Can anyone help, please?

Thanks Marcie, and Jeff . . . I've said NO to a few people in the last month or two, some with no hesitation and others with regret. For goodness' sake, I've just had to say no to Johnny Grim, and that was a hard thing to do, I can tell you! I already had a pretty good handle on 'Jock' and he would have been a real hoot (mon) to play. Even now I harbour a faint hope that a sustained course of the appropriate antibiotics might get me into a fit enough state to take the part on after all. And yes, I know what I said about taking a long break, but some things are worth making sacrifices for. A strange thing has happened to me this evening, and I'm not sure what it means. I had a really, REALLY bad spell of just not being able to catch my breath at all. Fortunately I wasn't alone, but over at my good friends John and Pauline's place across the street. It frightened the daylights out of the pair of them and they thought they'd have to call for an ambulance. I can tell you it was upsetting me a bit too. Anyway, this problem with inhaling enough air has been going on for a good week and a half now, and I've been coping with it by continually working at getting up a decent yawn and letting reflex action force air into my lungs. Not only has this continuous exercise been physically draining, but interaction with others has been embarrassing at times. I probably should take a couple of months off from my radio work, too . . . but for the moment I'm doggedly hanging onto that. So anyway, tonight's little turn was looking a bit nasty, but just when it seemed that I was either going to croak it, or at the very least lapse into unconsciousness, it all just changed in an instant. It was like some sort of miracle. One second I was desperately trying to fill my lungs while sliding into a rapidly accelerating vortex of dizziness, and the next second I was breathing deeply and so amazingly satisfyingly, with my brain and thoughts crystal clear. That was about three hours ago and I'm still breathing deeply. In fact, apart from a bit of pain on the right side of my chest I'm feeling pretty damned good - the best I've felt in weeks. I do know from experience though, that these symptoms flare up for two or three weeks and then subside for a while before manifesting themselves in some other form. This seemingly miraculous, instant improvement is a new one! Still, I hope it lasts because I don't want to go through anything like that again in a hurry. Marcie, I take it that you've had a dose of pleurisy yourself. Does any of that sound familiar? Thanks again for your concern, folks. I'm still going to the Finleys, you bet I am . . . and Jeff, I'm coming to see 'Doctor in the House' too. Did you get your skeleton?