Betsy has been missing in action

Dear OOTJ folks,

I have been missing in action for several weeks -- hardly a peep out of me. I've had a terrible attack of asthma. I never thought of myself as having asthma, and gave my problem all kinds of other labels: allergies, a cold, bronchitis. Nah! It turns out to be out-of-control asthma.

I knew about 5 years ago that I had asthma. At that point, it was really mild -- just a discomforting little cough that wouldn't go away. It seemed to come under control really well. I stopped seeing my specialist.

When nothing the regular doc gave me was helping, when I thought I'd end up in the emergency room or morgue, I finally got the idea of going back to see the pulmonologist. I couldn't find him on the Web or the phone book; no business card or phone note survived from those earlier visits. Turns out the man moved back to St. Louis, so no wonder I couldn't find how to contact him -- just listings as a co-author on scholarly papers.

Finally got to the new doc. New meds. I am starting to come back to life. So, apologies for the long silence. I can hardly speak in person, and it's been hard to feel like doing anything. I never knew asthma could make me so sick!

Betsy McKenzie