Drbandage

Elle · Post by **Elle** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:26 pm

I haven't seen him on here for a while. I liked his posts.

bookwrm63 · Post by **bookwrm63** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:10 pm

Same here Elle. Hopefully, he will be back soon.

Mary

Rabid1 · Post by **Rabid1** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:39 pm

He won't be back. He took his ball and went home when the members of this forum wouldn't play by his rules.

sam-s · Post by **sam-s** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:53 pm

New but have been reading board. I would like to see more posts from drbandage but only if he can refrain from ANY more remarks directed at the other member of board he has consistently castigated in past posts.

Tumbleweed · Post by **Tumbleweed** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:44 pm

And I suppose the other party was totally without blame? I sort of thought that having an ACTUAL MD who was also a fellow hoser was a BENIFIT to this board. But some other lay folks think they know better and have chased a valuable resource away. I too, used to post more here, also being a doctor, but the same know-it-all disgusted me some months ago by his crude stereotyping of the medical community, including myself, whom he doesn't even know! I was offended and have said little since. Fine. If our help is not desired then just keep it up and you can all go with non-medically trained "experts". Many of them do have good knowledge, don't get me wrong, but they lack the ability to understand all the physiology and medical basis behind it. Some of us DO want to help and are NOT interested in the money, but many of you think we are practically the "scum of the earth" from the way you talk about us. I don't need that. I'll take my help elsewhere if that is the way this board wants to treat medical professionals.

Elle · Post by **Elle** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:51 pm

Well, this is very sad news. I wonder why people feel justified in criticizing an entire profession. I wonder if we would be so docile had any other profession been criticized? I don't think I will mention mine.

Judging by the 'what will you do on the 8th' thread a pleasant and perfectly harmless atmosphere can quickly be altered by someone needing to 'get somebody'. It is also hard on the psychi when it can change so quickly. We all depend on the site for support....well I do...and then suddenly it gets ugly. thats my rant for today.

Moogy · Post by **Moogy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:19 pm

Some people seem to think lawyers are fair targets for insults, also. I often restrain myself from replying when I see such insults, often paired with gross misinformation. I keep quiet because I don't want to engage in flame wars with people who get thrills from starting arguments.

Moogy

P.S. I also hope the M.D.s on our forum will keep posting.

onecoknower · Post by **onecoknower** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:41 pm

I, for one, appreciate the gratis medical advice that comes to us via the expertise of the md's AND dme's that frequent this board. That they feel pushed away is a sad commentary. We are users, and yes, we are taking control of our therapies. But they can offer a level of knowledge we simply don't have. Everyone's experience is valuable, but true training and expertise is not just experience - it's also training.

So, thanks to the dr's and dme's that have helped me in my journey so far.
Donna

Bonnie · Post by **Bonnie** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:10 pm

Tumbleweed,
Your first sentence is how a post can go south. It almost invites a "let's take sides" attitude. No one is denying that it was about mainly about two people. DrB never came back to the thread after the many replies, many critical of the thread in general. I personally thought it rude of him to ignore the posts because we didn't agree with him or jump to his defense. Rabid1 is correct....it smacks of taking his ball and going him to me, too

Most people here would welcome medical input from a doctor who has OSA. But most were also turned off by the negativity. The great majority of people here from all walks of life can and do offer valuable information based on many, many combined hours of therapy and I applaud each and every one for taking the time to help others who are struggling.

In the beginning of my learning I had severe OSA I relied much more on this forum that I did from my doctors. Not because I thought they were idiots, but they couldn't relate. It's like a doctor who never smoked telling his patient "just quit".. Not that simple, doc. It's like a telling a male gynecologist....well never mind, you get the picture

So Dr. Tumbleweed, kind sir, if you have something to share or teach us or questions that need asking, please do. There may be the occasional disagreeable poster but the rest of us are interested.

Elle, I started the "What will You do March 8" thread and your right, something so innocent as asking how anyone might make a difference in educating people turned into a disaster. We all know there is going to be certain people who provoke for what ever reason. Let's just ignore them!

bookwrm63 · Post by **bookwrm63** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:16 pm

Same here Onecoknower. I've also noticed Mattman hasn't been around lately. I hope he wasn't driven off either. I've always found him helpful, patient and admired how calm he stayed in the face of adversity. But everytime he posted, he got slammed. It's a shame.

