Zhenya Ciurana - Official Author Blog

So... it turns out that i have not-so-nasty but uncomfortable larynx infection.  It's nothing to write home about by itself.  Then I managed to tear the tissue around it last night...

Having a sore throat and going on a six-hour airplane ride isn't fun; it causes tension from trying to stop coughing and otherwise trying to minimize discomfort takes its toll.  I got home, had a couple of friends over to offer sympathy (and hot soup!), then dozed off while watching a movie.  Weird as I am, I sleep like a corpse:  on my back, with my hands crossed across my chest, straight as a board.

Sixty minutes after falling asleep your throat muscles relax.  Since the larynx, pharynx, epiglottis and other parts of the oral cavity are swollen because of the larynx infection and so on, relaxing all those tissues and sleeping on my back caused them to collapse, blocking my air passages at around 2100 last night.  This is called obstruction sleep apnea, for the medical geeks among us.  It's not fun waking up, hypoxic, and gasping for air.  The choking reflex forces your throat closed preventing anything from going down your throat -- and from letting air *in*.  So I had to force my throat open first, freaking my good neighbours out when I dashed off the sofa and knocked a couple of chairs down, and kept trying to push air out of my somewhat empty lungs.

Fun times, innit?

The whole thing lasted for about 45 seconds before I was breathing normally but was enough for me to make a significant tear in my oral cavity tissues.  So now I can barely talk, and when I do my voice is a couple of octaves lower than usual and coarse... maybe I'm possessed!  Anyway, a quick trip to St. Mary's Hospital, some antibiotics, hot soup, and remembering to sleep on my side or belly down for the next few days and all will be good.  Interesting side-effects from enthusiastic coughing (as in coughing and pushing air out with all your strength) to restore normal breathing.

Cheers!