l30rys

Hi Everyone! Finally got round to becoming a member on here and this being my first post! Just wanting to share my experience with everyone else on here as you are all doing. Should propably have become a member and done this earlier but just never got round to doing it as i everytime i came on here i would just read everyone elses posts and spend hours doing so......maybe being a little lazy . So heres my story so far...... For the past few years i have noticed my hair on top getting thinner and receding slightly at the temples. I am now 26 nearly 27 and it hadnt really bothered me until maybe the last year or so where my temples started to recede even more and made it more noticable to me. I have always had my hair fairly short with maybe a number 2/3 on the sides and anything from a number 5 upwards on top and round the back. As my temples started to recede more i started to trim the front down too so that my hairline looked better when it was styled and matched up with my temples. It wasnt until last september that i went to a wedding and saw the wedding pictures after where then i thought i really need to try and do something about my hair as its starting to bother me. I decided to start looking on the internet and spent hours going through page after page on different topics and things that you could do to improve your hair. I read all about different drugs,treatments, and hair transplants. I ended up try minoxidill but later found out that i hadnt been using it for the right amount of time. To cut a long story short it was starting to bother me that much that i was constantly looking in the mirror at my hair every day and thinking why me, why do i have to loose my hair?? Although i thought it was bad, family and friends kept telling me that it wasnt that bad at all and there was nothing wrong with me. I knew that there was nothing wrong with me but it was the fact that my hair was now really bothering me! I decided to look a bit more in to hair transplants and booked a few consultations with various clinics in the UK. This was towards the back end of last year. I went to 2 clinics at first, one in Nottingham and one in Manchester. Both gave me different information and both just didnt feel right, as in a sense that they didnt know what they were talking about. I mean i am no expert on hair transplants but i also felt that these were not either! I came away thinking that a hair transplant maybe wasnt for me. So around xmas time i bought some concealer called Topik and this did improve things for me. My hairline looked alot better when applied but the thing was i knew it was there and then was thinking what if other people see it too!!:eek: I then came across this forum and like i said i would spend hours reading different peoples stories and experiences on anything to do with losing your hair or trying to maintain it. I then kept seeing this name SPEX cropping up on alot of posts and then looked a bit more into him and found his webpage too. It seemed this guy was really useful and had so much great information! I decided after around a month or so to give this guy an email.......and this turned out to be one of the best things i could have done! He emailed me back straight away and asked if i wanted a chat about things. I then spoke to Spex over the phone and after that 1st call i started to feel so good about things that i may be finally be able to do something with my hair! We spoke again a few times and sent a few emails back and fourth and decided that i wanted a hair transplant. During talking with Spex i was still on this forum nearly every day reading reviews on surgeons etc. Two names kept cropping up alot and these were Dr Lindsey and Dr Feller. These were also the 2 surgeons that Spex had recommended to me too and have done work on himself. I sent a few pictures over to Spex and he spoke with both Dr Lindsey and Dr Feller and came back to me with what i may need doing, how much it was going to cost and what i thought. Things were starting to move faster than i expected, which was a good thing, and i had decided in my head already that it was a hair transplant that i wanted but it was having the courage to go along with what i wanted and also to travel all the way to the states to have it done. After a few more weeks of speaking with Spex i decided to say YES, lets do this!! (It may seem that this is starting to be a long read but i just want you all to see the road that i have been on, and am trying to minimise it to the best that i can ) So after agreeing with Spex that i was going to have this done i decided that i was going to have my transplant done by Dr Lindsey in VA .I had agreed to the surgery in March and my date was set for 15th June. Spex and Dr Lindsey had agreed that i would need around 1000 grafts. I called Dr Lindseys surgery and paid my deposit of $2000 and then got round to booking my flights and hotel which cost around ?700. Spex had also given me all the details about where to stay etc and was really helping me out. After all this was done i didnt really hear much for a few months and was getting on with my life whilst in the back on my mind counting down the days until i would be finally flying out. Around a few weeks before i was to go i got an email off Dr Lindsey asking to send him my travel details which i did, and also some pre surgery details on what i should do and not do 10 days prior to having the surgery. The week before i then heard from him again, confirming my travel details and giving me his cell to call him when i landed. So the day had arrived where i was to fly out. I had not really been nervous the days building up to flying out but did feel a little nervous on the morning of the flight but this may have been due to me travelling to the states on my own for the 1st time too! My flight was at 12pm from Manchester on the thursday UK time with United Airlines and was due to land around at Washington Duelles 3pm US time. Everything was going ok, the flight was on time, the flight was good (used to travelling with BA but United were just as good to be honest) and we landed a little earlier too. I collected my bags and went through customs, this is where i had a problem. I have travelled to the states a few times before and expect to get all the questions customs throw at you and they always ask you why you are there. I thought i would be as honest as i could and told them i was there for surgery (hair transplant). This took a bit of time with more questions and then let me through. I had noticed though that they hadnt stamped my passport and thought nothing