I have a sneaking suspicion that there is no such thing as a coincidence. I was assigned to opthamology today. So it just so happened that I anesthetized the patient that I examined yesterday. Today, however, she was much more anxious.
After finding a very small vein to administer the anesthetic drugs, I continued with my preparations for inducing anesthesia. Then with tears in her eyes, the patient gasped a choked plea, "I don't want to die."
I reassured her, that I would take care of her and that I would be by her side the entire time. She seemed more calm.
I applied the oxygen mask to her face, asked her to breath deeply and began to administer the drugs. Again I told her that she would be OK. She quietly said, "I love you," and lost consiousness.
Later, in the PACU (post anesthesia care unit aka recovery room), I greeted her and told her that she was out of surgery. She asked with disbelief, "I fell asleep?"
"Yes", I replied, "The operation went well and and it's all over, you're doing just fine."
She then just held my hand for a while.
