Tips and Feedback

Blog down for a few days

Sorry - our blog was down for a few days. This has now been corrected.

When a teenager has dyslexia.

I’ve discovered recently that I am on the horns of a dilemma faced by many

hundreds of thousands of parents. One of my children has been recently

assessed as “suffering” from dyslexia.

We always knew he had some difficulties getting his thoughts on paper,

and he never seems to get the same pleasure from reading books as the rest of

the family does.

After expert tests recently we have been told he suffers from a condition

which may affect education and examinations, but not necessarily his success

in the world. It seems Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Winston

Churchill, Walt Disney, Richard Branson, and Beethoven all shared this “gift”

and the fact that the same tests revealed an astonishingly high intelligence

level as well suggests that all the news is not bad.

However I’m told by the experts that my boy needs more consideration by his

teachers, more time to finish work, homework instructions written up, and

assistance with writing (even perhaps being allowed to use a laptop in

class).

I thought that would be simple stuff to talk to the teachers about, but my

boy is mortified that it would even be considered. As an increasingly

independent fifteen year old he does not want to be seen as different or be

treated differently by his teachers (or anybody else). He want to go on as

usual. He promises to “work harder” to keep up and begs not to be humiliated

by the expert findings.

I’m really not sure what to do now.

JSM

When to use “Miracle Drugs”

I sometimes wonder whether the pressure from pharmaceutical companies to get cancer drugs subsidised by the NHS is necessarily in the best interests of patients.

A family member recently died after a long struggle with breast cancer, but before she succumbed she managed to get three years off her death sentence through intervention by her doctors with modern cancer drugs.

Her response to some of these was nothing less than miraculous: Each time treatment literally brought her out of her “deathbed” to normal life for between 12 and 18 months within weeks of starting the treatment.

The two drugs in question were Tamoxifen and Arimidex. A newer one on the list now is Herceptin. Not all breast cancers respond but when they do the results can be amazing even though they do not last forever.

As a result of the success of these medicines there is a lot of pressure by patients and pharmaceutical companies to get them to women in early stages of breast cancer in the hope that they will fight off “rogue” cancer cells left in women who have their first brush with the killer disease.

In our case treatment was left until the cancer returned ten years after the initial scare. By then she had been given a death sentence by her doctors and was given six months to live.

However Tamoxifen had her up and living a normal life before succumbing again 18 months later. Then Arimidex provided a second “miracle” that kept her alive and enjoying relationships with her family for more than another year.

But you only get one shot with these medicines. Once the cancer has broken through, it will not put the patient into remission a second time.

So I have to ask the question. “Is is better to use wonder drugs like this as some sort of insurance policy in somebody who may well have already gained the benefit of mastectomy or chemotherapy earlier in her life, or to wait until they are within months of certain death and perhaps gain another three wonderful years with family and friends?”

JSM

Control Your Xmas Budget

With Xmas fast approaching I thought you might want some handy hints on how to control your spending and not let your finances go off the radar.

First, make a list of all the people you would like to buy gifts for. Second, write down next to each name the amount of money you feel is the most you can spend on each person. Third, stick to your plan! Fourth, it is not a sin to spend less than you planned on a person so don’t go buying something extra just to make up the money factor.

Points to consider:

• Try shopping online - gifts are often cheaper and it will save you time.
• Try hand made gifts if you are good with your hands. People appreciate it more and you save tons of money.
• Use Cash!! This is a big one. If you use your credit (or debit) card, you don’t see the physical cash leaving your bank account which makes spending far too easy. It is a fact that if you use cash, you will spend about 30% less.

If you have some good tips for Xmas shopping, please share your tips with our readers. If you need some ideas then look at our section on Xmas Gifts.

Have fun and keep control.

by Angela

Motherhood

I read an interesting article the other day in ‘Scientific America’.  Apparently mothers are not born but are made.  What they mean is that we are not natural mothers from birth but that our brains undergo a change during pregnancy and birth.  According to this article the female brain increases the size of neurons in certain parts of the brain during pregnancy and this produces permanent structural changes in the brain. 

Freaky but interesting.  The good news is that along with the maternal instincts of protecting and grooming our little ones, we also develop our memory skills, an increased ability for learning and an enhanced response to fear and stress situations.

