Day of Procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

I arrived in the clinic quite early. I received a warm welcome by the staff. They also advised me for a breakfast. I walked up to a nearby hotel and had a light breakfast. When I returned back, Ms. Sunita, patient care coordinator welcomed me and had a look at my scalp. After the paper works, I was given two tablets to take in. Later we proceeded towards the surgery theater. I wore the surgery gown and walked into the theater. Dr.Sangay and her team warmly welcomed me. Few photos and a video were taken before the surgery.I had a brief chat with the surgeon who drew on my new hairline. She also examined my donor scalp and found that it had less elasticity. Since mine was NW6, she explained that it would not cover the crown area. Yet, she would do her best to cover as much as she could. Now since it is going to be a very long procedure, I was asked to go the bathroom which was attached within the theater. When I came back, I was asked to lay down onto the bed, face up. The only pain happens now is with the local anesthetic injection.The surgeon then begins to cut around the donor area and then removes the flap for dissection. What a weird sensation! No pain, just very strange. Have to say that I went into sleep during this a bit . When I came to sense, I was stitched up and onto my back. I was told that it was tricho closure (hairs can grow on the suture line)

The surgeon then puts more anesthetic in the front of my head - a little bit uncomfortable but very short lived. Onto puncturing the holes ready for the grafts and after she'd done the front, break time for lunch. Stomach filling lunch was served. Be prepared for a long day - the next few hours are long and go slow. Dr A was with me for quite a long time during the pre-lunch session. We ended up in a long discussion on the hair transplantation topics.

So 10 hours pass and after a break I can't believe it's all over - no pain, no discomfort. 5310 grafts were done (60 grafts/sq.cm). It was a mega session. Though I did not have enough laxity, I was told that I had a very dense hair in the donor area. Lucky me !!

The surgeon explains the post op procedures and gives me my antibiotics and pain killers and also advised on using baby shampoo. She explains what to expect and then she and her colleagues say goodbye and wish me all the best. I travelled back to my hotel room and ordered for a light dinner. I took my tablets and went to a good sleep.Of course, I had used two pillows to raise the head as advised the surgeon. I guess the stresses of the day and the jetlag made me go sleep well..though there were unusual sensations on my head that I could feel in between.

My Journey

It was quite cold outside with heavy snow. I could get a cab with great difficulty. None would like to drive in rough weather. The driver also gave me a shock that generally flights would be cancelled under such bad weather condition. He was right. Some of the flights were cancelled. Luckily my flight was not cancelled eventhough there was a delay of 2.5 hours. Reached Indira Gandhi International Airport at 9.30 pm. No issues at customs. I hardly had any baggage. I reached my hotel at 11 pm. Checked-in and asked the manager to wake me up at 6.30 am.
I woke up at 6 am itself. Well this was the day of my hair transplantation. After all it was a dream come true after few years of waiting. I was asked to be at Dr.A's office at sharp 9 a.m. I reached the clinic by 8.30 am itself. The clinic was quite welcoming (though not the best) and the surgeon and colleagues were very warm and friendly.

Dr.A's office at a glance:
http://fusehair.com/About%20us.htm

HT Prep: Scalp Exercise

Dr A's team had helped in arranging a hotel in Delhi. They were quite responsive over email and phone. I was advised to perform the scalp exercise. This was the only pre-op preparations required. This exercise is very important for folks going through FUHT (strip transplant). This helps in improving laxity (elasticity) of the donor area of your scalp. But most important, would fetch maximum hair from the strip and reduce suture line widening. Unfortunately, I had very few days to do this exercise. Yet, I was excited on the whole.



Instruction from Dr.A's office on Scalp Exercise:

Scalp Exercise can be done by a few simple exercises daily for a few days/week before your hair transplant. You can massage the skin in the donor area i.e. just behind and between both your ears. You can gently roll, pinch or pull the skin to get the benefits. And you can do it at any time of the day. A few days of this massaging has been known to increase the scalp elasticity in the donor area significantly. Increased scalp elasticity helps by reducing the chances of widening of the strip suture line.



Another video I saw on youtube for scalp exercise:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QG-oaLmrmzY&feature=related

My decision on hair transplantation

The hair never stopped falling over the years. It thinned out to such an extent that I turned into NW6 (NorWood 6). Many a times I checked with Dr.Arvind for the dates . Unfortunately, either there would be no dates available or I would never get leave sanction from my Manager. But I never left hope. It was Christmas time and a holiday season at work. I checked with Dr.A for an appointment and to my surprise there was a canceled slot available. Now I had only six days to arrange to fly to Dr.A's office in India. It was with great difficulty that I could get flight tickets and by paying huge price. I made up my mind not to loose this opportunity. I knew that I'm in good hands. Jagdish had briefed me about his experience with Dr.A. Also the results of all the patients of Dr.A was amazing.

My first confront with Dr.A

I have been in touch with Dr.A since 1999. Hair transplantation was in it's infancy in India during that time. I had started loosing hair in the crown area and was too concerned about it. I had a dense and thick hair. My photo on the left talks more about it. I tried to figure out options to control balding. I also exchanged few emails with Dr.A. Later I realised that it was too early for me for a hair transplant. I tried Rogaine for about two months. Discontinued as I started loosing more hair.

Amazing Dr.A (Dr.Arvind Poswal)

I would like to start by thanking Dr.Arvind for his wonderful job and research in hair transplantation. He is committed with a wonderful team around him. I would like to share my experience with Dr.A on my FUHT (Follicular Unit Hair Transplant) with him. I would also like to share my pictures . This may benefit folks who are planning for a HT (Hair Transplant).