awake and under the knife...ever happen to you?

[monarch64]

I was just watching Larry King "Awake and Under the Knife" and I am just curious...has this ever happened to you...what was your experience?

I''ve had two surgeries in my life, the first of which was to repair two shattered ankle bones and I don''t remember a darn thing until the recovery room. The second was this past May, and I actually DID wake up during the goriest part of my oral surgery (I had my upper palate expanded--the procedure was rather primative and involved a mallet and hammer). I was able to sort of thrash my hands and feet when I awoke during this 2nd surgery and later complained in front of my husband and various nurses while in the recovery room to the doc that I had woken up in surgery. Nothing was ever said afterwards, and I never complained further (or legally)...it just didn''t traumatize me that much but kind of made for a good story since I had vivid memories of what had happened. Just watching people relate their bizarre surgery stories tonight though made me wonder if this happens a lot and whether you all have other stories to relate? My story wasn''t pleasant, but nothing I would ruin someone''s practice over...it just wasn''t THAT bad, or traumatizing, I guess. So what constitutes a traumatic experience? Why do I feel like it wasn''t that big of a deal? Have I taken my experience too lightly or something? Am I some sort of glutton for punishment, lol? (If your face was being hammered open and you woke up right in the middle of it without being able to run away, would you be pi$$ed?)

As far as reactions, period...do you think that experiences shape us, or do our attitudes shape our experiences? ???

 

[777_LDY]

I have also only had two surgeries, both oral, one for TMJ issues and one to have my impacted wisdom teeth removed, and I woke up during both of them. I really only remember the Dr. saying "she''s waking up," me then trying to scream from the pain, and then going back to sleep. I don''t weigh a lot (under 100 lbs) so Dr.''s are very careful with how much medicine they give me and I prefer that considering the dangers of anesthesia. Neither experience seemed like a big deal to me, although I have had to undergo a colonoscopy (sp) and also woke up during that procedure. That was something that I did not care to remember, nor talk about.

 

[eks6426]

YES! I worke up during oral surgery too when I had my wisdom teeth out. I was 17. I remember waking up and looking around. I could hear & I could see but I couldn''t move. I remember trying to get the doctors & nurses attention...but it didn''t work. Finally, one of them noticed...because I heard a "Oh, S...t, she''s awake." Next thing I new I was in the recovery room with lots of people around me. They had to give me an extra dose of whatever is used to put someone out...but then I was out for several hours afterward. They were getting worried. I was extremely sick for days. It took a long time for all those medications to work out of my system.

My parents & I never did anything about the waking up. I am facing more oral surgery in early 2008 and I''m rather dreading the possibility of waking up again....

 

[brgirl]

Based on what people have already written, and my experience in talking to other people, I have personally decided it''s common to wake up specifically during oral surgery! I know several people, including myself who have woken up while getting their wisdom teeth out! I thought I was crazy and it never happened, until I talked to other people and they had to!

It didn''t scar me. Just was very weird!

 

[musey]

I'm really surprised that there are so many people on here who have woken up during surgery. I was under the impression that it's a very, VERY rare thing.

Maybe something to do with the anesthesiologists who work in oral surgery centers? Or simply a result of virtually EVERYONE having had oral surgery at some point in their lives... while more serious surgery is far less common?

Here's a little article from USA Today, and another from WebMD

 

[steph72276]

Well....I was awake during my c-section, does that count? I would have rather been knocked out especially since I had complications and it lasted an hour and a half....not too much fun to be awake and experience something like a scene out of Grey''s Anatomy with doctor''s yelling out orders and nurses running around in a panic. Not really looking forward to doing that again anytime soon...

 

[musey]

Date: 12/13/2007 9:34:23 AM
Author: steph72276
Well....I was awake during my c-section, does that count?

Isn''t that standard procedure?

 

[MustangGal]

I''ve been out twice, and didn''t wake up either time. My appendix (sp?) when I was 10, and a cyst removed from my neck when I was 13.

 

[Patiently_Waiting]

I had my wisdom teeth out as an adult (all 4 at once) and decided for financial reasons not to get knocked out. Bad move. I hated hearing all the grinding and pulling noises - it was awful. In retrospect, I wish I had chosen more than a local anesthesia

 

[littlelysser]

This is really interesting!

I woke up while I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled out too!

I was super groggy and there was something covering my eyes and I just started saying (or at least trying to say) "I''M AWAKE I''M AWAKE." I am sure it came out all jumbled...I wasn''t in any pain and they just put me back under.

