For the record
(i’m sighing on the inside)
concerned reader is worried that i thought i was linking a legitimate bit of information about the H1N1 vaccine and the government’s plot to take over the world. she is rightfully concerned that our medical system is training up a series of doctors that would offer online medical advice without justification or consideration of the repercussions of our words. she feels that we forget there are lives at stake. children.
as a doctor, do you really believe in the h1n1 conspiracy theory? i read the BLOG to which you linked. it is preposterous. firstly, it is outdated. secondly, the questions it proposes you ask yourself have been answered.
i am a mother of 4 who is kept abreast of the h1n1 virus. i have not yet decided whether or not to vaccinate my children.
but, for crying out loudly, you are in the medical profession. please do not tell your readers NOT to do something based on a blog that is pure speculation.
as far as your readers are concerned, you are the closest they have to a knowledgeable “authority”. if you really feel that blog is correct, you need to justify it yourself.
you need to take a look at your actions and ask yourself what the repercussions are to your advice.
please. that is just wrong coming from someone like you. remember there are lives at stake. children.
currently, the numbers in the flu death is above normal.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#MS
“Seventy-six of the 147 deaths were due to 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infections, and 29 of these have occurred since August 30, 2009.”
hello, concerned reader.
if this is a true email address that you commented from, then i hope this note reaches you.
i guess you are probably new to my blog. there are two things that may or may not come across in online blog writing unless you are familiar with the author:
1) i can be sarcastic and prefer tongue-in-cheek commentary to flat-out calling someone an idiot. i think parents that believe the H1N1 vaccine is a conspiracy are idiots. i figured linking to such a ridiculous (“preposterous”, as you say) webpage would make my point for me.
2) i have absolutely no medical advice to give anyone at any time anywhere on this weblog. the decision about whether or not to vaccinate your 4 children should be between you and your doctor.
thank you for stopping by and sharing your concern.
have a wonderful day.
sincerely,
`Jennifer
October 12th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
woah. i had to go back and figure out where all that came from. of course you were being sarcastic!
don’t feel bad…awhile back i got in trouble from my boss for “communicating too much”. i head a lil’ blood bank. no history, + antibody screen called as per policy. if it’s easy, i can get XM units ready in 2 hrs or less. yet it wasn’t. so i informed the preop team that a patient possibly had a delayed transfusion reaction (new IgG+ DAT several days post-tx with incompatible XMs despite ag- units) and might be forming a new antibody that must be worked up elsewhere. gave them 6 hr hoped for turn around for units.
bad, bad lab tech! next time tell them “i don’t know”…
sometimes the lines o’ communication are cut, tangled, or tied in impossible to unwind knots despite our best efforts.
today, a slice of pumpkin pie is going to help me accept this.
good luck! :)
October 12th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Hahaha. you changed your blog and lightened it up from DO NOT get the H1N1 vaccine because it’s a conspiracy.
yes. the problem is that you did not put any emoticon after that sentence. all that was misunderstood because your sarcasm required the reader to click on the link to further investigate what you were talking about.
it’s not enough that your loyal readers may have taken your word, but they had to follow the link and KNOW and DECIPHER and not rush into reading the whole page that was foolery.
you, ms. jennifer, made a mistake and are trying to cover up. all you had to do was put “;-)” after that sentence and all would have been read differently. do not assume that your readers have time to check out the links to which you make a sarcastic remark.
and then you changed the sentence from a forceful directive to something that sounds like a suggestion.
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.
all you had to do is admit your mistake. instead you got all defensive. not good.
October 12th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
On a lighter note, did you ever read this entry from dooce’s blog:
http://www.dooce.com/2009/08/28/containing-capital-letter-or-two
October 12th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
concerned reader, you are off your rocker! She didn’t change anything on her original post. I just went back and checked…it’s exactly the same.
And nobody seemed to have misunderstood her except for YOU.
If you need a little winky face in order to decipher the obvious, then please don’t blame others for your lack of common sense.
Something tells me you’ll also either start smoking now, or never stop for fear of getting lung cancer….mwahaha
October 13th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Darn. And I was just about to ask you if I should take a paracetamol for my headache. Will look elsewhere for advice in future.
