Have moved to an updated, new iPad, perhaps this one will let me post on the boards. I have been around over ten years, but became unable to post much when our computer decided to dislike several websites, including this one. Fingers crossed...

Did you great an appointment yet? I hope she is feeling better.

I am with Ktgrok. If you have urgent care that has X-ray facilities go there, otherwise ER. I don't wait long when a child is in pain. I would not wait to see a chiropractor. And ibuprofen might make something serious feel better temporarily, delaying your taking him in. I hope it is nothing serious....but from what others are noting, it could be.

I would either go to urgent care or er today and ask for her urine to be cultured again...I agree, looking at the urine sample in the doc office not same as growing a culture and seeing staph. I doubt the staph is cleared up already, She may well need a stronger antibiotic, not being taken off them. Also, if culture is clean, insist on ultrasound scan of gall bladder. My oldest dd suffered over a year of frequent tummy aches until doc ordered a scan...she had that malformed gall bladder removed age 15 or so. It was full of stones, too. So keep the gall bladder in mind, but get rechecked for staph first, since she already tested positive for it. But don't wait until Monday, this has gone on long enough already ( and I don't trust that doc right now anyway. ) pardon any typos, using iPad.

I would find another way to lighten my load, and keep the boy home who wants to be home. Make it clear he has to do his work and help with the littles . Note, he is growing up, and soon may not want to be home all the time with mom...I think in future you may regret NOT keeping him home this year than otherwise. Or... Make him a deal. He has to complete the first semester at school, then if he still want to, he can come home. That gives you some breathing room...and he may well decide to stay in school by then.

You need a scanner. I have an Epson model, and have over the past few years scanned thousands of items, from old daguerreotypes to recent color photos from my pre-digital camera days. I have even scanned huge items, with software that takes the individual bits you scan and puts them together to make a complete digital image with no evidence you had to scan it piecemeal. I even copied my grandparents crumbling old ornate marriage certificate that way. You tell the scanner if you are scanning print, text, line art, color or b/w photo etc., so you can scan cards, letters, notes. I scan the backs of photos too if there is old writing ( like notes from great grandma detailing who is in the photo, etc) . I store my digital items on Dropbox, the most important also on Shutterfly and Ancestry.com on my tree. Some old photos I have opened in Photoshop to color correct or remove dust, stratches, etc, too. I save both original and improved versions. some scanners can copy from a negative, too, and create a positive digital file. I did that with a couple old negatives for fun.

I have seen both sides of this coin, with stage 4 colon cancer. MIL was mid-80s and very active in her community when she told her family one June that she had it, and would be gone within six months. She decided to not put herself or her more frail hubby ( when everyone had always assumed would go first) through extensive treatments that would only drag things out and make them both miserable. A former reference librarian, she had done her research. She figured she would have enough time to sell most of their stuff and the condo, and move them into assisted living and get FIL settled safely before the hospice nurse would be needed, and she made it with only one month to spare. But her quality of life was as decent, and she stayed lucid and in charge til the end. my much younger neighbor, not yet 40, got her diagnosis and they had just gotten home from the doctor, in shock, when by sheer chance I went over for some reason. Could only hug them both and go back to my house to cry. S. was determined to try and make it three years to try and raise her three young kids as much as possible (all still in elementary school). There was no treatment or health food that family did not try, and I suspect S well knew she was not going to be the rare survivor long before her hubby did. But the last few months were painful, and her quality of life meager at best. She made it 2.5 years, and they crammed in as many happy memories for the kids in the time S had before the end. So it can depend on life circumstances. Does the sufferer have a good reason to fight to stick around as long as possible, to help settle or raise others? Note, my MIL, who declined trying to extend life, was very devout Catholic ( one of my SIL is a Dominican sister), while the neighbor who had to try and make it for her young family did not believe in an after life. So maybe whether or not one believes they will see loved ones later is part of the decision? forgive typos, 2-fingered iPad typing here, bah!

Watch tv and nap. Give your body time to heal...sure, the outer incision may appear fine, but your insides need to heal, too. I have been through 9 abdominal surgeries and it takes time to recover. Walking around is great, and will help you recover, but after any jaunt, be it around the block or to church etc factor in a solid hour or more of REST. Your body has been through major surgery and needs to rest. Don't, at this point, push through any physical pain. You don't want to get adhesions. Been there, done that. And, yes, it sucks. But you won't feel this tired or sad forever. Give yourself time to recover physically and emotionally. You may, if you look, find a FB group for women recovering from similar surgery. I am in one for folks who have had/are having bowel surgery, and sometimes it helps to swap stories, get advise, from folks going through the same thing.

