I had general anaesthesia twice when I was a boy. The second one was dental, and contributed to my anaesthesia fetish (which came later) I was 7yo. My dad drove me to a rather sinister, deserted building where we went up to a darkened landing on the second floor. The dentist must have been listening out for us, though. A door opened and bright light shone out. The dentist spoke to Dad briefly, then ushered me into the bright room, telling Dad to wait outside. The first surprise was to see, standing beside the dentist chair in the very middle of the room, a second, younger man. I soon learnt that he was the anaesthetist. He was already grinning at me - which I didn't much like. The dentist ushered me into the chair, switched on the large lamp above it, strapped me in (I think), then tilted the chair, and asked me to open wide. He took a look around and then grunted, and nodded to the anaesthetist. The latter stepped in front of me, and again grinned. ‘Had your tonsils out?’ he asked. I nodded weakly. Quickly he fitted a black-beauty-type mask over my mouth and nostrils, then turned on the gas. Soon I was out. I only next remember waking up at home.
Several things that day contributed to my later anaesthesia fetish. One was the power inbalance between the young boy and the two white-coated men, especially the grinning anaesthetist. Another was the bright light, in effect giving me no place to hide. Another was my immobility (part of the power inbalance I mentioned). Another was the anaesthetist joking about my earlier anaesthesia experience. Also, later, when my fetish had developed, an added element was the possibility that these two men were paedophiles who had me at their mercy. (If anyone knows the silent film GREED, about a dentist and his female patients, you will see a parallel there.)
Powerful stuff, all of the above. I sometimes wonder whether the medical and dental professions know of the possibility that their procedures may have a fetishistic effect later. I mean, on their patients - although I also remember being told, years ago, by a retired medical orderly, that once he retired he developed some sort of fetish about his work in hospitals.
- Ken