I have had about 6 laser surgeries for retinal detachment. The brightness of the laser was the hardest part for me. It is a laser after all.
As the other poster said they will numb your eye with drops and once you are ready they stick this lens thing on your eye with what felt like Vaseline. Then chin in the chin rest and forehead against the thingy for your head.
The laser sometimes doesn't cause any sensation. Sometimes it hurt but it was tolerable.
One of my surgeries the pain wasn't tolerable so they number my whole eye by putting a needle through my lower eyelid and then got the needle behind my eye and injected the novicane. When it kicks in the optic nerve goes numb so all vision stops.

I have lattice degeneration, and I think I've had about 4-5 laser repair surgeries per eye (none in the past 4 and a bit years, thank God!!). It is nerve-wracking the first (or second, or fifth) time for sure!

My mum likes to call it "spot welding".
...which I think is funny but freaks some people out, so depends on your partner's sense of humour!!

I'll try recall the best I can (but do keep in mind all of mine occured 4+ years ago and between the ages of 15-18, so my memory may be spotty!):

My surgeries were done in an (adult) outpatient clinic at the hospital.
I was totally awake each time, and was given dilation and numbing drops (the yellow ones that make tears look a fun radioactive colour afterwards) ahead of time while waiting in the waiting room with other patients.
...if you/your partner are under 60 and not at a "rare genetic eye weirdness" clinic, prepare to get some odd looks cuz you may be the youngest people there by quite a bit - many times was asked if I was in the right place lol!! But do chat with the others there, some have absolutely wonderful stories and it does make the time pass so much faster!

Once dilated, I'd have pressures checked and a final look at the retina (with the fancy machine version of the little optician's lens that makes the light really bright), and then would wait again.
Then the nurse would check my numbing drops were working (just by asking) and if I wanted some more they'd give me those. Dilation was also checked.
Then a bit more waiting, and then called into the surgery room (which looked like your average ophtho office), where eyes were looked at again and a little lens-less lens was placed on my eye to keep the eyelid open (you don't feel it at all!).
Then you place your chin on the chinrest and forehead against the bar like normal. For me the nurse would hold my head still, just in case.
Then a couple minutes of work? I don't remember this part too well to be entirely honest! Eyes were done one at a time though, although in quick succession with not much break between except to reset equipment.

It didn't hurt in the sense of "ah I'm being burnt by a laser!", but it was never comfy. More akin to pressure very deep in the eye perhaps? It's a unique feeling. But people report different experiences (I was told there is some evidence eye colour plays a role, but not sure how much research has been done on that).

Eyes were always sore (but not enough to bother taking an ibruprofen) and a little "off" for a couple days afterwards, and I basically lived in sunnies and a hat, and took a couple days off school.

As I'm sure you've been told, you (or someone else trusted) should accompany your partner, and be sure to keep sunnies & brimmed hat close at hand to put on ASAP. Ice cream or a favourite sweet beverage afterwards never goes awry either ;)

Overall it's not fun, but it is a rather relaxed experience. Nothing too fussy. The waiting was easily the worst part!

All my prayers for your partner and yourself! I hope everything goes smoothly!!

I don't have this condition, but if she's being put to sleep with an IV, it's just a little pintch on your hand and then it's cold up your arm and you sleep.

If she's very nervus, the hospital might be able to give her numbing cream on her hand, I had that when I was younger and it worked great.

It might cost a bit more in america but if she's very nervus I'd say it's worth it, she's very lucky to have you helping her through this.

Hey there, it sounds like her and I are in a very similar situation. I had Glaucoma and developed two detachments in one eye. It didn't go so well for me, but I've had surgery after surgery after surgery since I was a baby. Problems with my lenses and nystagmis and a bunch of other stuff. It's like all of my family's genetic defects got passed down and dumped straight into my eyes.

​

I'm not really sure what to add here since she's already gone through this ordeal and already had consults with the doctor. I had laser and a silicone bubble put in for both repairs. The bubble had to be removed in a followup surgery. A retinal detachment is considered a medical emergency, so it's a good thing you're getting this taken care of ASAP. I wish you and your partner the best of luck.

Hi everyone, OP here, just wanted to add a little detail. My partner has congenital glaucoma. She has already experienced a full retinal detachment years ago in one eye due to trauma. I won’t get into it now but it basically wasn’t handled quickly and she ended up having a lot of surgery on one eye, only the optic nerve is preserved and no vision is left in that eye.

She’s been doing quite well with the vision in the other eye until she spontaneously developed a tear in that one this week. We have consultation and most likely surgery on Monday, she’s stable now and we’re just trying to wrap our heads around the situation.

Also if you’re wondering why it’s me instead of her asking you, she is subbed to /r/blind but she is still getting the hang of TTS, so for now I am helping her with social media and the like. Hopefully that’s alright with everyone.