Lifestyle

I love second-string players. They add interest and never seek the spotlight. Instead they are perfectly content to let others shine as they lift them up. Whether in an orchestra or a recipe, those are very valuable in making everything fit together and sing.

Dear Abby: A dear friend I have known since we were children was murdered. She was lovely in every way, and I am bereft. I cannot process my grief over her untimely passing because it was accompanied by such trauma.

Dear Dr. Roach: In 2015, I was diagnosed with a myeloproliferative neoplasm, essential thrombocythemia. My question is simple: Is it cancer or not? There seems to be a fundamental disagreement between my oncologist and my hematologist about the “c” label. Not that it makes any difference treatmentwise, but I would like clarification.

Dear Dr. Roach: I’ve been on Cymbalta for 16 years. I had had panic attacks, and my doctor suggested it, along with talk therapy. After a year, my therapist told me they weren’t made to be used long term and I should eventually wean myself off them. I did at one point and was good for about seven months, at which point the panic attacks came back with a vengeance. I started taking them again and am now afraid to stop. They make me feel less than worthy, in the sense that I can’t do well in life without them. I take 10 milligrams every day or five days a week as I forget occasionally. Are there long-term effects taking this drug?

Dear Abby: I am a 50-year-old man, married for 25 years. My wife is older than me. In the beginning, it was great, but our relationship slowly started failing, and now we argue about everything. I feel like I’m trapped in a cage. We don’t have one single thing in common anymore.

Dear Abby: I am a divorced single mother who has finally met someone. His name is “Greg,” and we’ve been dating for two months. Greg is also divorced and financially stable. The one thing I really like is that he gets along well with my teenage son.

Dear. Dr. Roach: I saw a recent reply to a letter about estrogen and wanted to ask my own related questions. I’m a 93-year-old woman with many of the problems and issues of others my age. When I was going through menopause, my doctor put me on oral estrogen. He said it was to protect my heart and bones. About 20 years later, I developed uterine cancer. I’m wondering if the estrogen could have led to the cancer. I had a hysterectomy and radiation treatments six times a week for six weeks. I find myself wishing I could go back and refuse the estrogen. I could have coped with the menopause issues and maybe now I wouldn’t have the worse problem of neuropathy. I certainly wish there was some treatment available for it.

Dear Abby: I am 15 and have a big problem. My mom and my dad have been married a long time. I was looking through pictures on Mom’s phone and found some very inappropriate and romantic texts from “Rob,” her business partner. Mom forces our whole family to hang out with Rob, and my brother doesn’t like him either. But anytime we bring it up, my mom yells at us and makes me cry. She wants me to be friends with Rob.