Sarah Silverman said she is "lucky to be alive" after an epiglottitis scare, a condition that blocks the flow of air to the lungs, reported the
Los Angeles Times.
The comedian, 45, discussed her condition on
Facebook Wednesday, saying she spent five days in the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center's intensive care unit.
"I owe my life to Dr. Shawn Nasseri, Dr. Robert Naruse, Dr. Rob Huizenga, every nurse, and every technician, and orderly at Cedars who's punch-the-clock jobs happen to save human lives on the regular," Silverman said on Facebook.
"There's something that happens when three people you're so close to die within a year and then you almost die but don't. (That was me. I'm the one that didn't die.) It's a strange dichotomy between, 'Why me?' and the other, 'Why me?'"
Huizenga is best known as Charlie Sheen's physician and for working with patients on the television series "The Biggest Loser," noted the Times.
The
Mayo Clinic describes epiglottitis as a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the epiglottis, the small cartilage lid that covers the windpipe, swells, blocking the flow of air into the lungs.
The Mayo Clinic said burns from hot liquids, direct injury to the throat and various infections could lead to the swelling of the epiglottis. Epiglottitis can happen at any age.
"They couldn't put me fully to sleep for the recovery process because my blood pressure's too low," Silverman said on Facebook. "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?'"
Silverman, best known for her stint on "Saturday Night Live" and her series on Comedy Central, went on thank her partner Michael Sheen and others who kept her company during her hospital stay.
"It makes me cry," Silverman wrote. "Which hurts my throat. So stop."
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