LRolly

My 7 year old Maltese has problems with her teeth. a couple of days before surgery for her teeth she fell off a bed. she seemed in pain after. the vet went ahead with surgery on her teeth but suspects she has injured discs in her spine. we were told to keep her caged until she had tests done to determine exactly what's wrong with her spine. she's on pain killers and anti-biotics and is very upset at being crated for the first time in her pampered life. since the surgery she has been hoarse, reluctant to eat and has difficulty drinking. she seems to put her face into the water and suck instead of lapping. the surgery was a week ago. she is also wobbly on her feet. we've said all this to the very at her check up a couple of days ago. the vet just says to keep her as immobile as possible til we get the tests done. But why can't she drink properly? why is she still hoarse? anyone come across this before?

I was recently entertaining an American visitor to Ireland and while discussing differences between Ireland and her home state she mentioned that there are more African Americans in the US. I was confused for a minute (of course there are more Americans in America) then I got what she meant.

It got me thinking. I pointed out to her that a lot of the people she saw in the street in Dublin are immigrants - Polish, Romanian, Nigerian, Congolese, Vietnamese, Indian..... not just the seemingly "African" people.

If I meet someone with an accent, regardless of their colour, I ask where they're from. If I meet a "black" person with an Irish accent I might eventually ask them where they were born or where their parents were from. I generally think of them as Irish and Nigerian (or whatever!).

The whole concept of African American is strange to me. Why are people of mixed race called African American? Why are people whose ancestry wasn't African still called African American? Is it cultural? What about children of a white parent and a black parent - is it difficult for them to be identified as African American if they were brought up in a mainly white family? Sometimes on t.v. I see someone tanned and then I get a surprise when other characters refer to that person as African American - they don't look any darker than plenty of people from Southern Europe so it just seems strange to make such a strong racial distinction.

If you are African American would you rather just be referred to as American if that was where you (and your parents etc) were born and brought up? Do you know from which country or countries your ancestors came? Is it annoying to be labelled like that or is it a cultural heritage you're proud of (maybe both?)? Besides meaning a dark skinned American who isn't "Hispanic" (also a confusing term for me!) what does being African American actually mean? If you've traveled have you met with different attitudes in different parts of the world?

Maybe I've asked too many questions! Sorry! Do what you can with an answer......

I sprained my ankle over a year ago. I got physio for 4 months after the injury. I did all the exercises, stretching and balancing. The ankle is now stable but still swollen and sore. I stopped going to physio because I was paying a lot of money to be told "just keep doing the exercises!". After 7 months I saw a different physio who told me the same things. GPs have said...."yes that's odd but injuries can take a long time to heal...". (X-ray said nothing was broken)

If I walk too far or wear anything other than very supportive, cushioned running shoes I get pain at the top of my midfoot and pain from my ankle up the outside of my shin. The area from midfoot around the outside of my ankle all swells up.

Should I continue waiting? Might my doctor have missed something? Any help on how to approach it with my doctor would be appreciated!

Thanks!

There is a bees' nest under my front door - they're coming out a hole in the pavement. What with bees being endangered and all I don't want to kill them but they're coming into the house at the moment and terrifying anyone who comes to the door! If I relocate the entrance to their nest will they figure out how to get in? I was thinking I could just add a short tunnel directing them around the side of the house, but can bees learn or will they just hover annoyed and confused at my front door?!

Should a male Muslim doctor see female patients alone in his office? Is it considered decent? What if he needs to examine her? At what point is it inappropriate and what should he (and his female patients) be wary of?

A lot of people (even my friends) find it odd that I consider my dogs to be someone I have a friendship with (if you know what I mean) and not just a furry, cute thing that poops. When my dog of 16 years died I realised it's kind of unpopular to show how upset you might be at losing a dog (it's only a dog after all).

So I'm interested in hearing......how much do you love your dog? More than your rabbit? More than your neighbours? Colleagues? Your uncle?

My three year old's penis is a little more than 3 inches long (flaccid). It's bigger than his 5 year old brother's. I know it is significantly bigger than average for a boy his age but is there any cause for concern? He is of average height and weight.

