On Saturday night after the Seahawks game, I received a call from Gillian - my dad had passed out from blood loss at home and had been picked up by a 911 dispatch crew. He was taken to the hospital, where it was finally determined (just a few hours ago), that swelling in his intestine was most likely the result of an aspirin overdose (he had been ovemedicating a painful toothache) combined with high blood pressure and a general unwillingness to visit doctors.

Those first few hours in the hospital with my mom, brother and sister (and Mystery Guest, too, who came along for moral support) were pretty scary, but both Yahoo! Health and Google's search were life-savers in the battle for sanity. I used the wireless EVDO network on my Verizon Motorola "Q" to scan through dozens of pages of information in the waiting room - it not only served to make us all feel a bit better about the situation (as none of the symptoms for the scariest possibilities matched my dad's), but also gave us some insight and language to use with the attending doctors.

I can't go as far as saying that Google & Yahoo! saved my dad's life, but they certainly made our lives much better that night, and in the hours after we got home. I think that many times, the worst part about having a sick loved one is the mystery - not knowing what's going on (or what the possibilities might be). The instant access to high-quality medical knowledge is, in that respect, invaluable.

I'm certainly not the first blogger to comment on the value of finding medical information over the web; Scott Adams' case of a lost voice might be the most famous, and this story about a narrowly avoided transfusion made the top of Digg in 2005.

I'd have to say that all of the wonderful things the web and search have brought us, this might be one of the best.

As for my dad - he's staying in the hospital for at least a few days under observation. We'll know tomorrow whether surgery is necessary or if he can heal on his own, but I've taken this as a cue to get a doctor's appointment ASAP to have my blood pressure and cholestorol tested (my last physical was 3 years ago). Listening to the doctor tell him that if he didn't take steps to correct the problem, it would almost certainly kill him was more than enough incentive. My whole family is hoping that this incident will turn out to be a postive catalyst for him to pay more attention to his health in general and his diet and stress levels in particular.

I'm not sure if I can influence any readers to pay more attention to their own blood pressure, but I'd love it if you did. If my dad's story isn't enough for you, the CDC notes that in the US, two of the three leading causes of death are from high blood pressure - heart attacks and strokes. We need more search marketers, not less, so please take care of yourselves.

As a result of the incident, my time and Gillian's will almost certainly be split between our office in Seattle and Overlake hospital in Bellevue. Advance apologies for what may be slower than normal blogging and email.

p.s. Surprisingly, I had a difficult time finding any good information on WebMD, which I presumed to be the premier player in this space (or, at least, the heaviest advertiser). Have you had good/bad experiences with them (or Yahoo! Health)?