IDK shit about peds, but adult colonoscopy and TEE are both under sedation, not general. Broken arm depends on how they fixed it - if it was a closed reduction then it might have been sedation, but anything open would be general. Septoplasty is always general afaik.

Filing and vasectomy are usually just local anesthesia (numbing). That’s a whole different battle: docs can be impatient and like to start working before the numbing actually starts. You say OW! They get annoyed and push more local, wait 10 seconds, start working again, you say OW, they push more, etc. 10 mins into the torture, the initial dose is finally doing it’s job… but then the other 5 doses kick in and your entire head goes numb. I have that issue with local too - I don’t need more of it, I just need to give it more time to work its magic; so when I need a filling or something I’ll tell the doc to push the local, then take a coffee break or something and check back on me later.

Anyway, you kinda showcase my point: of the operations mentioned, only one stands out as for sure needing general anesthesia, so it sounds less like your anesthesiologist didn’t believe you and more like he just did a shitty job of explaining the kind of anesthesia you’d be receiving.

LOTS of people think they should be asleep for any and every surgery. I’ve had dozens of patients in the operating room nervously ask “shouldn’t I be asleep for this part?” and the nurse shoots an evil eye at the anesthesiologist as she explains “No, you won’t be asleep for any part of this.”