What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#31

Post by arkades » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

neltnerb wrote: post #19

m12k wrote: post #10

That story of how the doctors just dismissed her pain as delusion is terrifying. Doctors are supposed to be people of science, but one of the very fundamentals of science is to acknowledge that you don't know everything, that your current knowledge is just a theory that can be improved upon. I find there's a tendency among doctors to think they know every possible disease, and if someone comes along with one that doe…

Yes, this has happened to several family members in the US, though thankfully mine was diagnosed properly because I could point to family history. Initially they wanted to write it off to migraines (I can't blame them since it's more common and can have similar symptoms at first) and now nine years later it's painful to use my hands and I've mostly given up martial arts. It would almost certainly be worse if I hadn't…

One of the doctors took them seriously, did a biopsy, and gave them a diagnosis.

They did not like their diagnosis because “idiopathic” means “we don’t know what causes this,” which the patient translated as “go the fuck away.” As if all human disease is deeply understood and an admission of ignorance is equivalent to laziness. They then continued going to additional doctors.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#32

Post by Kye » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

kahlonel wrote: post #21

Kudos to this guy’s bravery; he is living my worst nightmare. My biggest fear is losing eyesight or ability to use hands, and articles like this confirm my beliefs that our current technology is no way near mature enough where disability isn’t a concern anymore. And these doctors, what can I say about them. It looks like they are getting worse, or just lazy, with every passing day. If you are a doctor and you don’t w…

One theory I've heard is that too many people were pushed into becoming doctors for the money, and now the profession is full of people who hate it, are deep in debt, and see no way out.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#33

Post by 0xcde4c3db » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:02 PM UTC

tarsinge wrote: post #26

m12k wrote: post #10

That story of how the doctors just dismissed her pain as delusion is terrifying. Doctors are supposed to be people of science, but one of the very fundamentals of science is to acknowledge that you don't know everything, that your current knowledge is just a theory that can be improved upon. I find there's a tendency among doctors to think they know every possible disease, and if someone comes along with one that doe…

Psychosomatic diseases are a real thing though. You can have real physical symptoms. Last year my muscles started to « shake », with lots of skipped heartbeats (extrasystoles). After all the checks the doctors said the classic « it’s stress ». Well then I took a real break and embarked on multi month road trip on another continent. The symptoms disappeared nearly overnight. I think I experienced a burnout but it mani…

They're real, but doctors often do a half-assed (if not downright negligent) job of ruling out other possibilities before settling on somatoform disorders (or any other psychiatric diagnosis, for that matter). Especially when it comes to women presenting with chronic or recurring pain or fatigue as their primary symptoms.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#34

Post by arkades » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:03 PM UTC

m12k wrote: post #10

That story of how the doctors just dismissed her pain as delusion is terrifying. Doctors are supposed to be people of science, but one of the very fundamentals of science is to acknowledge that you don't know everything, that your current knowledge is just a theory that can be improved upon. I find there's a tendency among doctors to think they know every possible disease, and if someone comes along with one that doe…

You really don’t know how many hypochondriacs we get. And general anxiety disorder with a focus on healthcare. And totally reasonable people who start attaching every last twinge and twitch to their (real) core symptom, and want an answer that encompasses all of them.

And these people seek care. A lot. Literally orders of magnitude more than ordinary people do. You have your one story of (x). I can tell you about a score-plus of nuts I see in a regular week. Many of them are frequent fliers: I will get to see the same ones pretty soon with wildly different symptoms that in no way relate to their current symptoms. They certainly don’t relate to the crap they brought me a month ago.

I’ll take your wager for “more than half.” Dunning-Kruger is not your friend.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#35

Post by armada651 » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:04 PM UTC

tarsinge wrote: post #26

m12k wrote: post #10

That story of how the doctors just dismissed her pain as delusion is terrifying. Doctors are supposed to be people of science, but one of the very fundamentals of science is to acknowledge that you don't know everything, that your current knowledge is just a theory that can be improved upon. I find there's a tendency among doctors to think they know every possible disease, and if someone comes along with one that doe…

Psychosomatic diseases are a real thing though. You can have real physical symptoms. Last year my muscles started to « shake », with lots of skipped heartbeats (extrasystoles). After all the checks the doctors said the classic « it’s stress ». Well then I took a real break and embarked on multi month road trip on another continent. The symptoms disappeared nearly overnight. I think I experienced a burnout but it mani…

Regardless of whether you think the advice from the GP is sound or not, the best way to get a doctor to listen to you is to listen to (and follow) their advice first.

