Another vote for progressive lenses. They are all sorts of awesome.

I only have experience with iPhones, which obviously aren't generally considered inexpensive. I keep the larger text option turned on and don't have any trouble seeing it. I would think most smart phones would have that option?

I painted our dining room table four months ago and used this wipe on poly. I used water based and satin finish. I chose that because supposedly it's a lot easier to work with than the poly that has to be brushed on, and water based is supposedly easier to work with than oil based. It was very, very easy to use. I had to do lots of coats but it dries fast. So far the table is holding up very well, but it's mostly just DH and me here and we're certainly not hard on it. I used chalk paint, so I could have put wax over it but I really didn't think that would have provided nearly enough protection for a dining table. For a headboard I really don't think you need any top coat, but if you'll be setting stuff on the trays, especially anything that might be wet, then a protective coat is probably a good idea. Wax would probably be fine if the trays are just for decoration. If you're going to be using them for food/drinks then I'd really consider using poly. The poly I used had to be ordered, I couldn't find it in a store around here.

I agree with Katie regarding grain allergies. It makes no sense to assume that a dog would be allergic to ALL grains. Nobody does that for any other type/group of food. If a dog reacts to chicken we don't say "my dog is allergic to meat." But people think if their dog reacts to one grain they have to avoid all of them. We had a previous dog who had horrible, horrible allergies. We had to have him tested and do desensitization shots. I've forgotten exactly now, but he tested allergic to something like 37 things and borderline to a few others. He reacted to wheat but could have eaten corn or rice all day long w/o any problem. I'm hearing a lot of people say the smart thing to do now is probably to stick with foods made by the big manufacturers (and I don't disagree), but it did jump out to me that Merrick is on the list, and it's been owned by Purina for four years now. So . . . hmmm. Now maybe Merrick is operated as a totally separate company, but still . . it makes me wonder just a bit.

I'm 56 now. I was chubby from the time I was a young teenager, and by the time I hit my early 20's I was at least obese, probably morbidly obese. Right after my 25th birthday I decided if I was ever going to do anything about it I better do it then. I don't really know how much I lost because I'm not exactly sure of my starting weight. I know I lost over 64 pounds, and here I am 30 years later and for the most part I've kept it off. After all those years, two pregnancies that resulted in c-sections, a hysterectomy, menopause, a thyroid that whacked out and developing RA I weighed 7 pounds more this morning than I did on my wedding day over 29 years ago. My advice is to just start. Do something positive. Don't overthink it, at least not to begin with. Eat a little less today and/or move a little more. The most important part for most people is what you put in your mouth. As the saying goes, you can't outrun your fork. For most people it really is that simple. And for another cliche--don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good (or however that goes). If you think you have to find the perfect way to eat or exercise (when in truth there is NO perfect way for either of those for every single body, no matter how hard some newly converted to this way of eating or that way of exercise will insist) then you're just setting yourself up for failure. So . . . do something positive today. Start. Build on it. Tweak as you go. I lost and maintain by eating a mostly vegetarian, high carb/lower fat/lower to moderate protein diet. That's vegetarian as in lots of whole grains, beans, veggies, fruits, etc. I do try to eat some fish once or twice a week. I know it's not the flavor of the day by any means, but it worked and continues to work for me and I have zero interest in changing. I enjoy eating this way, which makes it as effortless as possible to keep up. And my body mostly seems to thrive on it. My blood sugar is good despite a horrible family history of diabetes. BP is fabulous. Even though I have RA, my CRP and ESR are always in the low normal range. My rheumy seems to think my diet is the reason my inflammation markers are so good (a vegetarian, Mediterranean type diet is the one he says most of his patients report the best results from). But for weight loss my most important advice is to really pay attention to food. Figure out what makes your body feel good or bad an hour or three (or eight) after you eat. Pay attention to that more than what makes your mouth feel good in the moment. Figure out what calories are worth it to you. For example, although my mom loved to bake and I was raised in a home where home made cake or pies were always available, by paying careful attention after I started my weight loss journey I realized that I really didn't like the way eating sweets made me feel an hour or three afterwards. Nothing huge, just a slightly burny, not-quite-right tummy. Once I paid attention to that feeling rather than how good they tasted I was able to ignore them most of the time. I figured out butter on a baked potato is a huge waste of calories for me. A good potato tastes fabulous all by itself, or maybe with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Or if I really want something on it some salsa zings it up a bit, much yummier (to me) than butter, plus . . .more veggies. And because after paying really close attention for awhile I realized I actually like salty flavors much more than sweets. Now, all that said -- I'll be the first to tell you that it's hard. Dang hard. Maintaining is even harder than losing. Much harder, because you get no reward of seeing the number on the scale go down or tight clothes getting looser. But you have to think of it as a lifestyle, an ongoing thing. Not a diet you go on, lose and then stop. I look at maintaining my weight/good eating habits and exercising like I do brushing and flossing my teeth--just something that has to be done. I do realize I'm the exception much more than the rule as far as being able to lose weight and keep it off. In your shoes I'd absolutely consider the surgery route, as that certainly seems to provide the best chance of success for most people.

