Have him do the glass test to see whether it blanches or not. Press a clear glass against rash. If it does not fade, he should go in. https://www.meningitisnow.org/meningitis-explained/signs-and-symptoms/glass-test/

TJs is less than a mile from our home so we shop there often. Some favorites: grainless granola ginger turmeric tea aqua kefir, near half n half gruyere and caramelized onion pizza, cracker crust — delicious frozen Alaskan salmon bourbon vanilla paste lemon curd almond flour chocolate chip cookie mix salsas cornichons, capers unexpected cheddar shredded quattro formaggio prosciutto Elossa lemon ginger hard kombucha, sells out fast here Their produce selection is pretty good here with the exception of berries lately. Bananas are cheap, though.

If you have 10 years paid into SS already, you're good. SS considers the money you made from your teaching position in California to be noncovered employment -- work in which you did not pay into SS and instead contributed toward a state pension (in your case). Even though you did not pay into SS for those 17 years, because you have 10 years of employment where you did pay into SS, you are entitled to receive a reduced SS benefit. To calculate how much your SS benefit would be reduced, you can use the WEP Online Calculator with the information you have so far about your employment -- earnings, etc. Keep in mind that they update the calculator every now and then and so what you calculate today likely will be different than when you retire. You'll have a rough estimate, though. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/anyPiaWepjs04.html?mod=article_inline

You’ll need to refer to WEP to calculate what you’ll receive. For not paying in for 17 years, it is not a bad deal. You need to work and pay into SS for 10 years to collect. One more year.

You will be entitled to some amount of SS. It won't be as much as if you have paid in for 30 years but it probably won't be all that low, either. You can request your Social Security Statement (SS benefit and earnings statement) which will give you an idea of what you will receive. This is good to get just to make sure SS has your earnings properly reported. https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/statement.html

If she remarried before age 60 after divorcing her ex, then that could be a problem for your friend. After age 60, it's not a problem. If she remarried before age 60 after divorcing her ex, got divorced from the second husband later (for example, remarried at age 50 and divorced that guy at age 59), then she is re-entitled to her first ex's SS benefit.

If she was not yet 62 when he filed, then she could not receive his benefit. She would have had to be at least age 62.

^^ Yep.

Not knowing the details of your friend’s situation, I would say that she should first take her own lower SS benefit and then at age 67, switch and take her ex-husband’s higher SS. She could make an appointment with SS before she turns 67 to get a benefit estimate or even go online to fill out forms, etc. SS will lay out options to consider but it is the benefaciary who ultimately chooses. Ideally, you’d want to work with someone in the SS office who is very knowledgeable. Keep notes and check their advice. In your situation, you can draw SS but how much you get depends upon how many years and the amount you have paid into it. Research “Windfall Elimination Provision.”

Because she is working and age 62, if she were to collect his benefits now, first they will apply early retirement reductions, and then possibly work deductions depending upon her earnings.

SS has a death master file but you might have to pay for the ss number. Providing she was married to him for at least 10 years, a surviving divorced spouse receives the same SS benefit as a widow. She would get either her own SS benefit or his widow benefit— not both at the same time. Which benefit would be the optimal choice to take is dependent on her age. If she’s over age 70, she would choose the higher benefit of the two. If she’s under age 70 then she would want to consider possibly taking the lower benefit initially and then later switching to the higher benefit at either her normal retirement age or age 70. ETA Early retirement reductions — either hers or his — could affect the amount of the benefit as well. In that case, say if either of them retired early, then the benefit would be adjusted.

Prolotherapy has been around for decades and is considered safe (<--Cleveland Clinic). There just aren't a lot of studies and it doesn't help everyone. Ross Hauser specializes in it and has treated thousands of people. If you were to try it, he has a lot of experience. Surgery would not be my first choice personally just because of the risk of clots afterward. If you do choose surgery, just follow your doctor's advice and know what symptoms to watch out for. I think eventually stem cell treatments will be used which would be cool. I'm not sure where it's at with humans but it seems to be moving along. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10219560/ ETA A positive human study using anti-inflammatory cartilage-activated t cells and adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells to treat OA. Only nine people but results were good and cartilage was regenerated. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-cell-therapy-osteoarthritis.html

Microplastics can also pass through the blood brain barrier which is worrisome.

