Day 15 [16-09-2011]

Day 15 [16-09-2011]

Scabs have fallen.
No more scabs left..well i still have to inspect more closely.


Transplanted hair is still there. None has fallen.
...but they are not growing. May be they will start falling by the end of this week..
(read somewhere in hair transplant forum that they mostly fall by third week)


Will start shampooing with Johnson's Bay Shampoo from today.
Will have bath from head after long 15days.
Will feel Fresh today!


Donor area: has healed completely i suppose.

Day 13 & 14 [14/15-09-2011]

These two days were extra busy.
Did not get time to take snap of my precious hairs!


Well, things were similar.
No more scabs..
New transplanted hairs look as if they were there always.
Blends well with the other native hair as they are still small.
(but soon the native will out grow the transplanted one as the new transplanted hair is not growing)
...will get a crew cut for the rest of hairs again, when difference gets noticeable. 
Donor area is just hyper sensitive, Feels uneasy when touched.
No Pain or other discomfort now any where on scalp.


Hoping , someday i will again have lustrous hair on my head.

Day 12 [13-09-2011]

Day 12 [13-09-2011]
Scabs almost fallen off

Scabs are gone...almost.
Donor area no more hurts.


The transplanted hair has not fallen yet.


Everything seems to be fine.
Hopeful for a Satisfying result.

Day 11 [12-09-2011]

Day 11 [12-09-2011]

Scabs have fallen mostly.
Stumps of newly planted hairs can be seen standing erect.
May be in a day or two the area would clean up.
Feels Good!


I was told that initially planted hair would fall off and new hair will grow in bout three months.
Now waiting for these hairs to fall off. 
or 
Would they won't fall? 
Few in thousands are lucky. They don't shed the initial transplanted hair.
May be I am one of them..


Now just...Wait n watch!


Donor area seems to be healing. No more pain in the area but itch is beyond control.
Aloe Vera lotion helps a bit but not much.

Day 10 [11-10-2011]

Day 10 [11-09-2011]

Finally Scabs have started falling.
Gradually Plantation area is clearing up. Small hair stumps can be seen after scab has fallen...
Some scabs contain tiny hair along.
This is normal i suppose [as already told by the surgeon]


Donor area still hurts.
Hope nothing wrong is going on there.
Look wise, there is no inflammation, no scab left at the donor area.
But there are three areas which are quiet painful. 
Hope this resolves soon..


Happy to see scab falling. 
Second phase... wait for the new hair..is about to begin!

Day 9 [10-09-2011]

Day 9 [10-09-2011 10:12 am]

Everything seems same. Scab has started falling.
But there is no apparent change in appearance.


Pain in donor area has subsided a bit. Have started antiseptic ointment again.

Day 8 [09-09-2011]

Day 8 [09-09-2011]
No sensation in area enclosed in blue box.

Today too is the same old story.

No change in the plantation area. The donor area is hurting.

Called up my surgeon but was not available. He was out for some conference. 

Beside lack of sensation in the middle of my Transplant area is [the area enclosed by blue box in the pic], is bothering me more. 

Hope everything is OK.

Day 7 [08-09-2011]

Day 7 [08-09-2011]
just after shampoo and shaving foam application
Note the whiteness at the base of transplanted hair!

Thursday
One week over.
Plantation area looks all the same. I don't know what's happening?
Really worried whether everything is OK?


Beside Two areas in Donor Site is hurting. Stopped pain killer yesterday.
Can not concentrate in any thing because of continuous nagging pain in the donor area.
Should I start pain killer again?


Did not call my Surgeon! Will wait for today!
If pain continues tomorrow, will call him.

Day 6 [07-09-2011]

Day 6 [07-09-2011]

Wednesday
11:04am
Slept well at night. 
Yesterday night there was considerable pain at the donor area. But in the morning it was fine.
Band like compression feeling is also subsiding.


There is no unusual feeling at Plantation Area.
Had a Hair wash followed by application of Shaving Foam at night. 
Will follow the same procedure twice today.