I know this has been discussed before, but I'm too lazy to try to find the previous thread(s). The FDA has released the brands of dog food that have been most frequently identified in the cases of DCM they've studied. Link (to Business Insider article) This is a listing of the foods and the number of cases associated with each: Acana: 67 Zignature: 64 Taste of the Wild: 53 4Health: 32 Earthborn Holistic: 32 Blue Buffalo: 31 Nature’s Domain: 29 Fromm: 24 Merrick: 16 California Natural: 15 Natural Balance: 15 Orijen: 12 Nature’s Variety: 11 NutriSource: 10 Nutro: 10 Rachael Ray Nutrish: 10 ETA: Link to FDA alert. There's a ton of good info there.

He sounds a lot like DS20, except that DS outgrew the worst of the meltdowns by three, and he never said anything that indicated he thought he was bad or that we (or anyone) should hurt him. Everything else, including the low muscle tone, is a spot-on description of him at that age. DS's illness was a one-time bout with bronchiolitis when he was four months old that triggered asthma that was a relatively constant issue for a few years until he outgrew it. DS is on the spectrum (ASD-1) and is gifted.

Only you can decide if your moral stance is worth the job. In your shoes (and I have kinda sorta been there, but it was a very long time ago) I wouldn't expect the company to accommodate my feelings. 'Cause almost everybody's got things they feel strongly about and it would be chaos if we all expected that our moral stances should be accommodated at our places of employment. So . . . give notice or suck it up and do the job to the best of your ability while you continue to job hunt. Only you can decide which one is right for you.

Good luck, Katie. I started having symptoms about ten years ago. It took that long to get a diagnosis other than "probably osteoarthritis," and I don't think that time frame is unusual. My knees aren't affected by RA, but I do have to be careful how I sit or they ache, and I have to be very careful to replace shoes when the support starts to go or the knees let me know loud and clear that it's time. But for me I think that's mostly just plain old aging. I can't even say it might be OA (or at least not yet), because as long as I treat them right they behave.

Yes, that's kind of what I've been attempting to express. Stage IV cancer isn't necessarily a quick death sentence, nor does it absolutely mean living with little/no quality of life. Every single cancer is different and IMO treatment decisions (or not) should be considered on a case by case basis. There are so many people here saying they know, or at least feel certain, that they wouldn't undergo treatment. But to me making a decision like that w/o evaluating all the data and the pros and cons is just as bad as doctors who don't make all the data and facts plain before urging a patient to pursue treatment. One way or another, I'd want ALL the info before making a decision. Walking this walk with DH and knowing what I know there's no way I could make a blanket statement that I would or wouldn't pursue treatment until I knew it all. I can't help but wonder if some of the people saying they wouldn't pursue treatment have any experience beyond traditional chemo? Like with the newer treatments like targeted drugs and immunotherapy.

You're fine asking here, as far as I'm concerned. Others will probably know more than me, but I think in general the younger a person is when they're diagnosed the worse it's likely to be. A doctor a few years back explained it to me this way -- the younger you are the stronger the immune system is. So when an auto immune illness strikes a young person the immune system is capable of hurting or fighting its own body more. When you're older and the immune system is starting to weaken it's usually less bad. (But I never liked him much, so it won't bother me if somebody says he was wrong.) For me the fatigue is what really bothers me the most. You might want to have her read about spoon theory. She probably shouldn't expect him to have nearly as much energy as most people his age, and if he says he's tired he's probably really, really tired.