Of course, we have a famous family photo of my kid sister, about 13, drooped over the top of the stairs clutching the pink bottle of Pepto, before the doctor figured out it was lactose intolerance. No one else in our family ever had this. Of course, I married into a family that is totally lactose intolerant, and only one of my four kids escaped it. Dd has it along with, now, a missing gall bladder. Recently, age 25, she has had tummy troubles again, as part of developing food allergies to eggs, peanuts, soy, etc..

My dd got frequent tummy aches...after a very bad year the pediatrician had a brain wave and ordered an abdominal ultrasound...she had a malformed gall bladder, full of stones! It was removed laparoscopically about age 15, but should have come out earlier, poor kid. Just something to check for. Folks don't think of the gall bladder in kids, but it can happen. At least get it ruled out, an ultrasound is noninvasive.

Reading this thread, I am getting more and more confused. Our trainer recommended a food I did not see anyone mention , it is mail order only. Flintriver.com. Takes you to the site, although it is now known as Pinto Canyon. I would add a direct link but two- finger typing on an old iPad and don't know how to cut and paste a link. Anyway, Gigi the Lab is happy and healthy on it. The cat tries to snitch some when she can, too. Could anyone look at the site and comment on the Pinto Canyon dog food re the CDC heart problem ya'all are writing about? pardon any typos

Hubby hit a deep pothole and a few blocks later car died...loose ball bearing wrecked engine. Insurance ( thank heavens for extended warranty) would cover part of replacement cost of engine BUT even a rebuilt is worth more than the car, a ten year old VW Passet with almost 100,000 miles on it. So they totaled the car, sent a check for $5,950. Now, we got this car, used, a couple years ago for about $12,000 or so ( we always by used and pay cash so don,t have to pay off a loan) We can't get another car for much less than $17,000 now. We have to decide whether to come up with the money to add to the insurance check and find hubby a car with 30-40,000 miles on it.....or just add another $3,000 to the insurance check and get a rebuilt engine put in the Passet. Money is tight here... Hubby is leaning towards repairing the Passet, but is it worth it? Aaargh pardon typos. I can only log on and actually post on iPad, which I detest. I read the boards daily on my actual computer, but have never been able to post since the boards changed. Had over 10,000 posts before the change, too. boar

My in-laws were in such a place, assisted living in their own two-bedroom apartment, and able to be moved into the nursing or Alztimers section if needed. Staff always knocked and called out before entering. Each door on their hallway had been decorated by the residents with a name plate, or fake flowers, etc.. I see no reason why you can't use a command strip and put up a simple "please knock before entering" sign. Also ask at the main office if this could be standard procedure. Just entering without knocking seems rude. i think having young visitors, well-behaved visitors ( which your son certainly is ) can help liven up the place for the residents...as long as Grandpa shares him by going down the the common rooms, etc a bit. we tried to get my dad to move into assisted living after he broke his hip, but he did not want to go. It got hard to keep him in his home when his dementia began, and even harder for him to adjust when he finally HAD to move into a room ( by then straight into a facility for dementia folks). Of course your dad wants to be in his own home - who wouldn't? But what others have said is true - it would only be harder later, and a room might not be available. But it also depends on his health, and age. Might be better to visit often, let your son visit often and spend as many nights as allowed, and try and get your dad involved in any clubs etc offered there. Also, unless he is in the dementia ward, he can leave, either on his own steam or with you, and go out to do stuff away from the building, can't he? It is usually just the dementia folks who are on lock down, as it were. Pardon typos, two finger typing on iPad as I can NOT post any longer since the boards changed on my computer. Which is why you seldom hear from me.

Saw it. Definitely not for kids. Actual footage from the war, colorized and with sound effects...even dialog ( in the short "how we did this" bit after the film Jackson note how they used lip readers to figure out what men were saying, then hired actors to record the words, etc.) so it looks very immediate and real. I had to look away at times, rather than see another shot of a poor mangled body in the mud. A very well done documentary, but for older teens. Note, all the showings here last Monday were 3D only. I am almost 60, and was one of the youngest people there 😏 And had to tell many of the oldsters that they needed to get 3D glasses from the kiosk before the movie started. I was glad I went. But don't take younger kids.

Oh, and Michael Palin just published a book about Franklin and the attempt to find the northwest passage, entitled Erebus after the ship...remains of which were recently found. Has he read that one?