And here I thought I had it in the bag
It's been a rough couple of weeks, a horrible cough partnered with dizziness and nausea. No lozenge or over-the-counter medication would even touch the edges. So, after much negotiation (and a few terse words), we finally ventured to the Urgent Care Center.
One chest x-ray and two prescriptions later, we were heading out the door, happily avoiding any "germy" people in the waiting room. A quick bite to eat and swing through the drive-thru at the pharmacy had us lounging in the man cave in less than an hour, hoping for the best (because anything was better than the coughing).
Well, the cough didn’t go away; if fact it got so bad that I was actually fearful that the big guy could seriously injure himself. Sitting up didn’t work, the doctor suggested lifting the head of the bed (that didn’t work), the inhaler didn’t work, hot showers and steam didn’t work. Good lord, we were out of suggestions!
So, off we went to a pulmonologist because MSA has the bad rap of sometimes weakening the vocal cords so that they don’t align and close properly thus causing a tickle in the throat and a cough. Pulmonology decides that speech therapy will help with controlling the cough. Wait, what? Can we get to the root of the cough before we decide how to “live with it”? The neurologist reads the notes (because he has been the driving force behind this Winnebago of health issues) and sets us up with an ENT to do videography of the big guys throat.
Vocal cords? Yep, they are functioning just fine, like two peas in a pod, aligning perfectly together like Jean-Claude Killy’s downhill skis. Oh wait, there’s a darkening in your throat … are you a smoker? WHAT? Insert heart stopping here. “A darkening like what?” “Darkening that we usually associate with a malignancy …” What the heck …
I don’t think that anyone is ever prepared for the word malignancy. Still reeling from the M-word, why are we using this word if we’re unsure? Can we take another peek? Is the darkening bruising from the horrible coughing that’s been taking place? Can I have a “do over”?
