Breathe Deeply

I suppose that if this writing endeavor is going to have any appeal, I'll need to follow up on the "hanging chads" remaining when I say "stay tuned".  Nothing like leaving things hanging, unresolved....don't you hate it when a book does that? You're expecting all the loose ends to be neatly tied up at the end, and then....wait a minute! What about what'shisname?  OK, I'll try not to do that.

I mentioned that just before New Year's I was referred for a Pulmonary Function test in an attempt to get to the bottom of my coughing fits. I really wasn't thinking much about it; I had a vague idea of what was involved, and it didn't sound too sinister.  So, I went for the test, which luckily was in an office directly above mine (I work in the Center for Hematologic Malignancies in the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University - say THAT 3 times real fast!), and was quite convenient.  Figured it would be 15 minutes, and I'd be back at my desk.  An hour later, when I stumbled out the door with a new inhaler, I felt a new, humbling respect for all those with chronic asthma, COPD, or cystic fibrosis, who face challenges to breathing every single day.  What I was asked to do just about knocked me flat, and I consider myself to be relatively healthy with a good respiratory system.  I'll spare you the details, but oy, that was exhausting!  And at the end of it, there's STILL no definitive answer to my problem.  The coughing wouldn't be so bad if it was the only symptom.  What really bothers me is that it's monkeying with my voice.  I'm a singer, and when my range is cut in half, it's pretty significant for me.  My first thought was to just shut up for a week, but that is neither possible nor practical. I have been doing my best to be as compliant as possible with my inhaler, complete with its spiffy new spacer, which allows only one-way airflow. But I'm told that results, if there any at all, will be slow in coming, and not terribly remarkable.  Oh, goody - so tell me again why I'm doing this?  That's the question I'll be asking my doctor tomorrow.  Stay tuned.