RANSVESTIA

We we arrived in West Berlin I had a little cold which in a couple of days developed into laryngitis. When I flew up to Copenhagen one of the girls in the Danish group was a doctor so she gave me an anti- biotic prescription but it didn't help much. One night in the hotel I got a coughing fit and it was coupled with some sort of a spasm of the larynx so that I would cough out all the air in my lungs and then could not open my throat to breathe any back in. Finally on one particularly bad bout of coughing I really thought I'd had it. I knew that I couldn't stay conscious too long with no air and was fumbling in my purse for a small pocket knife that I always carried and went to the little washstand and mirror planning to insert the knife in my trachea to open an airway. At the last moment I got the idea that if I could swallow some water maybe that would release the spasm and I could breathe. I did and it did and I gasped in some air. It was really frightening. Next morning I went to the pharmacy and bought a four- ounce bottle which I filled with water and carried with me all the time.

I attended the second international Erickson conference on Tran- sexuality in northern Denmark and had a few minutes to speak in spite of the terrible laryngitis. Then over to London for about a week lugging my little water bottle about on the subway and finally back home. I went to see a throat doctor who swabbed, sprayed and gave me pills for two weeks with only moderate success. It felt like every cough just tickled some reflex area which started another cough. I told the doctor and he looked more closely and said that finally the medication had reduced the swelling and inflamation enough so that he could see that I was indeed right, there were polyps-small growths-on the vocal cords. So that night I went in the hospital and next day had surgery to remove them.

He told me that such things are not uncommon among lecturers, singers and others who use their voices a lot. Heavens knows I have never been known for keeping silent and have often lectured for three or four hours in a row so it was not surprising I got them. However, the surgery didn't do any good for my "lilting soprano" voice so ever since when people can't see me for visual information like over the phone, I'll give my name as Virginia and they will say "yes sir."

Early in 1972, Fran, who had been the Executive Secretary of FPE for the previous six or eight years, found it necessary due to the press of her own family and life requirements to drop out of that activity. It

92