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75 Times Sedated Patients Said Outrageous Things That Cracked Up Medical Professionals
People often say and do the stupidest things when they are inebriated. I don’t know whether you have gotten any drunk texts or not, but they sound utterly hilarious. It’s kind of the same when they are under anesthesia and have no control over what they say.
When a netizen asked anesthesiologists to share the most wild things they had heard from sedated patients, they spilled some really funny tea. Some of these stories might bring tears of laughter, while others might make your eyes bulge with their absurdity. Scroll down to see what I mean!
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#1
One told me she had a very pleasant dream about baking cookies. The recovery room nurses were so impressed by how happy she was immediately after her anesthetic. Then she told us she was a baker and that was what she did for work, which made the story seem not quite as nice.
EDIT: Also, one patient having a colonoscopy left a post-it note folded in half between her b**t cheeks. The gastroenterologist unfolded it and read it aloud: "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty.".
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#2
My great grandmother had cataract surgery when she was 100 years old (she lived till she was 104).
When they took the bandages off her eyes, she looked at the surgeon and quipped "if I'd known you were this handsome, I would have done this YEARS ago!".
#3
When my husband came out of surgery for a brain tumor he said to the dr ‘it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.’ He said this in response to being asked if he remembered what his name was. 🤦♀️.
Two types of anesthesia can bring about this “delirious” state in patients: general anesthesia and sedation. Research indicates that every day, about 60,000 people nationwide have surgery under general anesthesia. Basically, it’s a combination of medications that makes surgery more bearable for patients and doctors alike.
It reduces pain and knocks people unconscious so they don’t move. General anesthesia affects the entire body. It’s usually used for major surgeries and invasive procedures for the brain, chest, or abdomen.
#4
Not an anesthesiologist, but got surgery when i was around 12 and the anesthesiologist was asking me lord of the rings questions as they were giving me the meds (it was 2003 or so). they asked “is frodo a hobbit?” i said yes. “is sam a hobbit?” i said yes. “is gandalf a hobbit?” i said yes, realized my error and said “WAIT NO” and then i passed the hell out. .
#5
I told my proctologist and the students that were attending my colonoscopy: Welcome.. to my b**t. In my best radio announcer voice.
#6
Not an anesthesiologist, but surgery RN for 11 yrs. My favorite memory of a patient waking up from surgery: he had his colostomy reversed and when we woke up he said very drunkenly "Colostomy?" I said "no more colostomy" and he threw his fist up in the air and said "yesssss" and immediately fell back into a slumber. Such a happy moment for me in the OR because I dont get to see my patients after surgery and when I drop them off in the recovery room theyre often still drowsy/sleeping.
While it’s supposed to make people unconscious, a study has found that 1 in 10 people under planned general anesthesia may be “conscious.” However, researchers are working to identify how anesthetics might fail to induce unconsciousness.
On the other hand, the purpose of sedative anesthesia is to make patients feel so relaxed that they might take a nap but wake up if they need to say something or respond to people. Cleveland Clinic states that this “twilight sleep” is often induced before minor surgical procedures such as wisdom teeth removal, cardiac catheterization, and some colonoscopies.
Even though people aren’t fully unconscious, there's a high chance they may not remember the surgery or procedure.
#7
Anesthesia here.
Going to sleep? Nothing strange. Usually they are too nervous or sedated to say anything.
waking up? Nothing strange. Usually they are too sleepy to say anything.
Edit: In my 10 plus years of practicing anesthesia, I have never seen any of my patients behaving hysterically or comically, like those in TikTok. What am I doing wrong?
#8
I apparently told my anesthesiologist that he looked like Freddie Mercury as I went under. The nurse in post op told me that was hilarious because they all agreed with me and had started calling him Freddie.
#9
When i woke up from anesthesia for a nonserious issue i begged the young medic wheeling me out to my partner to RUN me down the hallway in the wheelchair, fast! He did! I was giggling my head off as he handed me off. Best guy ever. My partner was like "what is going on here".
According to the experts at Medscape, emergence delirium (ED) and emergence agitation (EA) are abnormal mental states that develop as a result of anesthesia administration during the transition from unconsciousness to complete wakefulness. That explains why people end up saying the wackiest things when they are under anesthesia.
