Woman Wakes Up During Surgery In Colorado: 'An Absolute Horror Story'

A woman is sharing the horrific moment she woke up during a 2019 hernia surgery at a Colorado hospital. Stacey Gustafson told KDVR she's suing the medical professionals involved in the procedure and the company who employed them.

"I would say it’s just living through a medical nightmare – like an absolute horror story that will have an impact of the rest of my life," the patient says. The lawsuit alleges that the IV that administers the drug propofol became disconnected during the 2019 surgery, leading to the patient waking up to agonizing pain. Gustafson allegedly wasn't able to move or speak while the incisions were happening in her abdomen.

“It felt like my insides were being ripped out. Like, a combination of pulling and tearing, and then, at some points, just burning,” she recounts the experience, adding that she did everything she can to get the medical team's attention but to no avail.

Jennifer Keel, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on Gustafson's behalf, called it an "inexcusable" and "colossal mistake."

"Literally, the records say the medication is running out onto the pillow, and the pillow is wet," Keel told reporters. "We don’t medicate pillows. We medicate patients. I don’t know how you could argue that’s not a mistake."

The defendants were listed as Katherine Palomino, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, anesthesiologist Gregory James Goldenhersh, and U.S. Anesthesia Partners of Colorado. KDVR also got a statement on behalf of the defendants:

“(U.S. Anesthesia Partners of Colorado) provides excellent anesthesia care for approximately 225,000 patients in Colorado each year,” Tony Good, vice president of communications, says. "Our over 500 clinicians in Colorado are focused on one thing — patient safety. This is demonstrated by the high-quality outcomes we have across the many thousands of surgeries and procedures in which we provide anesthesia care each year. As this case is a legal matter, it is inappropriate to comment or litigate the matter publicly other than to say that USAP will be defending this case vigorously."

You can read more about these jarring allegations here.