I've had a total of 1e stainless water bottles....6 KK's, 2 ecousables (my favorite), one guyot, 3 thinksport (love), and one thermos hydration (wonderful)3 Of those, one KK did make the water taste metalic. It was wierd and isolated to that one bottle. Katherine

For fun colors and prints, here are some of my favorite stainless steel bottles: http://www.nubiusorganics.com/Reusable-Bottles-amp-Mugs-C1.aspx http://www.earthlust.com/products.html http://www.greenbottleonline.com/shop/--Cherry_Blossoms.html http://www.ecousable.com/ Of the above, I like the ecousable the best. The sport top doesn't leak (my KK sport tops leak) and the clip is great. When we took the screw tops off, we used the ring to hook onto the collar of the sport top. They also have a padded bottom so it's not so loud. Not as pretty but this is an amazing double walled bottle that never sweats and keeps water ice cold: http://www.thermos.com/Product_detail.aspx?CatCode=THER&SubcategoryID=1&ProductID=282 This is the same bottle but in a better shape. The cabela's logo is unfortunate but I've seen it locally at coffee shops with no logo: http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0020844515511a.shtml :) Katherine

I know this isn't what you asked for but I would consider, at the top of the list, All About Spelling. It's really the gold standard in a spelling program and seems to be effective when nothing else is. :) katherine

The horse was already out of the barn - so to speak. While Mexico did take extreme measures, the fact that the virus had already left the country means that it's out there. The world is too small to contain a virus like this. It's just not possible. The measures mexico took will not over the long term affect how H1N1 spreads in the rest of the world. It's already out there....and spreading. K

Nope. Not crazy. Temperment is the most genetically defined component of personality.... How long he takes to warm up in situations is really just part of who he is. It's hardwiring. K

AAS is good enough on it's own. It's great. K

this is my fave.....it was on the back of one of my Georgia Natural Gas bills: I don't measure really. I just start with however much chicken i have, then add the following ingredients to taste. I use much less than their 4:1 chicken to mayo ratio. Holiday Chicken salad 4 cups cubed cooked chicken 1 cup mayonnaise (i use much much much less) 1 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. seasoning salt 1 1 ⁄ 2 cups dried cranberries 1 cup chopped celery 1 ⁄ 2 cup minced green bell pepper 2 green onions, chopped 1 cup chopped pecans ground black pepper to taste

tiny dabs of butter on the salmon.....mix 1/2 tsp thyme with 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning.........sprinkle over salmon. bake. alternatively, heat butter in pan, sprinkle salmon with seasoning, pan fry salmon. o.m.goodness.

<<I can read aloud to DD without really listening to it myself. To me, reading aloud is too slow to form images properly. I like to read the words in my head, and be able to slow down and speed up and picture things at my own rate. I hate being read to.>> Me too. All of that. We listen to *so* many audiobooks in the car b/c the girls love them, but I zone out. The only ones that remotely held my interest were Harry Potter (though I missed a lot) and around the world in 80 days. I usually just put an earphone in one ear and listen to podcasts or music instead. K

Why is it a given that your D levels will drop off? I take D every day, year round - and monitor my D blood levels. You can, and should, insure that they stay optimal all the time- not just b/c of the flu either. Low vitamin D levels are linked to breast, lung, pancreatic, prostate and colon cancer...every cancer they've studied wrt D levels. It's likely that it's linked to all cancers (b/c of immune function). D deficiency is also linked to autoimmune issues like MS, psoriasis, sjogrens etc. Your best bet is to optimize D levels to optimize (not necessarily boost) immune function. Those with overly active and weak immune systems benefit from D supplementation. ~Exercise to keep lung function optimal. ~Gargle with green tea (good in vivo evidence that it kills flu virus and reduces transmission) ~Keep *aspirin* on hand for adults if they get the flu (the salycilates could have a pos effect ito mitigating cytokine storm activity) ~have zinc lozenges on hand.....zinc gluconate seems to be a reliably good form of zinc....and no citric acid in the formula ~keep an elderberry liquid on hand like sambucol or Dr. Donner ~take vitamin d....1000 IU per 25-30 lbs body weight for everyone (yes, even the breastfed baby......last I calculated, there was a 2:1 ratio of cases in the north v. the south. It's better to get it now v. later. No one knows how it will evolve. It could absolutely weaken itself out of existence. Or the opposite. It's a risky kind of virus b/c it's a mutation to which we have no natural immunity at this time (except for those who've gotten it). A few general points: Remember that the term 'pandemic' doesn't address the severity of cases. It only addresses the number of cases wrt geographic spread. It doesn't have to behave like the 1918 flu virus and kill people to be a pandemic. it just has to spread rapidly.....and it is. Those at high risk for pneumonia should consider keeping tamiflu, abx, bronchiodilators and prednisone on hand. I've had pneumonia 9 times in the last 7 years. I can always treat the viral portion of an illness with D, zinc, elderberry, oscillococinum. It's the respiratory infection that follows it that nearly kills me (and gets worse every time). The last two times i started to feel sick, we decided to go with prophy abx for me (which is really a struggle b/c generally i'm opposed)....but it worked. My viral illness was short (nothing really....b/c of the zinc etc) and no infection took hold in my lungs. There's no benefit in worrying about it, but there is every benefit in being prepared. :) Katherine

