Frenchie2001

I went into a lot of detail here because I was taken by suprise on some things. Nothing bad just unexpected. I found the staff at SMG and Dr Rose to be very professional and I would recommend them to anyone. I would suggest that everyone before the surgery get a detail account of what will happen, just so you know. I would also say that you should not feel anything on your scalp while they are doing this. I should have asked for more earlier, but was stupid and didn't know how much I should feel or not. I was pretty happy with the results afterwards. Now I just hope all those new hairs grow back in the way they looked right after the surgery. I'll have to go back for another HT to get the results I want. Assuming that everything growns in the way I think they will I'll probably look at another HT at the end of this year. I'd be happy to answer any questions anybody has. Pictures to follow.

Things slowed down for me after this. The staff was busy disecting the stip into all my little FUs. I watched another movie. The doc came in after a bit and started making cuts for the transplants. This all went smooth really. At lunch time I had a pizza, stood up for a bit, but was back in the chair as they planted more grafts. I will say one thing. I must be somewhat resistant to the local anesthesia they used because after a while I really started to feel some of the cuts. They had to load me up a couple more times on this just to get me through. But after pumping in enough pain killer I was good to go. So this process went on until about 7 at night. Afterwards I felt fine and went back to the hotel with all my instructions and pain killers in hand. I had very little bleeding overnigh. Really almost none. Had no real pain to speak of other than the stitches from the donner strip.

The staff were all very friendly. The took good care of me. After getting in the chair the first step was all of the shots needed to numb my scalp. That wasn't too bad. The first ones were the worst, but after that they expanded the numbed area out by giving a shot at the edge of the last one. I started watching a DVD while they finished that up and wait for it to take effect. I also got some valum and assorted other medications. After sticking my scalp in a few spots in back to make sure I couldn't feel anything I was ready for the strip removal. I was sitting in a chair bent over onto a foam form with a hole in it for my face. The first step was to inject a saline solution into my scalp. I guess this was to tighten the scalp to make it easy to cut and remove. This was not too bad at the back of my head but when they came around to above my ears I noticed it felt like my head was in a vice. There was a lot of pressure (and some pain really) that I didn't expect. Then the first incisions were made. This helped releave some of the pressure, but it was still uncomfortable. Next was the strip removal. This was not so bad. The most unnerving thing was the sound. Like opening up a velcro strip as Dr. Rose removed the strip. Near the end I started to get light headed and felt like I was going to be sick. I'm not sure if this was the nerves kicking in or the medication all at once or what. They got the strip removed and stitched me up. I bet I was white as a ghost when that sat me up. I got a little rest before they started anything else to help me get over the light headedness. After about 10-15 minutes I was much better. More for next time

Ok guys I finally have some time to sit down and write all of this out. I had a HT with Dr. Rose at SMG mid December 2003. The day started off normal. I had a light breakfast and went into the clinic. I didn't remember what time they said to be there so I had to wait around until the office opened up. I really was not all that nervous even considering I was not able to go in the day before for a final consult. I filled out some paper work and then Matt came in. We sat down and talked with Dr. Rose. My main concern was how many grafts and where they would be placed. This was my first chance to actually talk to Dr. Rose. I found him to be very professional and our discussion reassured me that my results would be in line with what I wanted. Like everone (I expect) I had to give up on that low hairline I wanted and went with something a little more conservative, but that is OK. My major objective was to not end up "slick" bald. If I have a high forehead or what you might call an "adult" hairline that is OK with me. SO after the discussion Matt & then Dr. Rose took some pics. Then I went back and got ready. I'll post more later. I do not want to write this all at one time then not have it post.

Ok guys I finally have some time to sit down and write all of this out. I had a HT with Dr. Rose at SMG mid December 2003. The day started off normal. I had a light breakfast and went into the clinic. I didn't remember what time they said to be there so I had to wait around until the office opened up. I really was not all that nervous even considering I was not able to go in the day before for a final consult. I filled out some paper work and then Matt came in. We sat down and talked with Dr. Rose. My main concern was how many grafts and where they would be placed. This was my first chance to actually talk to Dr. Rose. I found him to be very professional and our discussion reassured me that my results would be in line with what I wanted. Like everone (I expect) I had to give up on that low hairline I wanted and went with something a little more conservative, but that is OK. My major objective was to not end up "slick" bald. If I have a high forehead or what you might call an "adult" hairline that is OK with me. SO after the discussion Matt & then Dr. Rose took some pics. Then I went back and got ready. I'll post more later. I do not want to write this all at one time then not have it post.

Maybe that is another thing to throw into the mix. Some people may be able to afford the HT and the vacation. So does that really mean you should have one or not? I guess it is up to you and your accountant. For me it was not that much of a burden. Still a lot of money, but if it helps get rid of how much I HATE the way I look with less hair then it is all worth it.

I am not going to get into an argument about if cosmetic surgeries are a mistake or not. I would just like to point out that there are so many factors that everyone must consider to feel that they are "happy" that you cannot draw much of a conclusion from this poll. So anybody reading this "poll" please be realistic and make up your own mind. Do not be totally scared away by some of the comments on here or all of the horror stories. Take them (and all the others) into account and make up your own mind.

