I work with people who have had comas following stroke and yeah, honestly, no way for me. Coma is not just sleepy nap time, it is a serious problem that causes damage other than the loss of consciousness. Even when we induce coma medically using various chemicals it has associated harm. When I had my heart valve replaced they didn't keep me in a coma for the usual 4 days, just a bit less than 2. Coma can be very medically helpful but it is not a free lunch, it causes damage some of which may never heal.
Prison on the other hand is a highly variable thing. Prison in Australia? Yeah, better than a coma. Nordic countries? Yep, no question, probably walk out with a degree.
Prison in the USA? Maybe coma. Honestly, no idea, it would be a coin toss at that point.
Jail.
I've been in a coma, and it messed me up a lot. I was only in the coma for a few weeks, but I had muscle wastage that meant that I had to basically learn to walk again. I couldn't breathe without a ventilator, so a tube down my throat, and when that came out I was on oxygen for a while. I was so weak that I couldn't feed myself. I couldn't control my bladder or bowels for a few weeks after coming out of it.
Time didn't just fly by while I was out either. I had dreams that were completely realistic, to the point where I couldn't tell what were dreams and what actually happened for quite a while. I had some weird dreams while I was being treated, but mine were mostly harmless. There was someone in the hospital before me who had some sort of reaction to the meds, and had hyper realistic nightmares.
Even shitty jails sound better than going through that again.
Holy moly. That's quite an experience. How long did it take you to regain your walking ability, if you don't mind me asking?
No, I don't mind. Feel free to ask me anything :)
It took around three weeks for me to get back on my feet properly, and another few months to get back to almost normal. It's a bit tricky to be accurate, as a lot of it was down to the muscle wastage, but some was down to the illness that caused me to be in the coma*. As well as the weakness, I had a few balance issues too, but that was probably a side effect of the muscle wastage. The little muscles that you dont think about had wasted too, so struggled to keep me upright.
I did have a funny moment because of it all though - while I was in the coma, my wife started some renovations on our house, so we moved in with my mother. After I got out of hospital I wanted to set up my computer and catch up with some friends.
I started to set up in a spare bedroom, but had to take the computer upstairs, so picked it up and started to carry it. I got about three steps up and got stuck. In my excitement, I'd forgotten about the muscle wastage and ran straight for the stairs. With one leg on one step and the other on the next step, I just stopped. My brain and body caught up with each other, and I couldn't move. I couldn't put the computer down either, so I just had to stand there and wait for my wife to come and help >.<
*I've got an autoimmune disease that's part of a rare group of diseases called Vasculitis. My particular flavour is called GPA - Granulomatosis with PolyAngiitis. It means that my immune system attacks the healthy cells in my body, and little granulomas form. They're kind of like little granules of tissue. My kidneys were the worst affected, and I had to have a kidney transplant just over a decade ago. It's a manageable disease, but because mine was undiagnosed for so long while it was active, it caused a lot of damage.
I'm mostly ok, but will always have some issues.
Right, at first I thought this was the easiest choice ever, with 5 years I prison I can work out, read, learn new skills, etc etc etc. But then I came to the comments and got reminded most people here are American, haha.
Minimum security? Sure, just keep your head down and study. Maximum security with the nazis and rapists and murderers? One coma, please.
That’s a tough call for me. On the one hand, I’ve gone 47 years without going to jail. I don’t necessarily want to break my streak. But, I could meet some interesting people and possibly learn some valuable life skills I’d otherwise not have access too. This is not counting the possibility of getting hurt while in prison. I would also miss my kids, and they would surely miss me. The of course, depending on why I went in the first place, it may make seeing my kids after I am released difficult.
On the other hand, when you go to sleep you typically don’t notice the passing of time. Ten years in the blink of an eye? That much closer to “the end”, without the drama and effort? That’s pretty tempting. But again, I’d miss a lot of my kids’ life; I’d certainly lose out on teaching them how to shave or how to drive a car. I’d miss their first loves, first heart breaks. They would worry about me, whether I’d wake up or not. Then I’d have to relearn how to use my body again. I’d have to reorient myself back into society.
Hmm. If I were able to choose, that’s certainly a difficult decision to make.
My dad's friend went to jail and he got to drive a truck into town to buy supplies for the cattle. That sounds pretty ok. Also, i don't want my family to waste their time or money on my coma.