Welcome NYT Readers!

Welcome to everyone who came from the link in New York Times Health section!

Feel free to look around The Clinic of Doctor-Patient Relational Awesomeness.

You can subscribe to the feed or email Dr. D, but Doctor D has been a bit slow of late on posting new content and answering emails so don't hold your breath.

The best way to enjoy the delicious goodness of AskAnMD would be to check out Dr. D's Best Answers page.

Have fun!

Is It March Already?

How did it get to be March so quickly? Apparently, in his hiatus post Dr. D said he'd be back before the end of February. Oops!

But wait! I have an excuse:

During his hiatus Doctor D found himself on the other side of the exam room. Yes, D managed to destroy most of the bones in his leg and became an orthopedic patient!

I'll have a full report for you soon, but for now I can tell you that Dr. D's skeleton has been reinforced with Titanium and he is considering changing careers to become a bionic superhero.

Never fear, readers! Doctor D didn't forget his Clinic of Doctor-Patient Relational Awesomeness! So be mellow and keep the questions coming!

I'll have an awesome post for you to read by this time next week, and Tracy will make sure I keep my word!

Time Out

Last year Dr. D took the season of Lent to unplug from the internet for a while and contemplate the deeper meaning of life. It was an invigorating time of growth and reflection...

Yeah, you guessed it, Dr. D is putting his blog on "timeout" again.

We're going to pause AskAnMD for 2 months. Dr. D still has a lot of great stuff to blog about, but for now he just doesn't have the time. We'll be back sometime in February.

Why?

My grandmother as well as my favorite former patient died in November. This got me thinking... Dr. D keeps a list of things to do. That list included: "Call the Dude" and "Visit Grandma D" for many months. I procrastinated even when I knew the end was near for both of them. I could have reached out to either of them while they were still alive, but I was too busy.

Grandma D:
1918-2010

I love this blog, but it takes a lot of my time. I spend a lot of time thinking on the questions you write me, and writing, re-writing, checking, and formatting a post takes about 6 hours for me. Yeah, I'm that slow!

Going faster would make me put out rambling, useless junk, and I wouldn't do that to my readers.

So posting every week takes a significant chunk of my free time. So for the next few months I've decided to allot more time to my friends and family who are still breathing.

I Shall Return!

Doctor D will be back in his online clinic of doctorly wisdom and sarcasm soon, but for now you'll have to survive the long nights of Winter without him.

But be of good cheer! There are lots of great medblogs out there to keep you entertained and informed. The ones listed on the blog roll to your right are an excellent place to start.

You can also catch up on some of the really awesome stuff in the AskAnMD archives, and if you get board and desperate for a fix of Doctor D's inane observations you can follow him on Twitter.

You can also still email Dr. D your questions—just don't expect any immediate answers.

Then sometime in mid-February just when you had almost forgetten about Doctor D your feed for AskAnMD will roar to life and bring you awesome insights on that will totally blow your mind!

Until then:

I love you guys!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that other cheerful holiday whatnot!

Doctor D Strikes Back!

It's time we make something very, very clear:

This is not a personal medical advice blog!

A lot of people just stumble across the "Ask An MD" name and start firing off questions before they read another word. I realize you regular D Readers are not the offenders but I have to rant at somebody, so Dr. D is going to nip this in the bud right now:

I will NEVER answer diagnosis or treatment questions online!

"Luke, I am NOT your doctor!"

This isn't that I don't love you guys. It just can't happen. I challenge you to find any MD giving personal medical advice to strangers online. Nope it isn't there!

Doctor D put this info on the "Email Dr. D" page but still a majority the letters to Doctor D basically ask: "Here are my symptoms. What should I do?"

Doctor D used to write polite replies explaining that the blog is here to answer general questions about doctors and the medical system, but I really cannot diagnose you... etc.

..but as the popularity and google rank of this blog has grown Doctor D's inbox has become congested with please-treat-me-over-the-Internet emails. Abandoning all bedside manners, Dr D has begun sending snarky rebukes to the worst offenders: "Did you read the f*cking disclaimer!?!"

But that pesky medical compassion keeps D feeling sorry for all these people sending hopeless requests for help to some random medical blog!

Could These Emails Be The Symptom Of A Real Problem?

This deluge of unanswerable questions got Doctor D thinking. These people begging for answers reveal some real issues with the medical system:

1. Sick people are desperate for answers.
2. It is way too hard to get a doctor to talk to you. It costs too much money to get in, and even then the doc is in and out in like 5 minutes!
3. Doctors are terrible at addressing what is really bothering patients.

"Houston, we have a problem."

Unfortunately, turning to some anonymous doc on a blog is not the solution to these problems.

Do you really want to risk getting an answer from an anonymous doc who can't examine you—some dude who may sleep under a bridge and just plays doctor online to meet chicks? Trust me: you don't want to do that!

And Doctor D won't risk his medical license making random guesses over email for people he's never laid eyes on. Giving you a harmful misdiagnosis over the internet would make Dr. D feel terrible, and it could be the blood in the water that sparks a feeding frenzy of lawyers and disciplinary boards.

