In February my first trimester bloodwork returned an elevated ferritin level so they repeated the test. I was on my way to the airport for a family vacation on Saturday morning and got the notification from Epic that I had new test results (after a decade in working in EHR tech I fundamentally believe patients should not have access to their medical records that is not contextualized) and it was still elevated. My first stop was to Google it which concluded I had leukemia. After 30 seconds of panic I went to Claude and "presented myself" to it: "You are an OBGYN, 35 year old patient presents at 14 weeks pregnant with the following lab results..." and included all the info from my bloodwork. Claude said I was probably fine, follow up with a hematologist to confirm I don't have hemochromatosis. I basically forgot about it transitioning into parenting a toddler on "vacation" and then got a call from my midwife on Monday that it was still elevated, stop taking my prenatal which has iron in it and will refer me to a hematologist but I'm probably fine. Turns out I am indeed totally fine (actually better to start pregnancy with elevated ferritin to reduce risk of anemia in the third trimester), back on my prenatal, and will not be googling medical questions anymore.
I'm doing the same as you! It's no substitute for a physician, but it is a fantastic way to think through ideas and save time while researching. For me, it's particularly helpful because I process information by interacting with it. So it's great to be able to read and then follow up with questions.
Yes! Also, that back and forth engagement, being able to ask clarifying questions, continuing to follow the thread until you understand something - that's what we all actually want from our doctor's appointments but aren't getting.
Ahhh, ok then I will not upload my latest labs and ask ChatGPT "what is wrong with me?" Seriously though, AI has been great at filling in gaps of information and helping me prep for doctor appointments, especially coming up with how to phrase questions and temper my frustration around the lack of holistic care. AND in the midst of planning my daughter's first themed part, FROZEN. Also looking for one nice party favor vs a bag of junk ⛄
Ohhhh I completely agree with the lymphatic massage! I did it before my wedding and felt like Ross in that FRIENDS episode where he massaged someone with wooden spoons! I was so disappointed. I recently did a Korean lymphatic face massage and it was wild (wrote about how much I loved it in my latest Substack post too). It’s the other extreme of gentle though - my face was so snatched afterwards but also sore for days. Not for everyone but I’m obsessed with it!
The part about ChatGPT remembering your health history!! I hate having to repeat myself multiple times to my doctors, my current husband’s doctors, my cat’s doctors lol… I recently got an expected blood test result (high cholesterol) where instead of going back to Tia and paying $300 to say no meds yet, I went to ChatGPT to summarize the full results and talk through different solutions. I agree it’s such a good complement to our healthcare and I get to save some time and money. Love your do’s and don’t list ❤️
I will say there are times when ChatGPT forgets what I already told it or what it already told me, and I have to be like "remember that other conversation we had" and then it apologizes for forgetting 😂
In February my first trimester bloodwork returned an elevated ferritin level so they repeated the test. I was on my way to the airport for a family vacation on Saturday morning and got the notification from Epic that I had new test results (after a decade in working in EHR tech I fundamentally believe patients should not have access to their medical records that is not contextualized) and it was still elevated. My first stop was to Google it which concluded I had leukemia. After 30 seconds of panic I went to Claude and "presented myself" to it: "You are an OBGYN, 35 year old patient presents at 14 weeks pregnant with the following lab results..." and included all the info from my bloodwork. Claude said I was probably fine, follow up with a hematologist to confirm I don't have hemochromatosis. I basically forgot about it transitioning into parenting a toddler on "vacation" and then got a call from my midwife on Monday that it was still elevated, stop taking my prenatal which has iron in it and will refer me to a hematologist but I'm probably fine. Turns out I am indeed totally fine (actually better to start pregnancy with elevated ferritin to reduce risk of anemia in the third trimester), back on my prenatal, and will not be googling medical questions anymore.
Glad you are ok! And yeah, hard to imagine a reason to use Google for these things anymore...
I'm doing the same as you! It's no substitute for a physician, but it is a fantastic way to think through ideas and save time while researching. For me, it's particularly helpful because I process information by interacting with it. So it's great to be able to read and then follow up with questions.
Yes! Also, that back and forth engagement, being able to ask clarifying questions, continuing to follow the thread until you understand something - that's what we all actually want from our doctor's appointments but aren't getting.
Ahhh, ok then I will not upload my latest labs and ask ChatGPT "what is wrong with me?" Seriously though, AI has been great at filling in gaps of information and helping me prep for doctor appointments, especially coming up with how to phrase questions and temper my frustration around the lack of holistic care. AND in the midst of planning my daughter's first themed part, FROZEN. Also looking for one nice party favor vs a bag of junk ⛄
A Frozen party = total crowd pleaser.
Ohhhh I completely agree with the lymphatic massage! I did it before my wedding and felt like Ross in that FRIENDS episode where he massaged someone with wooden spoons! I was so disappointed. I recently did a Korean lymphatic face massage and it was wild (wrote about how much I loved it in my latest Substack post too). It’s the other extreme of gentle though - my face was so snatched afterwards but also sore for days. Not for everyone but I’m obsessed with it!
Hahaha, love the wooden spoons visual.
The part about ChatGPT remembering your health history!! I hate having to repeat myself multiple times to my doctors, my current husband’s doctors, my cat’s doctors lol… I recently got an expected blood test result (high cholesterol) where instead of going back to Tia and paying $300 to say no meds yet, I went to ChatGPT to summarize the full results and talk through different solutions. I agree it’s such a good complement to our healthcare and I get to save some time and money. Love your do’s and don’t list ❤️
I will say there are times when ChatGPT forgets what I already told it or what it already told me, and I have to be like "remember that other conversation we had" and then it apologizes for forgetting 😂