Don't Lose Heart

HOW TO SEARCH THE INTERNET

When someone you love is sick, one of the best things you can do for them is to do some research to find out as much as you can about their condition, available treatments, and clinical trials. Make notes during doctor visits and if there’s something both of you are confused about, look it up. If you don’t find the answer, make a point of asking questions at your next appointment. Don’t hesitate. Don’t worry about annoying or offending your doctor with questions. This is no time to be timid – this is the time to be smart. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to make the important decisions when the time comes.

The internet is an amazing resource and it’s right at your finger tips. Becoming a good researcher is easy once you get the hang of it. Go to www.bing.com, or  www.google.com  or your favorite search engine and start entering different combinations of words until you start getting the results you want.

For instance, if you’re trying to find out about prostate cancer, you’d try searches for: “prostate cancer symptoms” or “prostate cancer treatments” or “best prostate cancer treatment centers” or “prostate cancer nutrition” or “prostate cancer support group”, and so on. The top results are usually the best. Sometimes you’ll run into a site that is nothing but more links – back arrow out of that site and go back to your search engine results.

Each synopsis in your search results will include the page title, a brief description, and the website address (highlighted below in yellow). You’ll start to recognize certain sites, like the Mayo Clinic or Web MD, that are respected, reliable, and information-rich sites. (The first two or three sites in the list, like the two highlighted in purple below, and the sites listed in the right hand column are paid-for ads and may or may not have what you’re looking for.)

Once you find the information you’re looking for, do a search to double and triple check the information you found. For instance, if you read on one website that Pumpkin Seeds are a good food for fighting prostate cancer, do a search for “prostate cancer pumpkin seeds” and see if other websites agree. I like to have at least three reputable sites back up my research before I use it.

You can also do a search for any News or Images that might be out there. Just go to your search engine and click on “News” or “Images” (usually in the upper left corner of your browser window). If you’re in News, you might do a search for “drug prostate cancer”, to get the newest information about drugs. If you’re in Images, you might enter “prostate” to see what the prostate looks like, where it is in the body, etc. The next time you see your doctor you can mention what you learned to see what they think. I found that most doctors aren’t familiar with recommended foods and supplements, but they know about, or can look up, information about new treatments or clinical trials. Just jump in and start – you’ll be a proficient internet researcher in no time.