QOTW: April 16th - I love iMSN because:

[Vanquisher]

WARNING!!!! THIS IS A HATE/COMPLAINT FREE THREAD!!!!


1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

[rainbabies]

Duh. Isn't it obvious?
I love this site because of all the support, love and friendships I've made here. I love the funny words I've learned, the advice, the pictures, the buckthefuckup tough love....

Getting through residency and dh being let go from his first job due to a large hospital take over, were the hardest times for me and when I needed this site the most. I've not been actively participating the last couple years, but I do check in.

[Sheherezade]

1. I love that iMSN takes the sting out of getting uprooted from your friends and community each time the medical career path makes you move. Everyone here knows what that feels like and we know each other. You can take your friends with you. And unlike real life friends, you can pop in at 3 am when you can't sleep and chances are you will find someone around!

2. I like that forums offer deeper conversations than most online communities. Answers are three or four paragraphs not 400 characters or less. I like the various communities within the community effect - like rooms at a party. You can have young moms talking about late nights and DINKs talking wineries - and a serious conversation about marital woes along side a debate on the latest online viral issue. You can pick and choose what you want to make it.

3. I think iMSN helped me most when I moved to the Midwest for "the job". I was very lost here. It gave me stability when I felt like I was on shaky ground. Eventually I found my footing and was able to make IRL connections, but I'm not sure how I'd have dealt with that first year without someone to cling to....


THANKS iMSN!


Angie

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

1. I love that everyone here gets it. That there's no need to explain myself, that I just belong because you guys are going through the same thing! That no one here thinks I'm a complainer because the dawkter is working and I don't see how "it'll be worth it when he's a doctor".

2. I really like the different use of the smileys...is that lame? I think that ours are so expressive.

3. 36 hours post-partum and paralyzed when you guys basically yelled at me that I needed a neuro consult NOW. You helped me get the ball rolling on that. And then, Deebs (who I'd never met) showing up at my house to hold my baby and keep me company one day in those first few weeks when I couldn't be left alone with her. Oh and ST sending me some adorable hand-me-downs for C from N (she's older by 7 weeks) and some lactation cookies. I realized that these people (and the many others who sent lovely notes, prayers, and other support) REALLY cared about me. Like, really, cared. I wasn't some online friend, I was their real friend and they helped me. Blew my mind. People who know me in real life were less supportive than a community of people I'd (mostly) never met in person...I'm still in awe.

[OrionGrad]

1. I love iMSN because it's connected me with so many intelligent, level-headed people who've been through or are going through almost exactly the same things as me.

2. I love how easy it is to check iMSN on my iPhone. I never really appreciated this feature until DS was born, but I can't even tell you how many hours I spent browsing the boards on my phone while he was nursing during those early months.

3. I remember getting up one morning when DS was very young, after having not slept at all the night before, and just feeling totally lost as a mom. I came and posted here, and within minutes I had so many supportive and caring comments. It just felt like I was supported, and there were so many people who had gone through (and survived!) the same things I was going through. I'd never been a big poster before, but that was the day I decided to start checking in more. This is such an amazing community full of so many caring people, it's unlike anything else I've found.

[houseelf]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific! "Let me count the ways.." I adore my IRL girlfriends. They are fabulous, they are friends that give me the TRUTH, whether I want it or not. LOL. Nonetheless, there is one area that they really DON'T get me: Medicine. Not my chicas, but a lot of people invalidate any personal pain because "OMG, YOU'RE MARRIED TO A DAWKTOR!!!!" Especially a SURGEON!!!!! While my life is truly blessed, there is a dark, seedy underbelly that you have to live through to get. Additionally, I also love that some of my online friends here have turned into some of the closest relationships in my life. I feel a deep kinship to other trailing spouses, people who have had big careers but medicine shifted that. I love the intimacy of sharing your stories. Even though they are all so different, the courage here makes me find me own. I realize we couldn't be different from on another if we tried, but still you all just "get me" or at least respect me. <<<gushes>>>

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love! I love the depth of intimacy here. In a drive-by, FB world, there is real conversation here.

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life. The founder of this sited drove 1.5 hours to my house with 3 kids in the car to bring me food after my miscarriage. She also came to my house to deep clean my carpet on her hands and knees in order to get my house "show ready". At the lowest points in my life, people have bolstered me up. People have shared the truths that they don't tell people IRL and made me feel less "special" about my life's own piles o'crap. Being truthful here has helped me be more truthful about myself IRL. <hugs>

[WolfpackWife]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

The fierce loyalty and genuine companionship shared by the members here. The compassion, support, sympathy, empathy, and understanding are unlike any other community - IRL or online - I've experienced. Everyone here gets it. There are a myriad of experiences to draw comfort, inspiration, or solace from. When you're down - really down - someone else has been there too, having the same fears, doubts, and worries you're having. I hope that I can grow into some important friendships the ways others have; it's such a wonderful thing to see. I like knowing that if/when I tag along with DH to residency interviews in certain place there may be an iMSN member or two (or 3, 4, 5 if we go to TX hah!) I could meet in real life, and it wouldn't be weird, awkward, or creepy. I feel like I could meet some of y'all for lunch tomorrow and it would be comfortable and fun. This site saved me and will probably continue to save me for years to come.

