Blogger "Blog of Note" for Feb 11, 2010

Just in the past hour or so, I just happened to be checking my stats, and I noticed a SIGNIFICANT jump up in visits. When I explored further, I found out that Blogger selected the "Doctor Anonymous" blog as their Blog of the Day or what they call "Blog of Note" (see image above).

According to the "Blog of Note" page, they want to recognize "Interesting and noteworthy Blogger-powered blogs, compiled by the Blogger Team." I have no idea what the selection criteria is. But, I want to very much thank Blogger not only for being today's "Blog of Note" but also for the opportunity to host my blog on this platform.

Welcome to those of you who are new to the blog. If you are wondering, yes, I am a "real" physician. I am a Family Medicine Physician in NE Ohio and I have had this blog since 2006. I enjoy blogging about medical topics, but I enjoy writing about just about anything. As you can see from my sidebar, I'm involved in a lot of aspects of social media including podcasting and video. I hope you will take the opportunity to take a read of some of my other posts.

I have had over 1000 posts and early on some of the most commented posts included ones about leaving the office against medical advice, do you prefer your doctor wearing a lab coat or no lab coat, do you prefer your doctor (presuming male) wearing a tie or no tie, and participating in sharing the best medical posts of the week in a blog carnival called "Grand Rounds."

I have also written posts about some medical controversies including what was called "The Ashley Treatment," the possibility of a uterus transplant (particularly for those desiring children), and asking the question "Is depression really depression?"

This blog has received recognition from entities like the online publication of The American College of Physicians, the online site of The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, the online site of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, FoxNews.com, the medical website Better Health, and even iTunes. Thanks for checking out my blog!

Dr. A Show Tonight!

Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9pm ET

Hope you can join us tonight for Doctor Anonymous Show 145 when our guest will be Drew Griffin from the Wound Care Education Institute. You can see the full preview post here. This is a great clinical topic for tonight's show. The area of wound care is a field that is going to be more and more needed in the future - especially with the tragic explosion of diabetes that is happening right now....

Ever wonder what it's like inside one of those Hyperbaric Chambers for wound care? Well, I found this video where Drew takes us inside one of these chambers. (Also check out the video promo for the show below - make sure you watch the entire video - just sayin hehe)

If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen anytime!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.

Dr. A Show 145 Preview: Drew Griffin

This week, Drew Griffin is our guest for Doctor Anonymous Show 145. I've known Drew for a couple of years now in the medicine and social media community. Drew works with the Wound Care Education Institute and he himself is a Clinical Wound Care Specialist Nurse which I only kind of knew on a peripheral basis. Then, I was able to meet Drew in person at Podcamp Ohio 2009 and we had a great discussion about his job and about our thoughts on how medicine and social media intersect. (You'll see that in the picture above. In the video below, you'll see us just being silly at podcamp)

Drew and I also had a great discussion about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and how that can help in wound care. Hopefully, we'll be able to talk about that a little bit as well. I encourage you to check out the "About Drew" page on his blog, which is pretty impressive. He also has interesting "geek" credentials, in that he describes himself as "A former Education Specialist Trained by eBay, Drew has taught individuals, businesses and organizations how to integrate eBay based commerce and utilize Social Media tools to connect with their communities by delivering value."

So, I hope you'll be able to join us live on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9pm Eastern Time for Doctor Anonymous Show 145. For those who may be new to the show, there is a chat room during the show. You can also call in to say hello. There is even a webcam so that you can see me do the show live before your very eyes. Don't forget to become a Facebook Fan of the show. Hope to see you for this week's show!

Unintended Consequences

One of the great things of being in a group practice is meeting and taking care of patients who may not necessarily be on your own personal patient panel. Walking into the room, I hear the patient say, "Doc, you gotta help me." I see a red right forearm and on the "complaint" section, the nurse wrote "burn."

So, I ask, "Well how did you burn your arm?" "Well, doc, I got cancer." Hmm, that's interesting. I didn't make the connection until the next sentence. "It was my last treatment with chemotherapy about 2 weeks ago and for some reason, the needle slipped and the stuff went all over my arm. The cancer doc prescribed these pills, but they don't seem to be helping. I asked the pharmacist about some salves and this is what they said." He showed me a handful of creams and ointments purchased at the pharmacy.

Since I didn't know this patient at all, I was leafing through a very thick paper chart to try to catch up. "Yeah, I've been coming to see Doc [name] for a long time now. I'm glad you were able to see me today since his schedule was full." This very pleasant patient then told me about how they diagnosed his cancer - a tear came to his eye - it's like he was re-living that moment again.

I shifted the topic to his treatment, and he told me all about the cancer center he's been at and about his cancer doctor. "They told me all I needed was one more treatment, and this happens to my arm." "Well," I said, "unfortunately, this is something that sometimes happens during any kind of cancer treatment."

Together we came up with a treatment plan and I asked him to keep his appointment with his regular doctor for next week. "Thanks Doc," he said as I saw him walk carefully out to the front desk with his cane. Cancer therapy, whether it be chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery, can be tricky stuff sometimes. The goal is clear - elimination of the cancer. However, in trying to reach the goal, sometimes things get sidetracked....

SuperBowl XLIV Commercials

I really had no loyalties going into the game - meaning I really didn't care who won - other than it was a competitive game. While following twitter during the game, I would occasionally glance up and see the SuperBowl commercials.

