Having surgery done is pretty stressful, but waking up mid-surgery, well, that's a whole other thing. Reddit user u/LawAbidingPotatoasked: "People who woke up mid-surgery, what happened?" and thousands of people provided their stories. Here are some of them below.
1."I had IV sedation for wisdom teeth. I woke up partway through. The dentist said, 'Oh fuck, he’s awake.' I pointed at the IV bag, and everyone laughed. Someone said, 'He wants more.' They put me back under."
2."I kinda woke up during twilight sleep when I was having my wisdom teeth removed. The nurse was saying she needed to find a pink cat Halloween costume, and I kept trying to tell her to check Party City."
3."I was awake for both of my hand surgeries in 2023. One time, I was watching them quietly, and the surgeon and assistants were talking about getting lunch after, and they wanted tacos. I said, 'Have you ever tried (local taco place)?' and the assistant said, 'Holy shit, I forgot you were awake.' I guess they don’t operate on a lot of local anesthetic patients. We all got a good laugh."
4."Woke up mid-colonoscopy. I turned my head to look at the screen. I said is that my colon? The doctor said, 'Say night night.' I went back to sleep. I remembered it all."
5."I woke up while they were putting my femur back into my leg. I didn’t see much, but I remember feeling like I was being shaken. Surgery sometimes requires some violent movements, I guess."
6."They were talking about buying vintage lunchboxes on eBay. I wasn't properly awake or in pain, but I could 'feel'/had awareness that their hands were inside me. The anesthesiologist noticed my eyes were open. Then, I woke up again properly when they were wheeling me into recovery."
7."Woke up during a cardiac ablation. They literally burn spots in your heart to prevent atrial flutter, and that's what it felt like someone burning the inside of my heart with a lit cigarette."
8."A fire alarm had gone off, and they were evacuating. Luckily, it was only a colonoscopy, so they just ended the procedure, and I woke up to them wheeling me out. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on and thought I died because there were red flashing lights and bullhorn sirens. It was a stressful experience."
9."I woke up and said, 'That tickles.' The doctor laughed and said she was almost done."
10."I woke up during an endoscopy. I had the tube and everything down my throat, but I didn't know what was happening, and the only thing I could focus on was how I couldn't breathe. I clearly remember trying to talk to tell the doctors I couldn't breathe, because I could hear people around me, but apparently I didn't actually say anything. The doctors noticed because my heart rate started going crazy, and then I stopped breathing altogether. They took out the tube, I started breathing again and gave me more anesthesia. Once I was in recovery, I was told to always inform the anesthesiologist that I woke up during a procedure so they could adjust accordingly. I've had two other procedures since then and have not woken up during them."
11."I woke up during stomach surgery. I couldn’t move, speak, or open my eyes to let them know I was awake. I could feel everything they were doing inside of me, the most excruciating pain of my life. I'm not sure if I blacked out from the pain or if they noticed and increased my anesthesia, but the next thing I remember, I came to my hospital bed. I was told I came out of the anesthesia screaming after all was said and done. I'm petrified to ever have to have surgery again now."
12."It has happened to me twice, once during an appendectomy and once during a complicated cataract removal under anesthesia. All I remember from the appendectomy was trying unsuccessfully to move. The cataract surgery was worse: I was very acutely aware of the tools in my eye and the sensation of something in my eye being pulled on, and I remember making a very strange, fearful moan until they re-anesthetized me. I remember the anesthesiologist patting my forehead as I drifted back out."
13.And finally, "I was having arm surgery to move around a nerve running through my elbow ( the funny bone/ulnar nerve). When they put me under, I dreamt I was playing with dogs in a park, and I had a toy in my hand. A yellow lab was tugging on the toy with me like a tug of war. I opened my eyes, and the surgeon had my arm extended off the table, yanking my nerve and ligaments into place. I didn’t feel panicked at all. I looked to the anesthesiologist on the other side, and she made a comment and then put me under again. It didn’t hurt, and I trusted the people around me, so it was just an odd experience. I was there to fix a dog bite injury. If I weren’t sedated, I’d obviously have freaked out."
Have you ever woken up mid-surgery? Tell us what happened in the comments below.
