People Who Have Woken Up During Surgery Explain What They Felt

Oh God! Give me more drugs!

It is one of the worst fears for everyone, isn't it? Waking up while you're on the operating table? No thank you. Now of course if you're awake it means you're still alive, which is a big plus, but I certainly don't want to experience this nightmare. Keep those drugs coming and coming strong. These moments are inspirations for horror movies.

A u/Jacquan1997 wanted to discuss the affects of living through the horrors of medical procedures when the drugs wear off early by asking.... Those who have woken up during surgery, how was it? What did you feel?


100% Coherent

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I woke up during a colonoscopy once. I remember looking up at the screen and trying to talk to the doctor/nurses. Went back under after a few moments. In my mind, I was 100% coherent. But they said, "Yeah, you did wake up briefly and you started mumbling something but we couldn't understand you." Weird to think of 2 completely different perspectives of the same situation.

-mindaq

The Gall of it All....

Had my gallbladder removed 4 years ago.

I slightly remember waking up during the procedure, but the light was too bright for me to properly see anything, so I went back to sleep.

I find it hilarious because I don't remember how I went to sleep after they put me under with anaesthesia.

-LeggoMahLegolas

When I was 4. 

I woke up when I was 4 and having my tonsils removed. It's one of those really clear but blurry memories I have from my childhood. I saw the surgeon and SCREAMED (iirc nothing had really happened yet I was just scared)

My mother was being prepped for the same surgery on a different FLOOR and heard me and freaked out. They had to show her I was okay and I just woke up for a sec and then they were able to do hers.

-Jelluy

KO-ed!

I woke up in the middle of a colonoscopy. I remember deliberately trying to stay awake as the anesthetic started to KO me, which is probably unrelated but was a funny coincidence. I was only awake for a few seconds, made some gurgling noises and saw my guts on a screen.

-SadCicada

Ouch.

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Pain.

I had surgery for a deviated septum. I woke up as they were finishing up.

Apparently it's not uncommon for younger kids.

-BKStephens

Waking up late....

I don't know if it counts but when I was a child I had surgery on my leg. After anesthesia I was giggling like mad at everything, then I fell asleep.

I woke up not much later, tried to mumble but couldn't really move. I remember being really irritated because I kept feeling stabbing pains in my leg. It hurt but it was a weird, distant pain. To put it in perspective I was also irritated by the bright light in my face, and probably would have put them on the same level of annoyance.

I tried to listen to what the surgeons and nurses were saying, but couldn't process anything, so I just gave up and went back to sleep.

I said I don't know if it really counts because I don't know how far into the surgery I was. I couldn't see anything so they could have already sawed my bone, or they could have just been drawing on me with a marker. I think I was asleep before that point, but I also could have been awake but forgetting to hit record in my brain.

-nooseknight23

A POV Scene....

Probably not the response you're looking for but, I had an Cardiac Ablation almost 10 years ago. It's a simple procedure and I wasn't fully put under. But after the actual procedure, they eject you with adrenaline to see how your heart reacts. And MAN! That was an experience. I remember coming to and being very unnerved.

The nurse to my right leaned over and put her hand on my chest and said so calmly "This is all normal. You're doing great." But man, I thought I was dying. It was like a POV scene from a video game cutscene. Everything inside of me felt tense and I couldn't move. After that I think I passed out again and then came to when they were wheeling me out. Man, that was a trippy day.

-Magnus4

Floating....

At first I was panicking slightly because only my brain was turned on. I felt nothing- like My brain was floating, or disconnected from my body. I remember thinking "oh, this is what it's like when you die. Not as bad as I thought." But then through the panic and noise my mind was making, I heard the Dr's voice and the heart rate monitor beeping normally- that's when I realized they were still working on me.

The worst part is when they came to wake me up- keep in mind I was conscious but zero control over my body. The nurse kept nudging me next to my incision site- at first lightly and then aggressively like pushing/rubbing my stomach to get me to wake up. It HURT, but I still had no control over my limbs and had to force myself to just moan to let her know I was awake and to stop.

That was my 7th and last surgery- although health issues remain, I refuse to go under the knife again.

-JumzSqueeze

#TooWoke!

I was around the age of 12 when I went under my surgery for my Wolff Parkison White Syndrome

I have went under and been told, I have *woken up* by random chance during my surgery, I was barely able to see anything in front of me, but moments later, I looked around and someone shouted.

"His Heart just stopped, quickly we need to bring him back." But in my mind, I thought it was just my head playing jokes, but few mins later, I felt a intense jolt of electricity hit my body and my mind instantly snapped my reality into my current view, and I seem to have full control, but few moments later, around 3 nurses held me down and one just grabbed a needle, probably full of anesthesia, and injected it in me quickly and thoroughly as possible.

It turns out after I came out, they told me I was pronounced dead for aprox. of 10 ~ 15 mins on the table but I seem to have just jolted myself back alive, unsure of what happened, but overall I made it out alive, currently 25 and living a healthy life, just have forbidden knowledge that I died and came back due to sheer luck.

I can tell you the rest of my story from my surgery on a later post, for now, it's just what happened to me. Will reply to any questions of my survival.

-CannedCuriousity

Not Pleasant.

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Not so much woken up, but locals don't work on me, they wear off really quickly.

My vasectomy was an interesting experience. I felt the doctor cut righty loose, and the cauterisation was less than pleasant.

-PM_ME_BEEF_CURTAINS

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