It is a relatively common side effect in certain people, such as individuals over 60 years old. But not everyone experiences this. Experts point out that the estimated incidence of ED is 4-31% overall but can be as high as 50-80% in children.
#10
My dad had an incident where he woke up from anesthesia, and for some reason, his first response was to spit at the nurse. Literally spit at her like a threatened snake. He didn’t even realize that he was doing it until someone told him:
“Mr. Dad, stop spitting at the nurse!”
He felt so bad that he sent her flowers as an apology once he was finally fully aware of himself. It never happened again, but definitely one of the weirder reactions.
#11
Not an anesthesiologist, but my mom told me when i woke up from surgery i spent 20+ minutes ranting to her about how stupid koalas are. i didn’t realize i had such strong opinions about them haha.
From endless weeping to blurting out something ridiculous, or even just being ecstatic, the effects of sedation differ for everyone. The Royal College of Anaesthetists emphasizes that some people feel agitated, while others become quiet and very sleepy.
Symptoms tend to worsen in the evening and at night. These symptoms include feeling confused, not recognizing family, being incoherent, hallucinating, or experiencing emotional changes such as tearfulness, anxiety, anger, or aggression.
#13
Wife used to work in the GI lab, they need to keep you pretty lucid, and really only gave you what ever it was to forget your last coupon of hours. Wife told me about a sweet old lady that was telling her husband not now, and waving her hand as they inserted the scope.
She thought her husband was getting frisky with her.
#14
Not necessarily what was said, but just post-anesthesia behavior. Young-ish, muscular guy, military background. Wakes up swinging at us; fortunately, we anticipated it might happen and even though precedex we gave before wake up clearly didn’t chill him out enough, there were enough big guys in the room (nurses, device rep etc) to hold him down until we could re-orient him.
#15
Not anesthesiologist, but when my husband had hernia surgery, he was in the recovery/wake-up room for a long time. One of his nurses finally came and got me, sounding exasperated.
"You can come back. We need your help."
"OMG is he okay?!"
"Well, yes, but he keeps telling us all of his medical stats instead of BREATHING. We need him to remember to breathe or we'll have to re-intubate him. Can you come and see if you can make him keep breathing?!"
"*laughing* Yeah, that sounds like him. I'm on it."
I did get him to remember to breathe. Took about an hour to get it consistent. I was quite proud lol.
Looking at what happens to our brain during anesthesia sheds light on the delirium stage that follows. While people often believe it’s just “deep sleep,” experts say there’s more to it. Dr. Emery Brown, an anesthesiologist, statistician, and neuroscientist holding endowed professorships at Harvard Medical School and MIT, studies how anesthetics work in the brain.
He explains, “Anesthetic medications cause brain circuits to change their oscillation patterns in particular ways. This prevents neurons in different brain regions from communicating with each other. The result is a loss of consciousness or an unnatural state like a ‘reversible coma,’ that differs from sleep.”
#16
My ophthalmologist retired this year, but I've been going to him since I was a teenager (I'm 46 now) and we had this tradition where I'd always come with some kind of ophthalmology/optometry joke. So right before I was to have surgery to repair a detached retina, they were giving me the medical-grade zzzquil, and I turned to him and the anesthesiologist and said "Hey did you guys know that the eyes are the last part of the body to decompose?"
They both looked at me as I slipped off to dreamland and I said 'Yeah, they dilate...hahahhahhaha..ZZZZZZZ".
#17
Not an anesthesiologist but have undergone a few surgeries. After my last one (bisalp + ablation) I apparently wouldnt stop crying and thanking literally everyone who walked by my bed. I also asked for my phone and apparently sent out mass texts of "I lived b***h" to everyone in my contacts at the time, including my dad, who was seated next to me. Lastly I asked for my purse and scribbled in big letters "I GOT SPAYED LIKE A STRAY CAT" and promptly went back to sleep.
I have no memory of any of this. This was all told to me by the nurses and my dad. 😆.
#18
My husband told me I was taking like an Animal Crossing character when I came off conscious sedation from my wisdom teeth removal. Apparently I insisted I still needed to have the procedure done and he needed to wait on the car until I was done.
