What it's like to be under anaesthetic

A week or so on twitter I saw someone asking what it was like to be under anaesthetic and I replied and had a whole conversation with this girl, making her (hopefully) feel a tiny bit less nervous and it gave me the idea to write a whole post on it.

The thought of been knocked out and put under has always terrified me; the thoughts of not been given enough and waking up half way through surgery or the complete opposite and being given too much had always been at the forefront of my fear (I did ask the anaethasist if this would happen...I was told neither would!). Another thing which freaked me out, and still does, is the fact that there is a few hours (nearly a whole day in my experience) which is completely unaccounted for and a further weekend which is very hazy due to pain medication and the anaesthetic.

For me, I had totally blown out of proportion what going under anaesthetic would be like. Honestly, it was like falling asleep. All I remember is someone saying they were giving me a relaxant and next thing I knew it was six hours later and I was waking up.

Now then, when it comes to waking up, I found it quite surreal. Because of infection control or something (I had CDiff whilst I was in there and under quarantine basically for a week!) I wasn't woken up in the recovery room...instead I was brought round in the actual operating theatre! I was aware of where I was once I'd come round properly and spent two hours talking about god knows what to some nurses whilst I waited for my bed to be ready.

Now, here's for the one piece of advice I'd give anyone who is going for an operation; ask for the anti-sickness medication. I was told this by a nurse a few days before my op but I completely forgot to once I was down there and the first thing I did was throw up...twice. I don't know what it's like with it so if you've had the anti sickness meds whilst having an operation, please let me know in the comments because if it actually works, I'll defiantly remember to ask when I have my next surgery!

If you have any questions about what it's like to be under anaesthetic, just ask them in the comments below and I'll try and answer it (but, disclaimer alert, I'm not in any way a medical professional so don't take my words as gospel! These are just my experiences with it!)