Food-loving family makes no exception for special diet

A McAlduff family prized keepsake is taking up new residence at the Alberton Museum.

Museum manager Arlene Morrison visited siblings Frances and Alvah McAlduff recently to accept a doll that had been in the McAlduff family since 1899.

Ethel Carter was five years old when, while attending the St. Simon and St. Jude Parish Picnic in Tignish, a priest won the doll and turned it over to her.

“You can imagine the excitement of your mother getting a

I am a diagnosed narcoleptic. Medication helps with the symptoms, but not entirely. I looked into alternative options and found a fantastic diet. I recently went on it with amazing results.

My dad’s side of the family is Italian, and a huge part of the culture is food. During celebrations, it’s considered offensive to refuse food, and my family has always looked down on diets. If a family member is on one, they’ll argue that it’s a special occasion and it’s only for one day.

Abby, I’m exhausted at family gatherings. If I try to turn something down, I get attacked because “Grandma made it,” or “It’s your favourite and we made it for you.” I have tried explaining to them that I don’t want them to alter their dinner arrangements to accommodate me, but I should be allowed to forgo eating foods that will make me feel like a zombie.

They just don’t get it, and it has caused arguments. How do I reopen this discussion without offending anyone? – PANICKED OVER PASTA

Do it before the celebration by calling your hosting family member and explaining that there are now foods you cannot eat because of your doll,” marvelled Morrison, who said she’s found a special place in a toy case to display the heirloom.

The doll, with its porcelain face and hands and body made of kidskin and cloth was so special that Ethel kept it tucked away in a trunk. It travelled with her when she married and moved to Alberton in 1919.

Her daughter, Frances, knew about the doll in the trunk but was instructed not to touch it.

“You have your own doll,” she was told.

The doll eventually became hers and stayed tucked away until the 1990s. By then, its silk dress had disintegrated. Local seamstress

Six months ago, my friend “Lindy’s” husband committed suicide. I have been there for her and understand it takes time, but I’m reaching my limit.

I make plans with her for dinners at our home and at restaurants and have planned various outings because I know it’s difficult to be in the house alone. However, she constantly manipulates, yells at me when she doesn’t get her way and uses the loss of her husband as a rationale for why I and others must do what she wants regardless of what’s happening in our own Bessie Pridham made her a replacement dress, matching bonnet and felt boots.

McAlduff decided the centuryold doll was too precious to hide away so she kept it on display, thinking she would eventually entrust it to the museum.

“We’re getting old,” she said in explaining her decision to part with it now.

“It’s not to play with,” she added, acknowledging it will be on display but out of reach.

“There’s no better place for it than to have somebody view it.” Will she miss it?

“It’s got sentimental she replied. (value),” lives and expects us to tolerate this behaviour.

Because of the circumstances, I have given her several passes on the disgusting behaviour she has displayed and have gently spoken up on some occasions when she went too far. She’s pushing people away and is quite vicious about it but doesn’t see that she’s doing it to herself. How long must I tolerate her grieving process before enough is enough? – CONFUSED IN NEW YORK

Lindy is not only grieving the loss of her husband but raging because of what caused it. She’s a “survivor of suicide,” and the conflicting emotions – including anger and guilt – she’s carrying can make a person sick. If she isn’t receiving grief counselling, urge her to find some before she destroys her support system entirely.

When Lindy becomes manipulative or abusive, you are within your rights to call her on it and take a step back. For your own sake, you shouldn’t continue to allow her to mistreat you.

Blumstein was diagnosed about 15 years ago after he fell asleep behind the wheel at a traffic light. He shared his frustrations with using a mask at a recent patient-organized meeting with the Food and Drug Administration, as did Joelle Dobrow of Los Angeles, who said it took her seven years to find one she liked.

“I went through 26 different mask styles,” she said. “I kept a spreadsheet so I wouldn’t duplicate it.”

Getting it right quickly is important because of insurers’ use-it-orlose-it policies.

Medicare and other insurers stop paying for a rented CPAP machine if a new patient isn’t using it enough. But patients often have trouble with settings and masks, with little help from equipment suppliers, according to Dr. Susan Redline of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

All told, it can drive people toward surgery.

Victoria McCullough, 69, of Escondido, Calif.a, was one of the first to receive a pacemaker-like device that stimulates a nerve to push the tongue forward during sleep. Now, more than 3,000 people worldwide have received the Inspire implant. Infections and punctured lungs have been reported; the company says serious complications are rare.

McCullough said she asked her doctor to remove the device soon after it was activated in 2015.

“It was Frankenstein-ish. I didn’t like it at all,” McCullough said. “My tongue was just thrashing over my teeth.”

Others like the implant.

“My quality of life is 100 per cent better,” said Kyleene Perry, 74, of Edmonds, Wash., who got one in February after struggling with CPAP for two years. “People are saying, ‘You look so much better.’ I have a lot more energy.”

The THC pill, known as dronabinol, already is used to ease chemotherapy side effects. A small experiment in 73 people suggests it helps some but wasn’t completely effective. It may work better in combination with CPAP or other devices, said researcher David Carley of the University of Illinois at Chicago. He owns stock in Respire Rx Pharmaceuticals, which has a licensing agreement with the university for a sleep apnea pill.

As the search for better treatments continues, listening to patients will be key, said Redline.

“We are actually just treating a very tiny percentage of people effectively,” she said.