What it's like to be awake on the operating table.

Surely nothing could be as terrifying as being awake during your surgery.

Megan Smith was undergoing a rare liver surgery when she awoke on the operating table.

She lay awake and pleaded with the nurse to make it stop.

“One of the nurses said to me, ‘we’ve only got two more pieces to cut off’, so they continued. It was so excruciating – it’s like being laid on a table and being tortured while you’re awake,” she told The Project.

“It was so excruciating – it’s like being laid on a table and being tortured while you’re awake.”

As she attempted to get off the table, the surgeon slipped and cut a nerve. She now takes daily pain medication, and probably will for the rest of her life.

Through tears she told Channel Ten’s The Project: “I’d rather die or bleed out than have that pain again.”

Last night on The Project, two people spoke about their experience of being alert on the operating table.

Megan Smith and Frank Wheatland have both suffered the extremely rare experience of having their anaesthetic wear off or fail.

Related content: Before and after photos of gender reassignment surgery.

“Anaesthetic awareness” often occurs when a patient has not been administered a high enough dose of anaesthesia. The reason for administering the drug is to knock you out during surgery and reduce any recall of your time under the knife.

Similar to Ms Smith’s ordeal, Mr Wheatland was going through an ankle surgery when his anaesthesia was wrongly administered — leaving him awake but trapped in his body. He now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.

While it is agreed that these instances are extremely rare – about 1 in 1,000, according to The Project hosts — it does occur.

According to The Conversation, people undergoing open heart surgery, and women having caesareans are at higher risk.

Read more: Jemima Kirke had her abortion without anaesthesia.

Women are also more susceptible than men as we are less responsive to anaesthesia.

As pharmacology professor Kate Leslie wrote on The Conversation, the best way to ensure anaesthesia awareness doesn’t happen to you is firstly to be aware that the issues exists. After that, you can meet with your anaesthetist who will do their best to reassure you, and — in some cases — there is actually a machine that can measure your brain alertness.

Have you or someone you know ever experienced anaesthesia awareness?

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