Looks like we made it to 2025, congratulations.

2024 was… kind of wild?

Back in February I was on site at the NGV for a university summer intensive.

_{Basse Stittgen, Blood Record | NGV Triennial, 2023-2024}

Highly recommend even for casual non-academic purposes if you’re in Melbourne, most exhibits at the NGV are free, you can just walk right on in there.

Summer elective completed, I was crossing the equator the following month for a university exchange from March to August which had me living and studying in Saga, Japan, for a very humid spring semester.

_{Culture shock hit hard, but I find myself missing my temporary home in Honjo-Machi, it was peaceful.}

Crossing the equator back to Australia and doubling my spring semesters by wrapping up a third year at La Trobe, leaving one more year to finish 5 remaining units of undergrad (part-time at 50-75% courseload has meant taking 4 years rather than the standard 3).

_{Actual image of me on campus.}

In November, after university had wrapped up for the year, Sabi treated me to matching tattoos as a late birthday present.

_{He’s since healed up without any drama.}

Finally closing things out with a chest reconstruction surgery I’d began actively pursuing in late 2022 by requesting a referral to Iris Plastic Surgery from my (at that time) GP.

The initial consultation took place during March of 2023 with Dr. Cheng Lo and our follow-up took place in June of that year.

Initially optimistic for keyhole, but ultimately accepting that I was not a good candidate and double incision would provide a better result. This also meant a request to forego nipple grafts; the few people aware of this decision have asked about prosthetics or anatomical tattoos, to which I’ve made a general non-committal agreement but… while I may be interested in tattoo work at some point in the future, the available real estate could be put to more interesting use. If I’m not willing to heal the real deal, I promise I’m not funnelling that effort into an aesthetically superfluous, functionally redundant anatomical feature my overall feelings toward could best be described as indifferent.

Waiting times initially suggested a possible February 2024 schedule, although I likely would have postponed had that eventuated on account of not wanting to risk healing complications interfering with study abroad.

Maybe I’ll do a write up about my experience navigating the medical system in Japan at some point? For now just know it directly led to changing my (Australian) GP clinic entirely to one cross referenced between lists provided by both my psychologist and endocrinologist. Just because a doctor says they can manage a transgender patient does not mean they understand the reality of what that actually entails.

In any case, shortly after returning to Australia, I got a call from Iris Plastic Surgery with the humorous statement: “I know we just spoke to you in June-“ but like, it was June 2023, the logistics of attending that appointment in 2024 would’ve been somewhat complicated on account of my physical location at the time. A full 14 months had indeed passed when they called in late August of 2024.

Reading up on previous patient reviews, several insist that you need to call in the interim between follow-up and callback, however, this is entirely unnecessary and I never did so because I have never once willingly made a telephone call in my life. The reality of waiting lists being what it is, this specific instance happened to be shockingly convenient for my personal schedule.

Possible dates were offered for either October, November, or December, which is in line with the suggestion of an approximate 15 month wait (this is without private insurance, not sure if that makes a difference). October was during exams week and November was right before a concert I’d already purchased tickets for.

_{Hybrid Theory (Linkin Park tribute band) at Northcote Theatre.}

So I opted for the 19th of December 2024, at Masada Private Hospital. Unfortunately this meant having to forego advance screenings of Sonic 3 on the 23rd anniversary of the Japanese release of the Gamecube port of Sonic Adventure 2 which was obviously incredibly upsetting and I may never fully recover.

Actually I was very brave and when I finally got to see it on the 27th I did not cry when they played Live & Learn during the big space fight scene, not that it’s any of your business.

Obviously I wasn’t being personally targeted as a demographic.

_{People who like Shadow the Hedgehog the normal amount: me.}

Being a dumbass, I remained focussed on university and put surgery on the back burner until after finals. This wasn’t a problem for WPATH paperwork, which needs to be submitted to the surgeon’s office within 3 months prior to the surgery date, because I see a clinical psychologist on the regular for reasons unrelated to hedgehogs because I’m normal about those. However, do keep in mind that there are different types of psychologists who may be willing to submit the documentation but it can only be provided by either a clinical psychologist, or a psychiatrist (it’s also possible this could become irrelevant if the assessment process is phased out; allegedly there is currently one surgeon in the country who does not require it).

