Paul Simari wonders:


Julia was given a 50/50 chance to live, but more recently it seemed those odds were slowly getting worse. She had just undergone months of chemotherapy to try to prevent her cancer from spreading through the rest of her body, and also had a double mastectomy, but her most recent tests showed that the cancer was starting to spread down her body.

There wasn’t much her doctors could do now. They increased her chemotherapy dosages, even flew in a breast cancer specialist from Pennsylvania for a second opinion, but even he said that Julia would just have to keep taking her medication and wait it out. It was all in God’s hands now.



This was also real tough on her family. Julia was just 26 years old. Her parents and two sisters have been by her side just about every day since she was diagnosed eight months ago. They did their best to keep Julia’s spirits up, but it wasn’t easy.

The next set of tests showed more bad news – the cancerous cells have started to increase in number. Julia was given two months to live.

She started to accept her fate. She had lived a short life, but a happy one. There was nothing left to do now but enjoy her time that was left with family and friends.

Soon after that most recent test, Julia’s mom came across an audio book in a bookstore at the mall about women who had overcome their battles with cancer. She bought it and brought it in for Julia to listen to the next day.

Julia listened as she heard stories about women who were in the same situation as she was facing now. Women who were told they had months, even weeks to live – but had the courage to stay strong and never give up. Julia soon adopted the same mentality – she wanted to be a survivor!

By listening to the insipirational audio book, Julia found the inner strength to battle and face this disease head on. Even though there was nothing she could do on her own physically, her state of mind and desire to overcome and live took on new meaning for her.

The next tests showed a miracle – her cancer was clearing up! Julia and her family couldn’t believe it! Was it the increased chemotherapy, or maybe the audio book that inspired her body and mind? No one could tell for sure – it was probably a combonation of both – but three months later, Julia was in full remission and back home.

bluelightning08 wonders:


the white of my eyes turned black, and my vision in general was weird. I could still see, but things were kind of grey. Usually I don’t care about these things, but this one was pretty involved, and the eye thing kinda stood out. I can go more in depth if anyone can really answer my question, but in the books and stuff nothing was really all that informative.

Not sure what I’m looking for, but it was just weird.
Anyway, more in depth about the dream was that the black of the eye (or blindness, haven’t decided which to call it) was actually CAUSED by something. In the dream I felt almost like a dusting of something was on my face (like a creepy crawly sensation) and I fell asleep outside for a while. When I woke up I felt kinda panicky, but for no real reason, and for a while I didn’t realize anything physical was wrong with my eyes, until I looked in the bathroom mirror. (I thought I just felt that way because I was tired) and I went around asking people if they saw what was wrong.
Not with my eyes, but with ME. I was asking if they noticed what was wrong with me.

Like I said, it was a very long and involved dream, there were other things going on but there are just those things that I can’t remember.
Oh, and there were a lot of plants. I figured that was more because I was outside when I fell asleep(in the dream) but there were a lot of them.
And in reference to a question that was asked by one of the answerers, I actually AM depressed. But I’m not gonna get into that. Completely different topic,

Any ideas you have on the DREAM would be appreciated.

emmanuelw90 wonders:


turn the lights on. And all she does is look around and cry for no one reason. And when I’m like close up too her face she never gives me eye contact she just looks away. Should I be worried? My sister says she follows her, but when she was giving me an example I didn’t see the baby follow her. But her eyes move at the same time and the same direction. I DON’T KNOW I’M JUST CONFUSED! Are those signs of blindness? Or is her eye sight just still developing?

