I COULD SEE DOING THIS: Going Under the Knife, With Eyes and Ears Wide Open. “More surgery is being performed with the patient awake and looking on, for both financial and medical reasons. But as surgical patients are electing to keep their eyes wide open, doctor-patient protocol has not kept pace with the new practice. Patients can become unnerved by a seemingly ominous silence, or put off by what passes for office humor.”

Related: Watching my surgeon cut into my knee.