My smartphone has been in the hands of Vodafone for 3 months - supposedly getting fixed. They kept telling me I needed a receipt and I kept having to ring them (staying on hold for ages) to tell them I'd provided it already. Meanwhile the phone was sent backwards and forwards between my local store and the repair centre.

When it was finally sorted it turned out that Vodafone had sent the wrong IMEI number to the repair centre (hence the confusion). I thought they would finally fix the phone under warranty when they sent it back again and told us there would be a 100 Euro charge to fix the phone as it has accidental damage.

They won't tell me what damage there is - I'm wondering if all the transporting between shops caused the damage cos the only problem I had with it was that it would occasionally not send texts. They also won't explain why my insurance won't cover the cost of fixing the phone - I've paid insurance every month for the last year for that phone.

They just keep telling me to pay the money or collect the now broken phone.

Is anyone else having problems or have I just been unlucky? I'm thinking of changing service provider but are they all so bad when it comes to customer care?

I've had some bad experiences with dentists over the years. For example, I had one prep me for a root canal (without telling me) when I had only asked him to replace a filling that fell out. When he reached the drill into the wrong side of my mouth I pushed his hand away and jumped out of the chair. On another occasion a dentist claimed she filled 3 teeth while she was working in my mouth when she had only told me she was doing one (I was charged for all 3). I've also had dentists put in fillings incorrectly and had them repeatedly fall out. I've changed dentist 5 times.

I could go on but my question is...

Do you think I've just been unlucky? I no longer trust dentists. I've been twice in the last 7 years ( I went due to pain and refused to let the dentist look at any other tooth other than the one that was hurting). I worry sometimes that this is a mistake but the truth is I've never been so pain free. I've come to the conclusion that dentists drill and fill the smallest hole so they can charge you and once a hole has been filled it will need to be refilled until the whole tooth is compromised. Do you have a dentist who doesn't reach for the drill every time you see him/her? How do you find a good dentist?

I'm recovering from a bad sprain and my physio recommended using a golf ball to press into tight muscles in my leg and foot to ease the tension in the muscles. I was using it at the back of my thigh when I felt a sudden jolting tingle from the back of my thigh down to my toes. An hour later and the slightly numb tingling sensation is still there. What have I done to the nerves? Is there anything I could do to help or should I just leave it alone now and hope it goes away?

I use yahoo and can find no info no how to view attachments on my android phone. I've. Installed Documents to go -the free version-which says it enables viewing of attachments but hasn't worked so far. What am i missing?

Our 6kg 3year old terrier mongrel just got beaten up by our 5 week old maltese terrier puppy (900g)! The older dog was lying on her side playing with the puppy but got a little too excited and pawed at the puppy. So the puppy (snarling pretty impressively) jumped at dog, grabbed her jaw and (still snarling) started bashing the dogs head on the tile floor. Our 3 year old was too shocked even to move and had to be rescued! It's not the first time the pup has "attacked" the older dog and it's not in play - she's definitely annoyed and aggressive when she does it.

Do we do something to discipline the pup? Is she too young? Is this overly aggressive?

(we also have the pup's mother who is a very cranky dog)

The model is MAT 140 mr. Every time I try to switch it on it says "checkingdisk" for about 4 hours until it switches itself off. I also can't seem to access it through the computer (doesn't exist as far as the computer is concerned). Is there some combination of buttons I can press to reset it or something?

My one year old yorkie sounds wheezy sometimes when she has been exercising or barking. She's not in any distress at all and it doesn't effect her behaviour - it just bothers us cos we can hear it. Since she was two months old she has groaned when lifted (we originally thought she was in pain!) and had a chest infection at Christmas that didn't seem to go away for over a month and two trips to the vet. The vet pronounced her lungs clear at the last visit but she was still wheezing and is still wheezing. We are reluctant to go back to the vet since she kinda suggested we are overly worried about the dog's health but I AM worried! Could there be something wrong with the dog that needs attention? Do some dogs just sound wheezy? we've had yorkshire terriers for 16 years and none ever sounded like that. We've had dogs who cough cos of heart conditions, dogs who do that "reverse sneezing" thing. This is different! Are we paranoid?