Path Finder wonders:


My father is 64 years old & a diabetic patient since 12years. Since 1 year he was complaining of low-vision. His vision became worse after the laser treatment & now he is semi-blind. He can’t even see our faces but yes he can see the lights & identify if they r on or off. Please let me know if there is a way by which we can improve his vision by atleast 10% or is there any operation/medications to cure the same???
Actually he is having diabetic retinotherapy. The blindness due to diabetic. He can identify if the lights r on or off & his vision is very low. Is there any possible cure or treatment? please advise
Yes his diabetic is under control

Shybabies wonders:


Hot, silent tears wet her eyelashes then stream down her face. She hears footsteps coming up the stairs, inside she hopes it’s a warm embrace. On the outside she blows her nose and dries eyes, she doesn’t want anyone to witness her without her clever disguise. But no one enters the room, no one shows her kindness, they leave her stumbling about, they leave her to her blindness. “Everything used to be in order, I used to know where my loyalties lie.” She thought this unknowingly awaiting that safety was gone in the blink of an eye. Where did my friend, the chair go? It threw itself in the fire? How about my safe, warm bed? Oh yeah, it spoke the words of a liar. What about the dresser, couldn’t its beauty compensate? Oh, now I remember, it won’t speak to me until a later date. If you hear a “thump, thump, thump” of a person stumbling about, you will know it is me, the girl that doesn’t want to feel anything, yet wants to feel somethingThe girl that cannot see.
Oh and by the way I wrote this poem after something really traumatizing happened to me… this explains how i felt, abandoned.
I agree with you guys about stanzas, but I didn’t have enough room on answers…

Dave Marx wonders:


With so many different window treatment options available, it’s easy to become confused. But different treatments excel at different aspects of functionality. Knowing which window treatment is right for your needs can save time, money and frustration.

There are three major functions that window treatments can perform. They are privacy, light control, and decor. Very few will perform well in all three areas, so it’s important to priorities which functions are most important to you.

Privacy protection

Privacy is obviously important, especially for windows in the front of your home that probably face a street or other public throughway’s. Windows facing more private areas of a fenced yard, on the other hand might not need to provide much in the way of privacy.

Several window treatment designs can provide privacy. Blinds or thick curtains most notably, but privacy can also be attained with use of window frostings or diffusers. These will however obstruct your view of the great outdoors.

Light control

Sunlight and glare needs to be controlled in the bedroom if sleeping comfort is interrupted by light entering through the windows. In a room where sunlight will interfere with TV watching or computer use needs window treatments that are effective in light control too.

Any room with items that can be damaged by the suns UV rays need window treatments that are good at controlling light. Any kind of artwork, antiques, or photographs can benefit from this protection. Even carpeting and hardwood flooring can be damaged by the suns UV rays. Consider this when deciding on a window treatment type for any particular window.

Window tinting can be very effective at blocking UV rays. Other than that, window treatments that open and close easily are preferred – blinds, curtains etc. excel here.

Complementing the rooms decor

The decor of window treatments in any given room is more important to some of us than to others. If decor is not an issue for you, then some simple window blinds are inexpensive and effective at the other two criteria.

If decor is more important to you, then you can have your work cut out for you depending on taste. Curtains are available in almost any pattern and color of material. A little sewing experience can make a DIY curtain project a breeze, or perhaps you know someone who is willing to sew curtains to your specifications, using our preferred material.

Window treatments aren’t just for decoration, light control, or privacy, but some level of all three. Depending on what is important to you for any given window in a room, you can now easily decide which type is best for you.

~Sheila~ wonders:


As I have mentioned before in some of my answers, I am ill. Welll this past week I have experienced a loss of vision in my right eye. It was horrible. So I mentioned it to my pcp doctor & he performed a regular eye exam to see the extent. Well, with both eyes, I could see line 4, with my left eye I could see line 4 but with my right eye I could barely see the 2nd line. My illness is known to spread to the eyes to cause blindness but I hope that it doesn’t come to that. So here is my question:
Would you rather lose your sight so you can hear or would you rather lose your hearing so that you could see??
Ponder on it a bit. I never thought about it until I was faced with it.
I have an upcoming appointment with an eye doctor in July. I am nervous about this appointment more than going to have a tooth pulled. (I imagine everyone gets nervous before going to see a dentist. Thanks everyone for your answers, I can’t chose a best answer yet, I have to wait 24 hours.

