I Am An Anesthesia Awareness Survivor
Anesthesia Awareness will forever be a cause I campaign for, and it always will be. Here's why
I've told my story about my experience, but not the after part...there is always an after part.
For about the first year, maybe year and a half after, I couldn't sleep longer than 45 minutes, was chronically exhausted, constantly fearful, and plagued with flashbacks from the surgery. It also killed me inside to think of someone else having to endure the h*ll that is Awareness. I was emotionally dead inside, but not dead enough to where I wouldn't cry for other survivors, and say a prayer every time I went passed a hospital or surgical center than no one else was enduring that h*ll!
After I met the first survivor, her story made me realize I wasn't the only one, that others hurt just like me. And just as I'd been bitter about the lack of support groups on the internet, so had she been. She challenged me to stand up for Awareness, and to never stop talking about it. Everyday I mention awareness. I don't tell my story every day, but there are a ton of people in my city who know me, and they all know I'm a survivor simply because I will not shut up ever about it! Because the challenge was made to me by a survivor, I will always keep my promise to her.
After meeting her, I began to change inside slowly. I became less bitter, less angry, and able to sleep better. Now I'm almost up to a normal amount of sleep, (6 hours), and I seldom have panic attacks (maybe once every 4-6 weeks). I hope that one day some other survivor will say the same thing after meeting me, "She changed my life".
I've told my story about my experience, but not the after part...there is always an after part.
For about the first year, maybe year and a half after, I couldn't sleep longer than 45 minutes, was chronically exhausted, constantly fearful, and plagued with flashbacks from the surgery. It also killed me inside to think of someone else having to endure the h*ll that is Awareness. I was emotionally dead inside, but not dead enough to where I wouldn't cry for other survivors, and say a prayer every time I went passed a hospital or surgical center than no one else was enduring that h*ll!
After I met the first survivor, her story made me realize I wasn't the only one, that others hurt just like me. And just as I'd been bitter about the lack of support groups on the internet, so had she been. She challenged me to stand up for Awareness, and to never stop talking about it. Everyday I mention awareness. I don't tell my story every day, but there are a ton of people in my city who know me, and they all know I'm a survivor simply because I will not shut up ever about it! Because the challenge was made to me by a survivor, I will always keep my promise to her.
After meeting her, I began to change inside slowly. I became less bitter, less angry, and able to sleep better. Now I'm almost up to a normal amount of sleep, (6 hours), and I seldom have panic attacks (maybe once every 4-6 weeks). I hope that one day some other survivor will say the same thing after meeting me, "She changed my life".
By:
Pebbles1982
Age:
26-30
