The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 14

2 Wednesday, October 15, 1986 THE DAILY HERALD The doctor says My doctor sent me to get a liver scan and stomach X-ray. Tests showed I have cirrhosis of the liver, from drinking. He put me on Zaroxolyn for high blood pressure, and gives me one tablet a day of Zyloprim for gout, also three tablets a day of Ativan. I like my doctor, but he won't answer my questions like I wish he would. I have quit drinking alcohol now.

How long can a person live with cirrhosis? I am a 59-year-old woman and I have drunk since I was 15, mostly beer, but the last few years vodka and whiskey. Will my stomach quit looking so bloated and go down if I don't drink anymore? The most important treatment for your problem is to never drink alcohol in any form ever again. Less than 40 percent of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who continue to drink alcohol will live five years. But 60 to 70 percent of those who stop drinking live five years or longer. The choice is up to you.

Don't expect medicines to correct the problem. They may help if you don't drink, but they cannot reverse a bad prognosis for those who continue to drink. Your actual outlook will depend a lot on how much liver damage you have already incurred. If your liver is damaged to the point that you are accumulating fluid in your abdomen to cause distention, your outlook is less optimistic. But if your liver does recover some, you may be able to turn things around and be less distended.

The other choice, depending again on your degree of disability, is to withdraw fluid from the abdominal cavity. Some medicines and operations are usefulln some cases to help the'body eliminate the excess fluid accumulation. You will want to know how liver damage affects you, so I'm sending you Special Report No. 27 of The Health Letter, "Common Liver Disorders." Others who want this issue can send $1 with a long, stamped, self-addressed envelope to The Health Letter, P.O. Box 19622, Irvine, Calif.

92713. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery. Readers with questions of general interest for the column may write to the same address. Alcohol is responsible for 60 percent of the cases of cirrhosis of the liver, and cirrhosis of the liver is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and Canada. Cirrhosis is scarring and damage of the liver.

It can also be caused by viral hepatitis and non-A, non-B hepatitis, congestive heart failure and disorders that cause obstruction of the bile drainage, as well as some other diseases. I am a 69-year-old male. Three months ago I had pleurisy, and my doctor gave me a strong pain killer with the comment that rest and the pain killer were the only things that could be done for it. Now the pleurisy has come back again, but it is less severe. How often will I have this, and what can I do to prevent it? Is there any cure for it? You may be surprised to know that pleurisy is not a diagnosis.

It means that the lining of your rib cage, or a part of it, is inflamed. The associated spasm of muscles between the ribs causes the severe pain when you move or take a deep breath. Like most inflammations, there are many things that can cause it. A common cause is a viral infection. It can be caused by a blood clot to the lungs (pulmonary embolism), pneumonia or even a malignancy.

Your doctor's comment suggests he thinks it is caused by a virus. In some of these, relapses after apparent recovery do occur, but eventual recovery is the rule, without any further episodes. 1986, News America Syndicate The homeline Just a little can of tuna plenty for 2 9 3 servings I was talking off the top of niy head when I told my daughter, now living in her own apartment, that she could make many an inexpensive dinner out of a little can of tuna. She asked me for ways to do this. Actually, I know only one the famous tuna casserole with cream of mushroom soup, and noodles.

What else is there? D.I. I hope folks will help you keep your promise to your young lady. Because too, hope the statement you originally made to her is true! In the meantime, here's an easy meal for two or three people "from just one can." Saute a sliced onion in a tablespoon margarine. Add a can of tuna, drained, a tablespoon of curry powder and a quarter-cup of any kind of sliced nuts (peanuts, almonds, or walnuts are best, probably). Boil enough rice together with a quarter-cup raisins, to make IVz to 2 cups cooked rice.

Can serve with little bowls of chopped cucumbers, onions, green pepper, chutney or lettuce. New products: Over the years, many women and men, more recently have asked how to store their leather or fur coats in the closet, when clothing bags were available only in plastic or some other form of non-porous material that doesn't let fur or leather breathe. Here's a product they'll welcome. Department stores and specialty departments now are carrying satin clothing bags and carryalls, which will make for a much healthier environment for these garments. For people like us from apple country serving apple sauce is as ordinary an event as pasta in Italy or rice in Asia.

I can interest the children in it if I vary the way it is served from night to night. One time we'll have it mixed with cinnamon, another with crushed pineapple, still another with raspberries or blackberries, also excellent with mint. Maybe others know even more combinations. Mary Y. Write to Roberta Ritz Mathews in care of The Daily Herald, P.O.

Box 280, Arlington Heights, 111. 60006. 1986, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Coming Thursday A fond farewell to Lois Seiler, our Cook of the Week columnist Sugar 'n Spice His restaurant empire feasts on creativity (Continued from Page 1) quaintance with businessman Jerry Orzoff, who he says possessed more sophistication and business acumen than he did. The two decided to join forces. Grunts still favorite The pair opened the' first R.J.

