Can facial fat transfer be done while one is awake? Say, with a mild sedative; no IV sedation, etc.

You can do a fat transfer with just local anesthesia.  You will have to be able to tolerate the injections of  full strength local anesthesia in a few places, which burn, but most of the anesthesia is what we call tumescent.  This is mostly saline, and burns very little when injected into both the area of harvest, and the face.  Most patients do well with fat transfer to the face. 

Fat transfer can be done under local anesthesia. This means that patient is completely awake but numb. Just like the dentist office. On occasion, when patient is nervous, we administer oral sedation like Valium or pain medication to relax them.The procedure is pain free, both harvesting of the fat and injecting it in the face. By the time you get home numbing goes away and you might have some aching in the harvest site, but never severe pain.Fat grafting, done right, is usually a very gratifying and artistic procedure. I tell my patients about 40% of fat will get absorbed within 3 months after the procedure. The 60% that stays, you own it for life. If you gain weight, you gain it everywhere including your face, if you lose weight it can also affect the results.