Friday, December 15, 2006

Laryngitis?!

You might say it was a surprise this morning when I got to the library and discovered, at the coatcheck, that I have laryngitis. I don't often lose my voice (straining it now and then is one thing, but losing it?), so I never expect anything of the kind.
And, while I don't think of myself as unusually talkative, like most people I do feel annoyed if I can't say something when I want. Fortunately the library staff were very nice to me when I produced a few croaks intended to say that I couldn't talk.
A quick search on Google has no very useful advice for cold-related laryngitis. Since I don't smoke, drink excessively, or happen to have croup (a disease apparently limited to those under the age of four), allegedly all I can do is shut up and wait for it to go away. If it lasts more than two weeks, I should consult a doctor.
TWO WEEKS?!! Whoever heard of laryngitis lasting two weeks? I don't think I've ever had it for more than a day. But, of course, this makes me nervous. I just wanted to know how to coddle the vocal cords for immediate recovery. Now the fact that Shawn and Jesse both called and I attempted to speak to them makes me fear that things will be no better tomorrow, when Alex arrives from Zlín for a visit and some Christmas shopping before we catch our holiday flights.
I will be very annoyed if my voice is not back by 11:15a.m. Saturday.
But in the meantime I went to the Dekadence exhibition at the Obecní dům and bought two massively discounted but extraordinarily heavy books there (one on Jan Preisler, one on Jiří Karásek's art collection). I'll be very surprised if these can be successfully added to the holiday luggage.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

(1) Warm (not hot!) tea with honey.

(2) Gargle with warm salt water. (No, not a pleasant thing, but soothing.)

(3) If you are Russian, soak a warm towel in some vodka and wrap it around your neck. (I'm not kidding.)

I've got a friend who loses her voice for up to a week a couple of times each winter. I hope yours comes back much more quickly!

December 15, 2006 8:47 PM  
Blogger Karla said...

It's back, but not in very strong form. Time for more tea! (No wrapping the neck in vodka for me, I assure you.)

December 16, 2006 11:17 AM  

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