We're amazed at this story of a British hypnotist, who practiced what he preached, and underwent surgery without any anesthetic.
Alex Lenkei, 61, is a registered hypnotist and underwent surgery on his hand and wrist to alleviate his arthritis. During the 83-minute operation the surgeon removed a piece of the bone at the base of Lenkei’s thumb, cut tendons, and fused several joints together.
It was the second time Lenkei had undergone surgery without the aid of anesthetic. He’d previously been hypnotized by a colleague before a hernia operation in 1996. But this time Lenkei opted to hypnotize himself. The operation was undertaken by Dr. David Llewellyn-Clark at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex on the south coast of England.
"It took between 30 seconds to a minute for me to place myself under hypnosis, and from that point I felt a very deep relaxation," says Lenkei. He was conscious throughout the operation, and could hear his surgeon talking, which caused a little concern at one point.
"I heard him say, 'Can I have the saw please?' and imagined him holding this great big thing in his hand. But fortunately he then said 'I think we'll use the smaller one,'" recalls Lenkei.
"He used a hammer and chisel at one stage and I could hear him hammering away at the bone.
"I heard everything he was saying to his assistants and anesthetist, but there was no gossip. It was a shame - I was hoping to hear something juicy."
The doctors, who were not used to holding conversations with their patients while they were operating on them, were shocked at one point when Lenkei asked how everything was going.
An anesthetist was on stand by throughout the operation, but was not needed. Lenkei says he felt no pain. "I could have certainly told them if I was in pain. I told them to zap me straight away if I cried out."
Mr. Lenkei has been practicing hypnosis since he was 16, and has lectured on the subject at the prestigious Royal College of Nursing. Dr. Llewellyn-Clark says he was confident that Lenkei was a skilled hypnotist before the operation, and was “delighted” that it went so well.
"If he had been grinning and bearing it we would have known - but his heart rate and breathing remained constant throughout.”
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