of it until i got to the last checkpoint to walk out of the airport and they pulled me to one side and told me i had to go into another room where i had to hand my passport in.....it turned out to be immigration. I then had to sit and wait nearly 3 hours in this room with alot of other people (think i was the only person in there that spoke good english). They would not quicken the process up and were being terribly slow. All this time i had no signal on my phone i know i needed to call Dr Lindsey when i landed to let him know i was here and to meet up so that he could go through everything before the surgery the next day. They eventually let me go and the problem being was that because i was staying in a hotel and said i was going for surgery they wanted to know which hospital i was staying in but they couldnt understand that i wasnt staying in a hospital and that it was private surgery. I finally got out of the airport around 6pm and called Dr Lindsey. He had seen my plane had landed but was wondering where i was so was calling Spex to find out too. Anyways, i got a taxi and headed straight over to his surgery which cost me around $40. I met Dr Lindsey and he seemed like i really nice guy! He could finally get a good look at my hair and discus what i wanted and the results and procedure to get this. He took a few photos and i signed a few forms and then he gave me a prescription for valium, anitbiotics, and pain killers. He told me i would need to get the drugs that night as it would be an early 6am start the next day. He told me there was a pharmacy over the road and he even told me to hop into his jeep (which was pretty cool!) and he would drop me off there, which was really great of him. He then gave me a cab number so i could call one after i had got my drugs. The drugs cost around $40 and then i got a cab and headed to the hotel. By this time i was really tired as it had been a long day and just wanted to get a shower and into some clean clothes. The cab back to my hotel was around $10. Spex had recommended to book the Marriot Courtyard Tysons Corner to stay in but somehow i had got my wires crossed when booking and booked the Crowne Plaza Tysons Corner. It turned out that the hotels were next door to each other anyways just that i had paid ?100 more to stay in the Crowne Plaza! lol. The hotel though was sooooo nice!! I had a really big room with 2 double beds and a really big flat screen tv that had all the channels you could ask for all in HD too. You were supplied with everything else you would normally expect in a hotel like this with soaps, shampoos, room service menu, ipod doc, bathrobe, etc. I jumped in the shower and got dressed and went down to the hotel bar where they served food and ordered myself something. I love american food so this place was right up my street! I had finished my meal by 10pm and decided on an early night. That night i must have had the worst nights sleep ever, waking up every hour and feeling like id been asleep days. Dont know if this was just with nerves and the jet lag too kicking in Day of surgery: I had a wake up call at 5am that i had asked for by the hotel and i must have laid there for around 10-15 mins thinking "am i really going through with this?". I then jumped out of bed knowing that i had not flown all the way out here for nothing and got a quick shower and booked a cab for 5.30am. The cab picked me up and i told them i wanted dropping off at the same CVS i got picked up from last night. I got dropped off outside the CVS and the cab went. I then realised that this wasnt the right place as they all look similar. I called Dr Lindsey and told him i didnt think i was at the right place, he tried to guide me but still it didnt seem the right place! I was starting to panic as i didnt know where i was and needed to be at the surgery for 6am and the time was 5.45am. I went into a gas station and explained to the man behind the counter, it turned out i was in the wrong town!! Luckily a man came in and said he was heading past where i was meant to be and told me to hop into his car.....what a saviour!! The man was called Marty and turned out to be a really nice guy and found the surgery for me, i couldnt thank him eoungh. I got to the surgery at 6.05am....phhhewwww!! I think Dr Lindsey had been worried himself as he knew i was lost. lol. Dr Lindsey was all ready for the surgery to start and told me to come through and sit in a chair. We went through what he was going to do once more and that i was going to need around 1200 grafts. He drew the new hairline on my head and i took a valium tablet and that was it, it was happening! I then sat in another room in one of his chairs and he told me he was going to inject the back of my head with anesthetic. The 1st 6 needles typically hurt as they were like any other injection. He then gave me a magazine that i could read while he could wait 5 mins before doing another 6. At this point was was getting more and more nervous. He came back in and put did the same again and kept on doing so. After around 15 needles i felt like i was about to pass out and so told him this and so he re assured me and told me to lean back in the chair and made the chair go all the way back to it was flat out. One of the nurses came in and cooled me head which was really relaxing and kept talking to me to say i would be ok and that i was just a bit nervous and the valium would kick in soon (dont think it helped having no breakfast, which i would have if the cab had dropped me off in the right place!). After around 5 mins i was ok and the chair went back up and we carried on. I couldnt really feel the rest of the needles going in by then as the back of my head was really numb. One of the nurses then came in and wrapped a bandage round my head and shaved some of the back of my head where i was to have the strip removed. I was then taken into another room where i layed flat on my front while they removed the strip. I didnt feel a thing while they were doing this and just felt like they were drawing on the back of my head. Once this was done i was taken into another room and was sat up in a chair where Dr Lindseygave me more injections to numb the front of my head and then made the slits in my head where the grafts would be placed. Again i didnt feel anything after the injections. Once the slits had been made 2 of the nurses then started putting the follicles in (this was the good bit as it was so relaxing and the valium had chilled me out that i nearly fell to sleep at one point! lol). It took them around 2 hours to insert all of these whilst 3 other staff