Coma

At 29 years of age, with an uncommon combination of the most lethal combination of viral and bacterial afflictions, I became deathly ill. An old friend, passing though, happened to find me seemingly moments from death, curled up in the corner of my basement apartment. In the emergency room, following a spinal tap, she was told that nearly certain death would be better than any other outcome, so severe was my condition. Then, right then, I slipped into a coma that lasted 89 days. Just before the 90th day began, I regained consciousness. What had I lost? All experiential memory. What had I gained? The subconscious life that had kept me alive those nearly 90 days. Those memories transformed me. They inform me to this day.