What does the surgery feel like?

[PCOS_Mama94 13]

Hi all!

So im due for my surgery soon, awaiting an exact date.

Ive had so many dreams about the surgery and each one mostly relates to going off to sleep and then waking up. Ive never had surgery before so dont actually know what its like going off to sleep under a general and then waking up from it.

How it goes in my dreams is ill have the drugs administered and ill start to feel very sleepy and veryyyy heavy and not long later all be asleep but it only feels like ive just closed my eyes before waking up again in recovery but still feeling really heavy and unable to move or even open my eyes, id just be laying there for a while as the movement comes back from my fingers first and my eyes opening would be one of the last things i can do.

So is that really what its like? Or is my head just making assumptions of how it feels? It almost feels like my head is preparing me for it as i have felt quite nervous at times about it. Whats your experience with it?

[Arabesque 7,248]

For me, one moment I’m joking/chatting with the anaesthesiologist & the next I’m waking in recovery. I usually feel a little heavy in the head or disorientated for a minute or so but then I’m fine. Sometimes I doze off again. You may find your body feels a little odd for a short time too like is it really your body especially if you have drains, drips, etc. Little gentle stretches & flexing your muscles help to reacquaint yourself with your body. You may find you don’t remember exactly what happens after you wake clearly - I can never remember how I get my glasses back. Did they give them to me? Did they put them on me? Was I wearing them when I woke? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hope you get your date soon.

[Smanky 747]

You won't even feel yourself get sleepy. The nurses will be chatting and then suddenly you're in recovery. It's literally like a time jump.

Both my previous surgeries (an ACL knee reconstruction and a gall bladder removal) were different waking up. I woke up in recovery after my knee like my brain and body was wading through mud. Making involuntary noises. I could hear the nurse and she was shouting at me to "stop" whatever I was doing, and I managed with great effort to tell her that I couldn't help it. Then I must've lost consciousness again and was being wheeled back into the ward.

My gallbladder op was smoother, I woke up in recovery pretty well, like waking up from sleep, and was wheeled back to the ward.

It's worth noting that the knee one was waaaaaaay back in 2000, and I had a rougher time all round post-surgery (and honestly I don't think that hospital was terribly good - only one nurse was nice). The gallbladder op was in 2015 and was a breeze - much better hospital.

[NovaLuna 710]

I've only had three surgeries, but I've been put under a LOT because I've had multiple EGD's due to my EoE. You go into the OR and they prep you, and maybe ask you some questions and then with two of the surgeries they put me to sleep via the IV in my arm. I remember I woke after my WLS and felt like I got hit by a BUS! There was only one of my three surgeries that differed as it was brain surgery and they instead put on an oxygen mask over my face and I got the anesthesia that way for that one and they thought I'd get claustrophobic because a lot of patients start to panic with the mask on supposedly, but I was really calm and was complimented for that (next thing I remember about that one was waking up in recovery with the WORST headache of my LIFE and at that point the worst nausea of my life up until the nurse tells me that my sister is there to see me and the second my sister walked in I vomited! She thought it was hilarious that I puked as soon as I saw her lol.)

[catwoman7 11,212]

I've had four surgeries in my lifetime. It's like the others have said - one minute you're chatting with the nurses, the next minute you're in the recovery room. It's kind of bizarre....

[Queen ApisM 427]

Agree with others here. This was my first surgery with general anesthesia. One minute the anesthesiologist was talking to me and I was taking deep breaths with the oxygen mask, and then next it was over. It definitely is like a weird time jump. No dreams while being under. It's like snap you are asleep and don't know it, then snap you are sort of awake, though I was definitely was disoriented when I first woke up, and I just kept dozing on and off for a long time afterwards.

[Tomo 1,191]

Last month I had VSG to RNY for gerd/esophagitis. For me, I fell asleep (without realizing it), woke up, stomach felt like I had done a zillion sit-ups when I tried to move, my throat was sore, I slept rest of the day. Pain was 100% doable, nausea minimal. I don't even remember the nausea part but my husband who was right next to me said I said "I'm prone to nausea" when I first woke up lol.

[tiredmom 1]

I also never had surgery before, they were wonderful, I explained how scared about surgery I was and the nurse and anesthesia doctor were fabulous,. They held my hand explained they would be giving me medication in my IV and she held my hand, asked me OK where is your favorite place you want to visit and we were literally talking for 10 seconds and next thing I know I was in the recovery room with my husband and other post op staff. Completely wonderful, they did great work


Sent from my SM-S506DL using BariatricPal mobile app

[vikingbeast 987]

Like others have said, it's a time hop.

My anesthesiologist didn't even say much. He put the little plastic cup over my head and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.

I was incredibly sleepy all that day and much of the next. I had brain fog like when you're addicted to caffeine and can't have any (though I've been off caffeine for weeks now). My anesthesiologist gave me a TAP block, which is like an epidural nerve block for your abdominals, so I really didn't even feel much around my midsection. I was able to hoist myself off the bed and go walking, albeit slowly and clutching my IV pole at first.

They also put a seasickness patch behind my ear in pre-op prep and I cannot even describe how much that helped.

[lizonaplane 1,612]

The sleeve was my first time under general anesthesia (I had had twilight anesthesia for a colonoscopy before). They put the oxygen mask over my mouth and then the anesthesiologist said "I'm going to put something in your IV that's going to feel spicy". And I thought, "what on earth does that mean?" Then two seconds later, I thought, "Oh, that's what that means." And then I remember my body moving and feeling nauseous and I remember someone talking to me and then struggling to open my eyes and looking around the room and seeing my mom and realizing I was still alive and being happy, but then immediately falling back asleep.

[Smanky 747]

12 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

Then two seconds later, I thought, "Oh, that's what that means." And then I remember my body moving and feeling nauseous and I remember someone talking to me and then struggling to open my eyes and looking around the room and seeing my mom and realizing I was still alive and being happy, but then immediately falling back asleep.

Yep, that is post-op recovery described to a "T"!

[Jaelzion 1,127]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:02 PM, PCOS_Mama94 said:

Hi all!

So im due for my surgery soon, awaiting an exact date.

Ive had so many dreams about the surgery and each one mostly relates to going off to sleep and then waking up. Ive never had surgery before so dont actually know what its like going off to sleep under a general and then waking up from it.

How it goes in my dreams is ill have the drugs administered and ill start to feel very sleepy and veryyyy heavy and not long later all be asleep but it only feels like ive just closed my eyes before waking up again in recovery but still feeling really heavy and unable to move or even open my eyes, id just be laying there for a while as the movement comes back from my fingers first and my eyes opening would be one of the last things i can do.

So is that really what its like? Or is my head just making assumptions of how it feels? It almost feels like my head is preparing me for it as i have felt quite nervous at times about it. Whats your experience with it?

In the past I've had surgeries like you describe, where you feel yourself getting sleepy and going out (no issues with moving while waking up tho). These days whenever I have surgery, they give me Versed (a sedative) before even going into the OR. The Versed not only relaxes you, but it stops your brain from storing short term memories, so I generally can only remember a few minutes past getting the Versed. I usually wake up to a nurse calling me by name and making sure I'm responsive.