I'd consider All About Spelling for your struggling spellers. It's an evidence based multi-sensory, sequential, comprehensive spelling program. It's the best there is. Personally, I'd continue with FFL 3 but I haven't looked at much else. Deep breaths. They'll soak it up in no time. :) Katherine

Naw. {{{{hugs}}}} Some of us just have a genetic tendency to burn through seratonin and the cofactors of it's production (tryptophan, b6, folate, C) faster than most. Supplying him with more of the raw materials will ensure that his body can make more as needed. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective form of therapy for anxiety.....regular talk therapy is generally not. Wishing you all good things, Katherine

We tried the flashmaster and found it not helpful. But it's worth trying everything I guess;) Lots do like it. 2nd. Another good one is _Memorize in MInutes: The Times Tables_ Personally, I prefer MIM slightly over TTFW b/c it covers all of the multiplcation tables. The Rightstart Math card games are invaluable for making drill fun. It was lifechanging for us. K

benedryl used to knock alana out but she got used to it. it still makes her a little tired, but nothing like it used to (ie it's not a sleeping pill now). zyrtec used to knock me out....no longer. New allergist. Retest? You'll be able to tell if they're still allergic or not. If they are and shots have been helpful, you can keep going but really there is a lot of variation. shots aren't always curative. they often *arent'* curative but merely 'helpful' in reducing the reaction. really? my dd is allergic to almost all grasses, trees, animals and she only gets two. and fwiw, i usually have the 2 nurses do the shots at the same time so she only has to do with 'one' .

Fwiw, for me, here in Atlanta, it would be $300 for 12 weeks of the drops (SLIT). Typically, it's not covered by insurance. For me, it works out nearly the same as shots. I have a $19.10 copay per shot visit for my dd. Shots run me about $995 (assuming we miss a couple of weeks). Drops would be about 1200, assuming we miss enough days to add up to a couple of weeks. Washington ENT/Allergy has a program that allows one to order drops directly from them....I've no idea of the cost: http://www.allerdrops.com/ Katherine

I draw a large circle in blue/purple permanent marker, fill it in with a very chickpea size of cream, rub it in pretty well, then wash my hands. the area is probably 2"x2" to cover any mistakes they make. Is there another nurse there that can do the injections? I wouldn't put up with the bad attitude. There are a couple of nurses at our practice that we no longer allow to do the injections...and a couple that we really really like. K

Her benefit may increase for up to 12 months *on the maintenance dose*. But rewally, it's hard to say what will happen wtih an individual. There is tremendous variation. While many allergists use the 3 week standard - every week which is optimal in terms of getting optimal benefit in the shortest period of time. :) K

2nd that. if it was just panic. I'm assuming the doc did a pulse ox and his o2 sats were a solid 99? I've had panic attacks.....and asthma.....and pneumonia. So I know what it feels like to not be able to breathe. If it's aa medical breathing issue, then that needs to be dealt with. If it's not, then using the placebo was *bad* move. He'll be looking for physical issues to treat in order to feel better....that's a train you don't want to be on. _Depression Free Naturally_ was life changing for me. It deals with depression, anxiety, ocd.....a wide array of issues. I take tryptophan, some special forms of b6 and folic acid, fish oil, inosoitol, gaba and more. Inositol is amazing for anxiety. An israeli study showed that 4g inositol powder, 3x per day, treated anxiety as effectively as whatever ssri they were studying. Inositol is a b vite that's easy to take (mildly sweet powder) and has no upper limit of safety. I looooooooove inositol. Sufficient vitamin d has also been amazing - appropriate doses are much much higher than the RDA. Optimal seems to be around 1000 IU vitamin D-3 for every 25-30 lbs body weight. vitamindcouncil.org has information and endless scientific cites. All the best, Katherine

