Some of these doctors were astonishing … but I ’m still terrify .
Recently, Reddit useru/LawAbidingPotatoturned to the popularAsk Redditpage to ask, “People who woke up mid-surgery, what happened?” and my morbid curiosity compelled me to read literally every answer. Here are some of the best:
1.“Had IV sedation for wisdom teeth. Woke up partway through. [The] dentist said, ‘Oh fuck, he’s awake.’ I pointed at the IV bag, and everyone laughed, and someone said, ‘He wants more.’ They put me back under.”
— u/1048692057
2.“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 [afterward, saying] they wanted tacos. I said, ‘Have you ever tried local taco place?’ and the assistant said, ‘Holy shit I forgot you were awake!'”
3.“Woke up mid-colonoscopy. Turned [my] head to look at the screen. Said, ‘Is that my colon?’ Doc said, ‘Say night-night.’ Went back to sleep. Remembered it all.”
— u / Ruby - Skylar
4."[I] barely woke up [while] getting my wisdom teeth out. I could feel them breaking up my teeth; they said I had very twisted long roots and it took a bit longer than expected. I didn’t feel pain but I remember thinking ‘fuck, I’m awake.'”
5.“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, and I woke up again properly when they were wheeling me into recovery.”
— u / Proverr91
6.“I have no memory of it. They told me afterward and said I didn’t know I was being operated on and was talking to them.”
7.“Woke up mid colonoscopy. Said, ‘It doesn’t hurt, but wouldn’t recommend it.’ I saw the nurse rush over and push the syringe and then I was out until I woke up.”
— u / WorldBiker
8.“This happens to me every time I get surgery. Anesthesia doesn’t work properly on me. I’m not sure why. So far I’ve had four surgeries. The most eventful experience was my first surgery. I went to sleep, then heard someone screaming. Like full-throated, agonizing, sounds-like-a-murder screaming. So I woke up fully ready to go help becausewhat was happeningand then the pain hit me — they were cutting through tissue and trying to find [and] extract shards of a [shattered bone] — and I realized it wasmescreaming.”
9.“Was drugged up but awake when I had four stents fitted. Heard the surgeon say, “Inflating the stent…” then agonizing pain hit me so hard [that] I seemed to come out of the morphine-filled state and asked them not to try and kill the patient.”
" More morphine [ was ] inject and [ the ] botheration go away again .. the moral is , check your cholesterol , diet , and exercise … do n’t get stents check , they hurt like fuck . "
— u / th0ughtfull1
10.“The surgeon said ‘Oh hello,’ and the anesthesiologist looked terrified. I asked to see what they had removed as they were stitching me up at that time. They showed me — it was really neat to see, honestly.”
11.“I was having cataract surgery (late 20s, thanks Mom and Dad for the cool genes). Beforehand, I let them know that I need a bit more pain meds than most people. They were like, ‘Aww you’ll be fine.'”
" I see this screwball shining blood-red egregious bullshit and it ’s altogether silent . Somehow I was able-bodied to get out ' Guys , I ’m alert . ' ( At least in my brainiac that ’s what I say . ) And it was silent , I was trying so hard not to move my eye because , you know , [ a ] scalpel near your orb / melting your lens is terrorise . I started shaking my deal to get their tending and they finally said ' We ’ve got a mover , ' and , praise God , something about more drugs .
" Everything went well but I get in a scare thinking about that often . "
— u / JTen87
12.“I woke up when they were wrapping up, so the cutting was done. My muscles were still paralyzed and I had a breathing tube. I became aware of everything and the fact I couldn’t [do the motion of breathing]. I started to panic, which made my heartbeat rise. That’s when they noticed I was awake. They comforted me and gave me an extra sleeping agent.”
13.“I have woken up for one tooth extraction and two colonoscopies. Spoke to the anesthesiologist on all occasions when I was supposedly under. They topped up the dosage and I fell asleep again. For context, I am a stealth redhead. The hair in my head is dark but when I was younger, my beard was red. I also have a redheaded kid, so I clearly carry the gene. Redheads are notoriously tough to anesthetize.”
— u / VH5150OU812
14.“I’m a stealth redhead too. You know how most people go blonde with sun damage? I go reddest red. I had to get a really bad ingrown toenail cut out, [and] as they were putting me under they said to count back from 100. I believe they usually expect you to be out by about 90. I made it to the low thirties.”
15.“I got my appendix removed in my late-teens. Woke up and had a bit of a freakout moment seeing bright lights and multiple covered faces. My immediate reaction was to get up, but before I knew it, two hands grasped tightly around each of my arms, pinned me down, and I was back out in seconds.”
16.“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.”
17.“I was having sinus surgery. Woke up and watched the surgeon pounding away with a chisel. I remember watching everyone freak out when they saw I was awake. Then back to sleep I went. Didn’t feel any pain. I was legit interested. Haha. Doesn’t bother me one bit.”
— u / daoliveman
18.“Not me but my dad. He was getting surgery to fix his septum (the bone/cartilage between your nostrils) because he had gotten his nose broken a few times playing football. This was in the early ’70s and he said he woke up to them smashing his nose with a hammer. Traumatized him for life, lol.”
19.And finally: “When I had my wisdom teeth removed I woke up partway and had this extremely clear image of Clyde fromSouth Parkin my head. Didn’t feel any pain or anything. Just Clyde.”
Some were funny, some were terrifying, but none of these were anything I would want to experience. If you have a wild medical story, feel free to share down below!
