Entering consciousness after suspended animation

I'm writing a scene where in my character thaws out of a block of ice and is going to be re-entering consciousness soon and I need some help going about how that'll be handled because I know that a normal human doesn't automatically regain all physical and mental functions. What would the struggles be adapting to being awake? How long would one go about staying this way? Would one have a link that allows them to regain consciousness before most of this?

 

A normal human wouldn't actually survive being frozen so there's no reak metric to measure against.

I suppose it would be like someone recovering from hypothermia.

 

With a bit of hand waving...
They would be tired, weak-ish,
and possibly hungry, and a bit
disoriented.
In rare cases potentially aggressive
given an acute sense of being 'dead'
in suspended animation for a length
of time.

Outside of military application, care
and patience are key to helping the
individual cope with the change in times
and get them up to speed on such matters.
A hearty meal would also be in order, as
well as possible physical care to help in
regaining their mobility, rebuilding muscles
that have been in some atrophy with lack of
use.

 

Bear in mind this is Captain America's backstory.

 

One piece of information I didn't mention for reasons beyond me: the character I'm writing has a metal icetray lodged in his head and has to get it out, he does logically have consequences upon removing it (I.e.: headaches, hallucinations, higher susceptibility to diseases, etc.) But the issue I have before getting to all of that is how he'll deal with getting it pulled out when he'd understandably have psychological issues understanding how to do so as a result of having it in, and I don't want to kill my character very early on so there's a matter of coming up with a solution where he gets it out and doesn't die.

 

A hyper-intelligent species that is really good at medical science and surgical practice?

 

Hmm, if it's some sort of "cold sleep," not an actual suspension of time, you'll want to think of disorientation, muscle atrophy, maybe problems with solid food and having to be weaned again. Balance? Why not, you've been in one position relative to gravity for [x] months or years.

Ice cube tray in the head? I got nothin'

 

I've talked with others on the topic how he removes the ice tray and was asked "why does he have that in his head?" I realized then and there I have no idea where the idea came from but I'm so attached to it I don't know if I can bring myself to remove it from the story, even if removing it would ultimately make things easier.

 

Due to our understanding of freezing the body, the water
becomes crystalline as ice, and freezing the water in the
cells will cause damage that is um-repariable by modern
science and medical knowledge. So essentially it destroys
cells due to the expanding and pointy ice, along with things
like the plasma in blood which too is mostly comprised of
water.
Seems the expansion of water as it freezes into ice is bad
for living things on the molecular level, thus freezing things
damages them beyond our current understanding and ways
of repairing.

Hence sci-fi hand waves such things, allowing cryo to be used
as a form of preservation for surviving long periods of time with
little to no ill effects. When reality makes it a less than ideal way
of preserving living tissue and beings for any length of time.

 

The idea won’t work written by committee. All the ’usual’ tropes (apols) strung together will be tiresome to read.

Grab some enthusiasm for your scenario - and write - no-one will call your interpretation’wrong.’ There’s no consequence...

- some say ‘hearty meal’/ others might advise vitamins delivered pipette. Go off-piste in first draft and then tidy up so a reader can follow sequence in scene.

 

irreparable

 

I'd like to throw another bone I should've tossed a while earlier with the rest of the skeleton, I'm operating with a sort of cartoon realism to my story.
Example: one could propel themselves using dynamite and not die but still get severely injured.

 

I can't help thinking Captain America with an ice bucket on his head.

 

Back up a bit on that comparison, I mean cartoon realism in the way of pulling back death and walking on the edge of full realism.
Example: I fell on the pavement from a great height, my body mostly intact externally but internal organs were a jumbled mess.

 

Ah!