I hear you. When I was in labor with oldest DS the contractions were nowhere near as painful as I thought they were supposed to be. I'd been having them for fifteen hours before I decided I probably should go get checked, but the thing that really made me decide to go was that they were getting closer together, not that they were painful. I think I was dilated to about eight when I got the epidural, and I still didn't feel like the pain was anything to really get excited about. But a few years later I had a horrible sinus infection and so much pressure that I truly felt like I was dying. I guess we're all more/less sensitive to different types of pain, even if overall we have a higher tolerance.

My appointment this morning went well, I think. After mulling over all the helpful comments you all have made I decided to approach things mostly from a functional standpoint -- I've definitely been having more issues with jar lids and can openers, and I'm dropping things more, etc. I feel more assured speaking about things like that than trying to gauge pain. Regarding soft tissue versus joint -- One of my new issues since the last appointment is right elbow. He thinks it's tenosynovitis, possibly (probably?) related to the RA. I had that in the two middle fingers of both hands prior to diagnosis--I was home treating them by splinting with craft sticks and self stick gauze at night to keep them from triggering. Fun memories (not). The plan is to stick with 20 mg. of leflunomide and increase the methotrexate back to 15 mg. And assuming my TB test is okay he's going to start the insurance process to get me approved for a biologic. He mentioned both Enbrel and Humira, but said it will of course depend on what my insurance covers. My impression is that he doesn't necessarily think I'm *that* bad, but rather believes that pretty much everyone with RA should be on a biologic if possible. And since we've now passed the "step up" time required by most insurance he wants to go for it.

I don't think anyone believes a dry climate is a miracle cure by any stretch of the imagination. But I do know for myself humidity is an aggravating factor. My symptoms are still there on beautiful, low humidity days. But they're usually not quite as bad.

We trim our crape myrtles back every year, usually sometime in the fall or early winter. If not they'd get totally out of control. Plus we like to shape them more like trees than shrubs, which requires regular trimming off of lower growth when they're young. It's not likely to cause any more harm if you go ahead and trim the dead places like @Tanaqui described. The peeling bark is normal. If trimming it now worries you then wait a few months and cut it back as far as necessary (or even more if you want to). This time next year you'll be amazed at how much it's grown back.

DS20 is on the spectrum and has GAD. He's on anxiety medication, but he also saw a therapist for awhile. The therapist taught him breathing techniques and other strategies to help him stay calm/keep his anxiety under control. Even with medication there can sometimes be breakthrough anxiety, and it helps a lot to have strategies to deal with it.

Sorry you're having trouble getting adequate care. That stinks. That's all very helpful. I'm going to come back and re-read it in a bit. I think you're absolutely right about losing perspective about pain, and I think that's at least part of what I was trying to address. I don't trust that I remember what normal feels like. Or maybe not--there's a pretty strong overlap and correlation between fibro and RA. Apparently as many as 30 percent of people with RA will eventually also get a fibro diagnosis, and people with fibro are at significantly increased risk of developing RA. My rheumy casually threw out the possibility that I might have fibro a couple of appointments ago. I tried to ignore that. I don't need anything else, and at least for now I really don't think it fits.

I've never had (or used at any of the rescues I've volunteered with) a washing machine that removes much pet hair. It's the dryer that does 90+ percent of that.

I know! I'm probably just a bit west of you in NC. Humidity is evil. I used to think weather didn't make much difference with RA, but I've changed my thinking on that. I think our joints are like old wooden doors--they never close right, maybe they're always just a wee bit swollen. Add in some humidity and . . .

I've had the same problem. My last iPhone had the fingerprint ID thing and it would not work! I tried both thumbs, placing them on the button just so . . . everything. I thought the phone was defective, until I heard on a morning TV program that loss of fingerprints as one ages is a thing. Who knew? Now I have a newer phone with facial recognition. Hopefully my face won't disappear . . .

