Internet A Path To Needed Help
Dear Ann Landers: You’ve printed a lot of letters about the Internet, and although many of them are about spouses running off with their newfound “soul mates,” you’ve been open-minded enough to mention some good self-help groups, too. I have a great Internet story for you that I read in the Journal of the American Medical Association. I hope you will print it.
Back in 1994, a 21-year-old Chinese girl studying physical chemistry in Beijing became quite ill. She had abdominal pain and hair loss but responded to traditional Chinese therapy and nutritional support. In March 1995, however, she was hospitalized with a variety of central nervous system complaints, and within five days, she lapsed into a coma.
The doctors performed a battery of tests, but the girl didn’t respond. Her fellow students at Beijing University were concerned about her and sent out e-mail over the Internet, describing her symptoms and asking for help.
The first person to respond was Dr. Stephen O. Cunnion, a U.S. Navy captain who is an infectious disease epidemiologist. He suggested the girl’s problem could be thallium poisoning, a rather rare condition. In the next four weeks, more than 2,000 people responded to the students’ plea, and more than 80 supported Dr. Cunnion’s diagnosis.
The students brought this information to the Chinese physicians who then conducted tests that confirmed thallium poisoning. Doctors from California, particularly at UCLA, helped coordinate the medical assistance from around the world so this girl could be properly treated.
Chinese physicians reported shortly after that the young student regained consciousness and the prognosis is encouraging. They are also checking to see if perhaps the girl was deliberately poisoned, since thallium poisoning would be difficult to contract otherwise.
This is truly the Internet at its best, Ann. I hope you will let your readers know. - Techie in Chicago
Dear Techie: You let them know - and in a way that was most effective. I appreciate the positive input.
Dear Ann Landers: I am a single male, 28, and have a good life, good family, good friends and a great job. I’m considered good-looking and am fairly outgoing.
So what’s my problem? I blush at the drop of a hat. I can turn red if someone mentions “toilet paper.” I’ve been told by several women that when I blush I look “cute,” but I really do hate it. Is there anything I can do to keep myself from blushing? - Tomato Face in Chicago
Dear Chicago: Face it. You’re a blusher - and there is no way you can do anything about it. In fact, the harder you try not to blush, the more florid your face will become.
I personally find blushers quite charming. I wish I could blush, but it’s hopeless. One would think that more than 40 years of writing this column would produce an occasional blush, but it has never happened.
Gem of the Day (Credit Lyndon B. Johnson): My daughter, Lucy Johnson, was asked by a writer to describe her relationship with her father, hoping to elicit a warm family feeling. She replied, “Blood.”
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