“This motley collection of visions and medication-fueled delusions...”

March 26, 2019 11:22 AM

The Dreams Of A Man Asleep For Three Weeks [Kotaku] “On March 22, 2018, I was rushed to the hospital for life-saving surgery. Due to complications with the procedure, I didn’t regain full, coherent consciousness until the second week in April. For three weeks I was stuck inside my own mind, subject to a seemingly unending series of dreams. Dreams covering on a variety of themes, some light and hopeful, others dark and dismal. I dreamed the end of my life over and over. I was a hero and a villain. Sometimes, but not often, I was Michael Fahey.”
posted by Fizz (16 comments total)

"I ran a shop, though there were never any customers, and all I was selling was scraps and junk. Old empty cans, sticks tied together with twine, bits of cardboard with faded retail logos that had lost their significance long ago."

"Sure sounds like Flint to me"
posted by clavdivs at 11:53 AM on March 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Grot!
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:58 AM on March 26, 2019

There's a comment on reddit by a guy who got hit by a football player while in college, and, while unconscious for like a couple of minutes, lived this whole other life in his mind, The Inner Light-style. It haunts me.

Here it is.
posted by gauche at 12:01 PM on March 26, 2019 [19 favorites]

Don't go back to the rug store.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:45 PM on March 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

So...tube feeding can cause GERD. (Which can feel very bad.) Do they know this at hospitals/nursing homes/care centers and and elevate your upper body after meals? Or keep you in a tilted bed? Or something?
posted by serena15221 at 1:27 PM on March 26, 2019

It haunts me.

I have lived through entire epic multigenerational sagas during my regular REM sleep time so I completely believe this guy's story and can empathize with his feelings of loss for his nonexistent family. I also liked that his pseudo-afterlife wasn't sponsored by Nintendo and Disney to quite the extent the Kotaku guy's was.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:35 PM on March 26, 2019 [4 favorites]

Ah, the Pokemon consciousness recorder is actually similar to a story idea I once had (inspired by the experience I had of being offered to watch video footage from a helmet cam of my husband getting into a motorcycle accident). There are a lot of cool ideas here. The human brain is amazing.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2019 [4 favorites]

His description of the aftermath, of having a period where sometimes he isn’t really sure what’s a dream and what’s real, reminds me so much of stories from a family member of mine who woke up, slowly, after a couple weeks in a coma, and still talks about those “between” dreams sometimes. Thanks so much for sharing this.
posted by eirias at 2:33 PM on March 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is really fascinating. I dream a lot of "cinematic" storylines that seem very much like a movie, and sometimes one is particularly clingy and comes with me out of sleep. I keep a dream journal and sometimes when I reread it I can get flashes of what the dream felt like experiencing it. I also casually link it to a time when I had the chicken pox and was sort of isolated in my bedroom and felt like I was in a strange between world for a few days, because I had a fever and was mostly up at night.
posted by PussKillian at 2:52 PM on March 26, 2019

Sometimes, but not often, I was Michael Fahey.”

There's a Jeff Fahey as Lawnmower Man joke here I can't quite put my VR headset on.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:43 PM on March 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Huh.

In my religious path, we would view at a few of those dreams as worthy of some life alterations. Among other things. I might go ahead and forward this to one of my godparents to see what they say.
posted by Ashen at 4:53 PM on March 26, 2019

I was sure I knew what the Reddit comment above was, but it was a different one. I read of a similar experience on there once, but the only detail I can recall was that the guy was on a fishing trip with his mates. Anyone?
posted by Harald74 at 5:26 AM on March 27, 2019

here's a comment on reddit by a guy who got hit by a football player while in college, and, while unconscious for like a couple of minutes, lived this whole other life in his mind, The Inner Light-style. It haunts me.


sounds like a good way to attract the Harpy Police
posted by thelonius at 5:43 AM on March 27, 2019

Harald74, you might be thinking of this salvia story, previously on the blue.
posted by Pronoiac at 6:00 AM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yeah, that's the one. Seemed my memory was a bit scrambled, which is pretty on-topic here, I guess.
posted by Harald74 at 9:53 AM on March 27, 2019

Karen Thompson Walker's latest book, The Dreamers, is beautiful (I just finished reading it and wanted to hug it) and may be of interest to others in this thread.
posted by Flannery Culp at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]