The date was December 14th, 2019, I woke up from a short and positive dream, I remember there were birds, lights, balloons and greenery. I felt cool, comfortable, I thought I could use a little more sleep.
Then the cool feeling faded, I could feel a cold surface on my face, I opened my eyes, and everything was dark. I reached my hands and the soft bed sheets were nowhere to be found. I realized I was on the floor in the bathroom with my back against the wall and my head against the bathtub. Oh shit!
It took a moment, but it all came back to me.
I was still recovering from a two-week virus that resembled a mild cold with bronchitis, I was not being treated except for cold/sinus medicine every-other day. We had dinner scheduled at a nearby restaurant and I was hungry. Fair to say, I ate for two. Chips and guac, popcorn shrimp and fried calamari appetizers, Paella Mixata (Yum) for the main course and an assortment of dessert bites from around the table.
I washed it all down with two 20 oz Sam Adams, Winter Brew. It was a great meal by all measures, and I was full. After that we drove home and started watching a family movie, in the spirit of Christmas, it was Home Alone, always fun to watch.
Ten minutes into the movie, I needed a smoke, I told the family “I’m gonna take the garbage out” and headed to the car for a pipe tobacco smoke, which I’m a fond of. This time though I was rushing, I wanted to get back to the movie, so I kept the puffs pace high, and in about 5 minutes, I was satisfied.
I got back to the movie and I was feeling ok, a very mild headache had started but I thought to myself, it’s probably the beer, some brews give me a mild headache. the movie concluded and the kids got to bed. My headache had intensified by that point and the left side of my brain was throbbing, but I thought to myself, a good night sleep should cure my ailment.
I knew I may not be coming back downstairs so I proceeded to plug-in the kids iPads, turn-off few lights and headed to the bathroom to pee. I usually don’t need a light to pee at night, so I attempted to do my business in the dark. I felt woozy, something was wrong, I could hear my heartbeat, I held on to the sink with both hands then. Power shut down.
I have absolutely no recollection from the moment I held on to the sink to the moment I woke up on the bathroom floor. Complete reboot.
I was not scared; I was fascinated by what I’m experiencing. My first thought was wow! I just fainted, in the bathroom. how long was I out? I was washed over by amazement, keep in mind, I’ve never fainted before.
I got up in the dark and started to make my way out of the bathroom and towards the stairs. My wife was standing at the top of the stairs with a horrified look on her face, “what happened? Did something fall in the bathroom?” I said “I did. I’m not feeling well” and she rushed down and helped me to sit on the stairs to rest for a minute. The stairs were uncomfortable, and I wanted to switch to the living room couch. She helped me to stretch on the couch for few minutes then I wanted to go to bed.
I was feeling better and I started thinking about the soft sheets on the bed, I got off the couch and headed upstairs. I slept all night and only woke up to look at the time, and to check that I was not dead, every couple of hours.
The next morning, I was back to normal-ish, I smiled and laughed every time I remembered what happened. it is so bizarre, how the lights can shut down like that, and the system rebooted.
As evidence, I still felt the bruise on my right shoulder from hitting the bathtub edge, the heat baseboard got the worst of my fall, it was bent out-of-shape under my weight, easy fix though.
Both my daughter and my wife account that they heard something fall in the bathroom and then I emerged right after, no time delay. That’s weird! I feel that I was out for minutes at least, I had a dream and everything, interesting.