However, a new study done in 2026 questions how we describe being under anesthesia. Janna Helfrich, MD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and the study’s lead author, clarified that the old dichotomy that it’s either sleep or coma is not true.
“It’s actually both sleep and coma, and can be similar to both states at the same time, depending on where you look. And yet, there is also an element which is just anesthesia uniquely,” she adds.
#19
As soon as I woke up, I kept saying that I was hungry and that I wanted some sourdough toast. The anesthesiologist laughed and said he wished that all of his patients were like me, because so many wake up sick and throwing up.
#20
My anesthesiologist told me I was funny when I woke up. Apparently at first I was very combative which is opposite of my normal personality. I was “inventing new curse words”. Then they asked me what I wanted and I got obsessed with seeing my husband right that minute. I was threatening them with pulling out all the stuff connected to me and running to find him.
I had just had my leg amputated.
#21
I was putting a gentleman to sleep and he was talking to me about a book he was reading.
At the end as he was waking up he literally picked up his thought like mid sentence as the tube came out. It had been like 5 hours and I was confused what he was talking about at first.
A serious “hold that thought” moment.
Karl 1 hour ago
I had a friend who was a bit of a 60s acid casualty and he would return to casual conversations you'd had weeks or even months ago. Not in a "Remember we were talking about X last week?" to put it in context, but just continuing from where that conversation left off. Apart from that, he was Ok.
The more we understand what the brain goes through, the better we can comprehend the delirium state. But human medicine has come a long way. Research shows that the desire to numb surgical pain dates back to 4000 BC, when the Sumerians used a substance from the poppy.
Different plants and various herbs have been used and experimented with to make sedative mixtures ever since ancient times. Alcohol and illegal substances have also been tried, but they were discouraged because of the risk of people becoming dependent on them. Surgeons also relied on patients to bite down on something, or simply withstand the pain.
#22
My dad did anesthesia, and one of my favorite stories involves a question he would sometimes ask people, to ease their fears and to be funny.
Right as he was inducing, he would sometimes ask them where the money is buried. Usually people would laugh a bit as they fell off to sleep.
One day, a very old woman explained to him, in her last moments of lucidity, that the money is buried just off a certain rural road, in the church graveyard, under a specific tree, next to the. . .lights out.
She was quite serious, and he never asked that question again.
#23
After oral surgery my teen didn't want to talk (obviously) so she started using sign language (ASL is a language option at her school) the aftercare nurses assumed she was deaf and asked me to translate. I was like 🤷🏼♀️ and told her to use her words.
I'm sure for a couple of microseconds they thought I was the worst parent ever.
#24
I felt like my eyes were rolling and shaking so I just shouted 'I CANT CONTROL MY EYEBALLS!!'.
It was not until 1804 in Japan that the first reliably recorded use of general anesthesia occurred. Physician Seishu Hanaoka used a herbal mixture for complex surgeries, which patients consumed rather than inhaled. Although it was successful, it remained limited to Japan.
However, on October 16, 1846, dentist William Morton (1819 – 1868) and surgeon John Warren (1778 – 1856) became the first in the world to publicly and successfully demonstrate ether anesthesia for surgery.
#25
My mother woke up after surgery on her fractured hip and asked the recovery room nurse, "Should I be having chest pain?" Feeling some terror I asked her "Are you having chest pain?" She answered, "No, but I broke my hip. I figure that's next.".
#26
When I was in nursing school I did a shift in the PACU and this one sweet guy woke up and could ONLY talk about his wife. "is my wife coming? have you seen her?" with puppy dog eyes. "she's so great ..... where's my wife? is she here yet?" and when she finally showed up, I told her yeah this dude has done nothing but tell us how much he loves you and how great you are for the last hour. and she kind of rolled her eyes and tossed her head with a little smile like she's used to this, that's just how he is. i think of them sometimes when I get cynical about love and marriage lol .
#27
My husband woke up after a shoulder thing and asked, “is it fixed? I’m pitching for the Yankees tonight.” He went on to say this about 3 more times before he fully came to and we told him about his joke. His first question? “Did it get a laugh?”.
