midnightio75

WOW what can I say, a detail report of your HT which will help other members on this forum.

 

Hope you dont mind, Ive got few question to ask:

 

You mentioned that about 960 FUE grafts were taken out as you not had quite enough donor area to permit.....so if you needed a second FUE procedure, do you know how much grafts you have left on the back (donor area)?

 

Has Dr Bhatti told you to take any medication....like Finasteride?

 

Do you know how many grafts were placed in at cm2?

Hi Jay,

Dr. Bhatti did say this evening that after 1 year (I forgot exactly, it could be a little shorter time, but let me go with 1 year) after everything has fully healed he can go back in with a follow-up FUE procedure and he would expect to get about half of the original yield (~3000 grafts) -- so up to 1500 in my case, although I think he threw out a number of 1000 grafts.

I hope I will not need it anytime soon and that I can get at least 4-5 years from this current work.

Yes, Dr. Bhatti did recommend taking Finasteride. I told him I had taken it about 5 years ago for 1-2 weeks, and felt like I was experiencing weight gain and I did not feel 100% normal, so I stopped it. (The topical Rogaine had a similar effect. I started getting headaches within a few days of using it. I rarely get headaches so when I made the correlation I immediately stopped using the Rogaine).

Dr. B said he does recommend a very low dose of Finasteride daily and thought it would be OK and for me to use it. He mentioned that he sold it, but I forgot to purchase any before leaving this evening. In truth, the reason I embarked on my first hair transplant was because I did not want to take any medication. I wanted to physically move the hair and for that to be enough to get the results I desired.

Of course, everything I hear is that blending the surgery with the medicine will yield the best results. But thus far, the hair medicines have not agreed with my body.

A final travel point for those living outside India who have never visited:

Check to see if you need an India travel VISA.

USA citizens require a VISA. Fortunately I had one from last year when I made a short visit (my first) to India for business. Most interesting is that I received a *10-year* VISA. Having a VISA already made it an even easier choice when I decided to come to Darling Buds.

- Check flights to New Dehli, India (DEL).

I find the kayak.com website to be very helpful for checking flight schedules and costs. Determine if you will need to overnight in Dehli, or if you can catch a same-day flight to Chandigarh.

I stayed at the 'Lebua New Delhi' for $120usd. It was about 350idr (7usd) taxi @ 20-30 minutes from the Dehli airport using outside taxi stand -- which you really have to search for to avoid ending up in a 2850idr ($55-60usd) private SUV taxi.

- Check flights from New Dehli to Chandigarh (IXC).

This should be as cheap as $75usd for a 55min flight.

- Check hotels in Chandigarh.

A website like Agode works well. Hotels such as 'The Regent' and 'Altius' are in the $65-80usd/night range, and about 10 minutes from Darling Buds. The JW Marriott is a similar distance. I believe it is the nicest hotel in the city at 2-2.5x the nightly rate.

I stayed at The Regent hotel and have attached a few pictures from my stay.

It is 6:30pm (Saturday, Dec 15) and I just returned to my hotel room. I am anxious to provide a full summary while it is fresh in mind.

Let me start by saying this is, by far, the best hair transplant procedure I have experienced for several reasons:

- minimal amount of discomfort before & after the procedure

- the actual face time I had with the Dr. and the many questions he patiently answered

- the detailed after care instructions and items provided to ensure the best possible outcome from the grafts

With this in mind, I came to terms with doing two sessions. With the minimal pain during and hardly any felt overnight, it was not the issue I thought to be.

I returned to Darling Buds this morning around 10:30am and by 11:00am I was back in the operating room. We first removed the bandage covering my donor area and cleaned it with an iodine solution. Dr. Bhatti explained that the previous day he had harvested about 2/3 of my donor area, and based on that yield he expected to get about 1,000 grafts from the remaining area.

The only part of the procedure that had any real pain was the numbing injections, which was only in select areas and lasted for a few seconds. A few areas during the procedure would still have some feeling and we would numb them further as needed. With everything numb, the extraction tool is used. It sounds like an electric toothbrush -- nothing scary. It makes very quick circular cuts into the scalp donor area as the Dr. uses 6x magnification to identify the best areas to harvest and to space them out the cuts so the remaining hair follicles will regrow with a natural look.

The Dr. used the smallest size extraction head for my procedure as I have very fine hair. If I had coarser hair I would benefit a good deal more from my hair transplants as it would yield more total coverage. Dr. Bhatti also explained that with my fair (white) complexion my hair loss is going to be more visible than someone with a olive/darker complexion. But I suppose you have to deal the hand you are dealt!

The previous day we only worked on the forehead. Today we were going to work on both the crown area and also try to fix my FUT scars by adding FUE grafts where they are most visible.

As an aside -- my interpretation of the way FUE works is that the FUE tool 'core drills' the numb donor scalp area, cutting tiny circles to a predefined depth quickly, one after the other. The grafts remained attached so afterwards the staff will individually 'pluck' the grafts from the scalp and place them in a solution. You remain face down on the table for this step and the next.