While the WPATH Assessment was fine, I did get caught out when attempting to access Compassionate Release of Superannuation through the ATO; this needs to be signed off under mental health by a GP and a psychiatrist- cannot be a psychologist. It paid off to have switched GP clinics at this point because my new doctor knew a guy who knew the paperwork and routinely holds short-notice appointments for paperwork reasons. It cost around $500 for the appointment and was able to be held via Telehealth within two weeks of referral.

Paperwork submitted and time ticking out, I got a call from the ATO who were positively bamboozled to discover that they did not have my full legal name on record. If you’ve seen my full legal name you’ll understand, I know I should change it to better avoid these exact issues (shout out to that one time at the bank), but please consider: it’s funnier if I don’t. It was able to be corrected over the phone without too much trouble; everything was otherwise correctly set up so it hadn’t caused problems before, but with a substantial slab of superannuation coming out they do need to be wary of potential fraud.

Sorting that out, the paperwork was next submitted to the superannuation company; who were also shockingly helpful and easy to communicate with. That may feel like the bare minimum but there’s a reason for avoiding phone calls and my girls at customer support thankfully weren’t it.

Aside from the resultant stress of my sloppy time management, the process was surprisingly straightforward and I had the funds about a week before the procedure.

• Surgeon and anaesthetist were paid in advance, about $8,000(AUD) and $2,000(AUD) respectively.
• The hospital was paid on admission, about $5,000(AUD).
• Prescriptions were paid on discharge, about $30(AUD).
• Followed by some pathology costs sent by mail, about $200(AUD).

Medicare rebates were available for surgeon, anaesthetist, and pathology. Paperwork for each of these was sent afterwards and I was able to submit them myself through Medicare’s online system. The above costs are what was roughly paid upfront (rounding up) without subtracting rebates. Health insurance can cover some costs too, but I’m uninsured so don’t really know how that works.

Admission was at 06:30 on the 19th, I’d stayed at my parents’ place the night before partly so they could drive and partly to get the cat settled in as we were staying with them until the 28th.

_{She was… not thrilled to be back having previously been abandoned there for a semester while I was on exchange.}

Before heading in my mother gave me a Shadow the Hedgehog Build-A-Bear which, aside from being normal about that, I’d been too preoccupied the previous day with catching my actual cat and completely forgot to pack Miniso cat in the overnight bag.

_{Conveniently they’re similar sizes.}

Once admitted, the nursing staff went over basic health and identity checklists before I got changed into a hospital gown, followed by Dr. Lo doing the surgical markings and taking several reference photographs.

Next was a brief consultation with the anaesthetist followed shortly by being loaded up onto a table and pumped full of drugs.

Recovery was a pretty bizarre experience. For the record, I have been under general anaesthesia on one other occasion: having my wisdom teeth removed back in 2010. Waking up from that felt pretty immediate; I knew where I was, understood what was going on, and could hold a conversation.

Whether a result of age, or the type of sedation used, waking up this time was a bit different. Staff were asking questions to which I was responding, but the conversation I was having was largely unrelated to the questions they were asking. To some extent I was aware that there was a mismatch of communication, yet completely powerless to do anything about it. It was also very cold but a weird blue blanket solved that pretty quickly. The blue blanket was replaced with several layers of white blankets from the Blanket Oven™ once I was ready to be wheeled out into a private room and having like 800 blankets was probably my favourite part of the whole experience. A few hours later it got way too warm and I reluctantly bid farewell to the extra blankets.

Time was kind of hazy after that, the anaesthetist’s report suggests roughly two hours, 08:00~ish to 10:00~ish, and I assume it was around 14:00 when my parents briefly visited as the hospital visiting hours were marked as 14:00-20:00.

Aside from being tired, I mostly just felt relieved after the surgery. Nursing staff at Masada were excellent and, disregarding the expected discomfort of being in recovery from surgery, I was quite comfortable overall.

Using the bathroom was rather awkward as I had drainage tubes which didn’t come out until cleared to leave the following day. Needless to say I am eternally grateful to have been granted a private room with its own private bathroom to hobble around on my own terms. Presumably there is also a shared ward, because the online pre-admission had allowed me to request for privacy; unsure whether or not this affected the total cost but honestly would’ve paid it regardless- not to be an introvert but I’d rather die from the anaesthetic than have to share a room with strangers.

