Day 18 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

Dr.Arvind: Day 18 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

I have been following the routines of washing the scalp area with baby shampoo with distilled water. Fresh Aloe vera consumed internally. Apply Aleo Vera juice whenever possible(not regular). Started pinching exercise in the donar area to reduce the suture line. There is still a small suture piece clinging on the left side of the crown. The hair shedding has not started yet

Day 10 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

Dr Arvind (5310 grafts FUHT): Day 10 after procedure

Have always kept the recipient area moist. I have been using distilled water to wash and shampoo my head. The sutures are still intact. I was told that it would wither off by about 12-15 days. My research on net also showed that lot of folks after HT used Aloe Vera gel or Emu oil. I knew Aloe Vera very well, as we had grown this in our garden in India. Aloe vera plants are the members of lily plants and look more like a cactus and are described as succulents. The species of aloe vera plant have been used by Indian healers and ancient Persian for many generations. Japanese, Russian and Chinese also used this herbal plant for centuries as a medicine. Roman and Greek physicians described the use of aloe vera for the treatment of many diseases. So why not me ? I set out to CVS to but the Aloe vera gel. Since I had few groceries to buy, I hit Shop n Shop first. To my surprise, I saw fresh aloe vera being sold. I made up my mind to buy it. So from day ten, I have started consuming the Aloe vera gel. The scabs still do persist. I did also apply some gel on the recipient area and this gave a good soothing to the otherwise itching scalp. I never noticed any hair fall so far. Most of them will start loosing the transplanted hair by 3rd week of procedure. But this is of no worry as the hair bulb (root of the hair) is already harvested by then. I am anxious to see if I would loose the whole lot of the transplanted hair.

Day 7 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

Dr Arvind (5310 grafts FUHT)

The scabs have formed heavily now. Since the last few days were very cloudy, never bothered to take a picture. I have been still taking bath twice a day and for shampooing, used the johnson's baby shampoo. Also have been using distilled water to wash my head. Bought few cans from a store nearby. There is too much of chlorine pumped into our water supply in our area. There is quite bit of itching on the scab area. I was careful to moisten my recipient area every 4-5 hours.

Day 3 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

Day 3 was kept more as a shopping day as I had to leave New Delhi that night. Did a quite lot of shopping. Swelling continued and had dropped above the eyes. Used icepacks and that gave a good relief. Pain was minimal except the sutured area. I set out the airport bit early. The journey was quite OK except for the embarassing situations when I had to take off my baseball cap once in New Delhi and again in the the US. THe roads were quite slippery and it is was snowing heavily on the way home.

Day 2 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

Day 2 seemed to be better off. By afternoon I could see some swelling on my forehead. As per the surgeon's advise, I started keeping ice packs. By evening the swelling had gone down. Still was sleeping with elevated pillows. Also frequently moistened the recipient area with cold water.

Day 1 after procedure (5310 grafts FUHT)

I got up late in the morning. My head seemed to be heavy at the back..as if a stone is tied to it. The recipient area had hardly any pain though there seemed to be some numbness. As per the surgeon's instruction, I am supposed to remove my bandage from the head. When I looked into the mirror, it looked quite nasty. But the surgeon had set this expectation to me that a lot of liquid would ooze out and is of no worry. I poured a cup of cold water (was careful not to use hot water) on the bandage and lo.. the bandage came off so easily. I was careful and removed it slowly. After which I mixed baby shampoo in a cup of cold water and washed the suture area very well. This is very important as the clots can later give a lot of pain later. Also poured the same on the recipient area. Later used a towel to pat dry. Had a very heavy lunch from a near by hotel. Moved around the city and came back to the hotel and laid down. When I moved out of the hotel, I had used a baseball cap and had worn it loosely. It was a good afternoon nap.I woke up after I received a call from my wife. Talked to her for sometime. As per the surgeon's advise, I was keeping my graft moist by pouring water using a cup. I did not notice any swellings yet. Watched a movie in the TV. I had itching around my stitches and a few stabbing pains in the same region - the anesthetic was wearing off. Later after having dinner, read a magazine for sometime. The pain killer kicked in eventually and I fell asleep. I was given tablets for 10 days (pain killer+antibiotic)

Video taken before the procedure

This video was taken just before the procedure.

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).