John P. Schulz: Find The Living Room

Quotes and Notes #96, February 5

 “For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You may know that I had my voice box removed because of throat cancer. This means that I breathe through a neat little valve in my throat that I call my “throat button”. This button, through modern technology, also regulates the mechanics of talking for me. There are some disadvantages, but I have found that breathing is so much easier when the air doesn’t have to travel through the oral cavity. For instance, I no longer snore. I’ve become oddly attached to that throat button.

Yesterday I was talking with a friend. These days, friends will often look at me, smile, and say, “Everything is going to be all right.” That always makes me feel good. But, yesterday, the friend qualified it by adding, “…except I’m getting old and I have sleep apnea and I have to wear this @#@# mask at night.”

I smiled and pointed at the button on my throat and said, “Well, you could get you a hole in your throat with one of these neat buttons and just bypass what causes the sleep apnea. Breathing for me is easy now. I sleep like a baby.”

My friend backed off, looked at my throat button, shared a smile and said, “Thanks, John, I’ll be good with the mask, “Everything is going to be all right.” We shared a smile and a laugh.

John P. Schulz

John Schulz, “Everything is going to be all right.”