Dreaming into Reality “She will sleep the sleep of death,” said Ghoneim (2001) in his book Consciousness During Anesthesia (p. 55). Patient recollection is a frightening and fascinating concept describing how a patient can remember events under anesthesia during a surgical procedure. It is a growing concern in the medical field due to its traumatic effects on patients. Patient consciousness involves the patient under anesthesia experiencing pain, vaguely remembering music, or remembering doctors speaking as if dreaming. This topic is very controversial as there are not many cases in which a patient has experienced a booster or brought it to the attention of the anesthesiologist. Throughout this essay, my goal is to discuss anesthesia as well as patient recall and ways in which we can address this issue. Patient recall involves patients with preconceived notions as well as poorly trained professionals who make mistakes. To solve this problem, patients and anesthesiologists must work together. Anesthesia has been used throughout medical history; The purpose of anesthesia is to prevent pain during surgery or any other medical procedure. Claudia M. Caruana (2010) mentions that anesthesia works by blocking nerve signals from reaching the brain to allow the body to respond and try to stop the pain (p. 8). Anesthesia has many different uses for many types of surgeries, from using very strong sedatives for intensive surgeries to using very mild sedatives like nitrous oxide for pain relief. All medications in the anesthesiologist's arsenal have different uses for different occasions, which can be an advantage but also a drawback. Anesthesia is a necessary evil that must be used throughout surgical procedures and...... middle of paper. ....we are unconscious of what is happening, but in some unusual circumstances the person can remember the events through certain stimuli such as hypnosis. Explicit memory is also what is most recognized because the patient is completely conscious or just enough to remember exactly what happened after the operation is over (p. 3). There are cases of patients who have become conscious and are horrible examples of how the patient remembers is a serious problem that we need to correct. In CNN Health, Landau (2010) interviews a woman named Carol Weiher who woke up to hear music and talking while undergoing eye surgery (para. 1). Landau also mentions that Weiher intends to “Cut deeper, pull harder” (para. 1). According to the Mayo Clinic article "Awake During Surgery: 'I'm in Hell' About One or Two People in 1,000 May Awaken During General Anesthesia" (para.. 4).