID actually make her keep it under the water.

I wanted help on how to do it in the least upsetting way, as brute force was upsetting us both.

Do you think I just took her hand out and watched it burn?

Weird, weird

A1980 · 14/11/2010 21:45

^ There isn't another way to do it other than force.

Now that you've had time to think about it, have you come up with another way?

flyingzebra · 14/11/2010 22:37

What? What's your point exactly? It's wrong to ask for possible advice and calm words in a stressful situation?

anonymosity · 14/11/2010 22:43

yanbu

also I see threads where I think "why don't you just google that - its faster?"

BigTeuchLittleTeuch · 14/11/2010 22:54

time for this thread to die dontcha think?...

It's purpose was clearly to draw attention to a particular thread at the ^time and not a personal attack on flyingzebra Hmm

BeerTricksPotter · 14/11/2010 22:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BigTeuchLittleTeuch · 14/11/2010 22:56

and googling medical things can be very scary for some people - would you rather that MN had no reverence Shock

Mummy2Bookie · 14/11/2010 22:59

A1980 thanks for agreeing.
Flyingzebra-
no need to shake your head. If your Childs arm in scalded or burnt then the least upsetting way is obviously to try avoid touching that particular area. If force is needed in an emergency then it is necessary.

But in an emergency how can you possibly be calm enough to log onto mn and ask for advice?

That is weird weird

Joolyjoolyjoo · 14/11/2010 23:01

I don't know, tbh. I have phoned NHS direct before and have had to wait (sometimes hours) for someone to call me back. In that situation, someone online who has had a similar problem or a bit of knowledge could help, and possibly make the decision between waiting for NHS 24/ direct to call them back or head straight to A+E- it's not always cut and dried.

flyingzebra · 14/11/2010 23:02

Well, I was already logged onto MN - the laptop was next to the sink while my DD1 was on the chair with her hand under the water.

If that's weird weird, well it's weird weird.

I'd already spoken to DH on the phone who was coming straight home.

You know what, blah blah blah. I don't know why I'm bothering to try to explain to people who are determined to invent scenarios in their own heads.

Think whatever you like, if it's that important to you to think you know what went on better than I did, then that is fine. Give yourself a little pat on the back for your superiorness.

flyingzebra · 14/11/2010 23:05

Reading back the OP I should never have replied as I wasn't seriously worried at the time, I was upset and needed reassurance but I could see that she wasn't seriously injured.

I've never seen a thread on MN where someone has responded to an emergency situation with a thread on MN rather than calling an ambulance but if it happens I'll just have to take the OP's word for it.

Jaquelinehyde · 14/11/2010 23:05

Oh God stop being such miserable mares.

People ask, it helps them, what harm does it do to you?

maighdlin · 14/11/2010 23:10

i asked a health question for my self on mn last week when i had banjaxed my foot. i wanted to know was it reasonable to suspect a broken foot and would i be justified into going to a&e.

I would ask a non-life threatening but more than trivial question here. I can't access NHS direct. Sometimes you just want a second opinion ad can be anon about it in case you are over reacting

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