The warm, vaguely citrusy feeling of ketamine spilled down my back while I tried to get my earbuds in and my music started. I fumbled around for a moment, not sure which earbud was which, but finally settled with the knowledge that I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right. I jammed those puppies in there while the world outside my eyeballs spun around. After some time, I realized that I had left my index finger suspended in the air with the pulse oximeter on it. One of those deep-seated memories, the ones that you wish you could get rid of because they always seem to displace more critical information, rose to the surface. Yes. I remembered that SpongeBob episode in which Patrick teaches SpongeBob that holding your pinky up is fancy, so, “the higher you hold it, the fancier you are.” I kind of wanted to laugh, but was afraid that if I started, I wouldn’t able to stop and I’d just spend the whole infusion cackling over fancy pinkies.

I’ve learned that if I don’t put my head back and try to relax my neck before the ketamine gets started, it takes a herculean effort to do so later on. I find this strange. Like I did when I left my finger pointed up, I can go long stretches of time without even noticing that I’m doing it. One would think that sitting in a reclined position with their neck bent to keep their head aloft would be really uncomfortable. But somehow, it’s just easier to forget about it than to try to move. It reminds me of that locking mechanism that birds do with their feet so that they don’t fall off of telephone wires while they sleep. I just get stuck in whatever position I’m in when the ketamine hits me.

I don’t remember much from this ketamine infusion, although I know that it was one of the most choppy, disconnected visual experiences I’ve had during a ketamine infusion. There was a man dressed in 19th century clothing – ruffled white collar peeking out from a buttoned up, navy tailcoat jacket, with a gold monocle arranged over his left eye. He was leaning over me, large grey beard waggling while he spoke, telling me something about achievement and perfection and getting started before it’s too late.

I don’t think that I’ve ever heard my ketamine dreams make any noise at all, except for one time when I heard some garbled gibberish in the center of my head after an infusion, when I was on my way home. Who knows what that was, though – the radio, people on a crosswalk, etc. But in any case, it was startling to realize that someone imaginary was speaking to me during an active ketamine infusion. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but the advice the man was giving me wasn’t encouraging. It was more like a stern lecture, siphoned from my own inner dialogue about failure, perfectionism, and growth. Quite strange.

Side note: I started writing this when I got home from my infusion. This morning, I opened up my laptop to see that I had written “before it’s two late.” I must have been more impaired than I thought. It’s not as bad as, say, waking up to find that I’d spent all my money on vintage beanie babies or clown figurines, but whoo, boy. What an egregious mistake for an editor to make.

The image of monocle man is what I remember with the most clarity, but I also remember a taxidermized rat with an oblong hole in its neck. A live white rat emerged from the hole, pulling itself free like some kind of disturbing mammalian version of a snake shedding its skin. Seriously creepy. Other than a lot of colorful TV static and a white sand beach, that’s all I remember.

I wish I had a better way to end this post, but that’s all I’ve got. Go look at something heartwarming to get that rat image out of your brain. Bye, for now!