Well, anesthesia seems like a blessing that changed medical history. Even with its “delirious” side effect, it has still helped people tremendously. I would any day prefer being confused after surgery rather than biting on something to withstand the pain. What about you? We would love to hear your funny sedation stories, so feel free to type them in the comments!
Also, if you found this list amusing, check out another hilarious list of wild things patients said after their anesthesia wore off!
#28
Patient here, and it wasn't anything I said. I recently had an endoscopy performed. As they are wheeling me out of the procedure room, I tried to reach for my mouth, and the recovery nurses were becoming more and more forceful in trying to prevent it. I knew I wasn't coherent enough to try and explain, but I could just forcefully hold up a finger, as if to say "JUST WAIT A SECOND."
I reached in my mouth and removed a bite guard that they forgot. (I had a bite guard because they had to intubate me.)
They immediately relaxed and I heard one go "Oh. Yeah. That you can do.".
#29
I asked the nurse* to adopt me, except she didn't understand what I was mumbling, so my husband translated.
She didn't adopt me, but she gave me a little pillow which I still have years later.
*recovery nurse, not anesthesiologist.
#30
After I got a tonsillectomy when I was about 16, I woke up and thought there was a cat in the recovery room. I don't really remember it, but my mom said I woke up and yelled that cats shouldn't be in a hospital. My mom and the nurse were trying to calm me down and get me to stop talking, so I just started meowing instead. I really don't remember it, but my mom loves telling that story.
nottheactualphoto 5 hours ago
If I had to wake up in a hospital, I would *love* to have a cat in the room.
#31
I didn’t necessarily say something funny, but I guess my anesthesiologist must have find it funny. I was being put under and I was scared shitless, so he started asking questions to ease my mind a bit. He asked about things I still wanted to do and I replied that I really wanted to see the Northern Lights. I had an oxygen mask on too and the medicine started working so I guess my words didn’t come out normally and he heard just “to see the lights”. I remember his eyes getting big and having a bit of a shocked expression (I have a history of depression and s******l ideations). He redirected to the bright lights in the room. “Look, we got pretty lights above you” he said and started to explain how the surgical light worked. He thought I wanted to d*e, but I just wanted to see the Northern Lights man.
#32
I remember when I was last put under, and coming out of it they were moving me to a room. The hall way I got transferred thru felt a little cold. I said to the nurse "are you taking me outside? You know its winter time right now".
#33
When my husband was waking up from wisdom teeth removal the nurse came out to get me. She asked me if he had an affinity for baked goods. I replied that he doesn’t really have a sweet tooth, but his nickname for me is Muffin. As we get closer I hear my husband singing at top volume “I love me a fluffy muffin top muffin for the snufflin” . I was equal parts mortified and proud lol.
#34
I went in to see my husband in recovery, carrying a couple of our babies, after he had major abdominal surgery. He sat straight up 😬 and asked rather dramatically if we were ok. Yes, sweet thing, we had breakfast, YOU had surgery.
#35
I've had a few health issues so a number of surgeries. My husband says I'm so embarrassing because I compliment nurses and staff, but on like things people might be embarrassed by. Like he said he almost left the room when I was complimenting a mole on her face and how symmetry is boring and she looked so interesting I wanted to look at her pretty face for hours, because of her giant mole.
#36
So I live in the UK and before having a relatively minor procedure under general anesthetic I was chatting to a lovely Polish nurse about Brexit and what a s**t idea it was and how the NHS would collapse without immigration...
Flash forward to me waking from the anesthetic, really disoriented and for some reason utterly terrified. Thought I was being abducted or something. Thrashing around, nursing staff having to hold me down to prevent me hurting myself or them.
Came round properly and utterly mortified. Saw my new Polish nurse friend and apologised for being "a bit of a handful" when I came round. He said "don't worry it's fine, happens all the time but the racist stuff was a bit much"...
..colour drains out of my face and I think I'm going to be sick. I work for an NHS trade union in equality, diversity and inclusion. Genuinely can't think of anything worse or more completely out of character.
Then I notice he's smiling and he says "had you there for a minute didn't I?!!" 😂
Well played sir, I salute you and thank you for your service to our national health service!
