SODA process
Fred,
As others have said, getting a SODA for single eye vision is pretty straight forward. I've been flying with one eye for a number of years now - first my Cessna 140 and since Oct 2008 my RV-6A. My left eye is plastic & paint...
To answer your specific question on what to expect, my experience was very similar to what Scott stated in this thread. In the FAA letter / paperwork you are waiting for, I was given a medical that stated I was restricted to student pilot privileges until scheduling and passing a Medical Flight Test with the FAA at which time I would be issued a SODA and new medical.
That's pretty much how it went too....I asked for clarification from the local FSDO on what I needed to do to solo the Cessna 140 I owned at the time (was still in construction phase with my RV). Although I had a few hundred hours at the time, the FSDO said the restriction didn't just mean I couldn't carry passengers; they told me to fly with a CFI and if I wanted to fly solo then get logbook endorsements for solo flight, airports, towered airports, Class B, etc depending on where I wanted to go. Even said I needed cross-country endorsement which I thought was silly but....these were also the guys I was trying to schedule MFT with so I wasn't going to argue! Wouldn't surprise me if the interpretation on student restrictions is FSDO dependent but that was my experience.
The FAA examiner was good guy and MFT was no big deal. MFT lasted about 20 minutes consisting of short flight where he had me read him instruments on the panel, tune the radio, spot other airplanes, point out potential emergency landing spots and emergency landing spots with obstructions/hazards. He was running through a checklist of specific tasks for me to do. First stop & go was one of the smoothest I'd had in a while (one of those good luck days) so he said full stop on second one and we were done. He pulled out new medical on the ground and gave it to me right there along with SODA that he signed as well. Just show the SODA to AME now and that covers that issue for renewal.
Good luck, you'll get through it!