looking for a little help...

[cocsp2002]

I know that several of you on the forum are science/medical, computer programming, mathematical, scholarly-types and I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a little project I'm working on. I'm not terribly busy at work right now, and with an opportunity to take some courses online to earn my bachelor's (finally) opening up, I decided to try and teach myself calculus.

What I'm looking for is if anyone knows of some websites I could get practice problems, or if anyone is just willing to give me some direct help in my learning process, I'd greatly appreciate it. If you'd prefer, please feel free to PM me about it, or anything else, I guess. I'm just trying to better myself through education.


Thanks a lot!

[RobsanX]

I've always used Schaum's outlines for additional help... Not much for explanation, but lots of examples and worked problems...

Amazon Link...

[bakerbarber]

Re: looking for a little help...

I know that several of you on the forum are science/medical, computer programming, mathematical, scholarly-types and I was wondering if anyone could help me out


Thanks a lot!

Dude I'm not trying to hi jack your thread, but I feel it' the most appropriate place for my problem. An excellent idea as a thread we snusers should in some way be able to share our knowledge and help each other out.
Sticky worth subject in m opinion.

Anyway I took my dog to the vet today and she has hip dysplasia. I've been carrying her everywhere for two days, Like outside up and down the stairs, bringing her water and food to wherever she is most comfortable.
I don't have kids, but she's been with me since before I got married. My Stella is a small German Shepherd I drove 60 miles through an Ohio snow storm at six in the morning to get her before they uthanized that weeks unchosen at nine am. We've been through obedience training and learned so much together. We've been around and seen so much together. Now she's in pain and I can't bear to see my loyal friend in agony.

Does anyone know of any treatments or supplements or exercises that could help prolong the good life she still has left. She's only five years old and the smartest animal I've ever met. She has a few years left for sure, I have to do whatever I can to make the next half of er life enjoyable and as pain free as possible, She's laying beside my sofa wining as I type and I honestly have never felt so helpless and so much empathy for a friend who has never been mean to me, has always been happy to see me and who would do anything to protect my family and I.
Any help would be appreciated.

[cocsp2002]

Seems kind of like a cross between Cliff's notes and a "...for Dummies" kind of book? Is that something close to the right idea?

[cocsp2002]

Re: looking for a little help...

Dude I'm not trying to hi jack your thread, but I feel it' the most appropriate place for my problem. An excellent idea as a thread we snusers should in some way be able to share our knowledge and help each other out.
Sticky worth subject in m opinion.

Anyway I took my dog to the vet today and she has hip dysplasia. I've been carrying her everywhere for two days, Like outside up and down the stairs, bringing her water and food to wherever she is most comfortable.
I don't have kids, but she's been with me since before I got married. My Stella is a small German Shepherd I drove 60 miles through an Ohio snow storm at six in the morning to get her before they uthanized that weeks unchosen at nine am. We've been through obedience training and learned so much together. We've been around and seen so much together. Now she's in pain and I can't bear to see my loyal friend in agony.

Does anyone know of any treatments or supplements or exercises that could help prolong the good life she still has left. She's only five years old and the smartest animal I've ever met. She has a few years left for sure, I have to do whatever I can to make the next half of er life enjoyable and as pain free as possible, She's laying beside my sofa wining as I type and I honestly have never felt so helpless and so much empathy for a friend who has never been mean to me, has always been happy to see me and who would do anything to protect my family and I.
Any help would be appreciated.

I have an Italian Mastiff, and she's only a little over a year old, but having a giant breed dog, I've read into some of the hip dysplasia wisdom in case she should develop the condition. First of all, the highest quality food you can find (i.e. Blue Buffalo, Artemis, Natural Choice...whatever you can get in your area) usually has some sort of supplement for dysplasia, if you can get the large breed/giant breed varieties. The foods are somewhat expensive, but when you compare the extra cost of the food with that of normal food plus vet visits and physical therapy in the future, I think you'll make out in the end. Also, I've heard of people putting human grade additives in like the glucosamine/chondroitin gelcaps available in most grocery stores or drugstores in their dogs' food; just use the minimum dosage, as those medicines are usually dependent on the weight of the user. If you decide to go that route, those drugs (for lack of a better word...) usually take 1-2 weeks to reach their full effectiveness. I've also read about people doing simple things like massaging the dogs' muscles and even letting them lie in the bathroom while you take a hot shower to let some of the heat relax the tension and soreness. I don't know if your dog will tolerate sitting under a small electric blanket on its lowest setting, but that seems like a logical extension of the same idea. Beyond that, I'm not really knowledgeable about hip dysplasia, but maybe some of the advice I've given you will help. Good luck, I know how dogs have a way of working their way into a family's heart; I hope for the best for her.

[RobsanX]

Seems kind of like a cross between Cliff's notes and a "...for Dummies" kind of book? Is that something close to the right idea?

