. . . with a little help from my friends."
This post is a thank you note. To my friends. Wonderful, supportive, email-writing, card-sending, well-wishing friends. Three such friends responded to my (previously posted) clarion call for help about the dratted cough that is plaguing me.
My ole college roomie and buddy Carol (Wolf-o), who is a professional vocalist (opera in Pittsburgh), shared some very valuable info about vocal issues she has had; she wondered if perhaps my cough and subsequent voice problems might be related to what she has uncovered about her own problem. Not only did she give me a physician reference, but she shared many links to sites about .... ready? it's long.... laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR, for short). I could give all the boring details about this, but if you are really interested, just look it up on-line, and you'll find plenty. Bottom line is.... it seems that this condition can often contribute to a chronic cough. Which I have, doggone-it!
Another old pal, Juliann (Jules), synchronistically as Carol was emailing me, sent along a plethora of links to information about LPR and many other articles and medical sites related to chronic cough. Wow, Jules, you really did a huge search for me!
And then my out-law "sistuh" Peggy messaged to me the name of a good vocal doc right near me in Chevy Chase. Thanks, Pegs!
So thanks to "a little help from my friends," I may be making some headway in the cough department. More to come on this later as progress is made -- hope, hope.
Another pillar of support deserves a shout out: my singing buddy Cindi. When I knew I had to pick out a wig, I knew who to call for selection advice; Cindi was at the wig store in a heartbeat.
She is a rock of support; best of all, she can see the humor and irony in every dark situation and can bring you around to the lighter side. A couple weekends ago, she treated me to dinner and pulled out a present: an adult coloring book entitled "Hello, My Name is Cancer" (picture a large name tag, like the kind you'd where to a conference). It is absolutely hilarious! If you google the title, you'll find a site that describes the book and shows sample pages. This book will keep me laughing my way through chemo treatments.
So thank you, Beatles, for that wonderful song. And thank you friends. With your help, I can always "get by."