Any suggestions much appreciated.

My 15 year old yorkie has been diagnosed with liver problems. The vet said her liver enzymes are too high and gave me some prescription dog food for her. She's not too fond of it and in the past has preferred to lose weight than eat something she doesn't like (she has food allergies so has always been on restricted diets).

I don't want her to start losing weight but how can I supplement her diet? The vet said she can have any vegetables or fruits. What about bread and cereals? Cheese? Eggs?

Can I keep giving her rawhide and pigs ears to chew on? She apparently also has hypothyroidism and giving her pills is difficult when there's nothing tasty to hide them in!

Any help much appreciated!

If I am carrying out an analysis of a particular text do I need to reference every point I make - as it is obvious that I took it from the same author's work. e.g. If I write "knife crime is the priority for police in London" I need to follow it with a reference to say where I got this information (Reuters - Monday, July 7 02:19 pm [online] etc.) but if the purpose of my paper is to compare the style of say two chapters in the same book by the same author do I need to keep referencing it in the text? e.g. ...but uses more stylistic language when discussing his home life (ibid p.24).

Seems the correct thing to do but very clumsy.

I've got a laptop. I'm looking for something more portable for modifying documents and spreadsheets on the go. I've rung Dell, HP, Fujitsu.....etc and I'm really fed up with people in call centres saying 'I'm sorry sir, what exactly is it you're looking for?'

Is it possible to actually get advice? Who do I talk to? I don't want a supposedly mini 12 inch laptop. It's too bulky and not worth the cost when I have a 14 inch laptop already. I don't want a teeny little handheld device with sat nav and total mobile connectivity that costs a fortune and does a million functions I don't even need......

I just want something I can open documents on and edit, that won't weigh 2kg and need it's own bag.

I saw something like it in a Dell catalogue about 5 years ago for 300Euro - basically a stripped down laptop about the size of a psp. Perfect! If only I'd bought it then!

Did I imagine it? Am I mad? Why can't I get in touch with anyone who can tell me?

Any help anyone?

I've got a laptop. I'm looking for something more portable for modifying documents and spreadsheets on the go. I've rung Dell, HP, Fujitsu.....etc and I'm really fed up with people in call centres saying 'I'm sorry sir, what exactly is it you're looking for?'

Is it possible to actually get advice? Who do I talk to? I don't want a supposedly mini 12 inch laptop. It's too bulky and not worth the cost when I have a 14 inch laptop already. I don't want a teeny little handheld device with sat nav and total mobile connectivity that costs a fortune and does a million functions I don't even need......

I just want something I can open documents on and edit, that won't weigh 2kg and need it's own bag.

I saw something like it in a Dell catalogue about 5 years ago for 300Euro - basically a stripped down laptop about the size of a psp. Perfect! If only I'd bought it then!

Did I imagine it? Am I mad? Why can't I get in touch with anyone who can tell me?

Any help anyone?

lol before anyone freaks out i'm using my boyfriend's account. Has anyone used jiggle balls? Do they actually tighten the muscles of the vagina and how long can they stay in for? If the pelvic floor muscles are really bad can they fall out? I need to strengthen the muscles and find most exercises REALLY uncomfortable so I just don't persist with them. Any advice would be appreciated.

I was riding my motorcycle a while back and when I got off my knee felt stiff. Next day it swelled up. Doc gave anti-inflammatory cream. That was 5 weeks ago. Knee feels like kneecap is out of alignment. Doc says it could be some condition I don't remember but come back when I have health insurance cos it's gonna be expensive.

Meanwhile I haven't been on the motorbike cos it seems to aggravate it. I can't twist or turn on the knee or bend it beyond about 60 degrees without pain/swelling. I can walk fine. The muscles in the thigh seem to tighten sometimes and cause more pain.

So first question - could it be the muscles pulling the kneecap out? While I'm waiting to see someone should I rest? I'm worried this'll just mean getting less n less fit n weaker muscles - I heard stronger leg muscles protect the knee. If I just continue as normal and let it hurt n swell could I be causing actual damage? What kind of condition comes on without an injury?