DEAR HELOISE: Would you pass along an important message to your readers? When they need to go to the ER and we ask them what's wrong, we need to hear where it hurts, if they can't breath or if they have chest pains in about one or two sentences. If the discomfort they're feeling is bad, tell us it's bad.
What we don't need is a long dialogue about family issues. If the condition is similar to what you have felt before (such as if you had a heart attack, for example), then tell us. We don't need a list of all your relatives who've died from a heart attack. Please no unimportant information. The ER is usually very busy.
Also, bring only one or two people with you, not your whole family. We do not allow entire families to camp out in the waiting room, nor do we provide places for you to sleep. Most ERs will not permit food or drink either. Please do not ask us to, because we can't.
-- A Nurse
in Detroit
DEAR HELOISE: I bought a beautiful white blouse while I was visiting England last month. One of the most attractive parts of the blouse are the buttons, which are stunning. Sadly, I can't find any like them here in the states, so I'm worried that if I lose one or two buttons, the blouse will look very different. How can I secure the buttons to the blouse so that they don't come off?
-- Pippa C.,
Allendale, Mich.
DEAR PIPPA: Use some unwaxed dental floss. Just add a couple of loops of unwaxed dental floss, along with the thread already used to keep the buttons in place, and it should keep your buttons safe where they are for a long time.
By the way, did you know you can use dental floss to tie up vines and other trailing plants? It can also be used to lace up a chicken or turkey for baking or used to cut layer cakes.
DEAR HELOISE: While out running errands with my boyfriend, he was accidentally hit on the nose, and he had a nosebleed. It ran down onto his shirt, so I offered to wash it for him. First, I soaked it in warm water, then washed it with the usual detergent I commonly use. I even used a prewash spray, but the blood still stained his shirt. What did I do wrong?
-- Jennifer V.,
New London, Conn.
DEAR READER: Blood stains need to be washed in cold water. Warm or hot water will set a blood stain.
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