NEW - HEPATITIS COMMUNITY FORUM

[CGTMHI]

Dear Friends,

Sometime today, we are going to open a new HEPATITIS COMMUNITY FORUM!  The Hepatitis Community Forum will be the place to communicate and share support with other people who have been touched by Hepatitis.

The HEPATITIS FORUM (this forum) will now become the place to post medical questions and comments pertaining to hepatitis information and research ONLY.  

Please give the new forum a chance to get up and running and then send us your comments and suggestions regarding the changes!  Thanks for your patience and continued support!!

Happy Friday!

Cindy Thompson
Med Help International

[WillPower]

I think Med Help is trying to help us with this dichotomy.  I find the respondents in this forum 99% responsible to seeking the truth about hepatitis per se, compared to many, many other forums I have experienced, such as stock investment forums, where people are more concerned with "who" is right rather than "what" is right.  I love the people of this forum.

This forum's "output" if you will, has helped me immeasurably.

I think the "community" forum is suggested by Med Help to allow us to differentiate between medical facts, including clinical facts--brain fog, lack of focus, itching, nausea--and interpersonal issues not related to symptoms and/or science known empirically about hepatitis.  

This forum seems to involve two groups, pre- and post-tx hepatitis individuals.  The pre-tx are undergoing huge emotional experiences brought on by fear of the disease and those brought on by the horrible side effects of the drugs, such as IFN anger and victim mentality.  

I get the feeling that Med Help possibly feels a crisis is brewing from the inate, "possibly" dysfunctional attributes of IFN side effects, as real, legitimate and important as they are to participants of this forum.  

I get the feeling that Med Help is "not" saying that IFN anger and emotion are not part of the current forum as "symptoms" to discuss as clinical facts; but they are asking us to "try" to separate the "interior issues" of IFN anger from the anger itself as a symptom.  Symptom anger, I think Med Help is saying, is very legitimate for this forum; but the "subject(s)" and issues the anger focus, belongs in the "community" forum.

I have seen the preoccupation with "who" is right destroy forums that were/are--at one time--beautiful, helpful, needed forums.  I think this plan would help us be more responsible for "focusing" on the mutual help we give each other about "what" is right about the facts and symptoms of hepititis/tx.

I agreed with both sides of the recent dialogue regarding "personal" issues.  The clinical elements of the hepatitis experience, per se, are just as legitimate as the "venting" needs of the hepatitis experience.  I think this is all Med Help is trying to accomplish.  We all can visit both forums, depending on our interests.

If we do not discipline ourselves, with separating the two, it is very possible this wonderful group will migrate and lose what we now have.  We can avoid this possibility, in my opinion, if we take the "who" is right issues to the "community" forum and keep the "what" is right direction in the current forum.  This is absolutely all I have to say on this subject.  

This currently is the best forum I have experienced on the web.  Thanks to us all, WillPower

[sfbaygirl]

Does that mean the ol' Rev left the building? LOL

[mremeet]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think the new guidelines and the new support forum are a good idea. I don't think Medhelp is going to come down on anyone who occasionally drifts into some casual talk on the med forum. I think they just want the Medhelp Hepatitis forum's scope to be primarily about, uh, "medical help for hepatitis". Seems pretty simple to me, and speaking for myself I like that it focuses on the more technical aspects of treatment and research. There are tons of other HCV support forums already out there, this one is special because of the relatively high level of discourse for research/treatment issues (especially now with our friend HR's contributions). I'd like to see that part preserved and bolstered, and if there's another supplemental forum for more human support issues/casual talk, then I don't see why that would pose a problem.

Just my $0.02, don't shoot me!

[sfbaygirl]

So what is going to stop people from bring up collidal silver and studies on alcohol and pot onto the reseach forum? Aren't these valid research questions? As we know this really sets off members here, so if trying to avoid anger and disagreements, I don't think this will happen by splitting the two.

[sfbaygirl]

Even if this were the case re; complaints about you, why would splitting the forum help? I have my doubts it is about you, but rather people who want to get rid of the "hi Susie, how are you?" and so called stupid questions. I think as I posted above, those of us who get angry by posts will continue to do so on either forum.

[sfbaygirl]

I know that riba rage...I've bitten off more than my fair share of heads, unfortunately in person, not the forum. I also doubt any of this is about tx rage. It happens before, during and way after tx that civility suffers here. I just don't think splitting is the answer.

I was joking you about the Elvis comment you brought up, you know that, I think you have been a great support to all lately.