Karl 41 minutes ago
In the 80s, my gran (85) broke her hip and was admitted to the local hospital - which had previously been the local workhouse until about 1920. She awoke from the anaesthetic and was transferred to a ward to sleep things off. In the middle of the night, the hospital security found her trying to escape through a fire door with her walker. She was very distressed as she couldn't understand how she had wound up in the workhouse and had to get out. The nurses were able to talk her until she realised where she was and what was going on. However, it seems the fear of going to the workhouse hadn't really left her.
#37
My 6 year old woke up from her liver transplant and told her anesthesiologist, "I don't want a new liver anymore." He said, "too late kiddo! You and your new liver are doing great!" 4 years later and they're still doing great ❤️.
#38
Not an anaesthesiologist, but my dad insisted the one nurse had three legs. Eventually he decided there was something up with her shoes. There wasn't.
My husband had a colonoscopy today and when he was more alert I told him that the gastroenterologist wanted to see him again in 6 months and his response was 'to say hi?'.
#39
Not an anesthesiologist, but have a funny story of my oldest son.
He didn't have his tonsils removed until he was 16. By then, he'd been wearing a full beard for a tear and was worried they'd make him shave it off before his surgery or they'd shave him after he got there, despite repeated reassurances he had nothing to worry about.
The very first thing he did when he started waking up was frantically rubbing his face, over and over again, horsey whispering, "Do I still have a face?!"
I managed to get my laughter under control long enough to reassure him he had both a face AND his beard was still intact!
#40
I unfortunately lashed out under the twilight type anesthesia. Not even coming out of it, still under it. The doctors said it was a good thing I didn’t have shoes on or the kick I landed would have hurt more. They did admit it was kinda their fault though. I told them not to touch my leg (long story), and they did anyway, which is what triggered me into fighting them. I was absolutely mortified when I found out, but my husband said he wasn’t surprised at all.
#41
A patient waking up singing “s*x b**b” by Tom jones and then asking me out on a date… I was flattered but declined and she then said “f*****g b******t, I’m moving back to America”.
#42
Immediately after being woken up the nurses were trying to get me to eat, asking if I would like some food. My response apparently was "I love food, how do you think I got this amazing physique" (I am quite rotund).
#43
When my mom was under once she gained awareness and heard the surgeon gossiping about someone she knew. So apparently she horrified the postop nurse by immediately going “Oh I know (Jane Smith) too!”.
#45
All of these are lighthearted so I hate to damper the mood but…
Once I had a patient tell me that during the procedure he would be watching us work from the upper corner of the room. I did not like this and told him that no, he would be on the table and that he was going to survive this procedure and I’d see him when it was over.
Well he survived that procedure but had to be brought back a few hours later for a redo and did not survive the night. Every time I was in that room I thought of him in the corner watching us work.
#46
When I woke up from my kidney stone removal I had hiccups from the anesthesia. The nurse said they'd pass in a minute or two, but I apparently decided to showcase my 'talent' for getting rid of hiccups...holding my breath. I kept trying to hold my breath and my wife kept telling me not to. I guess I had an "I'll show you" mentality about it and kept trying.
#47
I had a kidney stone removed and first thing i told the nurse was I dont think im into sounding. She had to walk away for a bit cause she was laughing so hard, when she came back she said that was the funniest thing she has heard in the 12 years she had worked there.
#48
Opposite but, my anesthesiologist at a recent hysterectomy went "You nervous?" I replied with "Yeah, a little" and he goes "Not anymore! :)"
Out like a light.
#49
Woke up from cardioversion under sedation yelling, “Hey. HEY! HEY!!” The nurse asked me what was wrong, and I replied that my chest hurt. Pause, and the nurse replied, “honey, we just shocked you.” To which I calmly said “Oh.” and passed tf out again.
#50
I had a surgery scheduled to remove a fibroid on a snowy day and everything was way behind schedule. My surgery was delayed almost 3 hours and I was getting really impatient. My only memory after bring taken to the OR is asking the anesthesiologist if the surgeon was ever going to get things started. He laughed and told me we’d been having an awesome conversation for the past 5 minutes.
#51
My son woke up from getting his wisdom teeth extracted and loudly announced that he would gladly rescue me if I fell into an active volcano, and also F**K DA POLICE.