So weird that so many other people have woken up during oral surgery!

 

[lyra]

Date: 12/13/2007 9:34:23 AM
Author: steph72276
Well....I was awake during my c-section, does that count? I would have rather been knocked out especially since I had complications and it lasted an hour and a half....not too much fun to be awake and experience something like a scene out of Grey''s Anatomy with doctor''s yelling out orders and nurses running around in a panic. Not really looking forward to doing that again anytime soon...

That happened to me too. It''s oh so wonderful as you''re having the baby while listening to the doctors yelling at each other!

To the question at hand, didn''t wake up during oral surgery or tubal ligation. Usually they weigh you beforehand, which should give the more accurate dosing info, although everyone is different. I don''t know anyone who has woken up during surgery. I think it''s pretty rare in real life.

 

[steph72276]

Date: 12/13/2007 9:54:55 AM
Author: musey

Date: 12/13/2007 9:34:23 AM

Author: steph72276

Well....I was awake during my c-section, does that count?

Isn''t that standard procedure?

Musey...yes, it is stadard, but not fun none the less being cut open while wide awake esp. when complications happen...not fun

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I thought it was rare too. My dad is an anesthesiologist. I''ll have to ask him.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

When I was a child, I had many 12+ hour surgeries (brain surgery, spinal chord surgery, other spine surgeries, etc.) and I was always terrified of waking up since I remember them saying it was a bigger risk with very long surgeries.

You know that feeling when the dentist doesn''t fully numb your mouth and they hit a nerve while drilling? I remember asking the neurosurgeon if it would hurt worse than that, haha. What can I say, I was only 10 or so at the time...

 

[Dee*Jay]

My husband had a heart ablation (sp?) last summer and he said he was aware during some of the surgery. At one point he was watching the screen with his heart on it and all the wires in there and he said something like, wow that''s crazy, and they put him back fully under.

 

[steph72276]

I''ve GOT to get my wisdom teeth taken out...been putting it off forever and ya''ll are scaring me

.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

This stuff scares the s**t out of me.

I put off having my tonsils taken out ''cause I was scared of something like this happening (silly, I know!). Finally had them taken out 3 years ago, at the ripe old age of 33 (and after getting strep 3 months in a row). Thank goodness it was an uneventful surgery. No waking up, no complications, no nothing.

 

[turtledazzle]

Interesting topic!

I have had two surgeries. The first was having all four wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon. I didn't wake up during the surgery, but apparently did awake very soon after they were finished and before it was expected. I woke up alone in the room in the chair (I don't think they were supposed to leave me alone) and had to moan loudly to get someone's attention out in the hallway as my jaw was killing me from having my mouth pried open for so long and was filled with gauze. The nurse came in looking very surprised that I was awake and called for the doctor to give me some more novacaine.

The second surgery was having a large abdominal lipoma removed. Simple out-patient procedure. I woke up when they were still stitching me up. I didn't feel any pain as they also used a local anesthetic. It was weird to feel them tugging and pulling on my abdomen to finish the stitches, but kind of interesting as well. The anesthesia resident talked to me to keep me from moving and trying to look down to watch them stich me ~ he told me that I wouldn't remember waking up. Well, I guess I do!

For both surgeries, MAC anesthesia was used. I am not a physician, but it is my understanding that MAC anesthesia is not as deep an anesthesia as a true general anesthesia, but the recovery and side effects are less so it is usually a better choice for "simple" procedures like some oral surgeries. Given that different people respond in different ways to medication, I am betting that it is harder to judge the appropriate dosages for MAC. Clearly, for my body weight I wake up a little sooner than 'predicted'.

 

[somethingshiny]

I woke up during a laprascopic surgery a few years ago. I opened my eyes and looked at a nurse and tried to talk, but I had a tube in my mouth so I couldn''t. I started panicking and she came over to me and talked to me for a few seconds, then I went back to sleep. I mentioned it in the recovery room and the doc told me that in the meds they give you there is an amnesia-inducing med, so you''re not supposed to remember if you wake up. I don''t know if this is correct, but I left it at that. It wasn''t a big deal to me, but I guess some people could be totally traumatized.

