• toynbee@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    When I was preparing for surgery for the first time, my mom told me “they’ll tell you to count down from ten and usually, by the time you get to nine, you’ll be asleep.”

    Once I had a surgery in the genital area. I guess they didn’t put me fully out; I don’t remember whether that was by design, but I remember that my penis was very definitely exposed and I had the thought “I should definitely be embarrassed about this.”

    I did eventually fall asleep. When I woke up, I recognized the nurse attending me. I said something like “I remember you! When I first saw you, I thought ‘what a pretty nurse.’”

    I was young at the time, somewhere in my teenage years, and it certainly wouldn’t have been appropriate for her to respond or for me to say in any other situation … but I hope I made her feel good about herself.