Perhaps someday doctors will be more accessible, better communicators, and be able to treat you over the Internet, but this just isn't a reality right now.

Now you have to deal with regular screwed-up doctors working in a bizarre healthcare system. Yes, it sucks, but you really don't have many other options.

This is why Doctor D runs this blog: To help you navigate the tricky world of real doctors.

If He Can't Be My Doctor, What Use Is Doctor D?

Well, if you would even consider writing some anonymous blog for help then your doctor-patient relationship is probably on life support.

It may not be your fault (doctors suck at relationships—just ask Lady D), but you will be the one who gets hurt.

Instead of desperately emailing random bloggers on the internet for answers which will likely be wrong, why don't you learn to work on with the doctors you have in your life?

Doctor D volunteers his time as a relationship counselor for your doctor-patient relationships. D isn't going be your doctor (although, he blogs anonymously so, who knows, he might actually be your doctor?), but he just might teach you how to make your own doctor useful!

So respect D's boundaries! ...And send me some questions I can work with!

What do you think?

Currently there is no way to get answers direct from a doctor online. Getting diagnosed by a doctor miles away who can't examine you is a recipe for mistakes, BUT it would be convenient.

Would you be willing to take a risk with an online doctor? Would you forgo the ability to sue if the advice harmed you? Should the standards of doctor-patient relationships change to adopt to the wired world?

By the way, if you ever sent Dr. D a forbidden e-mail now is your chance to grovel and beg for his forgiveness!

Happy Doctors Day, Fools!

Yes Doctor D is back, making an early emergence from his peaceful Lent respite:

Happy Fools Day! Which also happens to be Doctor's Day.

Actually the official Doctor's Day is on March 30th, but such an obscure holiday usually gets forgotten, so it's about April 1st by the time the nurses or hospital administrators get around to handing me a card.

"Um, yeah so it's like Doctor's Day so here's a card and stuff," they say as Doctor D suspiciously takes the generic thank-you card expecting to be ridiculed for some sort of foolishness momentarily.

The ironic serendipity of Doctor's being honored on April Fools Day is just the sort of thing that makes me miss this blog, where I may freely ridicule the health profession.

A day for doctors, seriously? That makes about as much sense as National Goat Cheese Month! Apparently the date was chosen based on the first date an MD knocked a patient unconscious. If that isn't a day to celebrate, what is?

While doctors love thankful patients and adoring nurses, we would rather not celebrate doctor's day. We seriously don't need a holiday. A day off maybe, but not a holiday.

Of course, a holiday can serve to increase awareness—in case anybody is unaware of doctors.

I pity the fool who is unaware that Doctor D is back!

I shall return on Monday with an answer to an interesting question!

Until then discuss amongst yourselves: What is the best way to celebrate National Goat Cheese Month?

40 Days and 40 Nights

As he mentioned last week, Doctor D is going to unplug from the internet for the 40 days of Lent.

Lent is an ancient Christian tradition when believers give up enjoyable distractions to focus on the more important things and prepare the soul for Easter.

Doctor D frickin' loves blogging!

It is lots of fun answering people's questions about the medical system and giving my odd perspectives on the doctor-patient relationship. Doctor D has met some very inspiring and cool doctors, patients, nurses, and med students through this blog.

Unfortunately, D has also spends most of his free time in front of the computer reading blogs, writing posts, and twittering.

So for the season of Lent D is going to escape from the internet:

On day one Doctor D will get some work done around the house.

But on day two he might get a little nervous and jittery.

On day three D's hands will be shaking and he'll ask to go check his Google Reader "just this once."

By day four Doctor D might just be howling obscenities and have to be tied down to keep from reading his favorite medblogs.

But... by day five D shall be totally Zen with a mind clear of all electronic distraction.

He will write and read on paper instead of blogs, he will learn to enjoy silence, he will take long walks in nature, and he will spend more time with his toddler, Little D.

After he has a purified mind and soul Doctor D will triumphantly return to answering your questions on April 5th!

How will you survive a long abstinence from all this Doctor D goodness?

• Turn your attention to the blog roll: Doctor D links to some awesome blogs that will give you your medblogging fix till April.

• Explore the Archives: There's some cool stuff back there to help you through the dark night of the soul Doctor D's absence is sure to bring on.

• Subscribe: Instead of marking April 5th on your calender and counting the days in despair you can just plug AskAnMD into your reader and the new Doctor D shall magically appear on your computer after he has returned from his silent contemplation!

• Send in Questions: Does reading this blog inspire you to ask a question? Email it to Doctor D and he'll add it to the list of interesting questions awaiting his sage answers.

Yes, despite all his blogless peace and harmony Doctor D will still check his email from time to time, so feel free to drop him a note.

Peace out! Doctor D is unplugging now.

See you in April!

The Best of D (Friday Links)

This blog has grown so much recently that Doctor D's big doctor ego deemed we should link to all the fun and informative older posts buried in the archives. So if you will direct your attention to the right side of the screen you will notice AskAnMD's new feature:

Doctor D's Best Answers

Of course, if you've been visiting Doctor D's virtual clinic as long as WarmSocks you've already read it all, but if you are new here you can go check it out for loads of doctor-patient enjoyment.

