A new piece of medical equipment is being tested right now called the Pedisedate. Basically, it is a headset that is placed on a child before they are admitted to surgery. The device connects to a Game Boy or portable CD player (yup, not a Nintendo DS or iPod — apparently the Pedisedate also transports you to 1996) and a snorkel-like piece swings forward and is placed over the child’s nose. As the kid plays videogames or listens to music, nitrous oxide, an anesthetic gas, is emitted through the snorkel and puts the child to sleep.
I had a lot of surgery when I was a kid, and I can honestly say it never really bothered me, the injection hurt but that was about it. Why would I’m be bothered by it, it was perfectly safe they’d already told me that.
It’s only adults that worry about going into surgery. We know the odds are good will be okay but not 100%. Kids don’t know any of this so they’re perfectly happy with it all.