I had surgery to remove my gallbladder due to gallstones. When I was lying in the recovery room, a nurse asked if I wanted some pain relief and I said yes.

It was around dinner time because I could hear the employees talking about what they should order for the evening meal out in the hallway.

I was the last one in the room, so it was very quiet.

I was given some painkillers and the nurse left the room. After a little while I was overcome with fatigue.

I let myself fall into a deep sleep, I thought, but as soon as I fell asleep, I woke up in a place I call nothingness. It was dark like what felt like a thin cup of coffee, with foggy clouds.

It felt like the atmosphere around me was slightly heavier than oxygen but lighter than water. I floated and enjoyed the silence. When a little time had passed, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't need to breathe when I was there. (Where the thought came from, I don't know.) 

I completely relaxed and let myself enjoy the silence and the peace. As soon as I relaxed, it was as if a very long, heavy, and wet winter coat was lifted from me and I felt even lighter.

As I lay floating in total relaxation, a woman's voice suddenly sounded.

Gitte, you have to breathe. She spoke to me in a loving but firm tone. It surprised me a little because I couldn't see anyone around me. As a reflex, I took a deep breath. The next moment I was lifted through the place as if an elastic that was very tight and attached to the navel was released and before I looked around, I was back in bed in the dark room, where I could hear that it was not yet everyone who had found out what they were going to eat out in the hallway. After a few minutes, the same tiredness returned and I was back to nothingness once more.

This time the "heavy coat" fell off me immediately and I only managed to lie and float around for a moment before the woman's voice once again told me to breathe.

Once again, I took a deep breath and flew back into my body. This time I had an idea of ​​what was going on and this time tried to fight against the fatigue that was creeping up once again. But I couldn't resist and took another trip into nothingness. Exactly the same thing happened again. Back in my bed after another trip, I tried to see if I could get hold of a nurse but was once again caught off guard by fatigue before I could find a cord to pull. 

The same thing happened once more and I quickly returned to my bed.

Finally, I could feel an ordinary tiredness coming over me and I fell asleep and woke up again a few hours later in a hospital room.