I know from current and past threads there are several of us here. I have rambling questions for those of you who've been at this longer than me. I'm not even sure exactly how to word it, so bear with me if you will. I guess the simplest I can boil it down to is -- what are your goals for treatment regarding pain, and how do you describe things so that your rheumy understands? Do you try to get to pain free? Is that even possible, or realistic? Or is it absolutely what I should be shooting for? I'm trying to figure out how to best communicate with my rheumy and how to best advocate for myself. Short history--After having on/off symptoms for about a decade, and having very "on" symptoms that I put on the back burner for months (due to DH's medical issues, mostly) I was diagnosed last year with seropositive RA. I got an appointment with a rheumy relatively quickly, and he started me on methotrexate, added in leflunomide, played around with the methotrexate dosage a bit (mostly because he doesn't think it's helping me). I think he has me listed as stage 2. At my last appointment he mentioned a biologic. When I first started treatment and asked him about goals, his response was "No swollen joints and as pain free as possible." So . . swollen joints are fairly easy. They're either swollen or they're not, a lot or a little. FWIW, one of my PIP joints still is/always has been swollen, and my right elbow is now fairly consistently staying slightly swollen. But how do you quantify "as pain free as possible"? Unless you miraculously got to pain free with the first treatment or two--how would you know when you were "as pain free as possible" without trying them all? I hurt to some degree almost every day. Some more than others, of course, but always something. I've been told all my life by medical professionals that I seem to have a very high tolerance for pain, and I believe that's probably true. So some days I can shove it to the back of my mind and get on with my day. As long as the fatigue is under control I can deal with pain. But -- that's probably not a good approach, as I'm thinking that even without significant swelling pain may indicate increasing joint damage. Which I definitely want to avoid, of course. So, back to the questions -- How do you quantify your joint pain? I hate the grade-your-pain-on-a-1-to-10-scale thing, as I'm a bit afraid that I may be under rating mine plus it's one snapshot he's asking about. What I'm feeling right then, not necessarily what I've felt in general over the last two or three months. Are there any key words that you use with your rheumy to describe your pain or the level? And feel free to use this thread to discuss any other issues or concerns. Maybe we can all learn something.

I've never had a washing machine that didn't wash excellently. Some were more long lasting than others, but all washed fine. That said, after our last front loader developed mold issues almost overnight (despite doing everything right in terms of cleaning cycles, leaving the door ajar, etc.) I decided to go with a top loader. We bought a Maytag HE with an agitator and manual controls almost a year ago, and I like it very much. It's a little noisier than the front loaders were, but it works well. There is a "fill tub" option but I've only used it once to see how it works. The sensor works fine, so I just let it do its thing. I looked at SQs before purchasing but I was majorly underwhelmed, especially considering the price.

We definitely need to get better on figuring out which treatments work for which cancers (and ditto for other illnesses, too). But part of what I was getting at are things we already do know -- Subtype matters. Some are much more treatable than others. Grade matters. There is grading even within stage IV cancer, and a grade 1 or 2 metastatic cancer is much more likely to be fairly easy to control for a longer period of time than a grade 4 cancer. It's very much a big picture decision, not a small, simple picture.

I'd lean toward taking her in. Cats are stoic. By the time you notice signs of not feeling well it's often been going on longer than you think, and they're often sicker than you think. With the weird eyes -- definitely take her in.

It would be great if every cancer patient had an advocate who could and would do the research necessary and be ready to step in when necessary. I think I make a very good advocate, and honestly DH needs it. He's done zero research, wouldn't know the right questions to ask if I didn't prompt him before each appointment, etc. He's not in denial by any stretch of the imagination, but he likes his doctor and he's happy to do what he's told and live each day w/o worrying about the what ifs or whether every little pain might be ominous. And that's great for him. I can do the research and worry about all the other stuff, and I'm glad I can take on that role for him. What everyone should remember, though (IMO of course) is that not all cancers are alike, even the aggressive ones. There are different treatments for different cancers, some of which have pretty much zero impact on quality of life other than the time it takes to get the treatment. Also, to treat or not treat is not a one time decision. It's not as if a patient can't try treatment and see how it goes. You can stop at any time. At every single appointment DH has the doctor asks about quality of life.