She was a dear friend. 2 members of this group from California, myself from Mississippi got together for several days in New Orleans where Gigi lived. She and her husband Tommy showed us a grand time. I cherish our time spent together. RIP in peace Charlene.

BlueberryHill, I posted to your question the other day but was in a rush and it looks like I didn't click SUBMIT! I'm so sorry. My DD2 is 16, she has a skin condition call Ichthyosis and has had it since she was an infant. It makes her skin look like scales though the scales are not raised. It does break open between the scale delineations and bleed. We use Eucerin Cream on it to help keep it in check because there is no cure for it. She also has excema of the scalp. She's been having a lot of swelling in her knees and pain in her upper back all the time but x-rays and MRI have revealed no problems. I'm going to take her to see a Rheumatologist. That might be an avenue you might want to consider. My son has Psoriasis, he just had his first outbreak this past summer. No signs what-so-ever prior to that and he has it BAD! So far there are no other symptoms of anything else, he is 24. Not to scare you at all but Lupus is often diagnosed by having a combination of a butterfly shaped rash over the nose and cheeks along with painful joints. In some other cases there are other autoimmune diseases that are linked to rashes. I think I would check with a doctor before trying other remedies just to be on the safe side. JMHO. I wish you, and your little daughter, the best in finding answers, she is just too too young to be faced with stuff like this. I hope it's nothing serious. Nancy, I'm very excited for you about the possibility of knee surgery. The Rancher was having terrible pain in his knees and waited six months for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon just to find out what was going on. In the end he had very badly torn miniscus' in both knees and some ligaments that had detached completely. Additionally there was the osteoarthritis. The surgeon was able to trim away the destroyed parts of the miniscus and reattach the ligaments. Then he cleaned the surfaces of the bone that were rubbing so that even though they rub together they rub more smoothly for now. He has very little pain now, it's really wonderful for him. I hope you have as wonderful a result!! Edna, I appreciate the crossing of fingers and anything else that wouldn't hurt you, LOL!! Hugs, MeMo

Stargazzer, some bodies will tolerate anything, and we hope yours is one of them. Like most debates involving foods and food "enhancements," this is not just a question of "Will this kill me?" but more of "How will it impact my quality of life?" For some people, apparently there's no impact. For others, the impact can range from slight to huge. But Pris stated the bottom line well. Whether we believe the emails about aspartame or not, the fact is a compelling amount of empirical evidence exists that leads us to the conclusion that it can be damaging. I can add my own: As I've stated here before, when aspartame first came out, I fell for the reassuring name (NutraSweet--how clever these marketing people!) and tried it. I soon figured out that it gave me instant joint pain. One of my daughters found it gave her migraines. And that's the truth.

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.