Many Years Ago In A Welsh Mining Village…
I’m told that when I was two or three years old, I contracted meningitis and was confined to a sanatorium for a month or two. My parents could only see me from behind a glass screen, but they did not have any physical contact with me due to its contagious nature. At the time, we lived in a tiny coal mining village in South Wales, and later, I remember asking my mother how she thought I might have contracted this serious illness. She told me that I picked it up from paddling in a mountain stream, upstream of which was probably a dead sheep. But I was lucky, she told me, because a little girl who also contracted meningitis didn’t survive, and she soon changed the subject to more mundane matters. However, I didn’t get the chance to ask her why I was paddling around in mountain streams at the age of two or three.
Should I Open Pandora’s Box?
Some years later, in boarding school, I became curious about meningitis. I even used to boast to my mates that I had bravely survived it, which gave me a very welcome level of hero status and a kind of badge of honour which I wore with pride. However, all that changed following my visit to the school library, where I climbed a step ladder to find an Encyclopaedia Britannica, opened it at a desk, and leafed to pages under M for meningitis. As I read through a description of the forms the disease can take, I felt a shudder down my spine, and when I read the words death may follow, I felt the blood drain from my face, slammed the book shut, and ran from the library. I was convinced that I was about to die at any moment. Clearly, my young mind hadn’t grasped the context of the detailed description, yet I felt I was doomed. Ever since that disturbing incident, I’ve been a tad wary of self-diagnoses.
Physician Heal Thyself!
This proverb from Luke 4:23 has a certain ring to it, even though I am not a physician. Anyway, like most of us, I have come across numerous diseases and illnesses during my life, either in me or others. Sometimes one seeks medical advice or guidance online simply to confirm what one already knows – how long does a common cold last? – for example. On the other hand, a few months ago, my wife woke up one morning with her eyes and most of her face swollen up, which at first we thought was an allergy. I checked online and found that it may have been cellulitis, which needs to be treated immediately, so I took her to the emergency department, which then referred us to a specialist. Within days of the treatment, she was much better, and the condition never returned.
Personally, I’m not in the habit of scanning medical advice websites because one thing can lead to another, and before you know it, you’re plagued with imaginary illnesses and become a hypochondriac. Some minor conditions, for example, neuralgia, which sometimes happens to me if I have a cold, whereby part of my face might be incredibly sensitive to the touch, and which normally goes away after a few days. I checked this out online, and as usual, it’s the underlying (potential) conditions that scare the pants off you. Before you know it, you’ve got some rare form of cancer and/or St Vitus’ Dance!
If I do seek medical information online, I always go to a reputable site because, let’s face it, the Internet is packed with snake oil salesmen and fake information.
What’s your experience with online medical sites? Please comment below.
—
