Milestones

Hello one and all! I just reviewed my last post and realized how much I have to tell you. It has been an action packed month so let's get to it.

First of all, today marks the 5 year anniversary of when Brenda and I started dating. That's right, we've been together for 5 wonderful years and if you had told us then where we'd be now we might not believe you. Nevertheless, here we are and we're having a great time.

In my last post I was complaining about the weather. A few days after I wrote that Spring erupted in Frankfurt. We had sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s and 70s everyday for over two and a half weeks. In turn, nature exploded. Flowers, trees, grass, everything started to blossom overnight. Frankfurt looked and continues to look like a totally new (and beautiful) city.

Now I wasn't very good in high school physics but I seem to recall something about every action having an opposite and equal reaction. In the case of Frankfurt in Spring the action was nature doing what nature does at an alarming rate. As if all the plants in Frankfurt knew they only had a short window to pollinate and so they had to get to it fast. This caused an alarming reaction in me, my allergies went crazy.

Our first beautiful day was a Saturday and by the end of the day I was having trouble breathing. It felt like I couldn't get a deep breath and was struggling for every bit of air I took into my lungs. Over the next few days the symptoms continued and with them came wheezing and coughing. This was especially problematic because Brenda and I had a performance of Gianni Schicchi a few days after my symptoms began. I made it through the performance, albeit with a lot of coughing, and continued to take anti-histamines with the hope that my body would eventually adjust to its new environment. I had dealt with allergies in the US but those symptoms were limited to congestion, runny nose, etc, the typical mild allergic reactions to the changing of the seasons. This difficulty breathing thing was a whole new ball of wax.

On Friday night, Good Friday as it turns out, Brenda and I decided to go to the emergency room down the street. I had been having difficulty breathing for 6 days and I had another performance coming up so it was time to get a doctor's opinion. After waiting in the ER for 3 hours we were seen by a very nice physician who gave me two puffs off of an inhaler right then and there. My lungs immediately opened up, it was wonderful. The doctor also wrote me a prescription for an inhaler of my very own.

The inhaler was amazing. I took it every six hours like clockwork and it would immediately relieve my breathing problems. I couldn't sleep for more than six hours without my body waking me up because I was having difficulty breathing but that was a small price to pay to be able to take a deep breath.

Another 4 or 5 days passed and we realized that the inhaler was really just a quick fix. It got me through the days but my symptoms weren't relenting. Upon the recommendation of several of my friends and family (including my brilliant pharmacist sister-in-law) I made an appointment to see an ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT).

I called the ENT's office and told them my situation and mentioned that I was singing at Oper Frankfurt. They told me they were all booked for the rest of the week but that they could see me the next afternoon. Apparently mentioning that I had upcoming performances got me in the door. The doctor guessed the exact day that my symptoms began (apparently I wasn't the only one having allergy issues) and prescribed some steroids. Since then as long as I take my daily steroid I'm right as rain. The magic of modern medicine.

Brenda and I had a few different visitors over the past couple of weeks and are looking forward to a couple more. My parents will be arriving on Monday and will be spending two weeks running around with us in Germany. We haven't finalized our itinerary yet but I will give y'all a full report on what we see and do.

One last thing, a couple of weeks ago marked my first anniversary of taking up jogging. For the past year I have gone jogging on average 3-4 times a week and I can honestly say that I love it. It really has become an addiction. It has also been very nice that Brenda has been joining me on occasion. Yesterday she went for a 30 minute jog with me which is amazing considering how much she hates running. I'm very proud of her.

I hope you have all been well. Have a great weekend!