When To Research Medical Symptoms And Diagnoses

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Rihana, Oct 11, 2016.

  1. PepperPot

    PepperPot Gold IL'ite

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  2. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    A related question - If a patient is undergoing scans, such as CT or PET scans in India, they give a report and also a "CD with images". The report is easy to send electronically as a PDF file, how to transmit the content of "CD with images" to USA or UK etc where we can get second opinions from doctors who are in US or UK? [other than requesting duplicate physical CD and physically shipping it - which is a bit cumbersome].
     
  3. Sparkle

    Sparkle Platinum IL'ite

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    Most (high-end) hospitals are equipped with storing a copy of the data in the cloud. You are allowed to create a login and view/download and share the data at your convenience.
     
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  4. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Resolution is the key to imaging. I would not do anything that involves lossy compression.
     
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  5. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    That was what I thought too, as once we locally transferred some xray, and receiving office said it is of low resolution, and that it is a kind of thing doctor's offices sometimes do when patient wants to take xrays to another doctor!

    So, coming back to the question - best to make a copy of the CD and mail?
     
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  6. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Yes. FedEx is a fraction of the cost of the MRI/PET. Or Dropbox etc. Anything if you have the bandwidth for full res. Just do not change format or go for lossy compression.
     
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  7. Ragini25

    Ragini25 Platinum IL'ite

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    @sokanasanah
    Copy of the CD - can it be made by us with our computer (if so how?? any idea?), or will hospital issue an equally high resolution CD - duplicate CD copy (for a fee ofcourse)?

    Any experience with such?
     
  8. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Sure, you can copy it. It's the same as ripping any CD - as long as it's not protected in any way. Two things are critical: the resolution and the format, some of which may be platform dependent or even proprietary (i.e. manufacturer - Toshiba, Siemens, Shimadzu whatnot). In general, they are delivered in standard formats (DICOM for example), although not guaranteed. Note that you may not be able to view your CD because you need an appropriate viewer! This means that you cannot check whether you made a good, uncorrupted copy by opening the image. If it is DICOM, then you can find some free viewers online. Other formats ... hmmm?:cool:

    You can stick your CD in your PC, look at the extension, then identify the format from that and see if you can find a free viewer.

    If you want to be very careful, then yes, by all means ask the hospital for an extra disc. That is a bit like having a 'certified copy' if you know what I mean. You can always ask that any CD you send out for a second opinion be mailed back to you.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2016
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  9. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    You can do Dropbox or Cloud to copy and then burn a copy at your end. You should be able to find free viewers for PC or Mac depending on the type of image file.
     
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  10. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Hmmmm are we still doing this? :rolleyes: Continuing ....

    If you are to be proactive in the interests of your health (or that of a family member) you need to be engaged and informed. Even though the interaction with the modern medical system often highlights an imbalance of power between you and your physician, the best way to make it work for you is to see it as a team effort between doctor(s) and patient (The insurance system is a whole another beast that we will ignore!). Now, if you go to the ER with abdominal pain and the sleepy resident is poking around the lower right side of your belly, this might be a good time to point out that ... errrmmm it's probably not appendicitis, since you had it taken out when you were a kid. She should know to ask, but then you should know to tell, even if she hasn't yet - see what I mean? Teamwork. A replay of the Chikungunya example above (post #18).

    If you are to be an engaged, informed and proactive patient, you may want to organize your thoughts and research under the following headings depending on where you are along the spectrum: getting a diagnosis, managing illness/injury, choosing treatment options best suited to you, navigating the course of a specific condition (arthritis, diabetes, cancer whatever) and navigating the medical/insurance system.

    How you deal with each of these will depend as much on your personality (aggressive? cautious? fearful?) and where you happen to be in life as on external conditions. A treatment that buys a short, extra lease on life may be valuable to a woman who wants to be around to see her daughter graduate, while it may not mean much for someone who has had a good, long life and is ready to let go. So, take some time to figure yourself out. The Delphic maxim 'know thyself' applies to you as a patient, even as you mock a frustrating system - "Physician, heal thyself"!
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2016
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