I am having back surgery on June 20th. I am having a fusion done on my L5 S1 by bone graf and also a laminectomy. I have had several major surgeries in the past, not on my back, this is the first for that, but my problem is that the last 2 surgeries that I have had, I woke up during them. I was put right back out after making eye contact with the doctors. I am so so scared that I am going to wake up during this surgery and be face down and won't be able to let anyone know that I am awake. Has anyone ever had this happen to them and is there a way to prevent it? Any feed back would be greatly appreciated. :confused:

Hi Mscharm, :wave:
Oh my goodness!!! :eek: I have not had this happen, first thing that comes to mind would be to make sure the anesthiesiologist(sp?) knows this before you start, but I would guess after the first time this happened you are already doing that.

You might want to search the web to see what you can find about this, I did a search for "awakening during surgery" and found this:

A new device, the Bispectral Index (BIS), is being introduced at a Hospital to help doctors calibrate drug doses to prevent patients from regaining awareness in the operating room. A flexible sensor which attaches to the patient's forehead records brain waves with a specialised EEG machine, giving anesthesiologists a direct measure of how deeply the patient is asleep.


Studies have shown that monitoring patients with the BIS has led to improved patient outcomes, including better overall recovery and more alert patients who are eligible for earlier discharge from the recovery room.

I do hope you find some answers to help prevent this from happening again.

God Bless and Good Luck

Carol

Thank you so much for the advice ... I will definitely ask about that.

Hi,
No problem, I would be terrified like you after something like that. Good Luck !!!

Carol

Just one more note, theres alot of info when I did that search, You may want to do your own search and see what all comes up.

Carol