Dear Diary, today is one of those days that I got reminded of my experience of transforming into a google doctor when faced with illness or life threatening condition. Back in 2016 just after the delivery of my little one I was diagnosed with brain tumor of the frontal lobe called Meningioma. I remember during the period between diagnosis and the brain surgery google was my best friend. I remember always asking questions to the google, reading through many articles to a point where I felt that I literally became qualified google medical doctor. When people online would ask the same questions or experiences, I will be so quick to respond and share my learned knowledge. Armed with information every time I would visit my Neurosurgeon I would show off my learned expertise. My amazing Neurosurgeon Mr. P. K Wanyoike of BSR Hospital would seat silently listening to me telling him about my symptoms and what he should do, which all were from Mr. google himself. Most of the time he would laugh it off and took time to explain every single detail, correcting the mis-information and guiding me to information sources that are legit. He was and still is one of the kind, a doctor that can not only listens but takes time to educate you ensuring that you are not scared and have all the facts.
So today a friend of mine reached out asking about Neurosurgeons as her relative has been diagnosed with Meningioma. She asked me about my doctor and information of where to find him and what to do. Oh my God, she woke up the google doctor side of me that I thought does not exist anymore, now that I am more than 4 years post brain surgery and I am fully recovered. She needed information about the Neurosurgeons and what to expect, ooohhhh dear I went all google doctor mode trying to give her all information I can based on my experiences. Then it hit me, my friend just asked for referrals and not all my google information that is not necessary. I did apologise for the information overload and encourage her to ensure her relative starts clinics with the Neurosurgeon.
What this interaction today meant for me is that, our experiences good or bad shape who we are, at times when we go through traumatic experiences, have intimate and hard moments that are buried in our unconscious mind, awareness will happen when they are triggered. When these memories come to our conscious mind there is that urge to quickly download them and share, at times reliving the experience which might be hard or empowering. So it is always important to ensure that we understand ourselves to know when we are going overboard, because you never know you might scare someone even more. As Newton Lee says, information is power and disinformation is abuse of power.
Do not get me wrong google is the best place to get information however it is also important to try and get legit sources of information from experts so that you do not end up sharing learned mis-information. Remember google does not give out degrees you only get that in school, so please trade carefully when sharing google learned information.
Unfiltered 