"It's nothing to be afraid of," they'd told him... and he had not been afraid as they'd wheeled him into the induction room as they had already made sure that he would not be in a state to protest...
It had all started early in the morning. Instead of breakfast the nurse had brought him two white pills in a little cup. "Premedication," she'd said. When he'd washed down the pills with a sip of water, she'd asked him to open his mouth to check if he'd really taken them. "Perfect!" she'd said, "It's very important to Dr. Gordon that all test subjects take them. She wants everything to go smoothly when they come to her." Then another nurse had come and together they'd wheeled his bed to the lift and taken him two floors down where they'd pushed him into a kind of waiting room.
While one nurse had put an IV into his vein, the other one had drawn up a row of syringes and put them on a tray. Then a doctor had briefly come in. The nurse had handed him one of the syringes and the doctor had inserted it into his IV. "This will help you with your anxiety," the doctor had said with a smile. Then he'd left again.
The combined medication of the pills and the injection were soon making him sleepy and with a kind of detached interest he watched how the nurses busied themselves with files and charts on a computer. He didn't know how much time had passed when the sliding door opened and two nurses came to pick him up. They wheeled him into the induction room where he was greeted by a scrubbed doctor. "Hello, Mike, I'm Dr. Priscilla Gordon," she said. "How do you feel?" While Mike heard himself mumbling an answer, the doctor turned around. She picked something up and then he saw the anaesthetic mask in the doctor's hands. It was made of clear plastic and did not look like the black rubber masks he'd seen in old movies. Mike looked at the corrugated hoses that were attached to the mask. He had known what those hoses were for, before they'd wheeled him in, before they'd given him... but now...
Dr. Gordon held the mask over his face. "Remember, Mike," Dr. Gordon said, "you breathe the gas, then the we'll carry out some tests and you'll soon be able to go home!" Mike felt the doctor's gloved hands seal the mask onto his face. "I'm not going to ask you to count backwards. Actually, a total loss of consciousness is not what we want to achieve right now. Just breathe the gas and let it take you on a journey!" He noticed a sweet smell in the mask - it was strange, but not frightening.
Doctor Gordon waited until he had taken some breaths, then she started to squeeze the rubber bag. More gas rushed into the mask with each breath now. She was breathing for him, determining the rhythm.... The hissing of the gas was becoming very loud in the mask. It was blocking out all other sounds, pulling him away from the O.R. and the bright lights. It was drawing him into a place of calm. Through the sound of the gas he could hear the doctor talking to him, or was it only her voice in his head? Her voice was calm and soothing. She did what was right for him... He felt safe.
"Tina, please give him the rest of the bolus", Dr. Gordon said to the nurse. She watched her patient as the sedative was injected. He was calmly breathing the gas. The doctor waited for another minute before she lifted the mask. When she took it away, her patient's mouth fell slightly open. Dr. Gordon picked up a rubber airway and inserted it into her patient's nose. He coughed once but then lay still again. He moved his lips as if he wanted to say something but no sound came out of his mouth. "Shhh, it's all right," she said. Then she sealed the mask onto his face again and continued to ventilate him, gently squeezing the bag.
Gloved hands held down his head. The tube was taken out and a new one was pushed down his nose, bigger and longer than the first one. He felt it deep in his throat. This was not ... he did not.. want not... but then the mask was put on his face again. The gas rushed into his lungs as she squeezed the bag. In... out... in.. out.. The rhythm was soothing. He did not have to worry about anything. He could leave everything to her...
When he came round, he was not breathing by himself any more. There was a tube in his throat, connecting him to the machine that breathed for him. He could not remember when it had been put in. He felt his chest rise rhythmically as the gas was pushed into his lungs. Gloved hands touched the breathing tube, making sure that it was securely taped in place. "Well, Mike", he heard Dr. Gordon say, "You have been a very good subject - you responded well to the premedication and were very compliant. We were able to carry out all our tests!" Mike saw the doctor pick up a syringe that the nurse had brought on a tray. "Our clients want patients like you who are easy to sedate and who do not fight anaesthesia," she continued. "They have asked us if you would be ready for another round of testing - of course we were happy to agree to that!" More testing! But she'd promised to send him home, if... ! He saw the doctor connecting the syringe to the IV in his arm. "This is just a little bolus now," she announced. She pressed the plunger and Mike saw some clear fluid leave the syringe and travel into his IV. No! He did not want anaesthesia again! He wanted her to take out the tube, wanted ...He tried to raise his hands, but they were tied to the bed. "Shhh, don't fight it now!" she said. "You were doing so well in the first testing! We want that to continue! Let's have you nicely sedated and the bronchoscopy should not bother you at all!" Her hand now slowly pushed down the plunger again. This time she did not stop until the syringe was completely empty ...
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