As predicted before the game by tech pundits, Google for the first time had an ad which most people on twitter liked, but I did not. Oh well. And ad which really snuck under the radar, and will probably get a lot of discussion on the day after the superbowl will be the Letterman/Leno/Oprah awkward looking but entertaining 15 second ad.

During the first half of the game, there were two ads which I thought were very funny. One was from career builder and the other was from dockers. Maybe it's just my silly mind, but I thought it was very funny that the theme of these ads had to do with being pantless. Why? I don't know. Now, the song below by the group The Poxy Boggards is repeating in my mind. The title? "I Wear No Pants" - Just hilarious....

Show 144 Wrap-up

Thanks to everyone who checked out Doctor Anonymous Show 144 either live or on the archives. I talked a little bit about this week's health/medicine news stories, including this one, and also covered some not-so-serious news stories. Thanks so much to our buddy Enrico who called into the show. It's was nice to talk with him again after a long absence - welcome back!

As always, you can listen to the show on the player above. Or, if you like, you can download the show and listen anytime by clicking here. Would like to listen and download other Dr. A Shows, we'll just click DoctorAnonymous.org and that takes you to my iTunes page where you have access to all my past shows. Thanks for your continued support of the website and of the show!

Is The US Swine Flu Epidemic Over?

I remember in this area, back in October 2009, when everyone just was not believing that H1N1 was around - or the "epidemic" was not real. Then, for about a 2-3 week span locally - BAM - it seemed like there were cases every where. When I walked throug the waiting room at the hospital, there were folding chairs out, and it was standing room only. Almost every day at the office, the phone was ringing off the hook. Then, as November came, everything calmed down...

A report yesterday from the Associated press asks the question, "Is The US Swine Flu Epidemic Over." In the article, you see the graphic above which showed a spike in cases nationally to be in October as well - then a rapid drop off. It seems that just recently, federal health officials have begun to downplay the virus. However, there are some in the academic/scientific community not quite ready to call it over yet.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released numbers Friday showing most states continued to have only occasional flu activity last week. However, only three states had absolutely no reports, and a CDC official cautioned that swine flu is still around and is likely to keep infecting people for weeks or months to come. "We don't seem to be seeing the disappearance of this virus," said the official, Dr. Anne Schuchat.

Whether there will be another wave of swine flu — as was seen in the spring last year and again in the early fall — is a much harder question, she added. Her comments reflect a raging debate among scientists. One expert told The Associated Press he thinks a spike in H1N1 cases is likely by May, though perhaps a smaller one than last fall. Another said he did not expect another spike. A third predicted another wave, but not until next fall at the earliest. A fourth refused to even guess.

Finally, what follows below are a couple of TV interviews I did as recently as a week ago giving local viewers an "H1N1 Update." (link to Interview1 and Interview 2) Even though the data is showing a drop off in cases, I still recommend people still receive an H1N1 immunization (like from this New Mexico news report). I just remember how complacent we all were locally around here just before October 2009 hit. So, even though I believe that this outbreak has pretty much completed, who knows what will happen in the future. And if a next outbreak occurs in the next few months, as some have said, we'll be even more prepared than we were before.

Show 143 Wrapup: Dean Brandon

Thanks so much to Dr. Dean Brandon for being my guest on Doctor Anonymous Show 143. We had a great conversation about his early influences which guided him toward his career as a pediatric dentist. I had no idea that his parents were NASA scientists. We also talked about the training process behind becoming a pediatric dentist. (Why the picture of Steve Martin above from Little Shop of Horrors? Check out the opening song of Show 143 and you'll know why)

His website is called "Pediatric Dentistry" and we talked about how his posts are a reflection of what he tells parents and patients all the time about certain dental conditions. One of his posts called "My Child Tooth Is Turning Dark" has garnered over 100 comments.

Finally, we discussed some of the experiences he has had in the social media sphere including meeting up with internet celebrities like Gary Vaynerchuk and Chad Vader - and also an interesting story about meeting up with actor Anthony Edwards at BlogWorld Expo last year.

As always, you can listen to the show on the player above. Or, if you like, you can download the show and listen anytime by clicking here. Thanks to everyone who listened live (especially Jabulani who listened to the show live at 2am in England) and those who have/will listen on the archives. My next show will be Saturday, February 6th at 9pm Eastern Time. Hope to see you for Doctor Anonymous Show 144 this weekend! (also check out my video post below)

Going to HIMSS 2010

I'm taking more of an active interest in the electonic medical/health record - especially with the transition that we're going through in our office and at the hospital. In doing some reading and research, a lot of people out there have pointed to a group called HIMSS - which stands for Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. They have a pretty good website over there that I have been reading a lot.

I took a bold step by actually taking the time to go to their annual meeting next month - which will be in Atlanta. Since I have registered for the conference, I've been getting e-mail messages about the many events that will be taking place out there. (For example, here is one about their Social Media Center) I will only be able to stay for a couple of days or so, but I'm pretty excited about it.

My goals will be to try to connect with other docs about the issues that our office and our community hospital are going through when it comes to electronic medical/health record. And, maybe, I'll be able to meet up with some med social media folks when I'm out there, if for anything else, to say hello! Have a great weekend everybody!

Dr. A Show Tonight: Dean Brandon

Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 9pm ET

I hope you can join us for Doctor Anonymous Show 142 when our guest will be Dr. Dean Brandon (pictured above with actor Anthony Edwards). Dean is the author of the blog Pediatric Dentistry. I encourage you to check out the preview post for this show to learn about some of the topics that Dean writes about. I met him at BlogWorld Expo 2009.

If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen anytime!

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button.