Lifestyle

Dear Dr. Roach: My brother has low blood platelets and anemia. He will be 73 this year and has had three back surgeries. What causes low blood platelets? Can anything be done to raise platelet count? He drinks alcohol everyday -- not hard liquor, but canned alcoholic mixed drinks. He is in constant pain from his back. Also, he has osteoporosis. We have told him to stop drinking, but he won’t or can’t. What, if anything, can be done for him?

The star of maque choux, one of the classic dishes of Louisiana’s Cajun country, is fresh summer corn. Naturally sweet kernels are in delicious balance with a savory mix of vegetables and crawfish. But it can veer to the heavy side, thanks largely to the addition of cream.

HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — Tori and Casey Ostwinch’s farm started as a garden.

WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) — Remember when you were a kid and your parents said your missing dog or cat had gone to live on a farm? Believe it or not, that farm actually exists — sort of.

Dear Dr. Roach: While reading one of your recent columns, I learned that all water, except distilled, contains electrolytes. I wondered if there are differences in the amount of each electrolyte in drinking water in different places in Canada, and if so, whether that might explain why I experience cramping and diarrhea when I am visiting another place? Through experience, I have been able to avoid the problem by drinking only bottled mineral or distilled water when I am away from my home. In cases where I have been on lengthier holidays, after I lived through the initial distress, eventually, my gastric system calmed down and seemed to accommodate the new source of water. I felt that my malady might be some sort of domestic version of Montezuma’s Revenge, but the analogy is inapt because the water I have consumed away from my home was not contaminated. -- M.T.

The custom-built home at 2201 Post Oak Drive in Sherman is a rare find indeed. Conveniently located on the city’s west side, it commands 1.48 acres of lush tree-shaded land.

Dear Abby: I recently made some unflattering comments about my daughter-in-law to my son. They were recorded on their Ring doorbell. Now she’s angry with me and my son, and I’m not sure I will ever see the grandchildren again. When I emailed her an apology, she said she didn’t know if she could ever forgive me. She will see my husband, but I am not allowed over there if she will be around.

Dear Dr. Roach I have a bad case of erectile dysfunction. I am 80 years old and otherwise in good health. I have received an ad in the mail that says it is not a lack of testosterone, but rather too much estrogen in the body. They make a lot of promises, but it scares me to reduce estrogen without further knowledge. What do you know? How can I overcome this problem and enjoy sex again?

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho has been selected as the site for a proposed nuclear test reactor that would dramatically reduce the time needed to develop nuclear fuels and components for a new generation of nuclear reactors that could help reduce global warming, the U.S. Department of Energy said Wednesday.

Dear Abby: A co-worker has been stricken with multiple stage-4 cancers. We all have been compassionate and caring, supporting him through the challenges of treatment and the side effects. His condition is terminal, in the final stage and deteriorating rapidly. He does have a supportive family, but we don’t have the heart to send him home and take away the only thing that gives him his reason to live -- his work. So we spend our time providing hospice care, something none of us have any training for.