Comedian Sarah Silverman revealed that she underwent surgery recently and spent an entire week in the intensive care unit. In a Facebook post Wednesday, Silverman said she suffered from “a freak case of epiglottitis” and that she is “insanely lucky to be alive.”
Epiglottitis involves a swelling of the cartilage lid that covers the windpipe. The condition is potentially life threatening as it can block air flow into the lungs and cause the victim to suffocate.
Silverman revealed that the surgery took place at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She also noted that due to low blood pressure she could not be put to sleep for the recovery process after the surgery. In fact, the comedian had to have her hands restrained so that she would not rip out her breathing tube. It is unknown when the surgery took place.
Sarah Silverman (Photo by Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)
Silverman expressed her gratitude to the hospital’s medical staff in her post.
“I owe my life to Dr. Shawn Nasseri, Dr. Robert Naruse, Dr. Rob Huizenga, every nurse, and every technician & orderly at Cedars who’s punch-the-clock jobs happen to save human lives on the regular,” she wrote.
Despite the ordeal, Silverman still found time to share her sense of humor with everyone.
“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.'”