Experience description:

I was operated on to replace an eardrum that was lost while diving in a pool. It was orientation week for the college I attended. When I was in my hospital room going in and out of conscience, I floated into the next room where to women that I assumed were nurses or orderlies were making up a bed in the next room. They weren't speaking about anything out of the ordinary, just about others that they worked with. The next thing I knew, I was back in the bed with friends and family around the bed and feeling like my head had been run over by a truck.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     Uncertain            It was post surgery in a hospital room while I was in and out of conscience.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain      It wasn't major surgery but the operation left me feeling very ill.

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           In and out.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Yes.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes     I realized that I had floated through the wall and into the next room. I was unobserved.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            At the moment, there was no shock or the feeling that it was unusual. Later, I realized how bizarre it was to have floated through the wall and listened to the orderlies.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           Just the women speaking.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?    No           

Did you see a light?           No      

Did you meet or see any other beings?           Yes     Orderlies in another room.

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? No      

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes     Yes but it has been so long that it cannot be verified now.

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Yes     I did notice that I could see and hear but I don't really remember feeling anything till I woke up back in my room.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   No      

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No      

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             No      

Did you become aware of future events?       No      

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       No       In a similar situation, my mother was aware of a decision regarding her return to her body.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         Uncertain      I do have a habit of getting up to answer the phone before it rings or to get something out of the oven just before the timer goes off but not really anything amazing.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   No      

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       It made me aware of the possibilities and prompts me to look at everything that could be conceived as paranormal with a scientific/skeptical eye.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         No      

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     My mother shared her experience. Others told of experiences that they had heard about. Others simply stayed quiet and made me feel like they weren't sure about what I was saying but they were the minority. Other peoples experiences or stories of others usually prompted me to bring it up.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  Nothing remarkable.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      It was just fascinating. I believe(d) in life after death and that we have spirits but it was fascinating to experience.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        Approximately 15 years ago, my sister called me to make sure that I was still alive. She called and woke up in the middle of the night and an apparition that looked like me floated over her. The apparition then faded and she called me immediately to make certain that I was alive. I, of course, was. Yesterday, I had an experience that was ghost like (my garage door unlatched while I stood nearby. It doesn't have a door opener on it and I hadn't used it in about a week) and when I mentioned it to someone that I trusted, they told me that they had recently seen the ghost of their wife (who is still alive). She had left the house to go to the store. He watched her drive away on a security camera on his property. A few minutes later, he watched her cross the hall in his view and enter their laundry room. He immediately phoned her to make certain that she was alive, just as my sister had done with me. This was a family member also and they aren't the type to make up stories. They are more likely to assume that other people that tell these stories are lying or crazy.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         Uncertain      I could have had something to drink the night that my sister saw me in her bedroom in Florida. I was in Oklahoma at the time.