Diamond Dallas Page says he is currently hospitalized with a serious throat/breathing condition. Page is in the ICU unit of Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, according to Page in a very long blog recapping what led to his situation.
"My throat finally just closed down today and said I'm not going to let you breathe for awhile so you can see just how serious your condition is," Page blogged.
The official medical terms are "vocal cord swelling" and "scaring subglottic tracheal," which basically means the partial or complete narrowing of the airway beneath the vocal cords.
Timeline of Events
- January: Page did "countless interviews" promoting a DDP Yoga workshop in New York City. "After 14 straight hours of PR and workshops I had lined up... it finally shut my voice almost off... I could barely go past a whisper," Page blogged.
Page completed the workshop, then his voice started "shutting down again" on the way home to Atlanta.
- Week of January 19: Page prepared to pack for a trip to Park City, Utah to be part of the screening of Jake Roberts's new documentary, "The Resurrection of Jake Roberts," at the Slamdance film festival.
Before flying out, Page visited an ENT doctor who put a camera down his throat to determine that Page had a serious situation. During the exam, Page started choking, but the doctor convinced him that he was not choking. So, the doctor gave him pills and told him to return in a month.
- Park City, Utah: Page did more interviews promoting Jake's movie, but the air was so dry that it started to affect his breathing again and his nose started bleeding.
- Saturday, January 24: Page traveled to the East Coast for his surprise Royal Rumble entry. Page flew to Newark, N.J. to avoid flying into Philadelphia, where wrestling fans were waiting to see who the surprise Rumble entrants might be.
"The only flights (connections) I can get on gets me in like midnight after flying all day (brutal on my throat)," Page blogged.
- Sunday, January 25: Page was put in a bus with Bubba Ray to avoid spoiling their Rumble surprise entries. Page comically noted that Bubba was fine for the first five hours, but he was like a caged animal for the final three hours.
- Monday, January 26: Page flew back to Park City, Utah to do more interviews for Jake's movie.
- Page returned to Atlanta, where he remained in bed for a few days and talked only above a whisper to the people he needed to talk to. "It helped a little but not really because five days later I'm sitting right here in the ICU," Page blogged.
- Early February: Page visited a different ENT doctor, which is when Page stopped breathing after the doctor discovered mucus build-up underneath Page's vocal cords.
"Thank GOD that I've spent the last 16 years (yeah 16 years) learning to Own my Breathe because using my abdominals and my obliques I somehow finally started to get a little pattern going... and FINALLY a little air comes in ... a little air goes out and then a little more AIR in and a little more out... it felt like 5 minutes had passed but it was most likely more likely 30 to 45 seconds BUT as you can imaging it felt like a LIFETIME," Page blogged.
Page recalled the conversation with the doctor after the event: "He says I want you over at Piedmont ICU unit now (it's like a mile away). You could have died right there... He said it was serious and I'm NOT letting you go anywhere till we break all that mucus up."
- February 7: Page says he's on a "vaporized steroid treatment" and using a mask that blows mist into his throat to loosen up the mucus. Page says this is preventing him from sleeping, which is why he wrote the blog at 4:52 a.m.