#52
Not a doctor, but apparently the surgery team were telling me to imagine a nice bundle of kittens sleeping on my chest to help calm me down beforehand, and the last thing i said before it was lights out "yeah, i f****n love cats"
Then when I woke up i greeted the doctor like he was my best friend, because I was more akin to a drunk goblin woman.
#53
My surgery required my body cavity to be inflated with gas, and I asked the nurse afterward if they squeezed the air out of me like a whoopee cushion.
I also kept falling asleep and being overjoyed to see my husband over and over again.
#54
After I got my wisdom teeth out, apparently I begged to keep the 2 they pulled and they let me take them home in a ziploc. once the pain meds wore off I made my mom throw them out immediately.
#55
Apparently the last thing I said to everyone before checking out was "good luck in there" with a big thumbs up to the doctors.
#56
Patient here — the anesthesiologist who put me under for my IVF surgery told me I said the funniest thing she’d ever heard in her entire career. She had me counting down from 10 (I only remember getting to like 6 or 7) but apparently at the very end I said “ok, you win…”.
#57
I woke up after surgery, instantly alert and focused. Yes im sure, it was mentioned a few times afterwards. The guy in the bed next to me was going on and on about working with dogs during Vietnam. Talked about his favorite dog. As they wheeled me into the next part of recovery, I said he had lived an amazing life. She kinda laughed and said he's about 25. So either hilarious or very eerie.
#58
A friend was having a hip replacement and the anesthesia wore off in the midst of the surgery. She could hear banging and hammering and yelled out “What are you doing down there, building a fence?!?” Instant silence as they put her back under. Later she had a laugh with the doctor who told her she had everyone busting a gut with laughter.
#59
I've only had surgery three times. I apparently really took a liking to whomever my nurse was after the first surgery, because I was apparently *very* upset that the staff "cut the tape" keeping her around when I had my second surgery at a completely separate hospital. I refused to answer their questions until they let me see her (which was not possible, since she had never worked there).
I then proceeded to pull off my part of my bandages on the drive home and walk up and down the length of our motorhome because they had told me to move around if I got sore...and I was sore. My hater husband made me sit back down when all I wanted to do was follow directions.
#60
I worked in the funeral industry and I was like 98% out of it when they transferred me to the table and my head knocked - told them that’s what a d**d person’s head sounds like. I was a fighter when I woke up.
#61
I feel awful and regret for ever saying it, but when I woke up from major surgery I was worried about tornadoes hitting the hospital. what would they do and how would they hide the patients. and then I said >!"I'm like d***s. I'm worth a lot. Please protect me"!<
🫠.
#62
Not an anesthesiologist, however when I had my hysterectomy I serenade the OR.
I always joke that I can sing the song "You say she's just a friend."
The resident I worked with at the time came to check on me in the evening and said just so know you didn't say anything strange in the OR. Oh okay.
The next morning my Doctor came in and he had one of those smiles on...and was giggling. He said girl you are funny. I said why? He said you were singing in tge OR I said no I wasn't...I said if I was what was it. And when he named that song I knew for sure I was.
Im still convinced I can sing that song.
#63
Waking up from my heart surgery I apparently said "oh I'm still alive". They thought it was funny, but my wife thought it was even funnier when they told her cause she realized my d*****d brain was trying to sing Pearl Jam's Alive.
#64
Okay this isn’t about a patient but about the anesthesiologist which I found SO funny. I’ve had multiple colonoscopies throughout my life and had c sections so I’ve dealt with a few anesthesiologists in my life. Most of the ones I’ve had are around the same age, 35-50 age range. They’ve all been awesome and just ask innocent questions as they sedate me so I don’t really know what’s going on as it’s happening and then I’m asleep. The last anesthesiologist I had was fairly young, and had an even younger resident with them. They were like “ok, we’re going to do sedation now” and I said okay and then as they administered it they just said “K BYEEEEE” I found it so funny 😂😂😂😂.
#65
My mom on the table for her hysterectomy: "While you're in there, can you get my tonsils out?"
Surgery was delayed a few minutes while they OR recomposed itself.
