Has my answer been lost for ever. Just before attempting to submit an answer, my over-sensitive cursor hovered in the wrong area and....Bang, I could't retrieve it.
Sorry but yes it probably is floating in the irretrievable ether :-(
I sometimes find it can be helpful to write a long or considered post in word or notepad and then just copy and paste it into the box then even if "something" happens you still have your beautifully crafted words :-)
If the question box was still there but was empty (it happens if you try to delete a word and end up deleting all of it) you could have right-clicked in the box and press Undo