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The best thing about general anesthesia is that you remember nothing! As a rule, they do start an IV, the blood work is up to your doctor's discretion. The anesthesiologist or the nurse anesthetist will stop by while you're in outpatient and ask if you have any allergies, if you have any questions, etc. Usually anesthesiologists are pretty cool for doctors cause they don't have to fool with an office practice or following up on patients.

When you get in to the procedure room and onto the bed or cart the doctor or nurse will inject medication into your vein. They may ask you to count backwards or something. Usually people get through about 2½ numbers and they're asleep. Just as soon as the doctor that's doing the procedure gets through they'll inject you with something that'll wake you, you'll probably go to a recovery room for a half hour or so and then be ready to go home.

I worked for a number of years for a surgeon and we did many short procedures. They were always safe and went off without a hitch. Best of luck to you!

Every procedure is different. The amount of a general will depend on how long you will be under and why. A quick procedure is usually done with a cocktail of meds to ease and pain and make you forget. If you're going under for surgery that is a different matter. Just relax and enjoy the new experience be sure to communicate with the doctor if you feel anything you shouldn't. Good luck

I have gotten blood work before any procedure I have ever got.

You ALWAYS get an IV.

I have been put under many times.

It comes on VERY quickly. First I chuckle. Babble for a few seconds and then everything gets bright and fades away. You wake up what feels like seconds later and feel groggy/drunk.

i'm 23 and i've had 9 surgeries (8 under general anesthesia and 1 under IV sedation) so i pretty much know the drill and i'll try to give you a run down of what happens from the time you get to the hospital to the time you leave.

first you'll probably be told not to eat or drink anything effective at midnight the night before surgery.

you'll go to the hospital and go to the admission desk. they'll put some info into the computer and put a wrist band on.

then you go up to what ever floor they tell you to and the nurse will put you in a room, ask you a bunch of questions, take your blood pressure and temp, and maybe ask for a urine sample. then they'll give you a gown and tell you to hang out on the bed until they come get you. you'll then be wheeled on a cart down to the preoperative area. depending on your age they may ask your parents to go to the waiting room or they may let them come to the preoperative area with you.

down in pre-op they will ask you a bunch of the same questions that you were already asked just so they can be sure everything was written correctly. they'll take your BP again (they will put a cuff on that does it automatically every few minutes and this will stay on for the entire surgery and while you are in the recovery room), take your temp again, and also put a pulse ox monitor on your finger. it just measures how much oxygen you have in your body so they can regulate it(this will also stay on during surgery and in the recovery room) it doesn't hurt or anything. and they'll start an IV in the back of your hand or in the bend of your arm. the dr doing the surgery will usually appear to ask if you have any last minute questions and run through exactly what he is doing again. then if you are extremely nervous they may give you something in the IV to calm you down. it will most likely give you a burning sensation in your arm for a minute but it goes away quickly. it may make you feel tired, looopy, or just chilled out depending on what drug they used.

then they will wheel you into the operating room and help you scoot over onto the operating table. they'll then put an oxygen mask on your face and heart monitor patches on your chest. then they will either give you the anesthesia through the mask or through the IV. if its through the mask you will just breath it in. it smells like nail polish remover. you may feel like you can't breath cuz the smell is sooo strong but with in a minute you are out like a light. if its given through the IV you will have a burning sensation in your arm for a frew seconds and then you may start to feel dizzy or sick but before you can even tell someone you don't feel good you are out like a light.

when you wake up you may feel like you just closed your eyes and then opened them again. you may not even realize for a second that the surgery even started let alone it being done already.

you'll almost certainly feel really tired. you may also experience uncontrolable shaking, being emotional and crying cuz you don't know whats going on, feeling dizzy and possibly fainting, and/or feeling sick and possibly throwing up. these are all common side effects after anesthesia.

you will start out in the recovery room where there are nurses and other patients coming out of anesthesia. they will monitor you and bug you every few minutes to make sure you are alright. they don't really expect you to full wake up in this room. once you are stable you will be wheeled back up to the room you started in when you got there and that is where your parents can see you again. at this point a nurse will come in and really start to try to get you to wake up. they'll try to get you to drink something like apple juice or 7up. they also try to get you to go use the bathroom.

they usually try to get you up and out as quickly as they can so they can make more room for other patients.

if you don't feel like you can get up and go then don't let them rush you. its best to go at your own pace this will lessen the chance of you getting extremely sick or dizzy.

one little thing that i always try to let people know is if you get the least bit chilly ask for a blanket. they have a "warming oven" so when they give you a blanket it is nice and warm. if you are still cold ask for another one and another until you feel comfortable cuz when you get cold you get more shaky and in my opinion then get more nervious.

hope all goes well :)