Subj : Patrick (Slackware)
To   : Richardw
From : Angus Mcleod
Date : Thu Nov 18 2004 09:47 am

  Re: Patrick (Slackware)
  By: Richardw to All on Wed Nov 17 2004 11:30:00

 > Hate to hear about Patrick.  I hope he pulls through this ok.
 > 
 > http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/11/16/2144255

I've been following it.  

Frankly, the Slashdotters have been *COMPLETE*ASSHOLES*. In consensus, 
they all seem to believe that he has refused to seek treatment (not true), 
has been medicating himself without prescription (not true) and is seeking 
someone to supply him with antibiotics without prescription (not true).

Admittedly, he might have been more vigorous in trying to determine the 
cause of the problem during earlier episodes.  But it is not uncommon for 
people to trivialize what appear to be minor medical maladies, until they 
realise it to be more serious than they originally thought.

The main problem (at the time of posting) appeared to be that *assuming* 
he and his regular doctor(s) had correctly diagnosed his complaint, the 
only treatment was *MASSIVE* quantities of anti-biotics for an extended 
period.  However, only a specialist in infectious diseases could make such 
a diagnosis other than tentative, and prescribe such high doses.  He had 
an appointment for Friday (4 days away) and was appealing for help from 
anyone who could have speeded up that delay.  I'm sure someone calling him 
and saying "I'm Dr. Jones with X suitable qualifications, come and see me 
this afternoon and I'll examine you right away," would have been all he 
wanted.


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