What to expect when you go in for top surgery.
Note that this is how it went for me specifically. I did my surgery through the Cleveland Clinic (main campus). If you want info on the Dr, PM me and I'll give you his info (highly recommend him). If you want info on how to get scheduled for top surgery/the recovery after the hospital/how I prepared for it just send an ask or PM me.
Without further ado, this is how it all went down for me the day of the surgery:
-arrive at hospital at 5am. Make sure you look up which building to go to before hand. Most places are big and kinda like a maze. Maps are your friends.
-wait in a long line to get all checked in then sit in the waiting area till you're called. I went with my mom. She held all my things for me. I wasn't allowed to take anything in with me.
-I went to a large room that had lots of beds all seperated by curtains. I was given a robe and a bag. I put all my clothes into the bag and put on the robe. Felt really weird cuz it opened in the back.
-had to pee in a cup too.
-once I was changed I sat on the bed and just relaxed. From there it was just a lot of waiting. They're gonna ask you you're name and date of birth more times then you can count. Every time they talk to you I swear.
-one nurse came in and gave me an IV in my hand. -10/10 review. I hated that IV. I didn't have any pain after my surgery except for the stupid IV. That thing felt like it was constantly pinching me and I couldn't do anything about it.
-no idea how long I sat there but it was really boring since I didn't have my phone. I wanna say it was between 30-60 minutes? They let my mom come in and talk to me a bit before it was time to wheel me away. They put me on a different bed and I got pushed through hallway after hallway after hallway. I wasn't kidding when I said this place was like a maze.
-sat outside the surgery room for a good long while too. Just laying in the bed. I was positioned at a wall and I just watched a janitor sweep for a while before they were finally ready for me.
-the operating room was bigger than I expected. Lots of stuff along the walls and a very skinny table in the center of the room. There were about 4 people in the room. The main Dr who I had all my prior appointments with introduced himself again and the everyone else in the room. One guy was the anesthesiologist who was in charge of making sure I was safe while they put me under. There was a student there who was there to watch and learn. She was very nice. And then an assistant I believe? I don't remember exactly.
-the Dr walked me through the surgery again, confirming everything we had discussed in my appointments. He also made some marks on my chest while I was sitting up to help him later when he needed to align stuff to make it look good. Asked if I had any questions.
-he asked if I was ready. I said yes. They put me under. I didn't feel the anesthetics. I kinda just... Blinked. And after that blink everyone was in a different spot and my chest felt tight. If you've ever worn a lifejacket that's nice and snug it was like that. I could breath fine, it was just tight.
-I couldn't really move right away with the exception of my head. I mostly just felt confused. Otherwise I was fine. The assistant asked how I felt and I said good. Then the Dr walked over and told me how everything went well. There was no issues. They asked if I had any questions again.
-the next part was kinda hard. I had to get back into the wheely bed so I could be moved. But you can't put up with your arms. So it was a weird sorta scoot over to from the table to the bed. Then I was wheeled away again.
-i went back to the large room with the curtains again where I was given shaved ice to eat. The said I'd have to wait there till they get an actual room open for me. I wasn't allowed to get out of the bed and the IV had to stay in till the next morning.
-at this point it was about 10am according to the clock in the room. I just sat there listening to all the monitors going. There were a lotta beds with a lotta noises. They had a blood pressure machine on my arm that would randomly squeeze to check my blood pressure throughout the day. I kinda just went in and outta sleep from there on.
-I wasn't in any pain. I was just very very very very tired. I talked to the nurses. After a while they gave me some crackers because it was taking a really long time to find me a room. I guess there was some sorta issue going on. It was only supposed to take a few hours but I ended up waiting till almost 5pm. Which really wasn't that bad since I was mostly just sleeping. It just sucked that I didn't have my phone.
-I also wasn't allowed to get up to use the restroom yet. I wasn't allowed up till I moved to an actual room. And I had to go really bad around 2pm. Ended up having to use on of those bed toilets. I had to pick my self up enough for them to slid it under me, and then move it afterwards. Not a fun experience, but not as terrible as you think.
-they finally secured the room and wheeled me away. Once in the room I had to do that weird scoot again to get onto the new bed. This bed had a remote that let me rise and lower it, along with a TV with cable. I had a little table that came over the bed so I could eat. It was very nice.
-my mom was finally allowed in and her, the nurse, and I all talked about what was next. I got a water bottle with straw to drink. And after that I was given applesauce. Since I successfully got all that down they let my mom go buy me some real food and I got to eat dinner.
-I had to spend the night at the hospital with my mom picking me up in the morning. If I needed to use the bathroom I had to call for a nurse. They'd help me get to the bathroom. I had to go in what was called a "hat." Which is basically just a plastic bowl they put in the toilet bowl to catch everything. They have to check your urine for stuff. It's just like using the bathroom normally you just don't flush.
-after a while my mom left to go home. I played on my phone and watched TV. The IV was the only thing that was frustrating. It hurt my hand and makes you have to pee a LOT. Expect to make lots of trips.
-in the morning the assistant and student came in to see how I was doing. They undid the bandages to make sure it was all good. Then redid it.
-I finally got the IV out of my hand!!!!
-my mom showed up and we got some paperwork.
-they put me in a wheelchair and I rode that to the car.
-went home for the rest of my recovery.















