"What eibren may not have noticed is that effective countermeasures against MRSA, programs to decrease transmission of infections in hospitals and other means of preventing illness (including vaccination) have all come from the medical and scientific community." That's not especially true, as we can see from Ladyplumb's post, as well as my recent observations regarding the stupid way SARS was handled on the local medical level. "They're not being provided by homeopaths and other "alternative" practitioners, some of whom are even in denial that bacteria and other infectious agents cause disease. Bizarre as it seems, there are many alt med supporters who claim that Pasteur's germ theory was wrong. Some of them are AIDS denialists as well (arguing that HIV doesn't cause AIDS). As this link mentions, it's odd that some of the same people who criticize docs about hygiene (and point to Semmelweis as their hero), at the same time don't believe in the germ theory themselves." I don't personally know of any people in alt med who do not believe in "germs." However, I would not choose to totally discount anything said by anyone who had practiced any form of healing and was honest about their observations. Although their interpretations of results might be skewed, that would not necessarily invalidate their results. As for the use of an argumentum ad hominum (wrongly applied) and a smearing of the whole by an overly broad brush which you have just used, these are tactics which I believe you, yourself objected to as logical flaws in another thread. I find it interesting, though, that you choose to be on the attack in this thread over a quibble when there were several openings presented earlier, by me, for a person with greater medical skill to follow up with useful information. It leaves me wondering just what your motivation is in posting here. It begins to apear to me that at least two of the most dedicated posters in this forum have little interest in herbalism, or healing of any sort, but only in discrediting the points of others and making the discussion disagreeable at every possible turn. The result: Many of the finest posters this forum has had have been driven away in disgust. Was that result the intended one? I begin to suspect that it was. You rail against those who pop in here to push their herbal products. Is it possible that you should be also be railed against, as one paid by Big Pharma to do PR to allow them to totally take over and regulate the herbal industry? Your behavior on here is certainly suggestive of that. You totally ignore or discount the input of almost everyone else on here. Instead of expanding discussions, you contract them. You don't allow a full discussion of anything; your focus is on junking up threads with argumentive gobblydegook. You ruin the harmonious atmosphere in a thread that could lead to healing for a person who has failed to find succor from her medical practitioners. Ladyplumb's story is horrifying, yet you failed to even acknowledge it. The resentment and lack of compassion she experienced from the ER that transmitted MRSA to her is truly horrible, but matches your own. It is no wonder the medical profession is subject to so many lawsuits. It is no wonder that so many of us need another place to go to recuperate from our encounters with medical practitioners. This Forum should be such a place, but you have done your best to destroy that possibility. What I said to BB above also applies, to only a slightly lesser extent, to you. This is a systems concern, not a personal attack. I am aware that you and Brendan at times make valuable posts. However, if you are both here as paid interlopers to destroy this forum, as you begin to appear to be, you should not be here. Even if you are unpaid, could there be a professional perc awaiting you for what you do here? A "political payback" of some kind? Possibly, a good laugh with your fellow philistines, and a chance to gain further recognition in your chosen field? Is that what it takes nowadays in the medical field to get ahead--taking over more and more turf? Taking over the placebo effect, even though few of you are equipped by personality or availability to pull it off? Let's go for that last 10% of the medical dollar...let's not allow people to find a way to do that themselves.... The people in GardenWeb have a right to have a peaceful place that they can come to, where the cultivation and uses of herbal plants can be cooperatively discussed, without being constantly pulled into mechanistic modernistic medical argumentation. There are ways of presentling your points that will not be as offputting. As long as you continue to wreak havoc on this Forum, do not be surprised if resentful posts continue to be made about the state of modern medicine, because you are a constant reminder of everything that is wrong with it.