I happen to like my DME, I liked my Sleep Center and the doctors. We may not have agreed on everything but my calls get returned and I get listened to. I also happen to love my own internist, my kid's pediatrician, my dentist and the dog's veterinarian! Don't shoot me because I'm happy with my experiences with the medical community. I sincerely hope that our forum MD's, DME's, RT's, RN's and whoever else related stick around for the long haul. It may not show all the time, but you folks are truly appreciated!

Mary

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:22 pm

Rabid1 wrote:He won't be back. He took his ball and went home when the members of this forum wouldn't play by his rules.

What Rabid1 said.

I don't think anyone should be intimidated and discouraged from posting here, because this is a free and open forum.
However, I would have to say *personally*-I can't accept any advice here as "professional" medical advice, unless a "Dr." wants to post using his/her REAL name, and disclose his/her medical degree, and credentials.
Talk about taking charge of our therapy.....

Elle · Post by **Elle** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:23 pm

I read some (not all) of the posts in question and the other person's profession didn't come up or at least I don't think he was attacked for being in a certain vocation so my last thought on this before I turn this thread ugly is that even if an individual gets on our nerves or we disagree with their behaviour I think we need to watch that we don't attack the entire community.

Elle · Post by **Elle** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:25 pm

That's a good point Vader...anyone can be anyone. I always forget that since I am too lazy to bother creating a new persona but could be fun.

Rabid1 · Post by **Rabid1** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:36 pm

Tumbleweed wrote:And I suppose the other party was totally without blame? I sort of thought that having an ACTUAL MD who was also a fellow hoser was a BENIFIT to this board. But some other lay folks think they know better and have chased a valuable resource away. I too, used to post more here, also being a doctor, but the same know-it-all disgusted me some months ago by his crude stereotyping of the medical community, including myself, whom he doesn't even know! I was offended and have said little since. Fine. If our help is not desired then just keep it up and you can all go with non-medically trained "experts". Many of them do have good knowledge, don't get me wrong, but they lack the ability to understand all the physiology and medical basis behind it. Some of us DO want to help and are NOT interested in the money, but many of you think we are practically the "scum of the earth" from the way you talk about us. I don't need that. I'll take my help elsewhere if that is the way this board wants to treat medical professionals.

Tumbleweed (that was the name of my band back in the 70's)

As a point of reference; I was a police officer for 11 years, and have been a computer consultant for the past 10 years. Don't think I haven't been called every name in the book, put on trial by every defense attorney, and blamed for everything short of terrorism. I can fix someone's computer network, and before I get back to the office some dumb end-user screws things up again. Who do you think gets called-out for that?

My point is the necessity to develop a thick skin. I believe most doctors do not get, what' the word I'm looking for, oh yeah, confronted that often by patients because the patient is intimidated by the doctor's superior medical knowledge. Therefore the doc rarely has to defend himself directly with his patients.

Enter the Internet forum, and its comfortable anonymity. What you get is people venting their unhappiness; some rightfully so, some not. It's more than likely not even targeted at you personally, but it's very difficult not to take it that way.

I think most people want to see doctors as human. Intelligent, educated humans, but humans none-the-less. I also believe that many docs are afraid (for a myriad of reasons) to portray themselves as vunerable human beings.

So kudos to you for exposing yourself to the wrath of the open & anonymous Internet forum. Your knowledge & experience are invaluable. Please don't be put-off by those of us that question, or even attack your profession. Just separate the wheat from the chaff.

It's a better forum when you participate!!!!!!

Rick

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:42 pm

I'm a lawyer and over the years ended up sitting in three different chairs in the very the same courtroom: as a lawyer appearing for a client; as a small claims judge; and as a client represented by a lawyer.

I can say that those three chairs are very different--I have learned a great deal having been in all three positions in real life situations.

I thought DrB was and is a great resource to this forum precisely because he has faced OSA just like any of us--a patient. His was a rather long diagnosis process. He knows what it means to deal with untreated OSA--it happened to him and took a long time to get diagnosed correctly. He has a great deal of empathy and as a doctor is highly motivated to do what he can to improve the profession by being an advocate for OSA. As far as OSA is concerned, he is freely and highly critical of his own profession and its failures in this important area.

It's a shame that so much time and energy was wasted in what I consider to be completely collateral discussions about personal opinions and the medical profession etc.

I hope he sees fit to come back and take up the cause again!

Mask

Additional Comments: I love my ComfortSleeve and my Pad-A-Cheeks! See www.ComfortSleeve.com and www.padacheek.com

Drbandage

Drbandage

Insulting statements