"If it was on the Internet, it must be true!"

I've been spending time on the Internet.  Yes, I make regular visits to Facebook to see what my friends are doing and check my e-mail on a regular basis.  I get my daily fix of the comic strip "Doonesbury" and read the Huffington Post at 5:30 every morning.  I don't though make it a point to go to WebMd or any of those other sites which provide details of everything from the common cold to diabetes.  Since Jersey has been sick, that has all changed.

I think I have searched every variation of the words "Canine;Lymphoma;Chemotherapy;Remission;Raw Diet." As a result I have visited thousands of web sites during the course of the last week and have stuffed my head with more information  than I will ever need to be educated about Jersey's particualr form of cancer and how to treat it. However, there is a problem with this approach.  Information overload.

If Jersey is gnawing on a bone and she takes a rest to get a drink of water, I panic.  I'm generally and genuinely convinced she has lost her appetite and is experiencing kidney failure because she's drinking water.  What do I do?  I rush to the Internet and do a Google search until I find a page with what seems to be applicable information.  I read.  "MY GOD!" I scream, panic is really setting in.  I yell for my wife.

"ALEXA, JERSEYISHAVINGBORDERLINEMESOMISTITISSYNDROMECALLTHEVET."

I get heart palpatations and begin to fret.  What do I do? I keep searching the Internet for confirmation of the diagnosis I just made.

By the time Alexa gets me calmed down and assures me Jersey really just wanted a rest and a drink of water, I have hit a hundred websites, frantically searched for my car keys to rush Jersey to the vet and have started wailing and gnashing my teeth.  Both Jersey and Alexa look at me with perplexed looks on their faces; Jersey wags her tail. "You're sure she's OK?  You're positive?" "Yes." Alexa says barely able to keep from laughing "She's fine."

I am a rational person. I'm usually reasonable in my thinking.  I'm not an extreme person.  Get me on the Internet searching for information about Jersey's illness? It all goes out the window.

I know it wasn't asked for but here's some advice -- just because it's on the Internet doesn't make it true.  There's enough stress inherent in this situation; don't feed the fire and render yourself insensible, incontinent,inconsolable and incapable.  Breathe, be reasonable and relax. It's probably nothing at all.  She's probably just thirsty.