Anesthesia is NOT what you think

[melissasue]

sounds so much more scary when you describe it that way

[Mistinabottle]

You're giving me anxiety rn describing this!

[pgkrpljks]

People say "omg that sounds horrifying" but I've been under anesthesia multiple times, it's fantastic.

[taylorhenderson]

This very very true!! Being under is so weird …. First you’re counting …then boom you are in recovery… 4-6 hours only felt like 4-5 minutes!

[dlg]

It’s completely terrifying when the paralyzing medication kicks in before the knockout juice

[Amycambridge-ob]

The last thing I remembered was the IV started, then I woke up with procedure all done. Felt like travelled to the future.

[josephb]

When I had C6 surgery at the Laser Spine Institute in Tamp FL, , , they woke me during surgery for me to tell them when they hit the right spot... and they did... felt like I was hit by lightning but with no pain... then they put me right out... That surgery was a miracle for me... 1hr after surgery I was out walking around with no pain... that was July 2008... thank you Dr Wolf!

[inbetweenmeetings]

This is TRAUMATIZING! After my 1st open heart surgery my brain woke up before my body so I could hear my mother in the surgeon and my doctors in the room with me but I was not able to move any part of my body move my head over my eyes nothing it was absolutely mortifying! The ventilator was breathing at a different rate than my natural body was trying to. This lasted over an hour. True meaning of being stuck in your head and this is a TRUE story.

[MonaLisa]

Anesthesia is the best part! I love just turning off for a while, cuz I'm terrible at sleeping normally. It feels like a nice break.

[nancyf]

Excellent explanation. I had a hysterectomy, and upon going under and coming back up from unconsciousness, I was amazed how time just telescoped into a split second from the 3 or 4 hours it really lasted.

[Dee-urhk]

I had surgery over 9 weeks ago and was stuck down the would time!! In that 9 weeks my bone didn’t heal or grow. So back into surgery I went! Monday. Your videos and live streams really helped! I knew the right questions to ask AND what to share with them. I wasn’t prepared at all! But surgery on Monday went WAY Better. So thank you for all you do and share with us!

[jamieevans]

I wasn't afraid of surgery until you explained it 🥺😳

[firelordcole]

I almost died on the operating table, but i would not have done the surgery without it. Going to sleep and not waking up is one of the better ways of going imo

[SashaInTheCloud]

I have a stubbornly good memory and fight the lack of awareness SUPER HARD. I had undiagnosed narcolepsy from age 4 to 29. I had to learn to fight the horrid daytime sleepiness, as I functioned on the equivalent awareness of a normal person who hadn't slept for three days.

The surgeons were so terrified I would wake up again and NOT lose memories from the propofol, as well as the epidural not exactly doing frack all... They overdosed me on anesthesia so badly that one of my surgeons had to sit in recovery and tell me to breathe every minute or so. I was too awake for intubation but kept forgetting to fucking breathe. I am glad he dealt with my semiconscious insistence that I WAS breathing literally every time he told me I wasn't. He said it took about half an hour for me to consistently remember to breathe...

My next major surgery, I told the anesthesia team what happened. They looked mildly horrified, and did their jobs very well. I woke up with no memory of being sliced and diced, nor having a rod hammered into my femur.

However, my nervous system did seem to record the sensation of the rod being hammered in. I feel it happening occasionally, an inexplicable sensation that is far more uncomfortable than a screw in my hip being accidentally smacked and then vibrating inside the bone. The tickling deep resonance is overwhelming.

Anesthesia doesn't stop your peripheral nerves from functioning, so much as it shuts down the communication throughout the spinal column by depression of the transmission of a buncha signals. Doesn't mean the "ghost" of a sensation cannot be recalled sometimes, especially an insanely physically violent one. It isn't imagined, but rather recalled. The inside of my bone responds to the memory, like flinching away from a bat coming to hit your face can happen during a PTSD episode depite nobody and no bat being there.


What he said about PTSD is legitimately a major problem in surgery. The trauma isn't just happening in the neurons though. The immune system has a sort of memory, and is incredibly active during most surgeries. It releases signals to the neurons that are difficult to block out, which stimulate the nervous system IMMENSELY to fight the threat. The nervous system will resist the sedation locally, and if it doesn't resist enough to break through to the spinal cord and reach the brain, the anesthesia team has little opportunity to learn that the local neurons are not really suppressed anymore. And they have some memory capabilities, more than you might think.

We understand too little to fight that process without damaging the nervous system and immune system, but it isn't like surgery cannot happen anyway.

[alexisdior]

The way the mask straps and giving him kitty airplane ears has me 😂 it’s too cute

[KimberlyPatton-xn]

Anesthesiologist are great at their jobs.I had surgery last year and it was a safe and comfortable procedure in every way....and I take medication for ptsd and anxiety issues as it is.The entire team made me feel safe and cared about.Bravo to all medical professionals!

[PWR]

The memory wipe part makes me believe you might actually feel it.

[earthangel]

I don't know if you mean to, but you're cracking me up with your cap pushing your ears out! 😂
I love your videos😊

[infinity.]

This is absolutely terrifying. They wipe our memories so we don't remember the trauma that we're experiencing...

[prissylovejoy]

I believe I’d rather think of it as sleeping, thank you very much. Talk about PTSD! I did NOT need this information.