Hazel,One of my good friends had this surgery and did well with it. Other than having to wear a brace for a while post-op she was back to work and doing what she could while maintaining her Drs. post op instructions.
Carpal Tunnel Surgery is done under twilight anesthesia.
The drugs cause amnesia, so it feels like one has been completely knocked out.
Even though general anesthesia is not administered, when the patient awakes they
cannot remember any of the events that have taken place during the surgery. Along with the twilight anesthesia local anesthesia, numbing medicine, is injected at the site of surgery. Do talk to your surgeon about the type of amnesia that will be used as this will help decrease your concerns.
I had foot surgery using this type of anesthesia and got up off the operating table and into the wheelchair right after surgery without problems.
Kindly,
Kitt