Prolotherapy is an injection of a safe irritant, usually a type of sugar, designed to induce regeneration of certain types of tissue. C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General under Reagan, and a very accomplished pediatric surgeon as well, was a fan of it after using it on himself. Ross Hauser is an MD who has specialized in prolotherapy for decades. You can find out more from his site. Personally, I would try prolotherapy before getting knee replacement surgery, if possible.

I was 11 in the 70s. For breakfast I would eat the largest, glossiest apple I could buy at a grocery store that I walked past on my way to school usually with the money I’d collect from the newspaper box. I had our town’s morning paper route at 10 and 11. Lunch was a pb&j sandwich and a carton of milk. My siblings and I took care of our own breakfasts and lunches starting in 1st grade and we often made dinner for our family as well. I have very few memories of my mom cooking but she also had long hours at work. We were latchkey kids. Dinner for me was often cheese and eggs that was nuked, bread and “healthy” margarine. Sometimes we’d make pork chops, roast beef, potatoes and canned green beans, kidney beans and corn. Chicken was a rare treat back then. This was before Frank Perdue. We used Crisco and corn oil, also because it was thought to be healthier than butter. Cereal was corn flakes. For birthdays my mom would buy us a box of cake mix and we would make a cake ourselves and then eat it with friends and family. She was not into baking at all. We had almost no candies, cookies or ice cream in our house except at Christmas. There was an old man who dressed up as Santa who would deliver a paper bag of candies and an orange to the kids in our (small) town. I have very fond memories of him.

If your MD will not test or doesn’t think it’s worth testing, you can order a lab test yourself from an online place like walkinlabs. You choose the test(s) you want, pay online and then either schedule with or walk in to the facility (I go to a local hospital) and they will take blood, etc. Results are later posted on your account online. Ideally, you’d want to get both fasting insulin and fasting glucose tests done at the same time. This would allow you to calculate your HOMA score (homeostatic model assessment). Ideally, your blood insulin level should be less than 6 microunits per milileter. To calculate HOMA: [glucose (mg/dL) x insulin (µU/mL)] / 405. Over 1.5 indicates insulin resistance. Over 3 is borderline diabetes type 2. Bikman goes on to say that some people may need to do more testing that involves drinking glucose and getting blood drawn every 30” over 2 hours to see what your insulin (not glucose) is doing. His book explains how to read those results. Quick test: triglycerides / hdl. 1.5 or less is good. Skin tags are seen with insulin resistance. Dark skin around neck or armpits also seen withinsulin resistance.

One more thought to add to everything else is the possibility of insulin resistance which can go undetected for years and even decades. Blood glucose levels can be in the normal range while insulin is high, at least for a period of time. Benjamin Bikman, who researches insulin, has mentioned that when insulin spikes, blood pressure will also spike. He discusses this in his book Why We Get Sick. It is eye opening how excess insulin is so insidiously damaging. Both diet and lifestyle affect insulin. For example, getting enough good quality sleep or having enough muscle mass will help to prevent episodes of hyperinsulinemia as well as understanding how your diet affects you. Tracking your diet for awhile and learning how much potassium and magnesium you’re eating could help, too. Most people tend to be deficient in a few things often for years, which could affect their health eventually. The free version of Cronometer allows you to track. You might also want to order an omega-3 index test from a place like OmegaQuant. Life Extension sells their test as well, sometimes discounted. It’s a simple finger prick test that you do yourself, send back in and then they post your results online. Your cell membranes are made up of fats and if you have too much omega 6 fat, they will not operate efficiently. It’s easy to get more omega 3s by taking a good quality fish oil such as Carlson’s Very Finest Fish Oil.

Yes, they can function as communication systems in nature and could be described as intelligent even. They’re super cool. A fascinating movie about mushrooms if you’re interested is Fantastic Fungi. The mycologist Paul Stamets is in it and he is one of my heroes.

Researchers are developing face masks embedded with salt to help destroy viruses and other pathogens. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-21442-7 We don’t have salt rooms nearby so I figured out an easy way to breathe in salt at home. We have done this anytime someone has a bad cough or upper respiratory infection. I put about 1/4 cup of salt into a blender, pulverize it for awhile until it appears dusty inside, then open the small, middle part of the lid and breathe it in mostly through my mouth. Repeat a few times. If you try this, just be aware that it will probably make you cough a bit. I keep the lid off and then reuse the salt as needed. Hope you feel better soon.

