I’ve woken up twice during simpler procedures. The clarity of my cognition was remarkable. The first time, in my late 30’s I was having an endoscopy of my esoph

I’ve woken up twice during simpler procedures. The clarity of my cognition was remarkable. The first time, in my late 30’s I was having an endoscopy of my esophagus. I woke up to find a complex, metallic, uncomfortable apparatus having taken over my head like that fast-moving creature in Alien. I thought,”Shit. I’m gonna have to hold my head still, keep this together, and persevere.” And so I did. The second time, I was getting a stent in the cath lab. I woke up just in time to see the cardiologist instructing a resident, who was holding what looked like a staple gun, (but which of course was trailing at least a 5 meter long cable, the end of which was in my coronary artery.) The cardiologist commanded, “Now do it.” The resident made a weird, semi-violent motion with the staple gun, and I believed implanted the stent at that moment.