The Joys of Laryngitis

Are there joys in having laryngitis? Maybe not directly, but I am a firm believer that good can come out of any situation!

With the start of the school year, I and several others I know have been hit by various viruses. Today is my 16th day sick. My daughter has been sick even longer (started with one thing, didn't get over it before getting whatever it is that I have). This virus is one my body has been having a very hard time dealing with. My mind turns to, "Should I get to a doctor?" because it's lasting so long, and yet the symptoms are constantly mutating, signs of improvement are there and no evidence of bacterial infection. I am loathe to end up at some mediclinic with a doctor I don't know who could end up being a big antibiotic pusher and my own doctor isn't, but with my schedule lately and her hours...

I ended up having full-out laryngitis last week. Started losing my voice (while teaching a class!) Monday afternoon, completely lost my voice by that evening and spent the next two days voiceless. Completely voiceless. I've never lost my voice like that before. It didn't hurt, there wasn't any gross mucous blocking anything, I simply couldn't talk. I started getting it back a bit last Thursday, but here I am, more than a week later, my voice is still not completely back. Or I hope not--I would not want this to be my permanent voice!

Like I said above, there is good to come out of this situation: I'm spending more time on myself, on relaxing during this hectic month, doing things I enjoy. I'm refocusing, however slowly, on how I eat. (I feel like an alcoholic who has fallen off the wagon; I suppose I'm an notveryhealthyfood-aholic?) On how my kids eat.

And that's what illness is for sometimes, I think: to get us to set things straight, to remind us that we have strayed from the direction that will serve us best. While the illness itself should not be seen as a blessing, in my opinion, there are blessings that can come out of it, if we are willing to be open to whatever it is we need to "hear."

This being ill did lead me to discover a lovely drink that I find very soothing on a sore throat (or one unable to speak!):

• warm water (almost to the point of hot) in a coffee mug
• honey (1/2-1 Tbs.); if your farmer's market has honey and you have always had store-bought honey, consider trying the farmer's market honey. My farmer's market honey is more expensive but it tastes so extraordinary compared to store-bought, I will never buy store-bought again!
• squeeze of a lemon wedge

Stir the honey until it dissolves in the warm water (I admit, I tend to start with hot water, let the honey dissolve faster and the water cool down to quite warm before drinking) and then squeeze a lemon wedge into it. Stir and enjoy!