No change in the appearance of Plantation Area even today.
Wonder when the scabs will fall off. It is already Day 6 today!

Day 5 [06-09-2011]

Day 5 [06-09-2011]

12:10 pm
Everything Same. No Pain. Minimum Discomfort.
Just a band like feeling across the back of scalp.
Today I am advised to apply Shaving Foam all over the scalp after the shampoo [yah! just to apply, not to shave my new hair off] 
Beside I have stopped 2 hourly Saline spray yesterday, and started applying Aloe Vera Gel over the plantation area after the shampoo. Will still apply Antiseptic Ointment over the donor area for today. From tomorrow will stop the ointment and start applying Aloe Vera Lotion over the donor area. 
Took Pain Killer.


2:15 pm
Shampooed plantation & donor area with Chlorhexidine. Applied Gillette Shaving Foam all over the scalp and rinsed it with mineral water. Sprayed antiseptic spray. Finally applied Aloe Vera Gel & Lotion over plantation & donor area respectively. Took bath below shoulder. 
Now Fresh. 
No where to go. Sitting at ease at home.

Day 4 [05-09-2011]

Day 4 [05-09-2011]

11:07 am
Slept all through night. Today I slept flat with two pillows under the head.
Had a good night sleep after four long nights. Feeling fresh today.


Scabs still look same today. No change.
I wonder when would they start falling off !


From Today I am asked to stop two hourly saline spray which I was regularly doing till today. 
Beside today i will apply Aloe Vera Gel, after shampoo on the plantation area.
Twice daily application of Antiseptic Ointment at donor area continues for today.

Day 3 [04-09-2011]

Day 3 [04-09-2011]

Sunday
Woke up at 10 am with a calling bell. I wonder why people dont sleep till late even on Sundays?


Slept well through the night though with lots of breaks in sleep. Now desperate to sleep flat. 
Sleeping in reclined position is tiresome. 


Plantation area still look same. No change.
The band -like feeling at back has decreased. No Pain.


Shampooed twice today. Applied antiseptic ointment at the donor area.
Now going to sleep! 

Day 2 [03-09-2011]

Day 2 [03-09-2011]

Shampooed the transplanted hair. And cleaned the donor area as advised.
Did not go out anywhere. Shampooed and cleaned the donor area again at night.
Feels like a band pressing the scalp from behind (donor area). There is no different feel at the plantation area. No Pain. 

Day 1 [02-09-2011]

Had a good sleep at night. Though had a lot of breaks in the sleep, as was sleeping upright but finally woke up fresh in the morning. Had a light breakfast and prepared to checkout from the hotel.




At 1 pm, went to the clinic. The surgeon shampooed the transplantation area and dressed the donor area and thought me how to shampoo the donor area twice daily for next 12 days. Finally we sat at his chamber and guided me through what to expect for next two weeks and how to take care of the procedure site. I had no question left to be answered.


Post Transplant Care Advice by the Surgeon


Plantation Area Care

1. Shampoo the plantation area with Chlorhexidine (The Red Shampoo provided by the Clinic) twicw daily as directed.
2. Spray Saline (Spray Bottle with saline and refill provided by the clinic) every two hour for next three days [i.e till 4th Sept]
3. On 4th Post Op day [i.e 5th Sept], saline spray to be stopped. To apply Aloe Vera Gel on plantation area after every shampoo.
4. On 5th Post Op day [i.e 6th Sept], Glillette Shaving Foam to be applied at the plantation area for 5 mts and then to be washed off followed by Aloe Vera Gel application. This continues till 12th Post Op day (or till scab/crusts falls off)
5. After 12th Post Op day, all care to be stopped. Just to use Johnson Baby Shampoo twice a week.
6. To take Finastride 1mg daily  & Biotin 5mg daily for next 6 month.

