Aww poor Russ!
Well for what it's worth my youngest sister (aged 36 at the time) had her cataracts operated on about 4 years ago now. She had a general anaesthetic as she's squeamish about eyes, but the surgeon was happy do do it under that or a local. She had both eyes done eventually but a gap of 2 - 3 months in between operations. She said she didn't realise how much her sight had deteriorated until after the first operation. Although she hates hospitals etc she said the operation and recovery was a lot easier than she was expecting, and would advise anyone that's having the op not to worry.
She's been diabetic since she was 12 btw.