Oprah said,"After three days, the sky was bluer, my brain was no longer fuzzy, my memory was sharper. I was literally singing and had a skip in my step." On the show, Oprah had her own word of warning for the medical establishment: "We have the right to demand a better quality of life for ourselves," she said. "And that's what doctors have got to learn to start respecting." I don't know what she is doing but she seems to like how she feels. Time will tell though. As far as the medical establishment, I feel there are some good family doctors and quite a few that become complacent and uninformed. Just keeping up with all the new drugs is time consuming. I personally don't think enough doctors look at women as a whole and try to find out what each woman needs to feel healthy. I went to a PA a few months ago when I had various symptoms and by the end of our conversation she said, could you pick one thing out that bothers you the most? Hmmm, should I pick the racing heart or the fuzzy memory or should I pick the ear ringing? She made me so mad. Eventually my doctor called me at home because I made the comment to his wife/nurse that they were in it for the money. I told him what I thought of about his PA and the "pick one thing" attitude. A month later he had me in again and FINALLY made the statement that my heart shouldn't be racing for so long. I could have hit the roof about then. I'd been telling him for a few years but they kept shrugging it off and by now I felt quite a few other symptoms. My eyes bugged out and my jaw dropped when he acted like he had some kind of eureka moment. I felt like pooping him in the eyes with my two pointer fingers like one of the three stooges. I agree with your last sentence Lydia. Oprah might be going to greater lenghths than most of us to keep a certain quality of life but I think she is on to something by telling us we need to look at the whole picture.We should Find out what each person needs, to feel better. I kind of wonder, since Oprah is rich, single, and childless, if this doesn't give her more time to ponder and explore unconventional ideas. I'd like to see how she is doing in a year.

beautiful essay. I love the 'If there is a heaven and it's the kind of place where you can pull strings- I'll pull strings for you'! funny yet very sweet line! I lost my parents when they were well into their 80's- it probably is a different experience to lose them when they are quite a bit younger, but I was able to be with my mom when she took her very last breath and it was a wonderful thing- very bitter sweet-- I am so happy that I was able to be there with her. I agree with the frequent use of the word 'pass'... it does refer to the passing from mortal life to everlasting life, but it is a very religious thing to say and I am not a very religious person. I prefer 'death' or 'die', but I will use 'passed' if I think that word is important to the person I am talking to.... it's comfort I'm trying to give to them and if that word helps, I use it!

I really like Jennifer Aniston as a celebrity. I think she has a lot of charm and charisma, seems smart and funny - lighthearted. I don't remember the details, but think she's shown a lot of class and restraint in public over some hard things that have gone on in her life. I've not seen her in too many things but Friends, where I really adored her character, thus her, I guess. Oh, and I recently watched Cake and like her in that. I don't follow celebrities at all except when I see them on Ellen or a late night talk show and I've always liked what I see of her. Like Mtn said, she has the genes that give her a look that seems to be popular, sought after. It appears to be natural and not obsessive, healthy and wholesome. Not a look that most girls would have to harm themselves to try to achieve. And she, as far as I know, has never sunk into a spiral of drugs and alcohol that would be bad role modeling for girls. I agree with everything she wrote in her essay, but would never have seen it or heard about it except for here. I'm sorry for her and every other person like her, who can't simply go to "work" and then leave her job behind. I can get plenty of "celebrity" by watching their work, where they have a choice about what they give and do. I think it's sick that the public rewards the lowlifes that invade every space (or try to) to fulfill the lust for private information about other people. Sick.

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) yeah. i just skipped over those parts. I liked the part ”PREPARING A BED FOR ROSES IS A LITTLE LIKE getting the house ready for the arrival of a difficult old lady, some biddy with aristocratic pretensions and persnickety tastes.” and then all the worrying about how difficult he expected rose growing to be…and the history…and then how blown away he was when his first blooms appeared. Been there, done that. I do find that roses are sensual, in that they stimulate te senses: sight and smell of course, but also touch (thorns), taste (if you go there), and to a lesser extent sound (bees). But I wouldnt go into the areas that he does. i assumed he wrote those few paragraphs to get a rise out of people (no pun intended) or to get a chuckle. Or maybe just as an illustration of how deeply people get into their rose obsession.