Guys, It has been about 2 months since my transplant. A few of my tranplanted friends have stuck around to grow. SOme are even at about 1/2" long. I'd bet there are less than 50 I can see in my front hair line like this. I know that I should not expect much until at least the 4 month mark, but I think I am in the time frame where I am wondering if I have done everything right to get the most hairs to grow in. My main area of concern is that when all the scabs and hairs fell out after the transplant that a lot of those were the grafts and not just the scab tissue above the all important follicle. I only know of one graft that I lost for sure. I accidently hooked it with my finger nail and pulled it out while removing my hat. Other than that one there was no blood or even any real pinkness under the scabs when they came out. So I guess the only real danger is that some of the grafts just dried out in place and the follicles died. I say this because I only used the post op spray for about 2 days. I'm wondering if this increased the chance that some (or a large number) of my grafts "dried out" and died. Can anybody comment on this? Did anybody out there just let there FUs scab and heal without the spray?

Guys, It has been about 2 months since my transplant. A few of my tranplanted friends have stuck around to grow. SOme are even at about 1/2" long. I'd bet there are less than 50 I can see in my front hair line like this. I know that I should not expect much until at least the 4 month mark, but I think I am in the time frame where I am wondering if I have done everything right to get the most hairs to grow in. My main area of concern is that when all the scabs and hairs fell out after the transplant that a lot of those were the grafts and not just the scab tissue above the all important follicle. I only know of one graft that I lost for sure. I accidently hooked it with my finger nail and pulled it out while removing my hat. Other than that one there was no blood or even any real pinkness under the scabs when they came out. So I guess the only real danger is that some of the grafts just dried out in place and the follicles died. I say this because I only used the post op spray for about 2 days. I'm wondering if this increased the chance that some (or a large number) of my grafts "dried out" and died. Can anybody comment on this? Did anybody out there just let there FUs scab and heal without the spray?

Hey guys I was in the US over the holidays and thought to myself that Matt had to have had something done. I know this is all guessing, but do you think he really had something done?

guys thanks for the info. Your comments plus those of a post from RCX made me feel better about what was happening. I would say that by day 8 most of the scabs had fallen off some with hairs some without and there was no bleeding on any of them. In fact the skin underneath was not even red. So I am not sure I would agree that keeping the scabs moist for 2 weeks is a good idea because letting them dry out after 5 days seems to have gotten rid of them a lot faster. But if I screwed up and lost half of my grafts maybe I was the stupid one.

guys thanks for the info. Your comments plus those of a post from RCX made me feel better about what was happening. I would say that by day 8 most of the scabs had fallen off some with hairs some without and there was no bleeding on any of them. In fact the skin underneath was not even red. So I am not sure I would agree that keeping the scabs moist for 2 weeks is a good idea because letting them dry out after 5 days seems to have gotten rid of them a lot faster. But if I screwed up and lost half of my grafts maybe I was the stupid one.

rcx, I am about 13 days post op. At about 7 or 8 days post op I really started shedding scabs and hairs. There was no blood with any of them, but like you I was worried that it seemed like a lot of "tissue" that surrounded some of the hairs. It seemed like some hairs shed cleanly not even a scab around it, but others seemed to have have more "stuff" around them. So I do not know how important it is or if it means there was a graft or it was just estra tissue. I just know how worried I was (am) and thought I would let you know I had the exact same thing.

I would appreciate any comments from some of you out there that have already gone through this stage. Sorry to bring up scabs, but I have some "worries." It has been 1 week since my procedure and I am worried. Some of the scabs are comming off, which I understand is normal and yes desired. The problem is that I notice some of the scabs have hairs in them. Some even look like maybe some of my grafts. Are these really some of my grafts? Did I do something wrong? Is it normal for some of them not to take? I used the spray the doc gave me every half hour up to I went to bed on the day of the operation, and every half hour the next day. Day 2 after surgery was more like 1 per hour. Did I blow it and not use it enough? Some of my grafts have obviously taken root. I have hairs where there were none a week ago and they look good. So that is a plus, but it makes me sick to think about the few that do not seem to have taken root. Any "supportive" feedback appreciated. I will post pics later, but with Christmas and all I do not have time right now. Thanks

I would appreciate any comments from some of you out there that have already gone through this stage. Sorry to bring up scabs, but I have some "worries." It has been 1 week since my procedure and I am worried. Some of the scabs are comming off, which I understand is normal and yes desired. The problem is that I notice some of the scabs have hairs in them. Some even look like maybe some of my grafts. Are these really some of my grafts? Did I do something wrong? Is it normal for some of them not to take? I used the spray the doc gave me every half hour up to I went to bed on the day of the operation, and every half hour the next day. Day 2 after surgery was more like 1 per hour. Did I blow it and not use it enough? Some of my grafts have obviously taken root. I have hairs where there were none a week ago and they look good. So that is a plus, but it makes me sick to think about the few that do not seem to have taken root. Any "supportive" feedback appreciated. I will post pics later, but with Christmas and all I do not have time right now. Thanks