What a lack of diagnosis can do.

Today I had a follow up appointment with a pulmonologist regarding my coughing and breathing issue that I've been experiencing since June. This appointment was supposed to be a while ago but for some reason the office of the doctor who I was seeing kept canceling appointments. I had to take a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) to see if there was an issue directly in my lungs or something else. After I took the test, the office cancelled my appointment for the 4th time. I decided to see another doctor. I asked for them to send me the results of the tests and they refused due to office policy. I was almost to the point of siccing a lawyer on them when they faxed me the results. I wonder if the doctor even knows this is going on.

So the new doctor looked at the test results and said it all looked good. There is no issue with my lungs. No asthma. No bronchitis. Everything seems to be working fine. Yet I am still coughing. He believes that the coughing issue is related to some sort of inflammation either from allergies, acid reflux or something else dripping. When I introduce training load, it makes it worse. He pointed me at take some antacids and make an appointment with an ENT to take a look down my throat to see what is going on.

I haven't been training and feel very out of shape. There is no way I'll be able to do a marathon in 7 weeks. I doubt I'll be able to do another event at all this year. I told the folks at Team Aquaphor that I won't be able to meet my racing obligations with them and while disappointing, they understood. Good group of folks on that team.

All the major items of concern have been eliminated so on that hand I'm happy. I'd like to have a real diagnosis to be able to solve this and move on but that doesn't seem to be happening. Even so, I have the Disney Half Mary on the calendar in January. I'm doing that race even if I have to walk it.

All you can do is all you can do. I can do this.