"And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden…. To dress it and keep it".

Just imagine trying to play the piano for church, or sing in the choir, or meet some handsome boy that you aspired to going out with, and bursting into frightful fits of coughing that took ages to die down...Everyone running around to find you some water, some tissues, or a cough drop, so desperate to try and help you somehow, and nothing working?  Well, that is how it has been off and on my whole life....

It seems that many of my friends are interested in what makes me cough so much, and since it really is interesting, to say the least, I think I will try to give an explanation.

I have coughed off and on all of my life.  My mom and dad would tell me in the morning that I had coughed all night again and that they didn't know how I got a wink of sleep.  Time would go by that I would not cough at all, and then, mysteriously, out of the blue, there it would start up again, and end up going down into my bronchials at least, or even as far as my lungs before it was all over.

For those of you who, as yet, do not know, I grew up in South Africa, and I loved to drink whole, unpasteurized milk at every single meal if it was accessible, and it usually was, as my parents were well supported by the faithful churches who sent in their pledges during the time we were on the mission field.  And little did I know, but I was extremely milk intolerant, and only found out what it was and stopped milk way into my thirties when we came to live in America.  Not only did it build excessive phlegm, but tore up my digestive system, as most of you know milk intolerance does. So, I think that this contributed to the coughing as well as me getting car sick at every turn.  But apparently that was not the only problem.

After being in America for some time, and this thing cropping up again,and again, disturbing my work, my leisure, my sleep and the peace of others ( I cough as though I  am dying, I can assure you, to get the "gunk" up...I was always a bit of a drama queen anyway, but I could really not help it), I finally started with one doctor, and when he could not fix me, I went on to an allergist.  The poor man did skin allergy tests, tried every medicine for allergies that was on the market, but all to no avail.  All this did was to dry my throat out, and still, I kept coughing.

So, off I went to a lung specialist (by this time, it was at least 1995 or so) and bless his heart, he had the solution.  He said my case was very rare, but there are only three things that cause a person to cough. He said that the first reason was to do with allergies, and the post nasal drip and stuffiness which they cause, and we had now ruled that out.  Then there are the bronchials or lungs being affected by cancer, smoking or some other ailment, and he said they were as clear as a bell.

THEN CAME THE THING: He said that in rare cases, such as mine, Esophageal Reflux, or GERD,  would cause acid to build and push up into my stomach, and into the esophagus and affect it so that the sphincter that holds it closed off from my upper throat would not stay closed as it should, and this acid would cause this bothersome cough.  He said it was, among other things,  the continual drinking of milk or intake of milk products, and then gave me a whole set of rules and regulations, mainly that I should never overfill my stomach.  He gave me a whole list of foods to avoid, told me to only eat tiny meals at a time, and to take the pills he recommended...also to tilt the top of my bed.  And of course, at that time, listening and following the rules, I got better.

So, mrskank  as to the source of my coughing, I have told you, but as to the REASON, it is entirely my own fault.  I have to starve out the coughing and can not always, or do not always abide by the rules.  It sometimes seems that I do nothing different and it just stops, for ages, then other times, I try to do right and I still cough.  So, I think that some allergies are also involved, but what do I know? It is just my cross to bear, especially when I think I have to eat for three instead of one, and as you can see from my photos I have posted, that I am overweight right where it matters most, in the abs.  I am praying and asking God (and I know I have to help myself) to help me to be strong and lose the weight again, but with mental illness and depression, I have also not cared enough to care enough if you get my drift.  But If you will please help me pray that I will soon be on the road to recovery, it will be a blessing.

I know this has been a long blog, but those of you who were interested, hopefully have read it.  I am on the mend but still coughing at night, so taking cough syrup that helps put me into a deep sleep for a while and get some rest without coughing as much, so I have spent long hours in bed and feel weak, both from the coughing and too much sleep, without exercise.

As soon as I feel better, the meds will go and I will be back to exercising and trying to behave and keep well. 

Love to all, and in anticipation of prayers
Bonnie