My urologist tells me not to go to the internet for information about the bladder cancer I have had for?
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at
7:56 am
SCOTTYO asked:
26 years. Why do you think he does this?
26 years. Why do you think he does this?
Tagged with: Bladder Cancer • Internet Information • Urologist
Filed under: Bladder Cancer
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Probably because there is so much info from so many places and it’s not all accurate., and he feels like he knows everything that you need to know about it.
Maybe he feels like you’ll need things to be explained to you rather than just reading it?
In any case, stick to the known medical sites, like the World Health Organization.
If I were you I would want as much info as possible.
your doctor worries about the spam people put up which is a good concern if you just look at a legitamite website about it theres not much that can hurt
He’s just trying to protect you from all the bad information out there.
Here’s a reliable site:
medlineplus.gov
It’s run by the National Institutes for health.
because the internet is only for info on subjects/your dr may think all info y would take to heart/ when it is just that info nothing definite/some people get worse with worry after reading on net/
You’ll enter sites where you can put in your symptoms which then gives you a list of all these issues you could have and maybe you could possibly die in like two minutes. He may be concerned that you’ll freak and stress yourself out when you start reading stuff about it. Stress alone can cause many problems unrelated to what you already have… why go through all that on top of what you already have to deal with?
On the other side of it, maybe your doctor doesn’t want any competition or have to deal with you asking tons of questions like – I “just read something on the internet and could that be what’s wrong with me? or can’t this one treatment I found on the internet fix my problem?”
I totally understand researching everything… I do it all the time, but it can be stressing if all you read is negative or nothing you read seems to come true for you.
maybe he thinks that reading too much information about your condition will just make you nervous.
i was nervous when i had a ****** cancer scare and all the things that i’ve read about ****** cancer on the net really scared me to death. i was already contemplating about getting chemotheraphy, leaving my work, and other worst case scenarios in my head.
your doctor probably wants you to relax and stay focus on healing yourself.
Because if you’ve had bladder cancer for 26 years, you’re dead…and have been for several years.
He doesn’t want to be shown-up for the idiot he is.
Go to a doctor who knows something about cancer…they are called oncologists.
See your GP and ask for a referral to another Uroligist, let him fo his tests, and tell him that your previous urologist diagnosed you with cancer, and told you you’ve been suffering from said cancer for 26 years. If you *do* have cancer, the new guy will likely refer you to an appropriate physician. Alternatively, you can try to contact an oncologist directly with the assistance of your local hopsital.
Should your diagnosis come back that you simply have a bladder infection, sue the dipwad that started this mess.
As for him telling you to not educate yourself about the condition HE has diagnosed…file a complaint with the state/provincial medical boards.
Because many websites are created by amateurs or businesses (marketing) so the information you find is either dated, incorrect, or they just want to sell you something.
A good example of poor medical information is Wikipedia . . a site that is basically shared information by anyone who can type. Little of it is verifiable or written by anyone with any type of expertise. It is peer created and reviewed. General information of questionable value exists there, yet people often quote information from the site as if it were fact. (don’t get me wrong . . in a pinch Wikipedia is a good enough resource . . but little is done to guarantee the accuracy of what is written.)
There are some credible and information websites, but many of them are journals that require membership to read the latest information.
Here are a few official and reliable websites:
National Library of Medicine
National Cancer Institute
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
American Cancer Society
I do think that your urologist is wrong though about one use of the Internet and that is to connect with others who have bladder cancer. Support groups are very important and can help you sort out your emotions, treatment options, and just be there to lend an ear.
ACOR Listserv: The Bladder Cancer Support and Information eCommunity
There is more info on the internet that is wrong, than what is accurate concerning medical issues. If you want sites that are deemed more reliable and unbiased, stick to the NIH sites. They are designed to be clean, clutter free, not full of biased drug advertisements, you can adjust the settings to increase or decrease the font, and in some cases have the whole site narrated to you. The NIH seniors health site is wonderful. Link to their site:
The NIH seniors health site has a lot of info on it that is made to be understood by patients, and although its audience is for seniors, anyone can use it and get good information.
If you are searching for random health sites, you want sites that subscribe to HON – look for a little icon on the bottom of the page which means the site voluntarily complies with guidelines to keep their info accurate and up to date. Sites without this code, or the URAC code should be interpreted with lower regard. To see what these icons look like, click on this link to the webMD site, and you’ll see them in the lower right corner. Click on the icon to see when the info was last updated.
Fortunately stats in the literature support that even though people are obtaining inaccurate info off the web, they still believe their Drs. over what they find anyway.