So if you are planning a pregnancy and are worried about your ability or maternal instincts, I guess you can rest easy with that bit of information.  We would still advise you to plan as much as possible in advance with things like the birth, buying baby clothes and whether you are going to breast feed or bottle feed.

Tell us what you want to know?

Angela

Personalised number plates

The regular boring old registration plate has undergone some tremendous transformation since the first UK number plate was purchased in 1903.  I was looking for Information about Personalised Number Plates for my husband and boy are there millions of websites that cover the subject.  To be honest, I did not realise that there is so much choice out there.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Personalised Number Plates are not really that expensive in fact, they can be relatively Cheap if you do your homework properly and also if you buy them through your local dealership.  Often the dealer won’t charge you if you are a valued customer and buy all your vehicles through them. 

Another place to look for personalised plates is through the DVLA who have a wide selection of plates to choose from and a pretty good website at that.  They also have auctions where you can buy some highly desired number plates if you are interested.

My advice is to do your homework before you buy.  One thing you need to bear in mind is that Number Plate Makers (manufacturers) have to be registered.  If you want to buy number Plates on Sale, do yourself a favour and check with DVLA, they will be able to tell you if the registration number you want to buy is available.  Legitimate manufacturers will follow the DVLA regulations so be wise and check your supplier out.

The majority of dealerships will be registered so they are usually safe to buy from.  DVLA started this initiative to close the gap on the number of stolen plates.  It seems to be helping because there has been a 58% drop in vehicle theft in general since 1995 despite the fact that vehicle sales have increased.  Click here to go to the DVLA sight.

Have fund choosing your number plate.

By Angela

Health - St John’s Wort

I have always wanted to know if St John’s Wort is effective in any way and I now have confirmation.  I have a friend who is currently suffering from a mild form of depression and she started using St. John’s Wort to help her through the bad patches.   She says it really helps her get rid of those awful feelings of anxiety that hit her every now and again.  She is also starting to feel more human now because the product has enabled her to get to sleep better.  She was struggling to fall sleep because apparently at night time, the sad feelings would prevent her from getting to sleep.

St John’s Wort is a herbal remedy.  Both doctors and natural healers frequently recommend the use of the product as a means of helping with mild depression. It is also used to help with seasonal depression and fatigue.  St John’s Wort is used so readily because it has far fewer side effects than your prescription anti-depressant drugs.  Take a look at Pinkfridge for more information on Depression and St John’s Wort.

If anyone out there has some feedback from their own experience, then please share it with our readers.  Thanks.

Angela

Travel Money Card

What a smart idea.  I am quite sold on the idea of getting a Post Office Travel money Card, which was launched in June 2006 by the British Post Office.  It makes sense to me to have a ‘holiday money card’.  It means that I won’t have to carry my other credit cards with me.  

I was pick-pocketed in Paris a few years ago and it was a nightmare trying to cancel all my credit cards from abroad.  This money card means I can transfer ONLY my holiday money into the card and if the card is lost or stolen I don’t have the hassle of having to sort out the rest of my cards.  The holiday money card has the same security as traveler’s cheques so it seems to be quite safe method of taking ‘cash’ with you.  

The best part for me is that I can control my holiday spending.  If I only have X amount of money in the travel card for my holiday and I have no other cards with me, temptation to dip into credit won’t be possible.  A daily budget will work brilliantly with this money card. The only cash I would take with me is the little I need for the trip itself.  If you don’t want to be searching for a bureau de change or a cash machine the minute you arrive then take a look at the advice on pinkfridge about currency exchange.

Angela

Travel Insurance

With the latest terror scare at Heathrow, it is wise to make sure you have adequate travel insurance.  One of the benefits of travel insurance is that if your flight is cancelled, the insurance will cover the costs – that is, if you have taken out the right travel insurance.    

 

Pinkfridge has a section on travel insurance.  This section will outline what you need to look out for when taking out Travel Insurance.    

 

British travelers are better off taking out annual travel insurance because they tend to do far more spontaneous traveling nowadays than ever before.  With all the low cost airlines and last minute deals, Brits have become accustomed to just hopping over to the continent and back again for a Weekend Break.  They are also becoming a little blasé about travel insurance.  I wonder how many people were caught off guard recently with the situation at Heathrow?      

 

Don’t get caught without travel insurance.  It’s a pain in the butt if you need it but don’t have it and it only takes a few minutes to organize either on the telephone or over the net.    

 

Tell us your thoughts?    

 

Angela