#66
Surgery to remove wisdom teeth, I kept asking the nurse out on a date. I was a 14 year old boy, who had never asked anyone out before because I was scared.
I don't remember half that day. My step dad said I was ridiculously confident and hit on several women. Like 3 random women at Walmart, the cashier at Hardee's. .
#67
When my 12-yo son woke up from having spinal fusion he kept on asking for Dr. Suess. Said he had to talk to him about something. 😂😂😂.
#68
I was a scrub tech student almost 20 years ago. Was scrubbing a podiatry case, podiatry being foot. The foot being at the bottom of the body, podiatry gets put at the bottom of the food chain among surgeons. Apparently it’s a real hierarchy thing.
Anyway, this surgeon liked to use an RNFA to assist. Which for a relatively simple foot repair means I was basically window dressing. None the less, the surgeon and first assistant were fun to work with, informative, easy going, and I found the surgery fun as the anatomy of the foot isn’t something I got to see much of.
The surgery is so minor, they don’t put the patient fully under. They are put under twilight anesthesia meaning they are asleep enough to not be conscious but not asleep enough they stop breathing.
That’s the idea at least. I’m standing there, doing my best imitation of the animated end of a retractor when I get the feeling someone’s eyes are on me. My back is to anesthesia and the patient’s head, so I look over my shoulder and see the patient sitting bolt upright. I did a full cartoon double take.
I looked at the surgeon, and said “hey Dr. Surgeon, your patient is looking at me.”
The anesthesiologists magazine hits the floor and he starts to scramble. After a few frantic seconds the patient says “I don’t know what you guys are doing down there, but I know you’re doing a great job.” Then he collapsed right back to sleep and we resumed.
I took part of my lunch break to go see the patient. He had no memory of waking up, or even who I was. D***s are weird.
#69
Anaesthetic assistant here.
We had a guy who had a decent premed due to nerves. The d**g used works kinda like alcohol in that it lowers inhibitions and relaxes you. Generally people just get a bit sleepy and chill but the odd person ends up talking up a storm about whatever was on their mind at the time.
So this guy looks around and asks "do you guys have a p***s chart?"
I'm like "whaaaa?" we aren't working in urology today.
He clarifies "you know where you rank and compare people's p*****s after they're asleep?"
Well, no we don't. We don't care and for most surgery it's kept covered up.
However. In this case the patient needed a catheter placed because it was a long procedure. And. He. Was. Packing.
If I had a chart he would still be at the top. Second place wouldn't even be close.
#70
Not me, but my mom. Apparently she woke up from her surgery (double mastectomy), and took a finger to the collar of her hospital gown. She looked down, gave a loud guffaw followed by, "Oh s**t, what have I done?" Then she conked back out immediately after that. 😅
On a positive note, she's been in remission for 13 years now, and she doesn't have to worry about her b***s trying to k**l her for a third time!
#71
Me, being wheeled to the OR for elective surgery: "Hell yeah, let's go!"
Me, returning for emergency surgery & recognizing the anesthesiologist from last time: "Round 2, let's go!" after which I went in for a fist-bump. At least he didn't leave me hanging.
#72
After my appendectomy I was very insistent about immediately getting up to go pee and refused a catheter.
The nurse was very distressed about this, and followed me into the bathroom, but did not successfully dissuade me from my mission.
#73
Apparently after they gave the adavan or whatever to relax for a colonsocopy the doctor pulled up the gown to begin and discovered that having chemical induced diarhea all night had made a hemorrhoid swell up really large. Doc says oh you got some hemorrhoid there and the reply was I BROUGHT YOU SOME BALLOONS.
#74
Doesn't really fit the question, but i woke up from wisdom teeth surgery and the first thing I remember was someone telling me not to eat hard foods for a while. Apparently I started signing (just spelling out the words) in ASL, asking if I could have yogurt. The tech said hold on, do that again. And then she said yes, I can have yogurt. I didn't know i had retained that much when I learned the ASL alphabet when I was 10. I was 36 at the time of the surgery fwiw.
#75
I'm not an anesthesiologist but the last time I was put under, just before I conked out, I sat bolt upright and asked everyone if they were baking cookies because I smelled cookies baking. They laughed and said, 'no', and then I conked out.
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