Comments on: Awareness under anesthesia

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:50:23 +0000

WOW, what an amazing story…thank you so much for sharing. I hope you use this experience therpeutically for your patients; I think if I was undergoing surgery and my anesthetist told me about personal experience like this and the good outcome, I would find it very reassuring.

By: Nickie

Nickie — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:02:25 +0000

Wow, what a tough memory. It speaks to your personal strength that you recovered emotionally and physically. I think it’s easy for us to forget that anesthesia, like any medicine isn’t perfect. I tend to remember more of the pre and post-op stuff than my doctor expects.

And I’ve also had ankle blocks done for surgery which didn’t prevent the RSD from flaring. The last surgery my doctor saw the sympathetic response in the middle of surgery. But that’s where good doctors come in and they find ways to pick up the pieces.

By: RehabRN

RehabRN — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:38:10 +0000

Oh my! I thought I was the only one who started to feel anything! That hurt just reading about it! I had a C-section myself (with a spinal) and I remember when they were pricking my abdomen before they started the incision.

I said, “Don’t start yet. I still feel that poking going on down there.” (I could not see them actually doing it because I was already behind the drape.) Thankfully, they waited and I felt nothing.

Your patients are so lucky to have you watching for that!

By: How to Cope with Pain

How to Cope with Pain — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:27:11 +0000

Terry, do you do anything different in your work to prevent such occurrences? I understand there are ways to monitor consciousness (EEG?) that could prevent this from happening. Thanks for sharing the story.

By: 4stethoscopes

4stethoscopes — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:45:28 +0000

I’ve seen reports of this happening. I can’t imagine the fear and pain. I’ll bet that experience makes you so much more consciousness as a practitioner.

By: Barbara K.

Barbara K. — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:23:40 +0000

What a horrific experience. I applaud you for acknowledging the suffering you went through and for using your experience in the service of helping others. Thank you for sharing this.

By: bobby

bobby — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:01:55 +0000

How horrifying a thing to experience. I hope to never have that happen to me. One of my biggest fears is being intubated and awake. I have so much trouble at the dentist, not being able to swallow with a bite block in there. God bless you, Terry. You are very strong and brave.

By: Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul

Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:08:19 +0000

Wow, Terry, what a horrible experience you had! I can’t even imagine the pain and fear you went through! But, the fact that you overcame that experience and now use it to empower your patients, shows how strong a person you are! Your patients are really lucky to have you.

Warmly,
Hueina

By: Mia

Mia — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:45:19 +0000

Were you given Versed? I thought that was given to block out any memory of the operation. What a traumatic experience. Thank you for sharing.

By: Ribeye of your Dreams

Ribeye of your Dreams — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:15:16 +0000

That is one of my biggest fears, especially with my upcoming dental surgery. i don’t know what I would do if I woke up or knew what was going on during surgery where I’m getting 12 teeth removed and 2 root canals at the same time. I’d probably have a panic attack right then and there, and if there was a paralytic and intubation I’d never recover mentally.

Awesome site, I’m adding a link to it on my own site, RagingServer.com

Also, keep up the good work, nurses are so under-appreciated these days it makes me sick, especially seeing as they’re smarter than most doctors I know.

By: k.

k. — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:25:53 +0000

For the thousands of women who have had c/s’s and were told… you didn’t really feel that… it couldn’t have been that bad… I never had anyone wake up…. you are over reacting.

Thank you.
so many thank you’s!

By: michelle

michelle — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:58:09 +0000

In regards to the Versed comment - wouldn’t it still be better yet to have the patient not experience any pain - instead of having the inability to remember the pain? It freaks me that someone could experience the pain and then not even recall it - they were still in horrific pain.

By: Terry

Terry — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 20:12:44 +0000

Very good point, Michelle. The Versed is like a “cya” action - cover your a$$. But what happened to the event, and what happened to the memory?

By: SungaiKecil

SungaiKecil — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:50:02 +0000

Thank you for writing this.
I had a caesarean with an epidrual/spinal combo and still felt most of the surgery, but due to the heavy premeds I was unable to vocalise or make anyone aware that I was in agony.
Approaching my second birth I met with the anaesthesia clinic and they took my concerns on, and advised to avoid anaesthesia at all costs!
Needless to say I have had 2 completely natural births since.

But the memory of the pain will never fade. The burning, tearing feeling as you are cut open, wide awake, and unable to move.

x B

By: Dave Bennett

Dave Bennett — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:53:15 +0000

Very scaring situation.
I see that the Medical University of South Carolina has some additional information on their website about this issue.

I also saw a USA today story quoting Dr Guidry from MUSC. Interesting how this problem is being addressed today.

You can also learm more about Dr. Orin Guidry at

I also see that they have a series of audio podcasts on the subject as well. You can listen to them at:

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:08:43 +0000

Without short-term memory, would some of the horror of it be prevented? Some of our awareness seems to come from being able to experience both the moment, and the time before it - what’s happened/the way things have been just before. I am not a health professional, I am just wondering.

According to a link to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists on Navelgazing Midwife’s blog, people who’ve once experienced awareness under anaesthesia are at increased risk of experiencing it again. I really admire that you went on to have two more children, SungaiKecil.

By: Terry

Terry — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:48:40 +0000

Sam, the drug Versed, which is a benzodiazepam, like Valium, has amnestic qualities. It will cause anterograde amnesia, not retrograde amnesia. What that means is that from the time the drug is administered, everything that happens after that may very well be forgotten. But anything that the patient may have experienced before the Versed is adminstered will most probably be remembered.

The problem with giving Versed before the baby is delivered is that it crosses the placental barrier, and that means that some of this drug will be delivered to the fetus before delivery. In addition to being an amnestic, Versed is also a sedative, and the baby could very well be born sedated and “floppy,” as they say in the business. Nobody gives Versed before the delivery of the baby.

It is hard for me to comment on Sungaikecil’s experience during her C-section, as I am not privy to the medical record. Spinal or epidural is the preferred mode of anesthesia for a C-section, as the mother is awake and in control her own airway, and there is no medication that crosses the placental barrier to affect the newborn. I do not know what medications she was given before the delivery as pre-meds, so it is hard for me to comment.

During a spinal or epidural anesthetic for a C-section, it is NORMAL to feel pushing and pressure while the surgeons are operating, particularly as the baby is being delivered. The anesthesia cannot take those sensations away. What is NOT normal to feel is PAIN, CUTTING, BURNING. This should all be explained to the mother before the consent for the anesthesia is obtained, and all good practitioners do that.

When I had general anesthesia for my C-section, they had to put me to sleep, with a breathing tube down my throat. I was unable to tell anyone that I was awake and feeling everything before my baby was born, so Versed would not have been administered anyway, since no one knew that I was feeling anything.

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