Cursing at them out of frustration only makes your situation worse.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#36

Post by meonkeys » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:06 PM UTC

I've been here with an L&I claim for RSI. Extreme pain.

Doctors are _very_ reluctant to tell you to take a break for work. Even for a while. What if they are wrong? Massive lawsuit. The best advocate and the one with the final say is yourself. You must become an expert on the subject and be prepared to make big changes in life for your happiness and health.

"It is that hard. You can do it."

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#37

Post by ericmcer » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

sdegutis wrote: post #27

csallen wrote: post #25

This story resonates. A few years back I was dealing with mild pain while coding. I stupidly ignored it for months as it got significantly worse, to the point where it became impossible to type for extended periods. I tried lots of things. My doctor did a nerve conduction study, which apparently ruled out carpal tunnel syndrome, but he wasn't much help beyond that. He gave me some straps that I slept in and wore arou…

I had literally the exact same experience as your first two paragraphs. Where my experience diverged is when I met a doctor of some kind who explained that it's the same kind of pain that truckers often get for resting their arms on the armrests. Turns out it was because I was resting my arms on the keyboard or the desk between me and the keyboard. Stopped doing that, the pain went away completely within a few days,…

That makes a lot of sense, the best cure for my wrist pain I found was deep massage on certain places in my forearms. Thinking back the area I hit most often was the point where my forearms lay on the armrests.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#38

Post by joshontheweb » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

sdegutis wrote: post #27

csallen wrote: post #25

This story resonates. A few years back I was dealing with mild pain while coding. I stupidly ignored it for months as it got significantly worse, to the point where it became impossible to type for extended periods. I tried lots of things. My doctor did a nerve conduction study, which apparently ruled out carpal tunnel syndrome, but he wasn't much help beyond that. He gave me some straps that I slept in and wore arou…

I had literally the exact same experience as your first two paragraphs. Where my experience diverged is when I met a doctor of some kind who explained that it's the same kind of pain that truckers often get for resting their arms on the armrests. Turns out it was because I was resting my arms on the keyboard or the desk between me and the keyboard. Stopped doing that, the pain went away completely within a few days,…

Interesting. Could you be more specific about where your pain was located? Was it in you arms or wrists?

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#39

Post by arkades » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

Kye wrote: post #32

kahlonel wrote: post #21

Kudos to this guy’s bravery; he is living my worst nightmare. My biggest fear is losing eyesight or ability to use hands, and articles like this confirm my beliefs that our current technology is no way near mature enough where disability isn’t a concern anymore. And these doctors, what can I say about them. It looks like they are getting worse, or just lazy, with every passing day. If you are a doctor and you don’t w…

One theory I've heard is that too many people were pushed into becoming doctors for the money, and now the profession is full of people who hate it, are deep in debt, and see no way out.

Close. The bigger issue is that reimbursement has fallen precipitously while documentation requirements have risen greatly. People who loved the job when they had 20 mins with a patient and two minutes of charting and had a comfy life with a hope of a retirement fund, are now seeing patients for 7 minutes, documenting for 10-15, and unable to pay off their debts before retirement (never mind sending their kids to school, or paying their own retirement.)

The job has changed, the pace has changed, and yes, going from “comfortable living” to “oh fuck” has an element to it.

I know very few who went into the field just for money though. It’s never been a good career for that, relative to all the school debt and the lost decade of life to education/training.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#40

Post by arkades » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 4:08 PM UTC

Dunning-Kruger applies to medicine as fully as it does to any other technical field. When people say things like “all (highly technically trained specialists) are idiots these days, they have no idea how to (do their jobs, which I am untrained to evaluate)”, that statement says a lot more about the intellectual humility of the speaker than it does about the people they’re criticizing.