have you explained to them that you do get quite emotional. I had carpal tunnel decompression in january on right hand and then left hand done in august. I suffer very bad panic attacks and the thought of being awake for either of my ops was really scary, but i explained to the nurse and they told me that i could have a local anaethetic(?) with sedation, which was fantastic. I told the surgeon when i got to theatre that i didnt want to see anything that as going on and laid looking the opposite way. The actual sedation was really good. Within an hour of both ops i was leaving the hospital where as everyone on the ward was still there and in bed still trying to recover just from the GA. Hope this is some help to you but i would always opt for the local with sedation. Hope everything turns out ok for you.