I cannot speak above a whisper.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, after I ate dinner, I felt my throat swelling, as in an allergic reaction, but I do not have any allergies that I know of. The swelling did not close my throat but made swallowing painful. I ignored it b/c it has happened to me before and it went away after a couple of days. On Sunday, I felt better, but swallowing was still a little painful. On Monday, it was no longer painful to swallow, but my throat felt scratchy. The health center did not have any appointments before my class, and it was closed by the time my class ended. On Monday night I took some OTC Equate/Nyquil. On Tuesday the scratchiness felt a little better; that morning, while exercising, I coughed up a ball of something that looked like a mix of mucus and blood, and I felt all better afterward, but my voice felt a little hoarse. Yesterday, Wednesday, I felt fine, and I substitute taught. I had to talk a lot during the later hours of the day, and by the time school let out, my voice sounded like I have a cold. I ignored it and kept talking throughout the evening, just straining and coughing sometimes, because when I’ve had voice problems before, they haven’t gotten worse, they just go away eventually. This morning, when I woke up, I could not speak above a whisper. Today my throat and chest all feel very dry, and I am coughing more often. It is a dry cough, but sometimes I feel a build up of mucus at the back of my nasal passage that will go down my throat. Also, I just remembered that a few weeks ago there was a girl in one of my classes who couldn’t speak, so I may have caught something from her? I was sitting near her that day.
I went to the Health Center on campus and the doctor I saw (Fisher) said I have laryngitis and am not allowed to talk for the next three days. She said not to even talk at a whisper, because it will strain my vocal cords, and that I needed to rest. She also said that even if I feel better after 24 hours, I should not talk because people who do not do the full “treatment” will often develop a knot on their vocal cords that makes it easier for laryngitis to occur. So no one call me.