Aw! Wannabe?
Laymans terms:
First you want to make sure that the decay has not reached the point where you would need a root canal. Because not getting all the decay and proceeding with the crown ($1400.- +) would be a bad idea. You want a good base to set it on.
Crowns are great and they are normally placed in two appts. The first one being a prep appt. in which they would drill it down to fit under a crown and take impressions. You will feel vibrations, and you may experience that mouth full of water feeling and have to sit with some crap in your mouth while it sets. Then they will put a temporary crown made of acrylic on the "nub" (if they are good it will be relatively close to your natural color) and that will remain until the lab has made your permanent one.
They do have alternatives to being totally conscious, such as N202 (nitrous oxide=laughing gas) or a light IV sedation. But I really think you will be fine. The girls will laugh at you and call you a pussy in the back room.
Depending on your insurance, if you let me know what it is I can probably give you a good idea what is covered and whats not, the sedation is normally not covered for crown preps.
Does the drilling really hurt you or is it the thought? If you have a large filling in there already it won't be any worse than that was.