There are more than a few experiences in this life that people are curious about – but also that we really, really hope we never have to experience ourselves.
Like, for example, being in a coma.
If you’re curious about what it’s like to wake up after a good amount of time to find out the world has moved on without you, these 16 survivors are giving up the goods.
16. The whole year was gone.
My sister was in a car accident and sustained a massive head injury. She was in a coma for over 5 months. Waking up from a coma doesn’t happen suddenly. It’s gradual. She had to relearn everything starting with swallowing.
She’s missing her last year of high school and she cannot remember many things since since her accident. Her short term memory was damaged. Her damaged memory makes her very frustrated.
Edit to add: Her accident was in 1994. She graduated in 1993. She cannot remember grade 12. Sorry for the confusing statement. This was stunning for the family because she had just graduated. That whole year was GONE.
15. You’re a little confused.
I was only in a coma for about two days, but I totally relate to the not understanding where you are. I barely remember my suicide attempt, and then suddenly I woke up in a creepy asylum.
Apparently that’s just what ERs look like at night. I got up to investigate, and suddenly there was this horrible pain on the inside of my left elbow. I had an IV in.
14. It can mess with your memory.
As someone with a damaged memory, I can relate. The feeling of knowing something is supposed to be in there but it’s not is really hard to describe and so incredibly frustrating.
The closest thing I can think of to describe it is a word or name being on the tip of your tongue but you can’t quite recall it, only instead of words or names or titles, it’s with memories. Some are worse, like having absolutely no clue what someone is talking about when they are reminiscing about something.
Others are better, remembering small snippets of something happening but not the whole thing. Some are just straight up disconcerting, having no idea what happened during months of time of your life.
Still yet some can be down right baffling. Most recently I was in a craft store and had some super strong emotional reaction over drawing pencils but have no clue why or what’s important to me about them.
It can be pretty exciting and overwhelming when something finally clicks and a whole flood of memory comes rushing in at all once though. I bought the pencils hoping one day it will trigger.
13. He could hear it all.
My uncle & dad were in a terrible wreck when they were both 19. My dad was out about 6-7 hours, remembers nothing.
My uncle was in a coma for 6 weeks . He said he could hear every conversation, knew when people visited him but he couldn’t communicate or move a muscle. He can still recall conversations people had while visiting him.
He said his greatest fear was they would think he was dead and bury him. He was terrified because he couldn’t react or communicate and didn’t know what they would do with him.
Then he woke up. He had some life long disabilities but went on to become the VP at his company in Texas.
12. A waking nightmare.
I was out for just over a month, it was surreal, like a dream I couldn’t quite wake up from. When I woke up, my arms and legs didn’t work and my vision and thoughts were really fuzzy.
I thought I was out for a few days and was unpleasantly surprised to know it has been over a month.
11. It’s not over when you wake up.
Does it count if you can’t remember a single thing for 6-8 weeks? I was technically “out”, but my wife says she had a conversation with me every day.
I don’t remember anything but was medically sedated for almost 2 months after getting hit by a car cycling.
Anyway, I couldn’t walk or use any extremities upon coming to. Extreme muscle atrophy required almost 2 yrs of PT to regain full independence. Not fun at all.
10. There should be provisions for that.
I feel like the state should automatically give you disability or at LEAST assign you a case worker to suspend your bills and store your stuff while you’re in a coma.
Like, there should be a system where the hospital logs you as a coma patient and then social services step in. Wtf.
9. Like starting from scratch.
Hollywood’s depiction of waking from a coma is shockingly wrong. I was really stunned when my friend was in one for about a month and had to relearn virtually every basic function.
It’s not just waking up from an extended nap. The majority of comas are caused by traumatic brain injury, and a LOT of people even if they wake up are never the same again and are often permanently mentally and physically disabled.
8. The details could fill a book.
I was out for 40 days after a motorcycle accident, but I don’t remember much for about 6 weeks after that as well. I was sedated with ketamine and a mix of opiates and started to wean off of them while still on a ventilator and ECMO. I was extremely confused and seeing double so I was terrified. Communicating was very hard because of the confusion and that I couldn’t talk or write. The thing I remember most vividly is the insane hallucinations I had as a result of the ketamine.
I was hallucinating something that was making me freak out and try to rip the tubes out of me, including my ventilator, chest tubes, and arterial line so they had no choice but to tie my limbs down and put boxing gloves on my hands. I had no idea I was doing any of that, but I had moments where I was significantly more aware of what was going on, which were so frustrating because I was completely tied down and again, couldn’t communicate.
The doctors and nurses kept trying to explain to me what I was doing and that I needed to stop, but I did not understand. I felt like I was being tortured and I couldn’t understand why.
At the time of my accident, I was in an online relationship that had become very rocky. I had booked a flight to meet the girl and my accident happened the day before my flight. This was only somewhat of a coincidence, as I was riding my motorcycle extremely recklessly due to my emotions and frustration in the relationship, and with my life for other reasons.
My family knew about my relationship and was able to tell her, but it wasn’t until about 3 months after the day of the accident that I talked to her for the first time by sending her a video. One of my respiratory therapists put a device on my tracheostomy so I was able to talk. This was an extremely emotional moment and my mom was the first person to hear my voice.
