Let's suppose I know a couple. Mr A has a wife of several years, Mrs A, nee Miss B. They've been together for 7 years, married for 3. Mrs A has a worsening, persistent cough and gunked up throat. Mrs A's parents and sibling have similar, but much less severe coughs, as does Mrs A's nephew.
Originally, Miss B had a coughy spell every few days and all was 'dealable' with. Over the years, the cough/clearing of throat has increased incrementally, until it is not only every day, but a good portion of the day, every day, but really bad each morning; coughing, retching, occasionally vomiting. She spends a lot of the day struggling for breath, and all this makes living with Mrs A difficult;
Mrs A/Miss B has been to see 'lots of Doctors' and none has been able to clear it up, trying things like Asthma, acid reflux and allergies. However, this actually means that she visits a doctor every few years for a one-off appointment, and takes a selection of pills. Encouragement to go to back to the Doctor is met with anger and tears - "There's nothing I can do!". Claims of "I'll make an appointment" drag on for months, as Mrs A is "too busy"
Mr A finds the constant coughing and clearing of throat extremely distressing and stressful, a fact which Mrs A knows. Mrs A, however, treats the issue as Mr A's problem, insisting that there is nothing that can be done and Mr A should get counselling to cope with it...
Mr and Mrs A want to start a family in the foreseeable future. However, Mr A fears the added stress and tiredness of 1) pregnancy and 2) children would make Mrs A's problems worse. Mr and Mrs A agreed that they would hold off having children until the cough was under control. Mr A doesn't want to have a child who inherits this mystery cough, especially given the risk of inheriting Mr A's well controlled, asthma. Mrs A is now getting broody. Mr A talking about the subject with Mrs A leads to anger and tears, again… and no action. And every day the cough gets worse…
Mr A is fed up with the situation. What should Mr A do?
being embarrassed, but his genuine concerns.
