I'm one totally trashed Slat Rat. Tons going on this week and I didn't help the cause by staying out until 11:00 PM Monday geocaching with one of my project buddies, Scott, aka lovejsc. We slogged our way through the deep snow while locating three different cleverly hidden caches in dark, dense woods. All the while trying not to get too scared by eerie little critter noises. Quite the evening.
I was also diagnosed today with Vocal Cord Dysfunction. Now, anyone who knows me would vehemently declare that my vocal cords are highly functional. But, for the past week, I've had a pretty difficult time breathing and it did not feel like my usual asthma attack thingie - if it had been asthma, I certainly wouldn't have been able to do late night geocaching. So, in the interests of keeping O2 flowing to the ol' Slat Rat brain, I headed off to my asthma nurse practioner. After a case history interview and a hyperventilation inducing exhale/inhale test, it appears as if I have a classic case of VCD. When one has VCD, the vocal cords contract instead of relaxing during inhalation. As a result, the airway gets blocked down to a small hole. This would explain why I've been feeling somewhat asphyxiated over the past week.
To work one's way past VCD, one evidently one has to re-train one's vocal cords to relax instead of contract. So, next week I have an appointment with - are you ready for this - a Speech Therapist. I'm going to be surrounded by six year olds.
8:57:00 PM 
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