Years ago I got run over by a car. After several days of lying
around in a semi-coma because of pain and morphine, my big
thigh bone was set. My hips had to be immobilized. In those
days the procedure was to place the patient in a thick cast from
the armpits to the toes. This was done, and I stayed that way for
45 days. Every four hours someone would come in to give me
pills or a shot.
Maybe it was the drugs. Maybe it was the 24 hour sameness.
(I was in a room by myself.) Maybe it was reaction to the sharp
pain and the whole body soreness.
At any rate, that whole 45 days seemed like one day. I read,
I played cards, I talked to many people who came to see me two
times a day, I interacted with the hospital staff.
But, POOF!, that time was like one night's dream.
Similar situation. A few years ago I broke my back. Intense,
non-stop pain. Surgery. Nineteen days hooked up to a machine
to hold down the pain, relax the big muscles of the body, and stop
the severe lower body spasms. I ate, read, talked, responded to
the hospital staff's activities, etc.
But, just like your description, that period of time was hazy.
What happened? Weird. I've asked several other people if
they had experienced anything like that, and I found one man that
had.
This man drank himself unconscious about one night a week for
a period of about three years. He ran his car into a big drainage
ditch one night. He not only didn't remember the accident, he
didn't remember the whole evening where he had been drinking.
Now here is the scary part. After several weeks of staying sober,
this man was astonished to learn that he had been working at his
job for over five years. He thought that he had been employed
there about one year. He remembered specific people, places,
and events when reminded, but he had lost a general block of time.
On a happy note, the man stopped drinking totally, went on a
proper exercise and eating plan, and went to regular sessions with a
shrink to write a list of goals and activities that he needed to do.
Your observations about your memories of your work are very
interesting. Thank you for telling us about them. Pat
