I've been under general anesthesia nine times.... seven of those since my cancer diagnosis. I've never really had much trouble coming out of it, although I do remember being very nauseous after my mastectomy. Many people have much worse reactions to anesthesia. My good friend S has to have the nausea patches every time she has surgery or she spends the next 48 hours throwing up - and that's never fun after surgery!
However, there have been studies involving general anesthesia and both the immediate and long-term effects on the brain and the body. Since August 2013 I have had general anesthesia seven times. Two of those surgeries were 8-10 hours or longer. That's a lot of hours to be asleep during surgery.
With that being said, I'm very thankful for the invention of anesthesia.
In 1810, the daughter of John and Abigail Adams, Abigail “Nabby” Adams Smith (1765-1813) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a grueling mastectomy—without anesthesia.
I'm sure there was some type of drug administered to keep her out of it, but could you imagine??
No, thank you. Anesthesiologists are some of my favorite people!
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