I'm still new here, but I'm guessing that two crises have been averted? RD and Bob are two different individuals? Keep in touch with the thread, both of you, if you feel it helps. And the advice about not getting hooked on the list is also good. Taking a break from the computer and dependency on this list is a part of healing.

Voicelessness: Diane Rehm (may be spelled differently) on NPR has something-or-other dysphonia--she loses her voice due to a constriction, and you can hear it coming on over time. She'll go away for a week or two, and after a treatment (an injection in the vocal chords of a botulism concoction) she's back talking. Seems over the months and years that she struggled with this a doctor who listened to the program knew that is what plagued her, but somehow it wasn't ethical for him to contact her to say so. He was a guest on her program after she was diagnosed and treated. Talk about waiting for the other shoe to drop!