I used the device to talk on the phone with the girl, but it was difficult because the ventilator was loud and the device did not sound like my normal voice. My relationship with her was not the same and not recoverable. In hindsight, this was for the better, but in the moment despite all the terrible things I was experiencing, the feeling of having lost the connection with this girl who was my first love was awful.
By this time I was becoming completely aware of what I did and what happened, and extremely conscious of what I had put my mom through as she had been by my side every day in the hospital not knowing if I would survive, or if I had sustained significant brain damage.
After 5 months in the hospital I was transferred to a rehabilitation facility, and two weeks later (December 2019), discharged home with a wheelchair and walker. I was gaining the ability to walk short distances on my own and even decided to start college again. Then covid hit, and I also experienced some unfortunate medical complications that kept me in and out of the hospital for most of 2020.
This is all very recent, but every aspect of my life has changed post-accident. My finances are in ruin. My physical health and pain is terrible but given the fact that I have all my limbs and can still walk, I feel like I can’t complain. I value time completely differently because of my continuing medical complications. I don’t think I will live very long. It’s a lot harder for me to get angry or upset about anything because it all feels insignificant compared to being tied down, unable to communicate, and in pain.
I could write a book filled with details of the past and how I’m doing now, so I’ll cut it off here.
7. A part of me is missing.
5 day coma after severe TBI. I can tell part of me is missing and I have no attachment to even my family. They were suffocating me because I couldn’t care about them so I moved to the other end of the country to get away.
Right side of my body was paralyzed from nerve damage and bad tail bone and back injury so needed lots of help yet chose to go camping on a sport bike for 34 days in a row before ending up in another city forcing myself to be self sufficient.
Mostly recovered physically but that’s all. I can’t go back to who I was. And I’m extremely aware of it.
6. They thought he was faking.
In basic training, I caught meningitis and was in and out of a coma for about a week. I remember my military leadership visiting me, calling my wife to tell her, and being ambulanced to another hospital. But that’s it.
When I was awake, I was fully paralyzed from the neck down. My wife came to visit me and she told me I smelled like urine because they didn’t give me a catheter nor did anyone help me to the bathroom. So, I just laid in bed and pissed myself over and over.
I remember being so, so thirsty.
When I fully woke up a few days later, I had very little feeling in my legs and was very wobbly when I walked. I couldn’t fully outstretch my arms without severe pain in my hands.
When I was released, I asked about why no one helped me and they told me they don’t help any patients because they have too many people faking symptoms to get out of training.
They sent me back to basic training where I slept for three days straight, only being woken to eat.
When I woke up, after those three days, they gave me all my gear and sent me on a four mile forced march, during which I tripped 74 times (I counted and still remember) and fell down six times.
Because I didn’t quit on that march, they kept me in training and I graduated with the same class I started, which is unheard of and completely insane. I couldn’t even finish the final fitness test, so they just pencil-whipped the record, all because I didn’t quit.
It took me months to regain full feeling in my extremities.
5. No financial forgiveness.
I had no idea where I was. I had no idea what happened. Months later I was still learning about who did (or didn’t) visit, pray, call, ask.
Finances were a total mess (trust me, companies DO NOT CARE). Massive debt and financial penalties.
And took over 18 months to get a job after painful physical rehabilitation and explaining over and over and over that I was in a coma, not just not working.
Then COVID.
4. I would have lost it, too.
It’s been a financial nightmare for me too, I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this. There is no forgiveness for us. Recently, I totally lost it on a debt collector, I was screaming through the phone at him “Do you fucking think I planned this! What part of zero dollars do you not understand!”
Fortunately I was given Social Security Disability so the working thing has a little relief but it is a penance of what I used to earn.
Unfortunately because I got behind on child support (due to coma) the State is taking a major chunk out of my Disability income to make up the arrears, I have to come up with 3K I don’t have to go to court and “maybe” get that reduced.
Both my boys are Marines now but the State still taking money for child support arrears putting me further in a financial hole.
Some days I think about just robbing banks to get out of this. If I don’t get caught great, if I do I can go live with the Feds (prison) Either way it is a win/win situation.
3. Not the same person anymore.
a friend of mine was in coma for the better part of a year. he isn’t even remotely the same person anymore. he has some similar interests that he used to have but now operates mentally at the level of a 12 year old (he’s in his mid 20s).
he also has severely limited motor skills. s*%t is so sad 🙁
2. Lots of weird dreams.
I was in a coma for 3 weeks. Not that long but my dreams made me feel like I was out for decades.
I was really confused and didn’t understand where I was or why.
1. Not like the movies.
I was in an icu for 8 mos. TV was on, I could care less what was playing. One of the 1st movies I recall was Steven Segal’s Hard to Kill.
A week after awakening from a multi year coma, he was already kicking ass and taking names. MF’er, it took 3 mos of hard ass rehab to walk unassisted.
I think this is so interesting, but yeah – I hope I never have to go through it, either.
If you’ve got some experience, share the details with us in the comments!
