"I awoke during surgery"

[Kathi]

I have heard of this happening but anesthesiologists are very closed mouthed about it.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/28/health/wake-up-during-surgery/index.html?hpt=hp_bn13
"I was awake but paralyzed," says Carol Weihrer as she recalls undergoing eye surgery in 1998.

"I could hear the surgeon telling his trainee to 'cut deeper into the eye,'" she says. "I was screaming, but no one could hear me. I felt no pain, just a tugging sensation. I tried to move my toes or even push myself off the operating table, but I couldn't move. I thought I was dying."

The Reston, Virginia, resident inadvertently woke up during surgery, an infrequent phenomenon called "accidental awareness during general anesthesia." She's been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder ever since.

"I've had to sleep in a recliner for the last 16 years," Weihrer says. "If I lie flat, I get flashbacks of the operating table and I start violently thrashing."

Fortunately, anesthetic awareness is rare. But new research is shedding light onto risk factors and the devastating psychological effects the phenomenon can have on patients who experience it, especially those who are awake and paralyzed.

 

[jeff77]

When I had my wisdom teeth taken out I woke up briefly a few times while the dentist was drilling in my tooth. I remember not being able to move and not being able to tell them I was in pain from waking up because they have some kind of clamp that keeps your jaw open and fixed in a certain position. It was painful but luckily it only lasted a few seconds at a time because I think I was kind of drifting in and out of consciousness.

 

[evenifigoalone]

That would be terrifying. I've had eye surgery, too...glad I didn't wake up during that.
I know someone who woke up when getting surgery on her stomach once. The doctors noticed and had her go back to sleep.

 

[AirDancer]

I rather suspect the situation isn't as rare as initially thought, just not talked about due to numerous reasons. Skepticism/disbelief by others would probably be at the top of the list.

It's really sad, though, for an event like this to cause a person to suffer for years.

 

[Kathi]

I rather suspect the situation isn't as rare as initially thought, just not talked about due to numerous reasons. Skepticism/disbelief by others would probably be at the top of the list.

It's really sad, though, for an event like this to cause a person to suffer for years.

Yes,I am thinking it would cause some PTSD.

 

[AirDancer]

I agree that it certainly could, Kathi .

Carol Weihrer is in my prayers.