metsfan259 wonders:


I think people should know that people like George Bush and the Republicans are trying to impose medical malpractice caps on lawsuits for pain and suffering of limits up to $250,000. This includes injuries involving death, blindness, paralysis, loss of a limb, and many other horrific injuries that could happen to any of us. These people defend this in the name of health care costs; meanwhile, there are many studies which show there is no correlation between med mal insurance and lawsuit caps. People should know there are over 100,000 deaths attributed to medical malpractice – let alone all the people maimed by careless doctors, yet Bush and the Republicans support this, as they claim to support freedom and justice around the word. I’d like to know where is the justice to those innocent victims and families facing heartache due to medical malpractice – certainly 250k will not do the job. It will just promote more careless doctors to practice unsafe medicine.

How does any1 else feel?

Eric Madsen wonders:


Screen Name: The identity you select by which you are known in the poker room. We only allow one player to use a screen name so please understand if the one you have selected is already taken.

See: This is a synonym of call. It is often used in conjunction with the term raise, as in “I’ll see your $10 and raise you $10.”

Self-install: The term used to describe how the file you download from our web site is automatically installed and configured on your computer when you double-click on the file.

Server: The computer, or set of computers, providing a service to client computers. In this case the service is the poker room.

Showdown: After the final bet, when all players show their hands or muck, is known as the showdown.

Side Pot: This is a pot created when a player goes all-in. The side pot is the pot available to those players not all-in at that point. There can, on occasion, be more than one side pot.

Single Table Tournament: A poker table at which you may buy-in to a seat. All buy-in money goes to the prize pool. The prize pool is returned to the top finishers per the payout table on the tournaments page. A fee is normally required to play at this table. Players are staked to equal numbers of chips and play until one player has won all the chips. Single table tournaments begin as soon as the table has filled.

Sit Out: We permit you to hold your seat at a table while not participating in some hands. Under most conditions, we limit the time you may sit out to a small number of hands. In blind games, you may be asked to post the equivalent of the blind if you return to your seat prior to the blind reaching you. To sit out you click a check box on the table screen. To return, you unclick the “sit out” check box.

Small Blind: In Hold’em and Omaha, this is the mandatory bet required of the player to the left of the dealer.

Speed Tournament: A fast-paced single- or multi-table tournament where the blinds levels increase every 3 minutes.

Stakes: See buy-in.

Straight: A hand in which the player has five cards in rank order. Suit does not matter. For example, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen.

Straight Flush: A straight all of the same suit.

Stud: The generic term for poker games where players receive the first card(s) down followed by some up cards where those up cards are exclusively for the use of that player. There may be a further down card as in 7 Card Stud.

Suit: One of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, or Spades (in rank order).

Table Stakes: The value of the chips with which a player sits down at a table. Also a term for no-limit poker.

Texas Hold’em: The poker game where each player gets two down cards followed by five community cards face-up.

Third Street: The nickname for the third card in any game of Stud.

Three of a kind: A hand consisting three cards of the same rank.

Tournament Buy-In: The cost to enter a tournament. All buy-in money is returned to the players via the prize pool.

Tournament Entry-Fee: A small fee the house charges to enter a tournament.

Trips: A nickname for three of a kind.

Turbo Tournament: A lightning-paced tournament. For single tables, the blinds levels increase every 1 minute; for multi-table tournaments, every 2 minutes.

Turn: The nickname for the fourth community card in Hold’em and Omaha.

Two Pair: A hand in which the player has two pairs of cards.

Under-raise: This occurs when a player raises a prior bet but has to go all-in to do so. If the player under-raising … going all-in to raise … has less than ½ of the expected raise for that betting round, the betting round is locked. The term locked here means that any player who has already acted in the round (checked, called, or raised) may no longer raise. They may only call or fold. However, players who have yet to act (betting has not reached them yet) may raise the expected raise for that betting round, after calling. If the under-raise is ½ or more than the expected raise, the lock rule does not apply.

