Bloggers Anonymous August 18, 2004
My husband was reading The Couple’s Guide to In Vitro Fertilization on the plane ride home Sunday night. I’ve mentioned this book before, and I do like it, but I don’t see eye to eye with everything she says in it. While my husband was reading, he commented on a couple of parts of the book. One was the following:
…Web sites and chat rooms are wonderful places to connect with the IVF community. But they can also become a serious addiction. Try to resist the temptation to spend every waking moment online, to the detriment of your job, your relationships, and the quality of your life.
We both chuckled about this. Why? We’re both serious internet addicts. Of course our sites of interest differ greatly (it’s not like he reads infertility blogs and boards all day) but we both do a lot of connecting in cyberspace.
So when does this become too much? I do spend quite a bit of time online. I don’t think it causes me problems in “real life” but it can get overwhelming at times. Monday, when I tried to get caught up on everything I had missed during my 3 days away from the internet world, it was too much.
I definitely think that blogs, message boards, and the ability to utilize my favorite research assistant- Google, have helped me tremendously in this roller coaster ride of infertility. I’ve learned so much more than I would have by just reading books. Plus, I’ve met some utterly fabulous women. The support system in the blogworld is amazing.
But when do you cross the line? When does it go from helpful to detrimental? I’m sure there’s a continuum there, but how do you know where you are on it? I guess it varies from person to person. For some people, I guess spending an hour a day reading blogs and/or message boards would be too much. I’ve always said that the way that I deal with infertility and IVF is to immerse myself in it. It helps for me to turn the majority of my attention towards it. This is my life right now, but is that healthy? I don’t know. I know that it’s much easier to get burnt out that way, but I also know, that for me, it works (at least most of the time).
So, I guess the thing is that each of us just have to know when it’s too much for us, so that we’ll realize when it’s time to take a half step back from it all.
- Posted in : various other ramblings
- Author : amanda
Comments»
I was browsing blogs and ran across yours. It’s weird because I too have been worried that I spend way too much time in my TTC cyber world. I think though that it’s just the attempt for us “fertility challenged” people to connect with someone who knows what it’s like.
My husband yells at me all the time. I spend way too much time on the computer. First it was buddy groups, then when I didn’t get pregnant and they all did, blogging. I’m a hopeless junkie.
At least I don’t have many other vices. Ha.
Karen/Naked ovary
It *is* addicting. 12 step program for IF junkies? And we can do it on-line!
marla
http://themiddleway.typepad.com/
You know, Marla, I had totally thought of that, too. Too funny. I guess once I actually got to posting, I just got all serious and forgot about it.
Karen, this is one thing that doesn’t bother my husband. I think he’s just as bad about being an internet junkie as I am.
Nikki, you’re right. This is the only way that I can connect with other infertile people. I don’t know anyone in “real life” dealing with this right now, at least no one that’s open about it.
Another junkie here. Hey, and we even shoot up (with Follistim, granted, but it has to count for SOMETHING!)
The line moves around for me. If I am having a good day, I know it’s time to stop when I am getting very, very sad from what’s going on over at many of my blog buddies (doesn’t mean I stop, but that’s when I’m aware that maybe I should).
If I’m not getting any work done, I reward myself with a bit of blog surfing after given intervals. But again, this only works on good days - o
n bad days it is only these shared experiences that keep me going.
The thing is that as time goes by I have become very attached to many fellow bloggers. How can I not check on someone’s beta, or see if someone who was very low is a little better, or see if the meds arrived, etc. etc. You know. I have friends there who are as real to me as those whose faces I know.
Menita
(lifesjestbook)
Me too, Menita. Your last paragraph rang very true with me.
That’s so funny - I just read that book too! I laughed at that part too. I find comfort in learning everything I can and also just reading stuff online so I don’t feel so alone and like such a freak. I can’t imagine going through this stuff before the internet.
- beaver girl
I think it just feels so great to be able to belong to a group. We are constantly left out of the fertile world and that is what makes this blog world so addicting.
Good thoughts.