Next the Dr.will numb the transplant area and then make individual incisions, again under 6x magnification, in the areas he deems the best and avoiding existing hair follicles. During this part there is pressure, and a curious sawing sound.. but nothing like the sawing sound during a FUT procedure when they extract the donor scalp!

Once all of the incisions are made -- which the doctor will be counting to match up with the number of grafts which were harvested -- a senior staff member will begin inserting the grafts under magnification individually using a tweezer like tool. The grafts are oriented so they face forward, not straight up. Another staff member will frequently flush the area with saline solution. You feel and hear nothing during this final step. You only need to patiently wait while the grafts are inserted. For the front hairline you will be face-up on the table. For the crown area you will be in a reclined seated position.

The procedure today went very quickly. By 1pm Dr. Bhatti had cut all of the grafts, and the staff then removed them. We stopped for a 20-30min lunch -- which was very good. Dr. Bhatti offers whatever you may want, from Indian food to Subway. I have always prefered to avoid stopping for a break as I want to get the procedure, and the discomfort, over with, but since there was no pain to be felt it was a pleasant break, and we soon resumed.

The last step for graft insertions took about 2 hours. We finished around 4pm.

TIn total we had about 960 FUE grafts for Saturday. I was hoping to hit at least the 3500 graft mark, but I did not have quite enough donor area to permit it.

Update, my confirmed number of grafts: 2928 total FUE grafts over both days.

Since I am leaving early tomorrow morning (Sunday) Dr. Bhatti wanted me to perform a wash yet this evening, but wanted to wait until 6pm to give the graft areas some time to settle.

This gave me time to have some open and interesting conversation with Dr. Bhatti while we waited. I had many questions, a few which I will share:

Why are there not more surgeons offering FUE?

Because the established ones are accustomed to FUT. FUT requires less time per patient and the work is not as intensive. Many transplant surgeons are not accustomed to working under magnification, and once a person is a certain age it is not something they can just start doing. Dr. B did share his opinion that over the coming years there will be many more younger surgeons offering FUE as it is the future.

How can your FUE cost be so low (70 INR -- about $1.30 usd) per graft?

Firstly, this is what Dr. B specializes in. He is able to keep his costs lower by being in India. Lastly, he recognizes that by keeping a competitive rate he will attract customers outside of India who also have to account for the air travel, visa, and hotel costs. He knows he could increase the price, but (fortunately!) is content to maintain a fair pricing structure.

Why do you not offer a more complete 'travel package' for foreign visitors to make it easier to visit Darling Buds?

Dr. B does not want people to think he is profiting on hotels, transportation, etc. So foreign visitors do need to handle their own air flights and hotel bookings.

Dr. Bhatti also shared with me that currently around 95% of his surgeries are for the FUE procedure, and the other 5% being the occasional plastic surgery procedure, which he does still enjoy doing.

Dr. Bhatti will be moving to a new office around March 2013. It will be 4x the size of the current office and will be laid out to provide a good work flow and additional room for patients and staff.

After 6pm Dr. Bhatti gave me a thorough cleaning and bandaged up my donor area. We spent about 15 minutes going over the 'after care' instructions I need to follow for the next 2 weeks. I was surprised by the detailed instructions and the care items provided by Darling Buds which is all aimed at making sure the grafts are successful and the scabs falling off naturally at the correct time.

With my second surgery today, and the fact that I will have an international flight early tomorrow morning (to a sunny ocean-side area to rest and relax for 3-4 days!) with less than 12 hours of healing time, I will need to be extra careful as I move from taxi to airport to plane, etc. I will also look rather funny with my over sized Darling Buds ball cap covering my head and bandage, and also because we had to leave the grafts to fix my FUT scars exposed.

I hope this information is helpful. I normally do not invest this much time and share every detail, but this forum and contributors like Johnny24 has been a key to making me feel confident enough to pull the trigger and come to India just for this procedure. I am happy with my choice, and hope it helps others who are considering FUE gain more insight into the procedure and options.

I will plan to post regular picture updates to show my own progress.

If there are any questions I can answer, just post them here. If they require a private response I will do so accordingly.

Moderator(s) - If there is anything I have written which conflicts with forum policy please edit accordingly.

Cheers!

Jim (Texas, USA)

PS - Remember, while it may look like a painful result from the pictures, it is amazing how pain free both sessions have been, not to mention being pain free during the night and being able to rest comfortably, albeit being very careful to not disturb the grafts.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I have a few minutes to post a short update and some pictures.

I arrived in Chandigarh without any problems on Thursday evening (Dec-13). It is a short 55 minute flight from Dehli and only costs about $75usd one-way.

