day 2: still no des to be heard

So, I still can’t talk. I’ve been given lots of advice, but luckily none unsolicited. I’ve even been following all the advice, not only because I want to please everyone, but because it’s stuff I would be doing anyway. Various combinations of tea, honey, lemon juice, and water. Resting my voice completely. My sister said to take a shot of harsh liquor, but I haven’t done that one. I don’t have those things in my house, and I have the feeling that a harsh liquor is part of what caused my dumbness in the first place.

I even looked for “medical advice” via this here inter-net, and the article I came up with was not helpful - though it was entertaining:
You may be surprised to learn that yelling and being sick can lead to the same thing -- a "lost" voice due to inflammation of the larynx, a.k.a., the voice box. The primary difference is that your swelling was apparently caused by stress to your vocal cords, not an infection. The larynx houses the vocal cords. Sound is produced when air passes over them, causing vibrations that produce the sounds of speech. When the vocal cords, which are simply stretched "strings" of tissue in the larynx, become swollen and inflamed, the sounds become distorted and your voice becomes hoarse.
When you lose your voice, the best way to find it is to rest your voice for a day or two. Drink lots of liquids. Speak softly, but do not whisper. If the hoarseness lasts for more than a week, see your health care provider.
Of course, the best medicine in this case is prevention. It would be helpful to understand what causes you to yell and holler. Is this a once-in-a-while occurrence at, say, a concert, disco, or sports event? Or, do you holler a lot at your partner, parents, friends, or colleagues? Is your yelling fueled by anger, frustration, or stress? What is the result, other than of laryngitis, from your high-volume vocalizing? Is it effective at getting you what you want? Do you think you can find a new way of communicating without yelling? Are there other ways to make yourself heard, without making yourself sick?
A stress reduction workshop or an assertiveness course may help. If you are at Columbia, call Alice!, Columbia University's Health Education Program, at x4-5453 for more information and/or to sign up for The Stress Coach or Stand Up For Yourself group series. If you find you can't control your yelling, a talk with a counselor, clergy person, etc. might help you... and your voice.
So instead of really addressing the lost-voice issue, the good people at Columbia recommended anger management. This doesn’t apply to me because I didn’t lose my voice from yelling. I lost it from drinking expensive drinks. And who’s yelling at a disco?

Anyway, I had to go to work today because even though I can’t talk, I feel absolutely fine. Luckily I can do my job without speaking. I’ve had other jobs where I had to go in (with strep throat!) and still somehow try to talk to customers and answer the phone. No pity from The Pharmacy That Shall Not Be Named. This job is different. When people come talk to me, I point to my throat and mouth the words “I lost my voice” and they seem to get it. One person was offended I wasn’t speaking to her, but she didn’t even bother looking up at me, which is fine because I would have just told her that she is stupid and selfish. One other person asked if it was painful, like I had a larynectomy or something. And no, it’s not painful. I’m not sick either, as someone else seems to think they infected me. This same person insists I lost my voice because I didn't wear a scarf last week - you know, when it was 60 degrees out.

One good thing is that I have a boyfriend / housemate who knows me very well, so I don’t really have to speak. Pointing, gesturing, and facial expressions are sufficient to get my point across. And it’s not at all frustrating because he usually gets the meaning by the second try. However, he does make me laugh, and that can’t be helping.

I’m actually doing ok while completely mute. I might just keep up the charade when (if) I get my voice back. It would be nice just to have the option to make noise, like when I stub my toe and try to yell OW. All that comes out is nothing. But it’s so much easier to not have to talk to stupid people.