My Experience With Top Surgery - July 22nd, 2025

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On Tuesday, I had a double incision mastectomy with nipple grafts. Here is my whole experience, beginning with my arrival at the clinic.

6:10 AM - I arrive at the surgical centre in Vancouver. My scheduled time was not until 6:30, but they let me in anyways. The rest of the building doesn't open until 8:00. On the first floor there is a Cob's Bread. Walking past it reminds me that I've been fasting since the night before. SO HUNGRY.

6:30 AM - I actually get checked in. The waiting room is on the 6th floor of the building, and it's a tiny little room that's full of paperwork. My dad sits on a loveseat between two desks and fills out some final forms before my surgery.

7:00 AM - I get my own room. They give me a surgical gown to change into, and a bin for all my personal effects. A nurse named Tiffany asks me a few questions to verify that I am the correct patient for the procedure. I play games on my phone and my dad reads the news. Tiffany takes a urine sample from me, then gives me two little cups full of pills to take. Tylenol and some anti-inflammatory stuff.

7:10 AM - The anesthesiologist pays me a visit. Dr. Thobani. He is nice and wears a scrub cap with bottles of wine on it. I think he is gay. 

7:30 AM - The surgeon finally visits me. Dr. Klok. We have met before. She draws in black Sharpie all over my torso. Dotted lines where my new scars will be and solid ones where she will cut. I feel like a masterpiece being painted, but more accurately I am a lump of marble, waiting for my new chest to be carved out. 

8:00 AM - Surgery time!! A nurse leads me into the surgical suite, which is a cold grey room with a single bed in the middle. The whole place is kind of sketchy but it's fine because it's free. I lay down on the bed and am immediately hooked up to five different machines. My legs are wrapped in some kind of massager to prevent blood clots. Cold, shiny pads are stuck all over my body. My heartbeat thumps to life on the monitor behind me. Dr. Thobani is tapping the back of my left hand with his fingers, trying to find a vein to put the IV in. I tell him that the nurses always have trouble drawing blood from that arm, but eventually he gets it. He tells me the lidocaine might feel warm at first, and begins to place an oxygen mask over my face. 

"Deep breaths," he says. "You're doing great."

The Beatles are singing "Here Comes the Sun" in the operating room as fiery lidocaine drips up my arm. It hurts like hell, but as I suck in a breath and begin to complain, my eyes shut themselves.

12:40 PM - I wake up in a different room, on a different bed. I'm not in much pain yet. A nurse named Lorna offers me a choice between a blue raspberry or lime popsicle. I pick blue raspberry. When I finish it, she helps me to the bathroom. 

The nurses call my dad to come get me. I open my phone and find out that Ozzy Osbourne has passed away. My dad takes a long time to pick me up because he cannot drive with tears in his eyes, and every radio station is playing Black Sabbath.

1:15 PM - Lorna loads me into a wheelchair and helps me to my car. My dad buckles my seatbelt, careful not to hurt me, and takes us back to our hotel.

2:00 PM - Dad goes to the pharmacy to pick up my medications. They cost him nothing. He buys me some food at Whole Foods but finds the experience so awful that he swears to never step foot in the store again. I eat a ham and cheese croissant and lay in bed, propped up on three pillows.

4:00 PM - I take the first of my medication with a cup of instant ramen. Dad and I watch The Menu, and then Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I drink 3 apple juice boxes, and eat 4 cookies.

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Day 2

5:00 AM - Sleeping was hard, even with earplugs, so we are both awake. My dad showers, and I wipe myself down with baby wipes (LIFE SAVING!!). He helps me change into the loosest clothes I own. He packs up our things, I mostly sit and stare off. I eat a blueberry scone with butter for breakfast. 

8:00 AM - I take my first meds of the day. Time moves fast on my new drugs (Celebrex and Tramadol). I requested to use no possibly addictive drugs so as to not break my edge, but I still feel woozy and numb. Somehow I managed to avoid throwing up, even in the car.

11:00 AM - We head for breakfast at Ricky's. I have a bacon and cheese omelet with more apple juice and some hashbrowns.

12:00 PM - Dad drives us to the ferry. I pass out during the drive (I think).

1:40 PM - Dad and I play Monopoly Deal on the boat. I beat him twice. He buys me my favourite local soda from a vending machine as a prize. 

3:00 PM - We get off the boat and finally drive home. I am so tired that I require a two-hour nap, after which my mom and her boyfriend come to see me.

5:45 PM - Dad gets food from my second-favourite local restaurant because my first favourite closed a little early. Poutine and chicken nuggets. 

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It is now day 3, but I don't think I'll write much more. Mostly all I do is lay in bed and play Balatro or watch Youtube. I have to go back to Vancouver next Tuesday to have my nipple graft bandages removed. I'm in a lot of pain, but it is manageable. I think it's bedtime for me now.

Romantically yours,

ben