Carol Weihrer (August 21, 1951 - April 27, 2024) was an activist for victims of

anesthesia awareness Awareness under anesthesia, also referred to as intraoperative awareness or accidental awareness during general anesthesia (AAGA), is a rare complication of general anesthesia where patients regain varying levels of consciousness during their sur ...

. Beginning in 1989, Weihrer had

chronic pain Chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for longer than 3 months.https://icd.who.int/browse/2025-01/mms/en#1581976053 It is also known as gradual burning pain, electrical pain, throbbing pain, and nauseating pain. This type of pain is in cont ...

from

recurrent corneal erosion Recurrent corneal erosion (RCE) is a disorder of the eyes characterized by the failure of the cornea's outermost layer of epithelial cells to attach to the underlying basement membrane ( Bowman's layer). The condition is excruciatingly painful be ...

syndrome. After 14 unsuccessful surgeries to relieve the increasing severity of the

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

, in 1998 she underwent an

enucleation of the eye Enucleation is the removal of the eye that leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact. This type of ocular surgery is indicated for a number of ocular tumors, in eyes that have sustained severe trauma, and in eyes that are oth ...

and reportedly woke up from

anesthesia Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...

during the procedure.CNN.co
''Operation was wake-up call.''
October 25, 2005. Although she didn't feel any pain during the surgery, she remembered the entire experience afterwards. Weihrer received an out-of-court settlement and maintained that she had

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

as result of her experience.BBCNews.com.
'I was awake during eye surgery'.
'June 2, 2004. Weihrer died on April 27, 2024.

References

External links

- Dr. Robert E. Johnstone's review of a speaking engagement by Weiher * CBSNews.com.
Waking Up During Surgery.
' Nov. 24, 2003. * Columbia News Service.
Waking up during surgery: a living nightmare.
' March 1, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weihrer, Carol 1951 births 2024 deaths American health activists Anesthesia