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My Comments (220 so far…)

The Things They Don't Know: Facts and Misconceptions on Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis, by Ashley Boynes

Enbrel has helped me a lot. It suppresses the immune system, so there is less inflammation. I don’t think I could work if it weren’t for Enbrel and Celebrex. I am 61 and need to keep working as long as humanly possible. So, I thank God for the health insurance I have because Enbrel is terribly expensive.

The Things They Don't Know: Facts and Misconceptions on Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis, by Ashley Boynes

Ashley, how does psoriatic arthritis compare? I have that plus hypothyroidism, dry /thyroid eye, high blood pressure, and celiac disease, I am on Enbrel and Celebrex for the psoriatic arthritis. Thanks

Creating Awareness: Celiac Disease – Follow Your Gut Instinct!

Just wanted to add that an additional symptom of Celiac disease is very itchy, little blisters on the elbows. If you have gastrointestinal problems and don’t know for sure what is wrong, these little blisters are a dead giveaway that it is Celiac disease.

Dear Margo: Nice Touch: 'But, Honey, All These Women Look Like You!'

Thanks, Louise

Dear Margo: Nice Touch: 'But, Honey, All These Women Look Like You!'

My son in law is a porn addict. He always has been, but my daughter didn’t know it until they had kids. He got into counseling and says he was molested by his own father, and therefore became "hypersexualized". He is obsessed with doing to others what was done to him, and those are his own words. As far as we know, he doesn’t look at child porn, but who knows? My daughter lives in a state where she can’t have anything but joint custody unless he does something illegal. I worry constantly that he will someday harm my grandson, who is only 4. This is a nightmare situation. She would not be allowed to move out of state, where I am, unless she had full custody. She is unable to support them without him. She is also afraid that if she were divorced, with joint custody, she would not be around as much as she is now to monitor the situation. Something monstrous happened to him, but now he is the monster. All the posts others have made make me wonder if some of these men weren’t hypersexualized through some early trauma themselves. There has to be a way to break this horrible cycle of abuse. If my son in law were a decent human being, he would relenquish his rights to his children right now, but he isn’t. If anyone has a suggestion for me, I would be very grateful.

Week-Old Puppy Survives Flush Down Toilet, Rescued by Plumber (Video)

It makes me sick that this child was so poorly supervised that he flushed a tiny puppy down the toilet. He should not have puppies around him and his parents should be ashamed of themselves. Children this young are too young for pets, period. It is not fair to the pet. The kids don’t know the difference between them and a stuffed toy. This puppy should get a new, better home.

Mr. Wow on the Rise and fall and Rise and ... What? – of Sarah Palin

If everyone ignored Pailn completely, it would crush her and she would finally go away. Let’s do it!

If you could have one piece of artwork by one artist to call your own, what would you choose? Why?

"Returning from the Market", 1873, by Pierre Billet. I had to sell it 20 years ago, for money to live on after my abusive husband died trying to kill me. It was the one beautiful thing to look at during the terrible years with him. I sold it to an art gallery in Atlanta and have no idea what became of it from there.

Dear Margo: Men in the Clink and the Women Who Love Them ... Next on 'Jerry Springer'

LW#2: I suspect there were sexual difficulties in both his marriages. He may be someone with a very low sex drive. Telling you what he has lets him avoid any further criticism or conflict in that area. A low sex drive is not something you can change. Cut your losses and move on.

Dear Margo: Praying He's Not Out at Home

#2 Go to the wedding as a means of offering support, but first privately tell your niece that animal abusers frequentlyl become wife abusers, and that you will be there for her, should she ever need you. And mean it.

Ryan O'Neal on Dying Farrah Fawcett: 'I Won't Know This World Without Her'

Cecile, you missed the point. Farrah is an icon and made her way into our collective consciousness when she was very young, so she will always be young. My daughter, who is 41, likes to say she had the first Farrah haircut in gradeschool, and the last one in high school! Grown men I knew liked to brag they went to UT when she did. As gorgeous as she was, there has always been such a sweetness and vulnerability about her that nobody could not like her. And when she proved her dramatic talent in "Burning Bed", one of the best depictions of domestic violence ever, everyone agreed she is not only beautiful but extremely talented. Farrah will always be young. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Have you ever cared for an aging or Alzheimer's-stricken person? What advice would you give someone faced with this challenge?

My Mom lived with me the last 4 months of her life, after Dad died. They had had help in their home. When Dad died, Mom needed to go to a nursing home or live with one of her 2 daughters. My sister and I couldn’t agree on a nursing home. I brought Mom home with me. I arranged for a day care worker, Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm. This was paid for my my Mom’s pension check. I arranged for hospice care, which was great. I bought some beautiful new clothes, took her to the hairdresser every Saturday, church every Sunday, and out to eat afterward. We had a nice routine going until she suffered another stroke, which made her housebound, for the most part. I fed her, dressed her, bathed her, whenever the day care worker wasn’t there. I made sure I ran errands and shopped for groceries, etc. on my lunchhours from work. She also had pulmonary fibrosis, and that is what she died of. I was very lucky she was a sweetheart to take care of. She couldn’t have been nicer. She didn’t know me, but she knew she was with a nice lady. Once in awhile, she asked for Dad, which was very hard for both of us. I was lucky she lived only 4 months. I do not know if I could have handled it for 4 years, but I was so lucky to have been able to do this for my Mom, and it made me a better person. My advice to others would be to engage hospice care right away because they are wonderful and will help you in any way possible. They made her death at home peaceful and truly a passing on. My other advice involves dealing with the present. I had to let go of needing her to be my Mom. That person was long gone. I had to face that I was now her protector. In a sense, I was now the nurturer.

She has been gone over 4 years now and I have not one regret. I take great comfort in knowing my Dad is very pleased with how this was handled, and that they are now together forever.

Were Jacqueline Onassis and Lee Radziwill Embarrassed by 'Grey Gardens' back in the day? Lee Says 'Never'

If you or I had relatives we knew were living with holes in their roof racoons had made, and had cat feces encrusted on all the floors, we would assume money was a problem and if the relatives wouldn’t accept money, we would order maintenance service and groceries on an ongoing basis, having the bills delivered to us. We would make sure the utilities were not cut off, again with direct billing to us. I expect the Beales rich relatives had nothing to do with them, or so very little that they were not aware how bad things had gotten. Whe Jackie did intervene and got the place cleaned up, wasn’t it just a one time thing? Mental health issues were involved. Mere eccentricity doesn’t explain how pitifully these women were living. Is it merely eccentric to live in filth with hundreds of empty cat food cans? Is it merely eccentric not to have medical care for alopecia? And psychological care? I’m sorry, but Lee Radziwill is glossing over this story and it makes me really mad.

Do you attend organized religious or spiritual services?

I am a recovering Catholic, so I do not believe in organized religion, because it is a man made institution and therefore prone to all the fallability that we humans do so well! I believe in God and I pray. I believe in the Golden Rule and think a lot about heaven, as I get older, and as I miss those who have already gone before me so very much. I am sure my neigbors wonder why my car never leaves my driveway on Sunday mornings, but that’s just the way I roll!