where dissecting the strip at the same time and Dr Lindsey kept coming in to have a chat and take some pictures. Once this was all done i was dressed with some clean bandages round my head where the strip had been removed and my shirt was cut off (made sure i brought a zip up hoody to wear out). Dr Lindsey had said that they had ended up getting around 1700 grafts out of the strip and put in around 1650 but could get any more in as it was really densley packed. He still only charged me for 1000 grafts which i thought was amazing and so nice of him to do so! He then gave me some aftercare information to take away with me and that was it, i was done by 10am so had only taken 4 hours! I got a cab and headed back to the hotel and spent the day in my room watching tv and ordering pizza. . I couldnt believe that it was all done and couldnt stop looking in the mirror as i could now see where my new hairline would be, it felt amazing!!! For the rest of the day i wasnt really in much pain at all but kept taking my painkillers and antibiotics. Day 2: I didnt have the best nights sleep again as i had to sleep more or less sat up in bed and used a sort of a rolled up pillow that was on the beds in the room to put under my neck. Other than that i was ok and again kept taking my drugs. I was told to remove the bandage on day 2 and to take a shower and just pour water over the back of my head with a cup which was easy enough. Didnt have no bleeding on any of the bandage either that was a bonus! I got dressed and then went out and found a nice american diner up the road and there is also 2 HUGE malls over the road from the hotels that i made a visit to. I got a few funny looks but not as bad as i first though as when i had the surgery Dr Lindsey told me not to wear a hat for the 1st week which i was worried about as i thought i would have to walk around with everyone looking at me but it wasnt that bad at all. The rest of the day i had a beer in the bar and then went out for a meal to another cafe at night. Day 3: Had a better nights sleep and was also waken by room service as i had ordered the night before. Was able to shampoo the back of the head today and get a bit of water on the grafts too and all went well. The plan was to go into Washington to see the sights but it was really hot outside and i didnt want to be walkin around in the heat all day with me head exposed and plus i had a flight to catch that night too. Decided to go the mall again and bought a few things and chilled out in TGI Fridays with some bud lights whilst watching the football. As i had checked out at 1pm i had left my bags at the hotel all day. When i got back from the mall they asked if i wanted another room that i could use that just had a few sofas in and a tv which was good of them. My flight back home was at 10.30pm and i managed to get a window seat so that i could rest againt the pillow on the window as i couldnt put my head back and find it hard as it is to go to sleep on the plane. The flight going out was 7hr 30mins and coming back was 6hr 40mins so was not bad at all. Had no problems leaving the US and also none what so ever coming back into the UK. Day 4: Had landed back home at 10.30am UK time and was in my house for 12pm. I felt really good and my sister had picked me up and thought i looked really well. By this point i had no pain at all but kept on with the antibiotics so that i finished the course. I took another shower and could now shampoo the front of the hair and slight rub. I was scared to death to do this as didnt want to see any hair fall out. All was done and was fine and saw nothing come out. Day 5: I woke up today with the top of my nose and eyes swollen. I had expected this as the night before my forhead looked a bit swollen. I had no pain though and it didnt look as bad as the day went on. Dont know if this was from sleeping on my side for the first time for a bit or from the flight home. My head was now starting to look really scabby and the sutures were starting to itch a fair bit. Day 7: I was told by Dr Linsdey to have my sutures out today. A friend of mine that is a nurse said she would do this for me. I had no swelling by now and scabs were starting to fall off but had a really itchy head. the sutures came out really well apart from the odd nick here and there due to the scabs. Washing my hair was still going well and had only seen the odd hair fall out with the scabs. I am now going to fast forward to today as i dont want to keep boring you rambling on! lol. It has been 2 weeks yesterday that i have had my hair transplant done. I went back to work this week and just took it easy. Have heard from both Dr Lindsey and Spex who have both been asking how i am doing and i have also sent over pics to Dr Lindsey so he can see. I will be honest that the 1st week my hair looked really good and everyone was amazed at how it looked too. It has now been 2 weeks though and the area where the grafts have been put in are shedding and i knew to expect this but it doesnt help you worrying at the same time and i know alot of people have dealt with that too. The scar is feeling and looking better from what i can see. I have been wearing a hat to work and the rest of my hair is now getting longer again so could do with a trim probably next week as i dont want to rush things. I also knew the 1st month or so would be the worst as your hoping that all is going well and are a bit limited to the things you can do as im having to wear a hat if i go out (even though its my own choice, as i usually like to go out with product on my hair), and iv not been back to the gym yet as leaving it another week just again so that im not rushing things. Everything else has looked like it has gone to plan though. I just really want to thank now Spex, Dr Lindsey and all his staff as without any of these i wouldnt be sat here now writing this long winding story (lol). They have really helped me and they want just as good results as i do. I know when i first had it done i was blown away and although this past week when i have shed some hair you feel it doesnt look as good, i know like eveyone else from reading on here that i have a long way to go and cant be impatient. Hope for anyone reading this it wasnt too long and i tried to shorten things down but i just want you to be able to see how i did things and if your really thinking about having it done then just go for it! Thanks again Also will get some before and after pictures on here once i figure out how to do so and a bit short of time at the min as its just taken me 2 hours to get all this together! Mark