Having worked as an assistant to the administrator of a large hospital, I learned very quickly to pick my physicians with extreme care. Having thoroughly read this physicianÂs website, it immediately strikes me that he is narcissistic as he minces no words in telling readers how wonderful he is  a trait that many more male than female physicians seem to have. (Motives can be prurient, ego centered or monetary. I once walked out on a pediatrician who was telling me there was no way my child had a strep throat and who started to berate me for wasting his time. I knew my daughter and knew she had a strep throat. After, that we changed doctors  to a good old GP whose philosophy was that I knew my child better than he could ever hope to.) Further, I would never even think of asking anyone to take time off from work to accompany me to a medical appointment even if any of my friends lived close enough to me to be able to do so. ThatÂs selfish and inconsiderate. I have also learned that there would seem to be an unspoken agreement that GYNÂs in this area will refer their patients to this particular physician prior to surgery. IÂm not certain that is done with the best interest of the patient in mind but rather has more to do with garnering patients for research purposes  and IÂm not a guinea pig. Your argument about physicians and children does not apply, as a parent is always present when a child is being treated. And finally, your post convinced me to not have this testing done as I would never drive 80 miles round trip for any kind of post-op "therapy", therefore making any testing both a waste of time and money  especially the insurance companyÂs money. ItÂs bad enough that I have to make the trip to the hospital twice before surgery let alone do it on a somewhat regular basis for therapy.

Personal decision, oh yes.. TOUGH.. OH YES! I was in that situation 5 months ago for the first time with my 12 year old cat and could not make the decision in time. He passed away just a few hours before the scheduled euthanasia, and it was NOT peaceful, after spending the whole night in my lap. We are now dealing with a cat with advanced CRF condition and A BAD leg .. this is why I am curious about your cat. Our cat started limping almost a year ago!! (left hind leg), quickly went to a plantigrade walk, and never recovered from that. He has NO feeling in that leg, and no muscles left either. It was heartbreaking to see him 'hobble along' as you say, and still is, but he manages to get around.. jump in his basket.. etc. He still can jump to about 1 foot (a little more, maybe). We have set up many special places in the house just for him. I also think it started with some calcification in his spine (next to tail) that pinched a nerve, hence the loss of his leg. I also suspect vaccinations as he limped badly from that leg a year before it all started (after a rabies shot). Anyway, more recent X-rays showed a growth in his pelvic area-osteosarcoma (vet diagnosis) And there have been days when there would be nothing at all in the litter box, and i realized how odd it is for me to be delighted to have pee or poop to scoop. I've been taking her little "accidents" ... boy, I can so relate to that!! Two things I might suggest. 1. Don't know what cat sand you use, but I replaced the clay dusty one (Cat's Pride) by a paper one: first just shredded newspaper, then yesterday's news and he seems to prefer that. It is much more absorbent and probably softer to him. He has had VERY, very few accidents since. I have also placed them closer to where he likes to spend time, so he does not have to go too far when he has an urge. Due to his kidney condition, he does urinate a lot and often. If your cat has FLUTI, he might prefer a softer litter box.. 2. Laxatone does not do much for constipation. Lactulose might be more effective. Sub-Q fluids would also help a lot. I hope your cat drinks a lot, especially if he is on prednisolone (hope it is not prednisone), otherwise he would be really dehydrated. Has your vet tested his urine?.. very easy and inexpensive test. Please, please.. keep us posted. My heart goes to you and to your very special feline friend. Anne-Marie

Sue, I wanted to share a little bit about my story. I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was about 16 (almost 17). I had a 17% curvature, as I recall, which is more than slight, but not terrible I guess. I had basically finished growing and the wisdom at the time (1970s) was that I should live with it. I am now in my early 50s and I have suffered from lower back pain from time to time, and as I have gotten older you can definitely see the curvature in my back when I am not wearing a top, but it hasn't been that bad. I have always exercised my back to keep it flexible and strong - probably the best advice I got when I was younger. But the reason I am writing this is mostly to give the advice I really wish I had when I was younger - yoga! I have been practicing for 10 years and it has been so immensely helpful to me - not just for my spine, back pain and flexibility but also in understanding how my spine relates to the rest of my body. Two years ago, I attended a 2-day yoga for scoliosis workshop with Elise Browning Miller and it was incredibly informative. What I found most interesting is that there were some younger people (20s/30s) in attendance who had much worse curvature than I did who had not used braces or surgical corrections but who had faithfully practiced yoga to manage their scoliosis. This has to be done under the care of someone with specific training, but since then I have seen a PT who has also helped me with some exercises to help me manage my spine. I hope this might be helpful to you and your daughter.

I've only read the article posted. Was she making the kind of claim that leads to a suit? Not just sharing her pain about the cancer? That whole celebrity thing of my problems will help people? I thought she did go to her regular physician, too. That the emergency room was about the pain so bad it needed urgent attention that happened four times because her regular doctors didn't find anything wrong, but maybe I misread it? Whichever, there's a big difference between a proper discharge of "take this for the pain and see your physician Monday morning", or "we're going to have to send you to a specialist", and "you're fine, you're just fat", no matter who said it to her. In the US, at least, emergency rooms are also for a lot more than strokes, heart attacks and traumas. It's for broken bones, major cuts and burns, etc. Too many people also go there because they have no other access to health care, but that's changing with the new insurance structure. I had a small wound on my thumb that wouldn't stop bleeding on a weekend, and which was beyond my knowledge of first aid. I heard them in the emergency room (small hospital, not a trauma center) arguing over who would have to treat it because it was boring. The guy who did had to be reminded that it had to be cleaned first. He had some sticky stuff I'd never heard of that gives the clot something to form on. He could have just handed it to me and let me do it myself and the result would have been better. I've been to the major hospital emergency room recently with elderly relatives, and they have a much better culture, and were fairly compassionate and quite able. There's more to medicine than racking up interesting cases however.