A few weeks back, I had a rough day and ended up writing what I call my Emergency Frying Pan Giveaway Blog (see February 2). Today, I decided that maybe a frying pan is a good thing to giveaway on tough days, when I’m stuck for ideas or energy or time – and lacking in Teflon, I guess. As we still have a couple of frying pans left that we could give away and life often throws difficult days at us, so I’m sure there will be more Frying Pan Giveaway Days. Today was my second.

This morning, after another bout of coughing and choking in the night, my husband David insisted that we go to another ER and have me looked at more thoroughly, so he took the day off work, and after we’d dropped Theo off at school, he drove me to another hospital that he’d checked takes our health insurance. Once there, we explained all my symptoms and told the nurses and doctor there what I’d been going through the last week or so. This time I mentioned that I’d suffered from mild bronchial asthma 20 years ago when I worked in Japan in an office full of full-time smokers. I hadn’t had that problem since then but it seemed to me that I could be having it again. Unlike the doctor in my last ER visit, today’s doctor immediately ordered a breathing treatment for me, as well as a few other tests to determine the potential cause, and when it really became clear to him that I had a serious, but treatable breathing problem, he even called in a pulmonologist to examine me. After several hours I had a diagnosis of dyspnea, a shortness of breath or breathlessness, caused by asthma, which was likely triggered by whatever nasty little virus I’d contracted. The pulmonologist prescribed some meds used to treat asthma, including a couple of different inhalers. I felt extremely grateful to today’s doctors and hopeful that this will help me get back in shape after this scary week.

But mostly, I was grateful to David for all the support he gave me today, for pushing me to go to another ER and get a second opinion, for explaining to the nurses and doctors that it’s terrifying watching his wife looking like she might choke to death. After he brought me home, he rushed to the pharmacy to pick up the meds, and when he came back and I asked him to help give away a frying pan, he sweetly got into his car and drove it to Out of the Closet for me. David has had to watch me fight for breath in the middle of the night, and today he fought for me at the hospital. Thank you, David, for being my champion and my hero today, armed with love, determination and a frying pan.