I always enjoy reading various posts in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC). Clearly there are always people willing to help.
I read a post recently from someone who knew nothing of the product in which they were looking to utilize in their child’s management. The person asked for people’s opinions. And it is ‘this’ point that I address today.
It always must be clearly stated that those writing are writing about something that has worked for the writer and their family, and may be the perfect answer to the information one seeks; but it may also be as wrong as can be for you.
Usually there are just a few products in each of the areas of managing diabetes and by doing YOUR OWN homework you can narrow down the field. Know that because 15 people may like product X and say so; it may also be that they do not know about product Y; which may be newer and possibly better than what you are hearing about.
Stay in touch with what’s new.
Same with sickness. “My child is 460, throwing up and has ketones…..what should I do?” I’m not sure what you should do but what you SHOULD NOT BE doing is speaking to anyone but a doctor on what must be done for your child.
It’s a whirlwind of information out there and clearly there is the opportunity to seek out good information about anything. And utilize that outreach. But always remember, what works for one does not necessarily work for all, and clearly may not be right for your child at all.
Use it as a guide, not an answer machine.
Ask, listen……but always seek out your own education and work it through WITH YOUR child’s medical team.
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3 replies on “Information Whirlwinds…….Be Careful on What You Hear”
While I agree we each must discover what works for our kids, I also believe the opinions of others with more experience is a irreplaceable.
We also have to remember that just because we may personally have excellent medical care/advice, that isn’t true for everyone. Many parents never receive advice for ‘sick day rules.’ Left to their own devices, which is better: asking other experienced parents, or sitting around waiting for a return call from the medical team…that may or may not be timely?
Having had that very unpleasant & fearful experience myself, I can only say I’m very grateful to all those who responded to my plea for help, because the medical team certainly did not.
We all have the ability to sift through the advice being given. How about giving parents the benefit of the doubt that, maybe, just maybe, they might be able to distinguish between bad advice & advice from the voices of experience.
Mine is but a reminder of the fact to do that ‘sifting’. You are correct—the opinions can be valuable and I am certainly not stating otherwise. No one should be sitting around waiting for a medical call….but I, personally, would never allow medical advice from someone who is not completely understanding of my child(ren)’s situation in a medical circumstance, who would ever do that? Hence my point.
You are incorrect to state that “we all have the ability to sift through that advice…….” I know this is incorrect because I know stories of those who did not know the differecne. Hence why I wrote this reminder.
Thanks for writing.
Interesting POV. We visit an endo every 3-8 months, depending on how booked he is. We spend 15-30 minutes during those visits & we’re expected to follow advice based on what? It certainly isn’t his personal knowledge of our children & how their diabetes behaves.
I place a high value on the opinions & experiences of those who have lived this longer than I. Apparently that’s a good thing, or the bloggers would have no audience. 🙂