Donor Area Care

1. Dressing to be removed after reaching home.
2. Shampoo with chlorhexidine twice daily.
3. Apply Mupirocin Ointment twice daily for three days [i.e till 5th Sept]
4. Apply Aloe Vera Lotion twice daily for next three weeks.

Finally episode at the clinic was over.
By evening Shatabdi I returned back to Delhi.


Here in Delhi, I removed the bandage from the donor area and washed it with sterile saline solution.
Again shampooed the plantation area as told by the surgeon.


Now time for sleep in upright position.

Procedure Day 2 [01-09-2011]

Procedure Day 2 [01-09-2011]

Day began just as yesterday. 
The difference was that did not sleep well at night. sleeping upright was not easy. 
Still i was fresh enough to go through Half day procedure [as today just 500 grafts had to be implanted]


Had a bath below my shoulder. Had a few fruits as my breakfast. 
No Milk today. Taking Milk was more difficult task than the procedure itself.

At 8:30 am the procedure began. The Surgeon Dressed the yesterdays donor area and took me into OT. Harvesting today was bit painful as area was slightly inflamed and the aesthetic did not work totally, but still it was much bearable. By 11:30 am, the procedure was over.


Had Lunch at the clinic itself.

I was free for the day. They have called me again tomorrow for a Hair Wash and to teach me how to take care of the area for next few weeks.

All is well till now.


Was a the hotel room for rest of the day. Ordered food from local joint and had it in the room. 
Watched TV all through the rest of the day. Took Pain Killers in the night and went to sleep.

Procedure Day 1 [31-08-2011]

Procedure Day 1 [31-08-2011]

Procedure Day 1 [31-08-2011]

Procedure day has come.
06:00 am Woke up in the morning. My heart was pounding. 
               Had a good shower [as for next 12 days, Shower would be restricted]
               Took a glass of milk with 2tsf of sugar [as advised]
               Draped a front open shirt without vest and was out to reach the clinic at 7:45am. 
               Clinic was just 10 mts from the place where i was arranged to stay.
08:00 am Blood samples collected.
08:30 am Surgeon came. Had a pre-op look of my scalp.
               Marked the area that was going to be my new hairline. 
               Consulted with my wife, weather it seemed  OK
08:45 am All my hairs were shaved by the surgeon himself.
               Scalp was scrubbed and prepared for the tiresome day long procedure.
09:00 am I was on the OT Table. Surgeon anaesthesized my scalp and IT started. 
               He started with making slits for the implantation. 
               After Slits were made about 1500 grafts were harvested.
11:00 am Breakfast break
11:20 am Implantation of 1500 grafts started. Lasted till about 1:30 pm.
01:30 pm Lunch Break
02:00 pm Harvest of another 1000 grafts started followed by implantation of the grafts. 
               My frontal bald was already covered with 2500 grafts by 5pm.


All through the operative procedure, the surgeon and staffs were chatting with me and trying to make me comfortable as much possible. At the start i was bit anxious but gradually, i got comfortable. There was no pain at all except for the part where Surgeon anesthesized my scalp. That too was like pin pricks. 


~Day Break~


Was advised to sleep upright at 45degree angle. The Donor area was bandaged. 
No discomfort at all till now. It was a total painless procedure.
[though slight inevitable pain did occur as surgeon anesthesized the scalp but was very bearable] 


Came back to Hotel Room. Had the Thali provided by the Hotel Kitchen. Good Wholesome Meal. 
Had a dose of pain killer and alprazolam 0.25.
Was tired so went to sleep early and prepare myself for next day procedure.
Slept at reclined position.

Pre-Op Day

I planned to get the transplantation done at Chandigarh. I stay in Delhi and had to travel to Chandigarh for the transplant. Delhi, in-spite of having a mushroom growth of hair transplant clinic, None of the centers appealed me. 
On 2nd August 2011, I traveled to Chandigarh, just to have a look at this particular hair transplant center  The look of the center was appealing at the very first go. After having a consultation with the surgeon, i was sure that this was the place were i should spend all my savings. I booked the available dates then...that was 31st Aug and 1st Sept 2011. As I wanted 3000 Hair follicles to be transplanted, it had to be two day procedure as it was not possible to get more than 2500 at max. follicles transplanted on one day.

