What brought you to MedHelp &

[ChitChatNine]

do recall the nature of your first post?  Were you nervous, scared?  What did you think after you hit "send" and after you got replies?

__________

I put in the words "thyroid nodule" on Google and went to the Thyroid Disorders Community.  I remember feeling nerovus as I was seeking info on what thyroid nodule and a biopsy was all about.  I hit the "send" button and thought how little I knew about the thyroid gland, let alone the biopsy/surgery process .... I didn't even know what the thyroid does in the body!

After I got replies I was amazed by the support I got and the rest is history -- that first post was in Nov 2006 ... Today many of the same members are on the thyroid community, along with myself, helping newbies and others all the time.

What is your story if you'd like to share?

C~

[crecco]

I found med help while searching for info on ovarian cancer. It took me a few days to get up the nerve to post, but once I did the rest was easy. Now, a year later I am still glad that I did. I have found some wonderful friends and more love and support than I ever thought possible over the internet. So I try to give back some of the support that was given to me.

[MJIthewriter]

And don't forget my mom too. That makes 3 perspectives on the same issue. Only one (besides my cat) who hasn't created a medhelp account in my immediate family is my younger sister.

If she picks MJthewritersis as her username, I think I'll bean her, lol.  Nothing against her or my parents, but I find it interesting the usernames my parents picked. I guess it makes their relationship to me very clear. They both forgot to put the "I" in there.Too bad I can't get my grandma to even look at the site.  She still thinks everyone here is out to send advertisements to my email address. I try to explain to her that each username here has a person behind a computer like me, and she looks pretty lost.

I can't get Waldo to create an account either...  Sometimes he'll get on my lap, but that's about it.  At times in the past he has bat my mouse off the desk and left it dangling.

Sahib rather bite my toes than bother with computers. I guess there isn't much for a cat to do on a computer, unless it could launch treats out for them to eat.

[Savas]

Interesting bent there. Both you and your da answering the same question from a different perspective. I could see how that would really work.

I've tried to get the cats to chime in and give opinions, but they seem strangely averse to going on line. :)

[MJIthewriter]

I think it's pretty cool that in my first post to medhelp I got both my dad and my mom to register, join the community and make a post.

[MJIthewriter]

Warning: Long post. I typed it up while I was on break from the site.

I was looking up side effects for Welbutrin, then I found something in the alcoholism forum abut using alcohol and welbutrin together. I was a bit side tracked. I really wasn’t planning to look up the alcoholism forum, but I was doing research on alcoholism before that and I had not found anything on it except the information that “experts” put out about alcoholism. I was looking up news articles and medical stuff. I wrote my story with my recovering alcoholic character up to a certain point then I had a nagging question in my head:

How much do I really know about alcoholism being an outsider?  How much of my research was based off textbook knowledge I learned in high school health class.  That was when I started to wonder, how many misconceptions are out there on alcoholism? I know from personal experience that there are a LOT of misconceptions on autism. Just listen to a conservative talk show radio host… He called autism nothing more than being a spoiled brat.  Sadly many people carry this misconception.  Sure enough the more I learned, the more I realized I had NO clue what I was writing about…  My poor character before somehow managed to kick his addiction on his own with very minimal support.  After reading enough from those who’ve been there I realized that to expect someone to recover an addiction on their own without any help whatsoever was very unrealistic… Not to mention having the character stay sober for any length of time with just his own will power alone would likely be impossible… I gave him a support group and some other friends who were also struggling. Believe it or not prior to 2007, I had my recovering character as the only recovering alcoholic in the entire colony… In reality I don’t know how many recovering addicts would be able to do well if they were truly alone in their community knowing what I know now.

When I looked at the autism community, it was then I decided to join. I couldn’t think of a username, so I picked my initials + “the writer” to describe my passion. It looked like a new forum and there were several parents asking questions. That's when I decided I'd give it a go and try to answer their questions. I soon got my dad involved.  When they started taking community leaders, that's when I took the opportunity and also got my dad to co-lead.  The plan was; he answers questions specifically related to parenting, then I answer what it's like from an autistic person's viewpoint. That way the parents can understand their children a little better.

I'm also trying to get some of my friends with autism into the community because after all, when you meet one autistic person, you meet one autistic person. (that was quoted from a speaker in an adult forum I was at this Sunday, talking about autism.)

My first post...I believe I was excited but nervous. It's always intimidating to join a new community of any sort. You don't know what to expect when meeting new people.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/381729

But I'm glad I took that leap. It makes me happy to hear feedback from parents saying thanks because I helped them in some way understand their child. It was kinda neat to get my mom in there too.

You can also read my blog to find more about my autism advocacy:
http://detailedthinker.blogspot.com/

[Savas]

My first post...heh heh...I put it on one of the boards, came back and couldn't find the message for the life of me. It was weeks before I came back! I was convinced the set up was to different for me to cope with.
A good thing I decided I was wrong. :)

[Cherie762]

My post was about medically induced menopause and I was nervous because i knew the surgery I was going to have would be painful, and I already have a messed up thyroid so I worried about not having female hormones, I have found a lot of love, kindness and support here, and I try to pay it forward.

[paranoidpatty]

I remember I wasn't TTC at the time.  I was just coming off BC pills and wanted to know about the ovulation pains I was having or something like that.  Since I was on BC pills for so long I didn't have ovulation pains before and was freaking out.  I think I was having crazy spotting also so my body was all messed up LOL.  I do remember posting and thinking nobody would respond.  Then when people responded right away I felt so at home and that was all she wrote LOL.  

Trish

[bandnmom]

I to, along with dominosara, found medhelp by googling addiction and withdrawl. At first i was scared but the substance abuse forum has been a life saver or me! To day i am clean sober and proud! Not to mention made many friends along the way!

[dominosarah]

I was googling drug withdrawals and that is how i found the substance abuse forum.  That was April of this year.  I was already going thru withdrawals when i posted the first time and i about filled my pants i was so nervous especially when i hit the send button.  I thought i was going to be slammed and told what a piece i was but i found support and encouragement.  Today i am proud to say

[Trialanderror]

I forgot what my first post was about but I was unsure how mo.ronic my foreign English and foreign attitude would come across. Back then I thought it was a site restricted to North America. Well, at least I have learned that people in North America were politically very correct with me and I did receive a wealth of helpful information.

[michaelgc]

I originally came to MH after doing searches for support for COPD and smoking. Honestly, I don't remember my very first post. I tend to lurk more, reading other people's posts than posting myself, until I feel comfortable in my surroundings, so to speak. But I like the forums, and have made a couple friends so far. I have also joined some of their other forums that deal with other problems that I have.

[PrettyKitty1]

Well, my very first post was about Nopalina. I have always had digestive issues. Funny that my cat has Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Well, I heard Nopalina makes you go and keeps you regular because its fiber. Others claimed it makes you lose weight. I started using it to keep myself regular. I never saw, thank God, any weight loss. The only place I found people using Nopalina was on the Weight Loss forum and that's where I saw a post about the product. I added my experience to the thread and that's when I started my daily visits to MH.

Back then, in late 2006, this site wasn't like this and throughout 2006 and 2007 I remained as a member without joining any community. Fewer forums and members I recall. I lost my old password to my old member name. I decided I was going to create a new one, this one, because my real interest has always been pets. I am glad to say I am a community member of the cat forum and proud to always be assisted by our amazing CL, Savas.  :)