I’ve had 4 cornea transplants and PRK (like LASIK but no flap). Before I started I was very nervous and sensitive to anything touching my eyes. Now it’s like,

I’ve had 4 cornea transplants and PRK (like LASIK but no flap). Before I started I was very nervous and sensitive to anything touching my eyes. Now it’s like, whatever, do what you need to do. The anxiety is worse than the procedures, by far. I don’t have any helpful advice to give; I just toughed it out. The only bad experience I ever had was during my second transplant. They conduct transplants under conscious sedation plus local anesthesia. The sedative puts you to sleep for a few minutes while they nerve block the side of your face with Novocaine and then they wake you up a little for the procedure. I found the procedure profoundly disturbing psychologically even though I was in no discomfort. They use a trephine (like a small razor sharp cookie cutter) to remove your cornea; you’re awake and can sorta see it. It makes squishy noises. Your vision skews all over and then goes really blurry and you realize that there’s nothing but gravity keeping the insides of your eye in. After that I always asked the anesthesiologist to sedate me just to the point where I was unconscious or at least not aware/lucid. Most doctors are very caring people and used to addressing anxiety. Maybe not surgeons so much, at least in my experience.