hospital

Contrary to what the title of this post may lead you to think, what I'm writing about is not related to my medical experience here in NYC, but rather to a bizarre theatre show I came across by accident on a warm summer evening by strolling in the West Village.

"hospital" is a play about the interior life of a person in a terminal coma.
Though this is the first time I hear of it, this is a phenomenon in its 11th production, that is well loved for its balance of horror, humour and weirdness.

This year's patient is a grade school teacher with epilepsy who has grown tired of taking the drugs she requires to live normally and, accepting the risk of a major seizure, she stops taking her pills.
During a date the following night, her companion leaves her for a moment, she has the seizure, slips from the rooftop in the rain and falls on the pavement below.

Once in a coma she travels through the dark interiors of her dying mind, being met by dream-like characters from her childhood to guide her through the end.

The show is presented in 4 episodes and I have to say that, after having watched the 1st one last night, I very much look forward to see what happens in the remaining three.

This also sparked many thoughts in me though...

As a doctor in training of course I come across ill people all the time.
According to science our brain works by electrical transmission but when this transmission is just disrupted without being completely interrupted, what is that really happens?
We know that a coma is different from sleep because the individual is incapable of sensing or responding to external stimuli and internal needs, and so can't be woken up.
Many people believe that a coma is similar to deep sleep. However, contrary to popular belief, comatose patients may display signs of movement, make sounds and appear agitated.

I have only seen two patients in a coma so far and now I wonder: what goes on in their minds while we see them just "sleeping"?
Do they hear us? Do they think? Are they afraid? Are they in pain?
And is there someone such as "Jack, who went up the hill with Jill" coming to see them? Because that's exactly what happens in the show... So I'm curious...

Looking around a bit I found testimonies of some people who were in a coma and they claim to recall very specific events of when they found themselves in that state but then, comparing notes with those who were by their side when such event happened, the story never quite exactly matches reality... So, where are we when in a coma? Are we just on "stand-by" like a machine?

I guess I won't find an answer to this question at this point in time... I'll look forward to new findings in medical sciences that may point me in the right direction, something that could explain the how and why of this big mystery and all in all, really hoping that, should I ever find myself in that situation, it won't be the "itsy bitsy spider" coming to pay a visit!!!