OK, here's a horrid one... Izzy is a great example of the Pudelpointer breed. Mostly, this is a good thing, as she doesn't shed, and doesn't need haircuts (I pluck her a couple times a year, and bathe her with minimal trouble). But one of the things that makes her a great example of her breed are her "furnishings" which is a hairy fringe on her muzzle, eyebrows, legs, and tail. Oh, and all around her "hoo-ha." Mostly, these are beautiful, but the ones around the base of her tail and her genital region... well they have a tendency to trap stuff I don't want trapped, if ya know what I mean, so I trim that stuff. This is a miserable job, as the dog tends to fight me on grooming in general... now imagine trying to flip her over, comb out her tender bits, and trim this area. She looks at me like I'm insane and avoids me for hours afterwards! Soooo, I confess it's been a while since she got her "special" haircut. So a couple weeks ago, my parents came to town and stayed with me. Now my parents are not uptight, and nobody is ever going to give either of them a house-cleaning medal or anything, but I like to create the illusion, while they're here, that they raised me right, and I am the head of a respectably-run home. So I was a bit miffed when, in less than 60 seconds after their arrival, Izzy ran across my kitchen floor, stopped dead, sat, skidded, and left a streak. Seems she'd gotten some burrs in the region of her tender bits, and some fecal matter had gotten trapped in the process. Intervention was desperately required. So I hugged my hellos, calmly cleaned the spot on the floor, grabbed a burr comb, a bucket of soapy water, a pair of scissors, and a roll of paper towels, and cheerily called Izzy out into the yard and excused myself to address the situation. I tried to be nonchalant about it, but my parents were having a pretty good laugh at my expense when I got back in the house. And that is the most disgusting, but necessary thing I've had to do in a while. Though cleaning the yard in the springtime after a winter of dog poo accumulating under the snow is a close second. I strongly dislike cleaning toilets, but I feel a little better about it since I started using a black light. I use it to get a better handle on where the mess really is... It's a little CSI-esque, but it's the only way I know of to ensure the facilities do actually get reasonably clean...

"naff" is somewhere between tacky and cutesy. Putting seasonal outfits on the goose garden sculpture on the front porch would be naff. In the last couple of years, I have taught a Cierra, a Deja (whose last name rhymed with Vu), a Jevon, two Skylars, one a girl, and one, with an "er", a boy; two Gages and a Sage, all boys; a Meea, a Tory (boy) and Tori (girl), a Destiny and a Lorelai. Taylors, Tylers, Jordans and Morgans of both genders. My DD is Jillian, often mispelled Julian-for instance, on her letter reminding her she must register for the draft. Speaking of teenagers naming babies- Both my children were required in 9th grade to take "Family and Consumer Science" and one of the units was parenting-and they each brought home the "Think-it-Over" baby doll as a required project. They pick up the doll after school and have the "parent wristband" attached-and you can not take the wristband off-it is removed the next morning at school. This doll is programmed to cry at frequent intervals all night, and the student must figure out what the baby wants-rocking, feeding or changing-place the wristband plug in the baby plug, and start doing whatever it takes to make it stop crying-within 3 minutes. This is all recorded on a computer chip in its little plastic head. I repeat, this goes on all night long. Daughter brought hers home, did the project, returned it-no name, no "how cute"...whatever. Do it, get an A, move on. My son went to pick up his baby and was asked by his teacher if his parents would object to a baby that did not match him ethnically-she told me later he stared at her and said "it's a doll. Why would they care?" and off he and baby went to volleyball practice. (There were 4 of the babies at practice that night-apparently it was riotous and non-stop crying!) He named his J-Qwan and at 2 a.m. the crying woke me up (did I mention that it cries all night long?) I heard him shouting from the bathroom "I'm coming J-Qwan-can't a father even p**?" LOL! His teacher told me later that she had received a blistering phone call from a father whose daughter had come home with a baby that didn't match her ethnically, so she was told to always ask. For pete sake!

OP - you say you don't have "a lot" of money for a vet - does that mean you have SOME? Im not one to call a vet for every little sniffle but you must recognize that 3 days of this is sounding very serious. Indeed, you yourself are phrasing this in terms of "saving" your dog. No one on the internet can do that for you - YOU need to do that. Once you have a diagnosis then yes, people here will help you work through decisions about that and provide info based on their own experience.... but no way can anyone diagnose through the internet. Call around - you can find one who will work with you on the financial aspects. If one place seems snooty and you don't get a good, caring vibe from them, keep calling - go down the list until you find someone who will talk to you. Look for vet schools. A good vet in my experience is one who cares about the human as well as the animal patient. Tell them the symptoms and be straightforward about your finances. You will have to pay something for the initial appointment and exam and they may require tests for an accurate diagnosis Every inch of the way a good vet will lay out several options and cost estimates ranging from minimal intervention to maximum. There is no shame in being too poor to afford top of the line medical care. God knows a lot of us have been there and it doesn't mean we love our pets any less than someone with tons of money. But here's the thing - you take responsibility for a pet that means you must DO WHAT YOU CAN for that animal...... and if WHAT YOU CAN DO means that you spend money that youd rather spend on something else, if it means asking friends and family for a loan, if it means as a last resort surrendering the animal.... then THAT IS WHAT YOU DO.