Dear Doctors: I am considering having sigmoid surgery. Five years ago, I had pancreatic cancer. I have also had multiple episodes of diverticulitis. Is there any information about how common post-op diarrhea is after this surgery? Is it constant, or does it eventually stop?
In 1889, the Oklahoma Land Rush began at high noon as thousands of settlers were allowed into the state to claim land.
The year 2026 marks my 12th and final year in the State Senate, and after working and voting on the state budget every year since 2014, I can say that I have truly seen it all. I’ve seen our state in extreme budget shortfalls, and I’ve seen our state with record amounts in savings. But one thing remains true, no matter the amount of funds available, is that the Legislature must fulfill its Constitutional duty to craft and pass a balanced budget.
My husband, Peter, called me from the bathroom. “Carrie!” We are still in Mexico, and Peter’s abscessed tooth had been extracted earlier that day. The extraction had been difficult. Peter was sore and tired, and he had not eaten since the night before. All this factored into what happened next.
DEAR HARRIETTE: My 14-year-old daughter recently came home from school sobbing because she said that a lot of the boys were calling her ugly. As her mother, I feel horrible and partially responsible since she takes after me. She looks so much like me when I was her age, and I hate to admit it, but it’s not a great thing. Seeing her so upset broke my heart. She locked herself in her room for hours and refused to eat dinner that night. What makes this situation even harder for me is that it brings back painful memories from my own teenage years. I struggled with low self-esteem growing up and was often teased for how I looked. I worked hard as an adult to move past that and build confidence in other areas of my life, but hearing my daughter repeat the same hurtful things about herself that I used to think about myself has been incredibly difficult.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I’ve been married to my husband for about 10 years now, and we have two kids together.
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to a bonus letters column. We have some interesting questions and will dive right in.
Vice President JD Vance faced an impossible task trying to negotiate an end to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. That Vance failed is no surprise, given Iran’s so-far implacable resistance to the demand that it abandon its nuclear weapons program. That, Vance said, is President Donald Trump’s “core goal” of the war.
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DEAR HARRIETTE: It feels like my parents neglect to recognize my birthday every year, and it is becoming painful. My birthday was about two months ago, and they didn’t make time to celebrate with me. I shared with them that I’d love to go out to dinner or do something together. After the day passed with no celebration, I told them that this often happens and then I am expected to create birthday plans for all my siblings, which I find inconsiderate. Today is my brother’s birthday, and my dad asked if I had any plans in mind.