 

[rainydaze]

Date: 12/13/2007 11:49:12 AM
Author: steph72276
I''ve GOT to get my wisdom teeth taken out...been putting it off forever and ya''ll are scaring me

.

steph - have they grown in (come down)? if so, you have nothing to worry about! at 18 i had the full surgery to remove them. however they could not remove one because it was still too high up. it did its thing and grew in, but it became irritating as it would hit the gum below it and made that area sore. so i went to have it pulled and that did not require surgery at all. they gave me novicaine (sp?) and the tooth was out in less than 15 seconds. i kid you not. so if yours have grown in already, then it is the difference between a simple tooth pull and surgery.

 

[Julianna]

Well crap, they didn''t put me under for my oral surgery (pull baby canine out that didn''t fall out, cut open gums, rip "grownup" canine out of jaw, pull it down into mouth, saw jawbone into proper shape, sew up gums, wire grownup canine to teeth around it, woohoo), I just had local anaesthesia. So I guess there was nothing to wake up from. I can say now, however, that GOSH DANG IT they should PUT YOU UNDER FOR THIS CRAP! I''d rather have woken up in the middle than been awake the whole time. It took hours. I was young. They were all speaking German. Come on, now.

At any rate, I''ve been put under twice in the hospital for different ''oscopies'' in the past, and didn''t wake up either time. And might I say, that was the best sleep I ever got. Ever.

 

[glitterkitty]

Erm, ok....seeing as i''m going into hospital on Wednesday for an op, i REALLY SHOULDN''T have opened up this thread

*runs screaming away from the computer*

 

[VegasAngel]

Yes. I remember that I could feel what the Dr. was doing & screaming in my head-It was really strange. I asked the nurse about it when I woke up, she said it never happened.

 

[crystalheart1]

Yes - this is really scary, escpecially when you are paralyzed so you can''t talk. I was having some elective surgery to my eye lids

and I woke up and said OH - I Can FEEL what you are doing and it hurts... so the Dr said to put me under - pronto... I know they sometimes put you in a twi light sleep which is not good for me since I will wake up

 

[Munchkin]

Yes. Thankfully it has only happened once out of 4 surgeries, although I also vaguely remember smelling cauterizing flesh during the extraction of 4 impacted wisdom teeth.

I woke up fully during knee surgey and could feel them scraping the scar tissue off my knee. I made a moaning sound, the person by my head reassured me and they pushed more meds. I am short and about 100lbs, so I wonder if they were just be cautious about sedating me too heavily. I also think, though, that my body metabolizes medications, alcohol and food very quickly. Things are always out of my system before they "should" be. That likely played a role as well.

 

[AmberWaves]

I had to have cataract surgery a few years ago (at 19 and 21 respectively), and the first one I woke up during. I could actually see them removing the calcium buildup (what a cataract is) from inside my eye- and see the room get clearer). It FREAKED ME OUT. The next one I was given an extra dose to keep that from happening. Scary. Who wants to wake up during eye surgery??

 

[Rhea]

Oh god no, I''m shaking just thinking about it and I didn''t even read all the responses. I''m terrified of needles and I don''t handle pain well at all.

I''ve only had foot surgery and my wisdom teeth out - both times the Dr just wanted me to do the local and I started crying just taking about it. I had to sign a ton of forms for my foot surgery when they finally agreed to just plain old knock me out. I cried and shook both times that I''ve gone in for surgery as well - to the point where it took them two times to knock me out both times. If that''s not a clue I need something ungodly strong and that I''m a wuss, nothing is.

 

[xapora]

I never knew it was so common for you to wake up during oral surgery! Waking up during surgery has always been one of my biggest fears and I''ve always refused to have my wisdom teeth removed because of it. They''ve never caused me problems but my dentist keeps insisting I get them out "just in case". I''m glad I read this thread, haha.

 

[lumpkin]

I am NEVER having surgery!!! This is one of my biggest fears. I think I''d rather die, honestly. What scares me more is if one of my kids needed surgery, especially with my younger one with his SID. He would probably have PTSS if it ever happened to him, and in this case, I would definitely SUE for EVERY PENNY I could get. I''m not a letigious person at all, but this would definitely, without any shadow of a doubt, push me to sue.

I don''t understand people who have tons of cosmetic surgery, especially if they look good already. I don''t get that whole thing, at all.

 

[Aloros]

I woke up in the middle of having my wisdom teeth taken out. I think they were breaking up the teeth at the time, so the sound was pretty horrific. Honestly, though, I was so out of it I sort of just sat there for a while and went back to sleep.

Didn''t feel anything and don''t feel traumatized by it.