Recent Columns

Dear Dr. Gott: I am a 73-year-old female on no regular medications. I recently noticed a burning sensation on my face near my right eye. Within a day or so, my eyelid started swelling and became red and painful. I immediately called my physician and was seen that same day. I was diagnosed with shingles of the eye. The doctor gave me eye drops and pills to take every day. She said because I had come in before the infection had taken a real hold, I should expect to get better within a few weeks. Thankfully, I did, but it was painful.

Dear Abby: I’m 32 and a “large girl.” I am also intelligent, witty and fun to be around. I make friends wherever I go.

In newsrooms across the country, journalists like me – the ones who actually remember dummy and paste-up days – are working with an enthusiastic younger bunch who’ve grown up with the Internet, blogs and the like.

Caitlin Schumacher’s versatility on the volleyball court always has served her well.

Dear Dr. Gott: Will you please describe what happens to a person when he or she suffers from hypothermia? Then describe what happens to people when they eat hot peppers. I wonder why they don’t use hot peppers to rewarm a hypothermic person quickly.

Dear Abby: Is there anything wrong with having a lover solely for the purpose of sex? He is grieving for his late wife (my best friend), and I am separated from my husband. We’re both lonely and have supported each other through our pain.

Since words are my chief tools, I’m interested in new ones that enter the lexicon. I was particularly interested when the New Oxford American Dictionary this week selected “unfriend” as its word of the year.

Coming up with enough money to attend college can be a daunting task.

Dear Dr. Gott: What do you know about carnitine deficiency? I have lived with he diagnosis of cerebral palsy all my life and now am told my symptoms were likely misdiagnosed. Instead, I have GA-1 subtype of carnitine deficiency. Now, my doctor wants me to take two levocarnitine pills, 330 milligram, a day for the rest of my life.

Dear Abby: When my husband and I married two years ago, we both wanted children. I am having second thoughts now. We recently discovered that there’s a genetic disorder on one side of the family, and it scares me to think we may not have a healthy child.