Huge. But it does have to be applied a full hour prior to the shot.....even an hour and 15-20 minutes..... LMX-4 is an OTC product. So is LMX-5. so you don't have to get it from your doc, just ask the pharmacist. They may have to order it, which takes a day. It can be dangerous when applied to large portions of skin - like whole legs. or whole trunk.....but to two patches on the arms? It's fine. It's approved for pediatric use (even in infants), it's used in an *injected* form in dental work even in young kids. Approved for use in pregnancy. Used appropriately it's very very safe. I don't put bandaids over it.... i just have her wear a short sleeve shirt. B/c of the increase in pain since we got to the strongest bottle of concentrate, she relies heavily on the LMX-4 now......and knows that the c, quercetin and zyrtec/benedryl are critical. She tells *everyone* at the allergist about the LMX b/c it's made a huge difference for her. :) K

Ahhh, we took alavert or claritin at first as well, but with the second and third bottle (stronger concentrations), it was clear that those wouldn't cut it. now she has to take benedryl or zyrtec.....unfortunately benedryl works better than zyrtec. we only do that one though if we're getting an afternoon shot. I'd go so far as to say that alavert and claritin as a pretreatment for shots is (for alana) about 20-25% as effective as benedryl or zyrtec. I wouldn't give up now. It is an effective therapy. I don't see that the practice did anything irresponsible or egregious. This is *why* we all carry epi-pens for shots. Going down on the dose for a bit will be helpful, then slowly moving back up, possibly with a better antihistime on board (zyrtec or benedryl) will likely mitigate the affect. Vitamin C and quercetin on board would bolster the antihistamine effect even further. (ie lessen the reaction even further) Heck, the only practice I'm questioning is the statement that the build up shots should 'only' be once or twice a week (they can be three times a week if the pt can make it in) and for optimal effectiveness, maintenance shots should be weekly......every three weeks to a month just keeps the pt hooked in for much much longer - years longer. :) Katherine

It is generally speaking the one of the slowest growing cancers and outcomes are usually excellent. Please please test your vitamin D levels right away. Low vitamin D levels have been correlated with pancreatic, breast, lung, colon and prostate cancer. Optimal vitamin D levels are closely linked with immune function. Raising your D levels to optimal levels will benefit you tremendously. Also knowing your CRP levels and lowering that to optimal could be beneficil, though D is definitely the biggie. Wishing you health, Katherine

I know some who have started on their third birthday.....but that was an abnormally severe case. Most say six, ours usually says 9 or 10 b/c she does the high dose Johns Hopkins protocol as well. It uses oral antihistamines before each shot a very rapid build up compared to the standard protocol. You can go up to 3x per week during build up, then once a week for maintenance.....it's much much faster to maintenance and faster to results. Maintenance is a standard high dose, not determined by a rxn.....they will slow the build up if needed, or reduce at times, but again, it's working to a highest dose that is standard for all pts. I think the drops mentioned were wrt SLIT - sublingual immunotherapy. it's not alternative. it's an option offered by some allergists, though not many. It's still controversial here as there isn't a lot of data. But it's been used in europe for about 20 years. My ENT allergist, Alpen Patel, at Emory University, is studying it right now and does offer it. About 80% of the pts choose SLIT over SCIT. I am in the process of switching my daughter from her current allergist, who like most, doesn't offer SLIT, to my doc at Emory who does offer it. I don't find it terribly concerning. There is always some level of reaction. If we've had a bad reaction - fe, the time she had a bump an inch high and the diameter of a tennis ball - I took a picture of it on my phone and showed them....we stayed at the same dose for a few weeks. Fwiw, once we got to the maintenance dose, we started using LMX-4, applied 1 hr prior to the shot, to help manage the pain. She didn't find them painful at the lower doses.... Katherine

is he taking a zyrtec or benedryl at least an hour and not more than 12h before his shot? This was recommended by our allergist and is their standard protocol. it is extremely helpful.....i don't know how alana could manage without that. she also takes 500 mg vitamin C and 500 mg quercetin beforehand. the body still has the same rxn, the supplements and meds just stop the histamine from attaching to the mast cells (iirc). :) Katherine

Try taking 1000 IU vitamin d per 25-30 lbs body weight per day and see if that helps. consider testing D levels to see how deficient you are. taking more D and working towards optimal D levels has done wonders for my mood. vitamindcouncil.org Katherine

holy cats. where do you live?