Photo: Ospreys nesting in Green Valley, Sebastopol, CA....wake up during your general anesthesia.
To recap, this was the experience that I had during surgery, that I previously wrote about in my hospital story. Here it is again:
"Okay, so this next bit is a bit freaky. But I’m going to share it. This is part of my whole story.I woke up during the operation while under general anaesthesia.
I remember very vividly breathing very strongly. I felt I couldn't get enough oxygen. There was a loud rhythmic rushing sound. I then knew this was my breathing. The sound was the air from my lungs hitting the mask over my face which I was aware of. There was very bright light. I didn’t see anything else. I didn’t feel any physical pain. But I thought I was going to die because I couldn’t breath properly. (There was a tube in my throat and a mask over my face). I was very distressed.
This went on for about 10-12 breaths.I then noticed everything get dark. An image of Ron and his energy was there and then I realized there were two people who I knew were praying for me that came into my awareness"
I just want to be very clear that this phenomena of regaining consciousness while being "under" is extremely rare.
If you are about to have any surgery requiring a general anesthesia please do not worry -I mean it! If you are at all concerned, ask about having a brain monitor. This can help follow your brain activity while you are asleep and alert the anaesthesiologist to any issue.
So, I had a call from the anaesthesiologist after I had spoken to the surgeon a second time around. The surgeon had obviously asked the anaesthesiologist to call me. After I had explained to the surgeon what had transpired during surgery, the surgeon said he had gone to talk to the anaesthesiologist the next morning after my surgery, but that he had already left for the day.
Well, I had mixed results from talking with him. He was, understandably, rather defensive. Like, he let the patient regain consciousness and his job is to keep me un-conscious - big oops!
He said he was not aware of me regaining consciousness during the surgery. He did acknowledge that he accepted I had the experience and memories of waking up. He did explain that when I was asleep, but before they actually began to operate (he referred to it as, "before there is any stimulation"- yum ;), they keep one in a lighter state of sleep and also monitor your blood pressure so that it doesn't fall too low, and I do have low blood pressure. Maybe I was 'lightened up' too much ('cos remember I did see light ;)!
He suggested that maybe I could have been taken herbs that affected my blood pressure. No - I have always had low blood pressure, and the herbs I take are a very insignificant dosage. Bad argument.
Often, when doing very sensitive surgery, like with eyes, etc., they give you a muscle paralyzer so that your body doesn't move at all. In my research, people who are given this drug, are more likely to have the experience of waking up and not being able to move (but remember, this is still a very tiny percentage of people). He said I was not given this drug.
I described the sensations, to him, of not being able to breathe properly and feeling a mask over my face. He checked his notes, and told me they had not fully intubated me but rather used a device that inflates in the mouth and uses a shorter tube.
And most importantly, from my point of view, they only use a mask at the beginning of surgery and at the end. So I woke up at either of those times. Well, don't make too much difference to me, I woke up and felt I couldn't get enough oxygen!
And the last bit of information which I found very interesting was that they give you an amnesic drug so one doesn't remember anything. But I was the exception, of course(!) The one time you don't want to remember something, and, yes, you remember. Yucko.
So, how does this all add up for the future? Well, I really don't know. How do I prevent it happening again in the future. Tell the next anesthesiologist my predicament and hope: 1. I don't wake up again or 2. they don't put me too deep and I then have trouble waking up (yikes!).
I'll continue to do research on this. And, hopefully, I will never need to be "put under" again. (I vote for this one; or that it be so far in the future that they will be more advanced with their drugs and techniques when administering a general anaesthetic).
Most importantly I am still alive and I have no brain damage (huh - I think, yep, I'm sure. Right. Okay - I know I'm sure of this. Aren't I?)
Okay - just kidding. Bad, bad, bad ;)
Joy and brilliance of heart & mind to all.