Yes I realize that it is sort of cheating to count a "best of" page as this week's Friday Links, but D is suffering from an acute case of laziness today. Sorry. I will be back on my game next week.

On Asking Doctor D

Sorry about this dull info post.

A lot of the emails Doctor D gets are anonymous. People with sensitive questions about doctor-patient relations often want to keep their identity private. Doctor D understands completely (since he blogs incognito too).

I often get questions from people with excellent blogs. I don't want to write, "Question from a reader..." if you would prefer a link back to your site.

So if you send Doctor D a question in the future please let me know if you want it answered with or without a link to you.

If you have a question in Doctor D's "to be answered" pile, I will assume you want it answered anonymously unless you write me and ask that I link to you when I answer.

Email Doctor D at AskDoctorD@gmail.com

Doctor D's Disappearing Act

Just to let you know, I am out of town on vacation and I probably won't be answering posting any answers to reader questions for the next week. Doctor D still loves you, but he is really enjoying his family and his rest right now.

But you can still email Doctor D because he loves getting questions from readers and he'll be back to answering questions a soon as he returns. If you want to get the word about Doctor D's return when it happens you can sign on to the Ask An MD Feed or you can follow Doctor D on Twitter. (I will probably Twitter daily even when on vacation.)

I'll still be able to give you some Friday Links tomorrow.

Okay I'll Ask Some Questions

No one is asking questions! But that is probably because you don't know this blog exists yet, so your lack of participation is forgiven.

I will start by asking questions I know you're wanting to ask...

The Doctor Will Take Your Questions Now

The American Healthcare System can be a bizarre and confusing place to find yourself. It's nice to have a friend on the inside who can help you understand how things work here. Thus Doctor D created this blog to help you navigate the weird world of doctors, clinics, hospitals, and such.

Doctor D can't diagnose or treat you over the internet (so don't even go there) but what he can do is help you make sense of your doctor or help out with that question about the strange world of medicine that has been gnawing at you.

This blog is just getting started and what it obviously needs is questions. So send them in!

Ask Doctor D (at) gmail (dot) com

Doctor D's Disclaimer

If you read medical blogs then you know how this goes. Like most docs, Doctor D lives in mortal fear of lawyers so he claims no responsibility...

• The information on this blog is for your enlightenment and enjoyment, but not for you to medically treat yourself or others. Talk to your own doctor before doing something crazy just because Doctor D mentioned it.

• Doctor D is not a replacement for your own doctor. He loves answering your questions but he doesn't have a doctor-patient relationship with you. He will not diagnose or treat you. He cannot listen to your heart or check you for hernias over the internet.
  

• If Doctor D mentions any person he has ever cared for then you can bet enough info has been changed that you'll never figure out who the patient is. He wouldn’t tell people’s business like that.

• Doctor D's stories are a combination of half-truths, exaggerations, and total lies. He tells stories to make points. He doesn't tell what actually happened. So you cannot be a character in D's stories unless you are a figment of his imagination.

• Doctor D doesn’t make any money from this blog. He does it because he likes you. If he wanted to make a lot of money he wouldn’t have gone into primary care.

• The images on this blog were all taken from the Internet. Doctor D assumes they are in the public domain. If Doctor D used your image incorrectly please let him know and he will take it down and apologize profusely.
  

If this isn’t clear you can email me and I will doctor this disclaimer more.

How to E-Mail Doctor D

Do you have a question about your doctor or healthcare? Want a doctor to rant at? Want to say Hi? Want to tell Doctor D about your healthcare blog? Want to point out a typo in Doctor D's posts?

Send Doctor D an email! He will try to write back to everyone even if he can’t get your answer on the site.

Sorry, but Doctor D's email address has been removed.

Despite warnings, 95% messages were requests to be diagnosed via email.  

The answers to most of the legit questions can be found with about 5 minutes in the blog archives.

If you want to talk to Doctor D now that this blog is hibernating you shall have to enter the wild world of Twitter and find him HERE.

The Best of The Clinic Of Doctor-Patient Relational Awesomeness!

Doctor D's best answers to your questions about doctors and healthcare:

• Why Are Doctors Such Jerks?

• Why Are Americans So Fat?

• How Do I Overcome My Fear Of Doctors?

• How Do Doctors Feel About Their Mistakes?

• Why Is It So Hard To Live Healthy?

• Why Should I Never Say My Pain Is Level 10?

• What Kind Of Doctor is D?

• What Are My Chances, Doc?

• Are You Saying My Symptoms Are Just In My Head?

• Why Are There So Many Incompetent Doctors?

• Why Are MDs So Up-Tight About Pain Medicines?

• Why Can't Anyone Figure Out What's Wrong With Me?

• What is the Medical Mafia?

• What is a Doctor-Junkie?

• Will I Get Laid If I Become A Doctor?

• Why Won't You Answer My Diagnosis Questions Online?

• Are Doctors Rich?

• Why Is My Doctor Dodging My Questions?

• Does Dr. D Hate Medicine?

• Why Do Nice People Get The Worst Diseases?

(Click Here To Read Doctor D's Informative Series Answers)