You see, apparently Ted had been feeling under the weather and suffering from odd bruising and nosebleeds for a while when his parents noticed a peculiar rash developing on his face. For whatever reason they decided to snap a photo of it and send it to a doctor friend via Facebook:
After asking a few questions, Dr. Sara Barton, Rice’s co-worker at Salford Royal Hospital in England, told him to get Ted to the medical facility right away. Dr. Barton said the rash was a symptom of what turned out to be Tim’s diagnosis: Acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Once the health issue was diagnosed, things started looking up:
Since the diagnosis was confirmed three months ago, Ted has had daily chemotherapy treatments. His pop Philip has shaved his head in solidarity with Ted’s chemo-related hair loss. And while the boy currently needs a wheelchair to get around, his parents hope he’ll be well enough to attend pre-school.
Now, while I’m most definitely glad that this boy was diagnosed properly and has a fighting chance, I truly am concerned that his parents chose to send someone a photo via Facebook instead of actually taking their son to a doctor’s office. People on the Internet are not a replacement for medical professionals and proper examinations. [Daily Mail via Digital Life]
Stefan
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 5:00 PM“Now, while I’m most definitely glad that this boy was diagnosed properly and has a fighting chance, I truly am concerned that his parents chose to send someone a photo via Facebook instead of actually taking their son to a doctor’s office.”
Well they sent it to a doctor “friend” so they must have throught it was a much more basic sickness but were curious as to what it actually was.
Tom
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 5:29 PMNothing like a bit of marketing for an already huge product. Facebook plays a minor role in this story of a father concerned about his sons wellbeing, sending information to a doctor who is also a family friend. The medium of information transmission isn’t important enough to title the story with Facebook.
Jamie Borg
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 5:47 PMHeh… Senator Conroy would be touting this as and example of Medical Diagnosis via the NBN Portals
James-Mac
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 10:46 PMIt was also free, compared to taking him to a medical facility.
Fnordish
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 11:49 AMIn the UK it both the diagnosis and treatment would be covered under the NHS.
They wouldn’t have needed to spend a single penny.
Jestro
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 8:11 AMWhat an amazing story. It just goes to show that if it wasn’t for dad’s iPad, this poor kid might have not been so lucky.
Matt Larritt
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 12:04 PMI self diagnose myself all the time using the internet, it’s great. I’m not a doctor, I’m an electronics technician and to be honest, I don’t see much of a difference between diagnosing a television and a person. Both have systems which do specific tasks, some of those systems can malfunction and give a combination of symptoms which are all recorded on the internet from actual doctors (and people who’ve talked to doctors, and want to share). Obviously there’s more to it then Yahoo! Answers, but even this is a good starting point… Once you find 10 or so references that match the symptoms, then chances are your on the right path.
Just this morning I diagnosed myself with coital cephalalgia. It’s a painful thing, I hope no one ever has to go through it. But due to the nature of the symptoms, I know it might be worth me seeing an actual phyisician…