Pre-op day [30-08-2011]

Traveled to Chandigarh by Jan Shatabdi. A bad decision. 
It is always better to take Shatabdi to Chandigarh. 


Reached Chandigarh, and checked in at An INN, already booked by the Hair Transplant Center.[another example that they care for their patient]
Room was a big double bed A/C Room with a TV. There was not much option in Menu Card but the Veg Thali provided by the INN, was worth trying. Or Else one can always order meal from local joints, kind of 200 mts away, which is served by the Hotel Staff readily.
We got our meal packed from the joint and had it in the room. Meal was awesome.
  

I was  told to take an anxiolytic [Alprazolam 0.25mg] a night before procedure.Took it. Had a good dinner and went to sleep with anxiousness hovering all around.

Pre-Transplantation Contemplations

After a long contemplation and research I decided to end the story of my baldness with a 'hair transplant'. I was suffering from receding hair line since 2004 and started using a patch... ' weaved hair'... in 2007. But there is lot of agony associated with wearing & maintaining the patch, so it gives a natural appearance. Patch did appeared natural with thick dense hair on my scalp but at the cost of my Natural Self. I always had to worry that weather my unnatural hair is looking natural or not! And Finally i decided to undergo hair transplant..

Research

There was lot of research to be done.

Few questions which haunted me were..

• Q. What are the possible procedure available?

A. After extensive use of google, i realised that the plantation of hair at the bald area is essentially the same with some subtle difference in the technique/ instrument used. The implantation procedure involves creating slits or fine holes (about 0.9 mm diameter wide and 4-5mm deep) at the bald area and placing each graft individually in the holes. This can either be done with a needle (which can create a hole but needs surgeons precision that depth of holes should not be more than required) or can be created by specifically designed instruments that doesn't allow more than required depth to be created. Beside choice of surgeon is also seemed important as creation of slits need precision. 


The major issue is to decide how to get the follicle harvested. After learning about the procedure i could realize that there are just two techniques available for the harvest..FUT & FUE.


FUT
In Follicular Unit Transplant process, a strip of scalp is stripped or cut out of the hair bearing area of the scalp. and the gap is sutured to cover the deficit. This leaves a fine scar line on the back of the scalp not visible even if a half a inch of hair is present at the back. The benefit of this procedure is that that harvesting is easy and more number of graft can be harvested at one sitting. The morbidity of the procedure is more than the other method but still it is insignificant.


FUE
In Follicular Unit Extraction procedure, Individual follicles are punched out and are placed into a saline solution, and later placed in the slits made in the recipient area. An 0.8mm to 1 mm punches are made to extract the follicle. These tiny punches heals as readily as they are formed and usually doesn't last more than 3 post op days. This procedures needs surgical precision and after healing it would be impossible to tell that any extraction has been made from the donor area.
This is latest of all the techniques and still gaining the popularity. Presently it is costlier than the FUT.


The plantation technique remains same for the both procedure.


The Clinic I chose satisfied my criteria.

1. Surgeon here is a MCh [Plastic Surgery]. This implies he has skills for performing microsurgeries, much demanding than hair transplant. Hair transplant would be a easy task for him.
2. He takes personal care of the patient. Access to the Doctor is essential to develop faith in the procedure.
3. The surgeon was a member of 'International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery', a society governing the hair transplant clinics. The only inference i derived from this that he is active and versed with recent advancements of hair transplant techniques.
4. Above all, after personally talking to him, I got fully satisfied.

• Q. What will be the result?

I chose for FUE. The procedure is done on 31st August and 1st September, 2011

The result? Still not known. 

Follow me on the blog to know what will be result.

Expecting a thick dense hairs on my scalp. The transplant has cost me all my saving and and i really need a good result! Pray for the good results!