Sarah Silverman almost died in intensive care after 'freak' infection
Sarah Silverman had a “freak” illness that almost ended her life in 2016. She said in a Facebook post that she was “insanely lucky” to have lived.
Sarah Silverman suffered a life-threatening illness in 2016. The celebrity said she went to the doctor with a sore throat and was ultimately diagnosed with epiglottitis, which is a swelling of the epiglottis. The epiglottis is a valve at the base of your tongue that helps food and drink not enter your windpipe. However, it can become infected and swell. It can be life-threatening, as it was in Sarah’s case.
Sarah Silverman was ‘insanely lucky’ to be alive after life-threatening illness
In her post, the now 52-year-old penned she “owed” her life to the doctors and nurses at the hospital “whose punch-the-clock jobs happen to save human lives on the regular.”
She explained at the time: “They couldn’t put me fully to sleep for the recovery process because my blood pressure’s too low. I was drugged just enough to not feel the pain and have no idea what was happening or where I was. They had to have my hands restrained to keep me from pulling out my breathing tube. My friend Stephanie said I kept writing, “Was I in an accident?”
“When I woke up 5 days later I didn’t remember anything. I thanked everyone at the ICU for my life, went home, and then slowly as the opiates faded away, remembered the trauma of the surgery & spent the first two days home kind of free-falling from the meds/lack of meds and the paralyzing realization that nothing matters. Luckily, that was followed by the motivating revelation that nothing matters.”
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She continued by thanking her then-boyfriend, Hollywood actor Michael Sheen for being her “real-life hero”.
The comedian was also grateful for her “amazing Sissies (blood & otherwise) & friends” who made sure that at least one of them was with her at all times.
Funny stories from the ICU
Sarah ended her post by recounting some of the more lighthearted moments from her time in the hospital. She explained she asked her friend a strange question and drew something not very PG on the board they have her to help her communicate.
“I couldn’t speak for a while and I don’t remember a lot of my ‘lucid’ time, but Amy (the Zvi) told me I stopped a nurse – like it was an emergency – furiously wrote down a note and gave it to her. When she looked at it, it just said, “Do you live with your mother?”.
It was next to a drawing no nurse should see.
Sarah added: “Also, when I first woke up and the breathing tube came out, I still couldn’t talk and they gave me a board of letters to communicate. My loved ones stood there, so curious what was going to be the first thing I had to say. They followed my finger, rapt, as I pointed from letter to letter until I finally spelled out, “Did you see ‘Hello My Name is Doris.'”
Fans say they are ‘grateful’ that Sarah is okay
After sharing her terrifying experience, Sarah’s comments were flooded with her fans at the time. They were telling her that they were glad she was okay and on the mend.
One fan said: “Oh goodness. I am so glad that you are okay! and I am glad that you kept your sense of humor through it all. I am sure it was a terrifying time for your friends and family, but I am sure that when you started cracking jokes and handing out hand-drawn d***s, they knew you would pull through. Take care and keep getting better!!!!!”
Another wrote: “Soooooo glad to hear you are ok!!! What a f***ing scare tho!!!! Like you say, nothing really matters but the people around us and how much we love them. It can all be taken away in a matter of days, suuuch a wild and scary concept. But what do we say to death? NOT TODAY!! This world needs you in it, you are such a beautiful soul and you bring laughter to so many! Wishing you a quick recovery!!”
A third commented: “I had to google epiglottitis, ty for helping me meet my “learn something new every day” quota. I’m so glad you are on the mend and have loved ones watching over you [smiling face emoji] Since we’re bonding, no, I don’t live with my mother, nor do I have a penis. Get well soon!”
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