DEAR ABBY: My son, a widower with two boys, ages 6 and 9, has just informed me that his 33-year-old girlfriend, “Karen,” is pregnant and due in five months. He started seeing her three months after his wife died, and they have been an item for eight months. She has been staying at his house […]
Advice
Cancer: Get to work on a project you enjoy
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Vanessa Marcil, 47; Emeril Lagasse, 56; Sarah Ferguson, 56; Penny Marshall, 72. Happy Birthday: Your ability to recognize a problem and take action will put you in a position of power. You will attract both positive and negative attention. Take the positives and make them work to your advantage. Your […]
Sugar is not a necessary dietary requirement
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 48-year-old female in good health, minus high blood pressure, which is under control with regular medication. Growing up, every day after school, my mother treated us to some type of sweets, whether it be something she baked or made, or candy and sugary drinks from the local convenience store. […]
Gemini: Rethink your everyday routine
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Stacy Keibler, 36; Usher, 37; Natalie Maines, 41; Roger Moore, 88. Happy Birthday: Don’t ignore constructive criticism. Take the advice offered and figure out how to make it work for you. Let go of the past and focus on the goals you want to accomplish this year. This is the […]
Cyclic vomiting syndrome may be abdominal migraine
DEAR DR. ROACH: My son started having gastrointestinal problems in high school. Approximately three years ago, they became so intense that he couldn’t work. Last May, he finally had surgery for gastric reflux. This helped with the persistent vomiting, but he is still experiencing intractable nausea. After a year of tests and trials of every […]
Mom of occasional smoker thinks she’s gone to pot
DEAR ABBY: I am a 30-year-old single mom of two young girls. After my divorce, I returned to my hometown where my family is. I’m enrolled in school full time and set to graduate in two semesters. I have a 3.7 GPA, my girls are well-adjusted and well-behaved, and I have my own place. My […]
Taurus: Romance is in the stars
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Sacha Baron Cohen, 44; Kate Walsh, 48; Kelly Preston, 53; Marie Osmond, 56. Happy Birthday: Don’t dwell on the past. Live in the moment and make the most efficient moves to guide you into the future. Use your skills, intellect and experience to make the changes that will bring you […]
Which to treat: racing heart or cough from gerd?
DEAR DR. ROACH: My doctor put me on atenolol for occasional racing-heart incidents: In the past five or so years, I’ve experienced only three or four such incidents a year, lasting five to 15 minutes each time. I also have had a cough for years. I have had lung X-rays, a medication trial for asthma […]
Woman’s hidden HIV status must be brought to light
DEAR ABBY: I’m writing regarding the letter from “She’s Killing Them in Indiana” (July 8) and your response to the writer, whose friend is HIV-positive and doesn’t tell her partners her diagnosis. I am a disease intervention specialist (DIS) in Indiana and work specifically with STDs like HIV. In Indiana there is a duty to […]
Facing the recurrent vertigo of Meniere’s disease
DEAR DR. ROACH: My wife is suffering from Meniere’s disease, a condition that causes, at times, severe vertigo and disorientation. Although she’s never actually been diagnosed with the condition, after several months of numerous tests on her heart, brain, ears, eyes and balance, the doctors “think” it’s Meniere’s disease. It came upon her rather suddenly, […]