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

I think the format is really clear and easy to use. I don't use a lot of other forums but did read over at weddingbee during my wedding planning and the layout sucked. This clear and clean format is awesome and I appreciate how user-friendly it is. It's one of the things that made the site desirable to join after I realized there was a "forums" section when I first found the site. I've seen other forums sections on other sites that aren't even worth joining because to me they look so disorganized and not user-friendly

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

As stated above, iMSN has saved me several times from really, really bleak times of doubt and fear. iMSN encouraged me to follow through on finding a therapist to talk through some of my saddness and issues. Most of all, iMSN has comforted me and assured me that how I'm feeling/have felt is okay, understandable, and not wrong; that I'm not the first one who's been in that place and won't be the last. As someone who finds it hard to pull myself out of sad places, it's nice to hear so many voices tell me "it's okay, we understand" instead of listing ways in which I should try to change myself, etc. Sometimes it's awesome to get inspiration and motivation from members here...others it's vital to just know you're not alone and that has made the biggest difference for me.

[migirl]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

Like others have said, I love not having to explain or justify anything ... everyone here just gets it!


2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

With 3 little kids, I'm rarely in front of a computer so I appreciate the opportunity to check in from my iPhone!


3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

We lost our first pregnancy under difficult circumstances 9 years ago, and this site and its members were instrumental in helping me to cope and to heal. I will forever remember the caring and kindness extended to me during that horribly painful time. Some of these awesome ladies even mailed me a "care package" of sorts that helped me tremendously. My DH was *floored* at the generosity of these people whom we had never met. Like T&S said above, they supported me in a way that my IRL friends could/would not.

[Curegirl]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

The people! Like everyone else said, you peeps just get it. I don't have to explain things like he's in training but he's a real doctor. He even has real patients who are real people, I swear. We can talk about anything under the sun and I know that I won't be judged or talked down to if I ask for someone to explain things to me. And you guys don't make me feel like a pill popping lush

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

So easy to use and navigate the site. And I love that I don't have to type in my log in info every time I visit. Speaking of, I've forgotten my password because it's been so long since I've had to use it!

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

I don't think my relationship would've made it if it hadn't been for iMSN. Despite having friends who are in medicine, I don't know a lot of significant others IRL who had to go through residency. Finding this site has made me much more patient and understanding about what he has to go through because honestly, I would've bolted at the beginning if I hadn't acquired this empathy. The people here have shared their experiences, which in turn made me realize that medicine is just a weird, fucked up little world and what I was going through when I joined this site was actually pretty normal. I stopped seeing our relationship through a more conventional, socially acceptable lens, and started seeing it for what it is: two people going through a difficult situation together and loving each other despite all the obstacles. That's made a huge difference and I now appreciate him in a whole new light. Thank you guys!

[spotty_dog]

1. I can't remember a time when this site hasn't been part of my life. I've been a near-daily visitor here for longer than I've been married to my husband.

2. I like the smilies, and I think this was the first site where I used the "New Posts" feature almost exclusively?

3. I don't think there's just one instance, but iMSN has brought me in touch with people from so many walks of life that it has pretty much completely changed me as a person. I am so much better able to embrace differing worldviews, politics, religions, everything. I have no idea how insufferable I'd be without this site!

[Deebs]

1. I love the type of spouses iMSN attracts. Collectively, we are incredibly driven and hard working. No trophy spouses here. . I also think we are married to incredibly hard working doctors, focused on big time careers, even as compared to peers. Especially in EM, there are those that work 12, 12 hour shifts and clock out. I can't relate to that because it's so far from my reality. You all "get" me because of those features. There are things I share here that I only tell one IRL friend.

2. I love that the forums are searchable and easy to navigate. While it sucks to have time away, I can jump back in fairly easily. The site is well organized into a format that makes sense to me.

3. This is the only place that people understand why we've moved a ton and don't seem to judge me or DH for it. Moving is hard and lonely, and being able to bring you all with me wherever we go makes the transition easier.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

I love that the brain trust knows everything about everything...this is such an amazing and diverse group...I often find myself searching old threads when I'm looking for information on different things (usually not even medicine related). 9 times out of 10, someone has asked and answered my question. If not, I know someone knows the answer and can just ask.

I love hearing the good, the bad and the ugly... There is always someone with a really good story! I love hearing about people's kids (and seeing pictures) though I don't have any of my own yet!


2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

I also love the mobile ability (I was the last person ever to switch to tapatalk (I'm set in my ways) and the mobile site was awesome...using tapatalk is awesome too. I also love that you can quote/get notified when someone quotes you!

And though I'm bummed it doesn't work on tapatalk.

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

When I was freaking out because DH wanted to change specialties, talking it through with you guys was amazing. Also, you guys stave off horrendous work boredom (that's probably the bigger benefit haha)!

I need to work on connecting more with you guys IRL...unfortunately the conference is taking place while I'll be traveling with my in-laws (oh another thing I love!!!! In-law stories!!!!)

[L.Jane]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!
I love that I can go pretty much anywhere in the US and I have an friend that can help me if I am stuck or need help. This community is so supportive and members are willing to go out of their way for someone they have never met IRL.

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!
I love love love the new posts button. It is my best friend.

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.
Um, last week when I was convinced I was just having Braxton Hicks and I came here to talk it through with the iMSN brain trust and they convinced me to go to the hospital. It made all the difference in the world that I had that support at 6am when I was home alone and confused.

[SoonerTexan]

1. Why do you love iMSN? Be Specific!

I've made some of my best friends through here! I also really appreciate the insight it's given me. I honestly think we were ahead of the game on a lot of things (match process, loans, etc) because of the advice I got here.

2. Tell us about a technical feature of the site that you love!

Well, it's not really technical, but I adore the forum names. They are so stinking clever

3. If you're comfortable, tell us about a time when iMSN made a positive difference in your life.

Support during breastfeeding was nice. Meeting V and finding someone incredible to watch my first kid for 18 months was amazing. I'll never forget that!