My sister is giving my mother advice from someone who beat cancer through diet, and my every alarm is going off, and I'm not sure what to say or do that won't anger people.

If your mother seems to be taking the advice seriously -- and she very well might not -- could you appeal to her based on simple scientific evidence (or lack of same)? I might be making an assumption about her based on what little I know of her -- and I don't mean to do that -- but I would think she'd be hip to actual hard data from evidence-based studies, and/or the fact that no evidence-based studies have ever proven that a patient can cure cancer through diet.

Apparently a friend of my sister's beat cancer through diet. Avoided chemo and radiation. If anyone suggests my mother *stop* conventional medical practices and rely on diet, I will crawl through the internet and scratch their face off. I don't mind if she changes her diet while she's getting treated, but I also don't want anyone to stress her out and make her feel like she's failing or being irresponsible because she hasn't made her body alkaline "enough". I'm not rational on that point.

I keep getting calls to talk to my mother to cheer her up, but I don't think anyone in the family other than me gets depression, and how illness can affect it, and how I can't fix that with a phone call. My mother has every reason to be depressed, and telling her to turn that frown upside down won't make it go away. I will always want to cheer her up, but it can be bigger than that. I hope they get that.

Ugh ita. The most neutral thing I can think to say was that it can't hurt as a complement to conventional medicine. (Unless it's a tres wacky diet.)

Chicagoistas! My friend and her DH are going to Chicago for the first time on Easter Weekend. They're looking for good places (neighborhoods or hotels) to see, stay, eat, drink. Or good sites that will tell them all those things. Interests are: beer, food, crafty things, history, sports, Simpsons. Suggestions?

I would think she'd be hip to actual hard data from evidence-based studies, and/or the fact that no evidence-based studies have ever proven that a patient can cure cancer through diet

This is my hope, but I worry about the pressure my sister seems ready to put on her. My sister was going to cure her own fibroids through seven million different dietary choices, and my mother kept shoving studies at her, so I'm hoping she's still in that headspace (my sister ended up having surgery to remove the fibroids anyway).

Apparently a friend of my sister's beat cancer through diet. Avoided chemo and radiation.

Yeah, but that's just anecdata. I get that when it's a personal connection it seems So! Much! More! Relevant! as "proof" instead of being an outlier. But it still has fuck-all to do with actual data on what is and isn't effective.

That said, I was thinking of how you could counter those things in talking to your mom, but it sounds like you just want to stop that shit at the source, and I guess that's way trickier.

I will always want to cheer her up, but it can be bigger than that. I hope they get that.

Yeah. I'm glad you do, at least?

My friend and her DH are going to Chicago for the first time on Easter Weekend. They're looking for good places (neighborhoods or hotels) to see, stay, eat, drink. Or good sites that will tell them all those things. Interests are: beer, food, crafty things, history, sports, Simpsons.

Farmhouse on West Chicago, just north of the Loop: it's a locally-sourced craft brewpub with great food and beer.

... okay, yeah, and my brother owns it. But it's still great.

Check out this slideshow of celebrity plastic surgery.

[link]

just man oh man. startling to see the pics from like 10 years ago and now.

Farmhouse on West Chicago, just north of the Loop: it's a locally-sourced craft brewpub with great food and beer.

Right! Thanks!

Chicago: I love the Museum of Science & Industry. Just a whole lot of fun and I could spend 2-3 days in there.

Chicago has some wonderful mexican food restaurants, I'm happy to recommend my favorites if that is the kind of food your friend likes. I have some recommendations regarding hotels, but I have gotten some good deals from priceline. I have have stayed in a few hotels around downtown (perhaps quite a few), so if you can tell me the kind of hotel they are looking for, I'm happy to give a thumbs up/down.