Everyone needs to read and understand this!
The Purpose of Medical Professionals On COPD360social
Our community is blessed with the presence of several medical professionals and very knowledgeable patients and caregivers participating on our site which is something that to my knowledge no other COPD site offers. With that said, I think in light of several recent posts we need to clarify their roles.
First off they do not take the place of your own doctor and as is specified on our page you should always consult with your doctor before any change in your treatment plan takes place. The fact is, they can only respond to a question based on information you wrote or provided whereas your personal doctor has the ability to access your entire medical records and case histories. They can help you understand your diagnosis, test results or concerns that you need to discuss with your own doctor. They cannot tell you what activities you can or cannot participate in, what specific medications you should or should not be taking, and when you should take them, whether you should or should not be using supplemental oxygen, what liter flow, what portable oxygen will work for you or if you should be able to travel by air or if or how soon your symptoms may worsen.
Recent posts repeatedly calling out a professional asking for advice makes it seem like some members view our professionals as being their personal physicians. That is not their role! Our professionals provide their services as a courtesy and all have a very busy work load and are not able to monitor the site. Often they can only respond if I as community manager feel their input is needed and contact them and their reply will not be immediate and they may not be able to answer followup questions. When they do monitor the site they will only respond if they feel they need to add to or correct what other members have responded.
If what our professional says in some way contradicts what you feel your doctor is saying, our advice is to speak with your doctor or seek another opinion as those doctors will have the advantage of having all of your records and case notes.
In closing, the value of COPD360social is it provides accurate and scientifically based information along with first hand personal patient experiences to help others navigate their COPD journey. In this regard we offer far more than any similar community.
Please use your posts to your advantage by clearly and concisely asking your question to include all the information on what concerns you. Repeated questions trying to elicit a different response more in the direction of what you want to believe (diagnosis shopping) is not helpful and can disrupt the community. The result is fewer people will take the time to respond.