Grunts in 1971. To this day, it's stUl Melman's favorite restaurant, partly because he met his wife there. (The initials R.J. stand for Richard Jerome, the name of the corporation at the time; the Grunts was for Jerry's girlfriend, who was nicknamed "Piggy" because she grunted when she ate.) Turning serious, Melman says, "You know, Ed's (Debevic's) is a combination of lots of people I've known. One of them was Jerry." Orzoff died 5 Vz years ago, at the age of 45, of complications from juvenile diabetes.

"He was my best friend. None of this would have happened without Jerry, ever. He didn't know much about restaurants, but he knew about people and he knew about me and how to direct and guide me, and I respected him. We were like brothers and best friends. He was like a father to me in some ways." Though he feels a tremendous void in his life, having lost both Jerry and his father within a short space of time, Melman says much of what he does he dedicates to Jerry, and that Jerry is always with him.

The first California Ed's, in Torrance, was the realization of a dream the two had shared. There are reminders, even in the signs on the walls, of their off-beat humor. Pointing to one, Melman says, "He always used to say this 'If You Don't Like The Way I Do Things, Buy Me Of his father, Melman says, "One of the saddest things for me was that he had a very difficult time verbalizing my success. Whatever I heard came through other people my brother, my mother. I surmised that he felt good, but he never sat down and said it." He wishes that his father had told him how he felt, but says he's learned from that inability and will not hesitate to tell his sons, R.J.

(Robert Jerome), 7, and Jerrod, 3, and daughter Molly, His wife Martha, a former vice president of National College of Education, provides the balance in his life. So does his lawyer of 17 years, Mike Fox. On Sundays, Melman relaxes with a group of friends and business associates who play softball. Among them is television reporter Bob Sirott. Melman describes them as "a bunch of old guys.

You've gotta be over 40 to play. But the group is getting good because we play every week." Family man at heart The best time for Melman, however, is spent with his family playing with the kids or relaxing in front of the fireplace with Martha. Though they hadn't yet moved into their new house in Winnetka, they still used the back-yard barbecue and pool every day this summer. The 50-year-old house was being remodeled, including adding a room off the back yard. Alfred Bauman put together its '50s- style finishing touches.

"It's a very funny room," Melman says, laughing. "It has a sign that says, 'Eat at Martha's' a take-off on 'Eat at Guests will use it to change clothes, enjoy a snack from a soda fountain or old refrigerators, or watch old TV's from old booths. "The rest of the house is up to Martha, and it looks much different from that," he says. "With that I do not in- "terfere." The kitchen, which Melman does not use, he describes as "rustic, warm and woodsy." Throughout the house, the walls are filled with everything from good pieces to $5 treasures from a second-hand shop. Today, the Melrnans' restaurants run the gamut from the cheesburger heaven of Ed Debevic's to the criti 0 cally acclaimed Ambria on Chicago's North Side.

One of the newest members of the Lettuce family, Cafe Ba- Ba-Reeba! in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood authentically re-creates a Spanish tapas bar. Tapas are hot and cold appetizers served in small portions. In Spain, people stop for tapas in the late afternoon, then don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m.. Not, everything Melman touches turns to gold, however. When the lease ran out on Great Gritzbe's on Chicago's Near North Side four years ago, the restaurant was making only 125,000 a year.

True to his sense of fun, Melman decided to take it out with a bang, re-naming it Not-So- Great Gritzbe's. He even put up a neon sign that snarled "Eat and get out." Needless to say, it started losing money instantly. Four months later, it was closed. A seafood restaurant, Jonathan Livingston Seafood (later just called Jonathan's Seafood) made money for about 11 years before Melman decided to close it. "It was doing OK, but not great," he says, "so when we had to figure out where we'd put a test kitchen, we decided to do it there." In the early days of Lettuce Entertain You, Grunts and Lawrence of Oregano, an Italian restaurant on the North Side, served as the training ground for many of those who remain on the staff, and for others who have left the Lettude patch for other interests.

One former team member is restaurant marketing consultant Mi-, chael Jaye. He began as a host and' entertainer at Lawrence, and wound up on the Lettuce staff in public relations, advertising and marketing. Jaye was one of those who put together the memorable 10th anniversary celebration, which offered a free meal to anyone who could pry the poster advertising the event off CTA buses carrying them around the city. More than 100 of the 10- to 40-pound posters were redeemed. He credits Melman with helping him to develop his own expertise, which allowed him to open his Blue Plate Special marketing services for numerous clients throughput Chicago.

New ideas in works "Rich is the most influential man I've ever met," Jaye says. "He is committed to the human potential in himself and his employees. You end up striving to do more than what you ever think you can." As always, Melman's creative spark is taking him in new directions. Right now, he's- tinkering with three or four ideas. Two are untried new "concepts" he smilingly refuses to discuss.

His new Italian restaurant, Scoozi, is scheduled to open later this year on Huron Street in Chicago. my estimation," Melman says, "it will be one of the wildest Italian' restaurants in this And the elegant, private Everest Club, a small facility with meeting rooms on the 40th floor of One Financial Place will open this month. A few years ago, Melman said he planned to stay in the business "until it's not fun anymore." Today, he seems to be having more fun than ever. It sounds like Melman's party is never over. Ruth Silverman is a columnist for The Daily Herald's Neighbor section.

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