An IV port was also pretty gnarly in my left arm until it was time to leave, although the actual IV itself had been removed once I was drinking water and eating. The port just stayed in, unplugged, to save time if there was a complication or emergency.

Speaking of drinking and eating; water was highly encouraged once I was awake and sitting up. Fasting was from midnight before surgery so a little dehydration isn’t super uncommon. While visiting, my parents were perhaps slightly alarmed by my resting heart rate, later confirmed by the nurse calling in the shift lead to have a look at it. Nobody told me what it was and I couldn’t see it from the bed, but I know on a good day it’s over 100 so can only imagine what dehydration did to that shit. Cue the comic timing of a catering staff member entering, nurse and shift lead still fussing over my definitely way too high pulse, it’s afternoon tea rounds and she’s offering my ass a coffee.
No, I did not refuse.

The pulse monitor was removed shortly after that.

At some point in the night I got up to use the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth. Aside from wrangling drainage tubes, getting up also meant unplugging these weird inflatable socks which were wired to a device attached to the bed. If they were unplugged for too long the machine started aggressively beeping to alert the nurses of an escape. Very stressful because I also wanted to check the phone and get Shadow out of my bag but had to make several trips to minimise the beeping.

No photos from the hospital partly because I was too tired and partly because there was signage expressly forbidding the use of cameras (exempting those with specific written permission, such as surgeons), but here’s two pre-surgery photos:

_{04 February 2024 | 14 December 2024}

One features the sports tape I used for binding, while the second is just with nipple covers.

Please note: that’s just normal sports tape from the local pharmacy. Purchased the popular branded binding tape precisely once and it didn’t do a better job than generic sports tape, it was significantly more expensive than generic sports tape, and it was so heavily branded it could actually be dangerous for anybody living stealth to keep in their house.
But that’s just personal opinion. For the record I also fucking hate half-length binders. Full length or get the fuck out what is this sports-bra bullshit you’re trying to convince me isn’t a sports-bra? Go home.

Glad I don’t have to worry about any of that any more, here’s two post-surgery photos at 1 and 2 weeks post-op:

_{27 December 2024 | 02 January 2025}

The first week had 3 layers of dressings; adhesive tape of some sort directly over the wounds, absorbent padding, and a compression tube bandage holding it all together. Along with painkillers and antibiotics I was sent home from hospital with a second compression bandage and several packets of sterile paddings. During the fist week I changed the paddings twice, after being cleared at the one week follow-up they were no longer required.

Sleeping wasn’t great sitting up for that first week, but I’m allowed to lay down on my back and sides again now. Having an extra pillow helps to stop from rolling onto my stomach which I high key would love to do but must refrain. Still forbidden from lifting my arms above shoulder height and have a 2kg weight limit for carrying items, but am free to take walks. Been home again since the 28th and it’s been fine on my own. Possibly unusually well suited to this specific recovery on account of my arms already don’t work super well so most things are already set up to be accessible.

Showering wasn’t allowed during that first week either, baby wipes were doing a lot of heavy lifting along with wash cloths and a sink full of water. Cleared to shower after the one week follow-up but still not allowed to be immersed in water, such as swimming or taking a bath, for a while longer.

Speaking of swimming: no I won’t go to the beach and take off my shirt. Aside from the family history of skin cancer I’ve been instructed not to get sunlight on the scars. Also I can’t swim so you’re responsible if I drown.

Initial results are promising and I’m very happy with how the healing is progressing, some swelling will take time to go down, but kind of in awe that there hasn’t been any visible bruising. There aren’t any external stitches but there are several layers of dissolvable internal stitches. Externally it’s all glue and micropore tape, the latter of which I’m instructed to change every 5-7 days. Initial surgical dressings were changed in-office during the one week follow-up, while the next follow-up is scheduled for February. Until then it stays clean and I wear a compression tube bandage to help manage the swelling.

Ice packs and paracetamol have also been highly appreciated, especially during that first week. Stronger painkillers were available so I took them on the first two nights to help sleeping, but it was kind of overkill. There was also a box of antibiotics to take 3 times a day until they ran out about a week later.

It’s been perhaps cathartic to get this done after nearly 2 years of planning and waiting. Longer still if we count the years spent assuming it would be prohibitively expensive, but who’s counting? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve permanently fucked up any possible chance of ever being able to retire; but I genuinely don’t expect to live that long anyway.

Here’s hoping 2025 is entirely devoid of paperwork.