Definitely not a "for dummies" book. It is very brief in it's explanations of the theory. Not really like a Cliff notes because it has hundreds of worked examples and additional problems with provided answers. Most Borders and B&N stores sell them, so you can go check it out. A 600 page book for less than $13.00 you really can't go wrong...

I know everyone is different, but whenever I tried to teach myself a subject it never worked out. I need the structure of a graded class to work for me. Definitely check out what your community college has to offer too...

[bakerbarber]

I just got back from taking my dog to an animal hospital. She can't move either of her hind legs.

This vet says it's not dysplasia. Which I guess is good. They're doing blood work and giving her xrays. They don't know what it is. My vet in my town told my wife earlier today that it was a slipped disk and she was paralyzed. The hospital said no. Now I guess we just wait.

Frustrating to not know or be able to help. I'm in for $650 so far. My wife is willing to go to any cost. I had to apply for a pet care line of credit. It's zero percent for 12 months. Still though any more and I'll be under water.

I'll find out in the morning hopefully.

Now I feel like a dick for not getting the pet insurance my wife wanted last year.

[bakerbarber]

My dog had surgery today. Against my wishes. My wife insisted.
They said the test with the dye and x rays showed a slipped disk pinching her spine and we'd either have to fix it or put her down. This dog better live for thirty more years and get a paper route to pay off this bill.
We'll find out in the morning if it worked. Supposedly aside from the incision she should be back to running around and walking no problem. They told us if it went right she should be walking again in the morning. Then after some recovery she should be fine.

I must be old school. I love my dog so much, but I honestly would have said goodbye to her had my wife not interceded. So now we get another chance to go on walks and chase squirrels and throw sticks and bark for no reason and howl when a police car drives by. And the dog will be with me while I'm doin all that.

[holnrew]

It is difficult to weigh things like that up. Pets are like an extension of the family... but vet bills can be crippling. I hope she'll be ok.

[bakerbarber]

Thanks

[rr0]

My dog had surgery today. Against my wishes. My wife insisted.
They said the test with the dye and x rays showed a slipped disk pinching her spine and we'd either have to fix it or put her down. This dog better live for thirty more years and get a paper route to pay off this bill.

Good luck to you, your wife, and your dog!

(cue the violins...)

A little over two years ago, my favorite dog ever had an expensive TPLO surgery to repair a blown knee ligament. $6k right there. Three months later, she was recovering really well -- starting to go on longer walks again, and one day I noticed unusual lethargy and a loss of appetite.. I let it go for a couple of days, until I noticed she was urinating dark brown urine. She went downhill amazingly fast.

Long story short, she came down with auto-immune hemolytic anemia -- her immune system was attacking her red blood cells. One vet speculated it might have been triggered by the titanium implants for her knee surgery. After another $2-3k fighting that disease (and she was a fighter!!!), blood transfusion, expensive immuno suppressant meds that briefly improved her condition, but near the end gave her oozing sores that wouldn't heal, bloat, and severe muscular emaciation, I decided to put her down when she became too weak to stand on her own. I was hopeful that she'd have more quality time, but the treatments extended her life by only a couple of months. It was so hard, not only because of how I felt about her, but also *selfishly* because of all the money I spent trying to make her well.

I knew that things were going downhill for her for a week or so before, and the vet pretty much said they did all they could do, so I was able to really focus on preparing myself and enjoying quality time with her before I made the call and brought her in (Pathetically, I had to carry her to/from the car...)

I could always tell how she felt by how she reacted when I sat down next to her -- usually, when she was healthy, her tail would wag. She loved human attention!! But when she looked at me and her tail didn't wag, I knew that she was not feeling well at all...

(Typed while enjoying a nice grov regular portion -- one of my faves!)

[ponysoprano]

It is difficult to weigh things like that up. Pets are like an extension of the family... but vet bills can be crippling. I hope she'll be ok.

I second that! I love my animals, I'm a vet-assistant school dropout though, so I wish I could have given advice when you first mentioned this! Best of luck! Try Nutro Ultra or Natural Choice dog food. Blue Buffalo is supposed to be good but sketches me out because they won't say who makes it or where it' made, BB just packages it and markets it.

[Zero]

Dude I'm not trying to hi jack your thread...

Well, talk about unintended success! Everyone's on about bloody dogs now, lol.

As for the original post...

Well, I learned calculus the old fashioned way - in school - so I can't say that I have any experience in knowing where to find good resources online about the subject, but using my time-trusted google technique, I've come across a wealth of information.

Good place to start

http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx
http://www.understandingcalculus.com/

etc

Good luck, man - calculus is really quite fun once you get into it. If you're looking for interesting problems, a good place to find them is in physics books rather than mathematics books. Same math, but physics problems always seemed more...interesting to me.

[cocsp2002]

@ zero: That's just the thing, I love physics. My intention is to take a calculus class with the aim of a degree in physics (of some sort). I'm kind of a 24 year old man-child...I have a wife, a kid, and am in the military and have no idea what I want to do when I grow up.