October 13th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Jennifer seems to be emoticon challenged. Or, is she trying to cover up a Smiley Face conspiracy?
“FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.”
October 13th, 2009 at 6:38 am
@sarah: yeah. you JUST checked. asked her what it said two days ago. ask. and ask her PRIVATELY for an honest answer.
October 13th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Just forget whoever this concerned reader person is Jen. They are pretty smart ;-) see that was sarcasm. I even included the ;-) just to help them understand.
October 13th, 2009 at 6:58 am
I have a feeling that “concernedreader” is American. I offend Americans left and right with my sarcasm because they just don’t get it.
For those with a season sarcastic ear, your comment was clearly dripping with sarcasm.
Concerned reader, lighten up! If I was coming to a blog, and viewing it as my medical authority, I’d shoot myself because of my stupidity. Thanks for caring, though. Maybe be less concerned about our kids, and take care of your 4. :)
October 13th, 2009 at 7:42 am
ha ha -oh dear. people really do get their knickers in a knot.
…I agree with Papa….you really are emoticon, exclamation, and capital letter challanged. But we love you none-the-less. ;)
October 13th, 2009 at 7:52 am
jennifer, all i’m saying is that i’ve heard from other parents, “I’ve had doctors say that they advise against the H1N1 vaccine.” huh? your one line, “DO NOT take the H1N1 vaccine” followed by whatever word you used to link to that site. and you know it wasn’t “conspiracy”.
all i ask you to do is put an emoticon after such a statement so THAT those who do not follow the link (and you KNOW you did not use the word conspiracy) do not take your word as an “inside” knowledge of sorts. please.
i am not here to fight. i’m here to give you an outsider’s point of view. to tell you how i read that statement. no one else knows what you wrote. you do. instead of stepping back and admitting that yes, that one seemingly sarcastic sentence could be misconstrued as your opinion – one that others could take as their own – you chose to get defensive. instead of trying to see MY point of view — points of view of others that may have already read your blog and moved on, you chose to attack me, and call me the idiot for not reading that ONE SENTENCE (the one you changed to cover your ass) as a sarcastic remark.
this is the beginning of your career. learn to LISTEN. your patients have more to tell you than just the aches and pains in their muscles.
October 13th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Wow, “passerby” seems awfully Concerned by what she has read.
What is the internationally recognized emoticon for sarcasm? I suggest something involving the tilde, as it has always struck me as the least authentic of the punctuation marks.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:20 am
So what you’re saying is that I *should* run all medical decisions by you instead of my regular family doctor before I do anything, right?
*headdesk*
I bet concerned reader is a google-diagnostician, too. Dear General Population: don’t use google to diagnose & treat your aches & pains.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I think passerby/concerned reader has an interesting point. Maybe your blog has reached the level where the random population will be dropping in, and as such you may have to make a decision: keep using it for fun, or understand and cater to general population. It sounds like she’s truly a concerned mom who was researching h1n1 vaccinations, read and got to know and trust you through your blog, followed the link not understanding your humour, and then wasted a good chunk of time reading that “other” site, and realized this after the fact.
Though I would like to point out to the writer that Jen herself never attacked you directly; her letter to you was very professional and addressed all relevant points; the attacks came afterwards from multiple camps.
Well handled Jen, though like I said I think this may have a larger picture to view here: she’s not being unreasonable – just additionally upset over a misunderstanding.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:55 am
And don’t forget kids (of all ages) just because researchers have named this strain of the flu, doesn’t mean it’s any more deadly than the flus that have been killing people for centuries.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Last night I had Thanksgiving dinner with a kid who said she had swine flu, to which I replied “Ohhhh cool!”. Mom said she was serious, and it wasn’t cool at all. Luckily they took my foot-in-mouth disease with a chuckle. (And the kid is feeling better this week). But I sympathize with your little scandal here, lol! Goodness knows if I blogged there’d be something like this everyday…
October 13th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Syd, watch your livestock!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot-and-mouth_disease