"So before subjecting a child to elimination of a large number of items that are part of a healthy diet, it would be a good idea to look at other, well-understood risk factors first." Hmm, I disagree with this. There is nothing in dairy that is critical to human development and health that cannot be found in another source. My children, and this will probably blow your mind, have never eaten any dairy products. They also do not have any kinds of developmental issues. On the contrary, they are above average developmentally according to the regular visits with our pediatrician. They have also never had an ear infection and have never needed any antibiotics or medication of any sort. The only thing they have ever suffered from is mild colds or flu. While this is a small sample size it demonstrates, to me at least, that there are ways to grow healthy children without dairy products. As I understand it the benefit from elimination (or reduction) of dairy is to reduce the production of mucus. There are other foods that can increase mucus production as well (wheat for example). This can help when you get a cold, sinus infection, etc. from turning into an ear infection. Commonly, mucus will get trapped in the middle ear and become a petri dish for bacteria resulting in an infection. I think it is sound advice to recommend removing dairy from the diet as long as any lacking nutrition is compensated with another non-dairy source. This method was used by my parents and grand parents with everyone in our family. So, as far as I am concerned it works.

Seven days is hardly enough time. We don't own 'our' cabin but we get the same week every year in the same cabin. The Forest Service owns the land but Bill leases it. He's had it for 27 years and runs it very well. He lives in San Francisco in the winter as the lodge is covered in up to 10' of snow and the road gets closed. We're still 'newbies' and this was our 19th year. One guy, Dan, has been going to Packer since he was 4 years old. His daughter is 16. Since the same people are there at the same time each year, we've become very close friends with the people in the other cabins. Some live close enough to see a few times a year, others drive for hours and hours. We started off in a sleeping cabin when Max was 2 yo, and worked our way up to a housekeeping cabin. (Took 9 years). We are always on the list for more time but hardly anyone ever gives up their time so 8 years later, we're still waiting. We're even willing to move to another cabin for a few nights. Many people do that. Say, 7 days in 'Woodchuck', then move to 'Aspen' for 3 more nights. Our housekeeping cabin costs about $100.00 per night. Deposits are sent in March. Way cheaper than a time share but it kind of works the same way. One night we have a (self organized) sing a long, another night the lodge hosts 'Italian' night with Bingo afterwards. 10 cents a card and winners take all. We all look forward to seeing each other and catching up on our year. It's our slice of Heaven, that is for sure. It makes some high end resorts look kind of like Disneyland to us. LOL! We'll take the bugs any day. It's like Yosemite without tons of people. No cell phones, computers, radios or TV. We decided the best deal in the USA is a deck of playing cards. And they are still made here. Woo!

What the heck does "Your lungs don't sound right" mean? Surely your doc can recognize the sounds of pneumonia. As a decent doctor, she should know exactly what all the various lung sounds mean. Perhaps its time for an xray? If you've got any unusual sounds at all in your lungs, it usually means pneumonia. What 5-day treatment were you on? I hope it was a Z-pack (4-day), because otherwise, that wasn't enough.

Hi twolips i wil definatly be back on to let you know how i get on im definatly doing the right thing getting it checked out i know that much like i said i am trying to be positive and optomistic its the only way to go otherwise i think id go insane this is such a difficult time in out lives aint it , im so pleased you have beat the monster gud for you hun , you gotta remain positive girlfriend , i am a fighter like you obviously are , how old are you lori? are you perimenopausal ? i am 46 and had a hysterectomy when i was 30 had 1 ovary left in and had no symptoms of menopause until last sept i started with palps like a bolt out of the blue then this year the flushes and everything started what a minefield of confusion , all i seem to do these days i fill in my monthly symptom checker chart do research and comfort myself by coming on here everyday to reassure myself the way i am feeling is quite usual for my age ,my fella is only 27 but we have been together for 11 yrs and he is very patient and understanding he deserves a medal lately i swear anyway take care i look forward to another chat to you ok shelly ps i am in England where are you?