Diana Cole told me, “The internet saved my life,” and recounted a story about using the internet to identify a bat bite and learn about rabies in bats, leading to an emergency room trip.

She later introduced me to her sister, Carolyn Kingston, who attributed her successful outcome from hip replacement surgery to her use of the internet. I asked Carolyn about her general use of the internet for health, her specific use for her surgery, and the blog she started to record her surgery and recovery.

Lisa: When did you start using the internet for health information and why?

Carolyn: I’ve been using the internet for health information for years, mostly to supplement and clarify information I get from my doctor. For example, as a person who has had chronic colitis for many years, I explored a number of sites searching for alternative treatments that would help cut down or eliminate some of the strong medications used in traditional medicine. I found a book online with a holistic dietary approach, which I followed during flare-ups for a month or two at a time for several years with limited success. Ulcerative colitis is tricky because up till now doctors have no idea what causes it.

Lisa: Do you and Diana discuss your respective internet use?

Carolyn: Diana and I often discuss and share information about use of the internet for health related issues. Her experience with the bat bite is an example. My health-related searches on the internet are usually very targeted, and directed toward answering a specific question rather than broad, generalized browsing.

Lisa: What led up to the hip replacement surgery Diana told me about?

Carolyn: I first noticed discomfort in my right hip about 8 years ago. In the last few years X-rays and an MRI showed increased deterioration of the cartilage in the hip joint and an increasing narrowing of the space between the ball and socket of the hip – typical of degenerative osteoarthritis. The time to have hip surgery is determined by how it feels, not how it looks, so it is largely the patient’s decision. With regular low impact exercising, such as swimming, walking, yoga, and tai chi, and herbal remedies, such as glucosamine chondroitin and fish oil, I managed to keep going pretty comfortably until the last few months. Even then it was not as much chronic pain but lack of mobility and the ability to enjoy exercising that was the impetus to schedule the surgery.

Lisa: At what point did you start searching online?

Carolyn: In January 2010, right after making the appointment for surgery on April 7. I’d seen my orthopedic surgeon for the second time in December, looking for a medication stronger than naproxen and Tylenol. He prescribed tramadol and we discussed whether to have the surgery now. Basically it was left up to me – a wait and see how it goes situation. In my first appointment with him about a year before he described in detail the advantages of the newer anterior approach to hip replacement, that the entry was more toward the front of the hip resulting in less bleeding, no cutting of muscles, and faster recovery time. In addition titanium is now used for most of the replacements, so it lasts longer, up to 25-30 years.

Lisa: What information were you looking for?

Carolyn: My first internet search was to find out more about “anterior hip replacement” and there was lots of information out there, including medical websites describing all the advantages and testimonial blogs by patients. I found few negative testimonials about this approach to hip surgery. What I did not use the internet for was to look for alternatives to surgery, and there were many ads on sites I visited claiming various ways to avoid hip replacement. I also did not research surgeons online because I was fortunate to have an excellent surgeon whom I liked, as well as the positive testimony of a friend who’d had a very successful result with the same surgeon several months before.

Lisa: Diana told me that you learned things online that led to a good outcome: what were they and could you have learned them in other ways?

Carolyn: What I learned online was very helpful both pre- and post-surgery. I found sites that had lists of pre-op exercises, which I printed out and began doing faithfully 6 weeks before the surgery. I found checklists of how to prepare your home for post-op recovery. I searched Amazon for books and ordered two, plus a meditation tape on preparing for surgery recommended by my therapist. I could have found out these things through my health plan, but this was efficient and didn’t involve making an appointment. To satisfy my need for information I ordered online the 2010 version of John Hopkins paper on Arthritis and set a “Google Alert” on current media articles on hip replacements. Some of this information was useful for the short speech I gave in March to my local Toastmasters Club on “Making Medical Decisions.” Post-surgery I felt ready to watch a step-by-step video of how this particular surgery is performed. I was also interested in how long it would be to recover full muscle strength in the muscles of my right leg.

Lisa: Did you look for specialized information, such as concerns you had as a singer? Were these searches successful?

Carolyn: I googled the length of time post-surgical effects of general anesthesia and the effects of intubation on the singing voice. On that issue I did not find any helpful information.

Lisa: How has your experience influenced your attitude toward using the internet?

Carolyn: My attitude toward using the internet is very positive. I use it to educate myself and to find reassurance, but not for self-intervention. I am very wary of sites that make claims to heal you in X months or days. The internet is an amazing resource which I use daily for one thing or another and I am grateful for its existence.

Lisa: I saw the blog you started, Becoming Hip. Can you tell me why you started it and why you didn’t continue it? Have you read other health related blogs and, if so, did you find them helpful?

Carolyn: I started my blog partly to learn how to set one up but primarily to share my feelings and thoughts day-to-day about my upcoming surgery with friends and family. It was also a way to remember my mother who died last summer and who had a total of three hip replacement surgeries, the first in 1978. In those days the prosthesis didn’t last as long, necessitating a re-do of her first one 17 years later.

Lisa: Why you didn’t continue it?

Carolyn: Somehow I got in the habit of writing my entries longhand (something I am used to doing in my journal) and never switched over to writing on the computer. Post surgery I wrote mostly to record the rehabilitation progress I was making which will be useful in the likely event I have the other hip replaced. Your question, however, has prompted me to transcribe what I wrote over the last 6 months and I am posting them bit-by-bit on my blog.

Lisa: Have you read other health-related blogs, how did you find them, and did you find them helpful?

Carolyn: I did read a number of other blogs and found them of varying usefulness. Some were way too self indulgent, others were very informative and encouraging. Recently I was concerned about muscle tightness in my operated leg so I Googled “muscle tightness post hip replacement” and found a very helpful entry on an Orthopedic website. It re-assured me that muscle tightness often takes several months to resolve.

Lisa: Did you – or do you still – follow any of these blogs regularly?

Carolyn: No, I don’t follow any blogs regularly. I usually just Google a specific question.

Lisa: Did you show your blog or journal to your doctor? Did you talk to your doctor about your internet searches or ask for recommendations of websites?

Carolyn: No, I didn’t.

Lisa: What advice do you have for someone in your situation based on these experiences, both your internet research and your use of a journal and blog?

Carolyn: If you are a person who likes to have a full understanding of what you will be going through, the internet is a great resource. It can’t replace personal conversations with your doctor of others on your support team but can give you more understanding and greater peace of mind.

Lisa Gualtieri is Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Health Communication Program at Tufts University School of Medicine and blogs at her self-titled site, Lisa Neal Gualtieri.

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