I rarely use a general anaesthetic and so unless that is the plan, get up, eat breakfast, take your medication and just be normal.
You will come into the hospital and I will go through the consent form once more, although I firmly believe the consent process started the minute we met and discussed your options. Drops will be put into the eyes to dilate the pupil and these take around 20 minutes to work. You will have the chance to discuss anaesthetic and sedation requirements with an anaesthetist. I perform most of my cataract surgery using drops and some anaesthetic inside the eye after we get going. For retinal surgery I use an anaesthetist who will administer an eye block. They will discuss this with you.
When it is your time for surgery you will be taken to theatre where we will transfer you to a bed. Clothes and shoes stay on thank you! We will check again who you are.You may have a drip placed in the back of your hand for sedation and then you will have the anaesthetic injection around the eye if this is required or more drops if it is not. An injection around the eye sounds like the stuff of nightmares but you see nothing and generally feel very little as we can numb the eye with drops before we start. You may feel a short sting and then some pressure. The anaesthetic works very quickly, it numbs the eye, it stops the eye from moving and in some cases the vision dulls and bright lights look dim. You will then be moved into theatre where I will be waiting and ready to go.