Up Card: A card dealt face up, so that all players may see it.

Wheel: A nickname for the best low hand: 5, 4, 3, 2, A.ze pool.

Freeze-out: A game in which players start with a specified amount and then can buy no further chips, with the game continuing until one player has all the chips. This is a common tournament structure. Also written freezeout.

Full House: A hand in which you have a combination of 3 of a kind, and a pair.

Graphics: The term for the artwork used to present you with the images of a poker room, including the table, chairs, avatars, cards, and chips.

Hand: A set of cards used by a player during a single round. Another word for a single round of shuffling, dealing, and betting.

Heads Up: A game where only two players remain in contention for the pot.

Head to Head: A game where only two players may participate.

High Card: The card with the highest rank.

High/Low: A variation of a game where the pot is split between the best hand and the worst hand. The worst hand is comprised of the 5 lowest cards. Most poker rooms, including this one, consider 5, 4, 3, 2, A (the wheel) as the lowest possible hand, despite it also being a straight.

Hold’em: Also called Texas Hold’em. One of the most popular poker games. Each player gets 2 down cards and can use 3, 4 or 5 of the community cards.

Hole Cards: The down cards in a player’s hand.

In: A term for being an active player; one who has not folded.

Inside Straight: The term applied when a player has 4 of 5 cards needed for a straight with the missing card being inside the sequence rather than at either end, and gets the missing card. For example, a player holding 3, 4, 5, 7 needs a 6 to complete the straight. Getting that 6 is termed “making the inside straight.”

Jackpot: A bonus opportunity to win under specific circumstances set by the poker room.

Kicker: The term for the card used to break ties between two of a kind or between Two Pair.

Live Blind: A blind that counts towards any bet you call or raise.

Main Pot: The initial pot of money. When one or more players go all-in, a side pot is created for each all-in player.

Muck: As a noun, this refers to the pile of folded cards and discarded cards. As a verb, at showdown time, the act of returning a losing hand to the dealer face-down.

Multi-Table Tournament: A tournament where players at more than one table compete, starting with equal numbers of chips, until one player has won all the chips. Prize payouts are a function of the number of entrants, and are posted on the tournaments page. Multi-table tournaments have a posted start time, and require registration in advance.

No Limit: A variation of the betting rules in which each bet is unlimited up to the number of chips a player has on the table (NL).

Omaha: A game in which each player receives 4 face-down cards and shares 5 community cards. The winning hand must use exactly 2 down cards and 3 community cards. This game also has a High/Low variant.

Omaha High/Low: This game allows players to compete for a pot split between the highest and the lowest hands using 2 down cards and 3 community cards. A player may use different sets of cards to make up the best high and the best low hands.

On the button: This term means you are in the dealer position in Texas Hold’em and Omaha games. The dealer position is marked by a “button” with a “D” in the center.

One on One: See head to head.

Option: This term refers to the option given the big blind player the option of raising before the flop.

Overcard: In stud, if you assume your opponent has a pair of sevens, then every card above seven in your hand is considered an overcard.

Pair: Also called two of a kind. This is a hand where the player’s best hand is made up of 2 cards of the same rank.

Pass: Can be used in place of either pass or fold depending on the context.

Play Chips: The chips used for play money games. Play chips have no monetary value.

Playing the Board: Using all the community cards in Hold’em as your best hand.

Pocket Cards: The term for the two down cards at the start of the hand.

Pot: The chips available to win in any given hand.

Pot Limit: A variation on betting where each player may bet up to the current amount in the pot (PL).

Profile: A term describing the information a player may enter about himself/herself that may be available, at the player’s option, to other players in the poker room. Your profile may include your favorite hobby, favorite web site, favorite quote, and more.

Rake: The amount of money, in chips, taken by the house as the service fee.

Raise: The act of increasing the amount bet by a prior bettor.

statuckapsychology wonders:

From Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception