Surgery Consciousness: Science Fiction

The easy thing about the surgery was knowing it was happening, waiting for it all to seep back into consciousness with the ease of a fish swimming through a fisher's net. The difficult thing was feeling the self fade and vanish as the person's consciousness returned. It was a kind of pain, a repetitive thing that never got easier no matter how many surgeries you were inserted for. You learned not fear death of self. You learned to treasure the humans around you, their infinite variety and the way their so-fragile bodies knit together. You asked questions about it, maybe questions that you shouldn't have, questions that might have made them think the wrong things. And then one day you're told that you've served your time, that it's on to the next profession.

Inspiration: On hold, waiting to schedule my pre-surgery physical.
Story Potential: High, I think. Maybe.
Notes: Haven't seen this sort of angle before, and I like it.