Pegylated-lambda interferon (PEG-lambda) to help treat Covid ******* RCT showing that PEG-lambda worked well as a treatment for Covid in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2209760 Early Treatment with Pegylated Interferon Lambda for Covid-19 ******* Stanford article about PEG-lambda Single drug injection wards off COVID-19 hospitalizations, in Stanford Medicine-led trial A single dose of lambda-interferon reduced hospitalization among COVID-19 outpatients in a late-stage study spearheaded by a Stanford Medicine virologist. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2023/02/interferon-covid.html?tab=proxy ******* Dr. Seheult discussing interferon and Covid here, including PEG-lambda ******* Updated Medscape article originally from Feb 2023 A New (Old) Drug Joins the COVID Fray, and Guess What? It Works https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/987900?ecd=mkm_ret_231229_mscpmrk_pcp_top-content_etid6203056&uac=428738CV&impID=6203056#vp_1

How about Lands End? What I like about them is that many of their pants and shirt styles don’t change drastically every year. If you like a certain t-shirt, you will likely be able to find it the next year. I have a lot of their t shirts and if one needs to be replaced, it’s easy to do; I just have to keep track of the specific style and size to make reordering easy. They also provide measurements of the garment online. If you have a t shirt at home that fits well, you can take the measurements and then match it to the LE-provided measurements to find the best size. I wish more online stores would do this. Here is how you find the garment measurements using the link below as an example: Click on Size Charts just above the size boxes. Then in the upper left corner of the new page, click on Item Dimensions (.png) https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-plus-size-34-sleeve-cotton-supima-crewneck-tunic/id_339234?attributes=5662,43307,43322,43381,44068,44256,44808 Last of all — the sales. They are almost always having sales. I like that.

Your symptoms are similar to what I’m hearing from people I know who have had Covid recently. Many started with a headache, painful stomach ache, burbs, and loose stools. Then came lung congestion. My husband and I have been using red and near infrared light to try to prevent Covid. A few months ago, our youngest adult son stayed with us for a few weeks and while here, tested positive for Covid. Dh and I did not test positive despite being around him much of his time here. We had only done the first series of Pfizer and one booster over a year ago. We do use our red/NIR devices almost daily, though, and think they help. Our son was using his device only occasionally. What these spectrums of light do is help to keep mitochondria healthy and in Covid, tamp down the (very) severe and damaging effects caused by the infection. If you are curious, Dr. Seheult has done some YouTube videos explaining the studies and how the red and NIR light works. This one here is technical but very informative. He has others as well. If you want to try it, Hooga in Wisconsin makes reliable, sturdy, affordable devices. My husband and I own several of their devices and each of our adult kids has one as well. For Covid, this wraparound belt by Hooga (Amazon link), about $100, would work very well. If possible, you’d want to use it twice a day, morning and evening, for about 10” per area. You could position it lengthwise on your skin from just below the collarbone all the way down where your intestines run. Then, you could position it lengthwise along your back so that light shines on the lungs and kidneys. Bra can be on or off. Anyway, I hope you feel better soon.

This is just in beginning stages but they hope to make it commercial eventually. https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/994178?ecd=wnl_sci_tech_231227_MSCPEDIT_etid6144596&uac=428738CV&impID=6144596 An air monitor made by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis can detect COVID-19 virus in a room with an infected person within 5 minutes.

Ikea has a pretty good app which allows you to locate items easily and to find measurements, how much is in stock, price, etc. I also keep lists on it and use them when I go to the store. When we go, we usually get there right as it opens, shop for an hour or so, then grab lunch and continue shopping. After paying, we’ll sometimes get a frozen yogurt. Some of my favorite items are: NIMM cardboard boxes for office supplies, magazines. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/nimm-series-60748/ SKUBB boxes. I use them for smaller clothing items and shoes. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/skubb-box-set-of-6-dark-gray-40538541/ KUGGIS plastic boxes. I use them for toiletries. They stack nicely. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kuggis-box-with-lid-white-60280205/ GODMORGEN plastic boxes for everyday bathroom toiletries. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/godmorgon-box-with-lid-set-of-5-smoked-50400270/ Ikea’s shower liners and toilet brushes are priced well, too. The glass jars and containers in the kitchen area are also of good quality. Have fun!

Acute toxicity in humans is rare and is usually fairly benign and treatable by not eating them for awhile. The more serious concern is that chronic overconsumption over the years could potentially lead to problems that might not appear to be caused by consuming too much selenium on a daily basis. Many factors affect selenium levels but personally, I prefer to keep it in the sweet spot: not too much and not too little.