Dr. Bhatti had a person met me at the airport and arranged for a taxi to deliver me to the hotel I booked. I first spoke with the Dr. while in the car. He made sure I had arrived OK, etc. At that time he noted that I should arrive at the clinic at 10:30am. I originally had planned for 7:30am, so I was not sure why time would be pushed back as it would leave less time to hit our original 3500 FUE target.

The following morning (Dec-14), I took a short 5 minute taxi to the Darling Buds office. Upon arriving I did a few admin items and noticed that the Dr. must have had a morning surgery. It was not until about 12pm before we first spoke in person, and where I could explain my desires, etc. regarding the procedure.

The Dr. explained that in my case it would be better to focus my grafts on creating a defined hairline first. Followed by grafts in the crown, and also some in the sides of my head to help cover my FUT scars. He said it is common for this scarring, and is usually most noticable in the area on either side of the FUT incision.

I explained my main purpose was to get as many transplanted units as possible during my session, given the distance I have traveled, the time out of my schedule -- but most important for me is discomfort and then the healing process. Let's do it all at once. I don't want there to be any need to visit again in 1-2 years and have to go through it all again.

Do to the time constraints already present, we did not get all of the work done in one session. We started around 12:15PM with a short break for lunch, and we finished around 6PM with 2,038 FUE grafts. All were concentrated in the forehead to rebuild and define my hairline.

I really wish we had done everything in one session. I will have to go back in today, Saturday (Dec-15), for the second session. Aside from some neck and rear head discomfort for 1-2 hours last night when I got back to my hotel room, everything has gone well. Not like the post-procedure aching I experienced from both of my FUT procedures due to the scalp incision.

Darling Buds provided me with a take home care kit containing additional medicine, instruction booklet, a saline mist unit to spray on the graft area every 20 minutes, and a sterile towel to place on the bed pillow.

I am expecting to get 1000+ grafts today. I will post another update afterwards.

@ Mike - Thanks so much for the kind words.

In fact this will be my first HT with Dr. Bhatti. My two previous HT's were with Dr. Path in Bangkok. I will see if I can dig up any older pictures to post.

For the session size Dr. B has noted that we should be able to get up to 3500 grafts in one day. And I saw that 'shane13' reached 4000 grafts in June with a 12-hour (!) procedure. So the 4000 graft size could be a bit of wishful thinking on my part... I would like to get as much done at one time as possible, so long as we can balance the new grafts against the chance for shock loss with my existing hair.

Dr. Bhatti did note he has left his Saturday afternoon (following day) schedule open in case we need to do additional grafts.

Fingers crossed!

In 24hrs I will have a FUE HT with Dr. Bhatti in Chandigarh, India.

I am 37 years old from the USA, and have had 2 previous 'regular' FUT transplants in Bangkok, Thailand. The first was around 2005 and the second in 2008. I started loosing hair by the time I turned 20. The results from both FUT transplants was very helpful for my situtation, but I never appreciated the size and permanent nature of the scar that is left behind. It means anytime I cut my hair too short (2 guard) the scarring is visible. Not to mention for my scalp the hairline near the scar no longer lays naturally flat. Lastly, I really do not like the invasive nature of FUT now that I have had it done twice -- cutting you from 'ear to ear'.

I have lost additional hair since 2008 and while wanting more hair I will not do another FUT procedure. I was intrigued to read the reports over the last 4 months here on the forum about FUE transplants at a reasonable cost. The only challenge for me is working this into my schedule, and taking the time to fly to India.

I am starting this thread to document my progress before and after and provide additional unbiased feedback about Darling Buds for other HRN readers.

I am currently in Dehli and will catch an afternoon flight (50 minutes) to Chandigarh, India. Tomorrow morning I will go in for the procedure -- first consulting with Dr. Bhatti. I have not had much detailed correspondence yet regarding our plan, so when I arrive in the morning I expect some initial busy activity as we decide how to best approach my procedure.

I want to get as much done as possible, as I hope I will not have to have another HT for many years to come. I hope to reach 4000+ FUE's and have also considered if I want to use any donor hair that is not from my scalp. I undestand Dr. Bhatti offers this at an increased rate per FUE.

I am attaching my current 'before' pictures to this thread, and then I will take pictures and notes tomorrow before/during/after the procedure and share my experiences!

Jim

I received a note from Dr. Bhatti recently and he had this reply regarding head shaving:

Yes, you shall need to (shave) for grafts in excess of 1800-2000

Johnny24 - Thanks for the pictures and comments about how your procedure went with Dr. Bhatti. I am 37yo now and have had 2 FUT procedures over the last 7 years with a well known provider in Bangkok. While the HT's have certainly given me a lot of more hair, I need some more work to restore hair density in my crown area and temples.

The worst effect of the FUT procedure is the ear-to-ear scar it leaves. I cannot cut my hair too short, and even when I tell the barber to 'leave some length' usually it ends up short enough where the scar becomes visible.

My HT doctor in Bangkok is a proponent of FUT, but I have no desire to have my scalp opened up yet again, so I have begun looking for a FUE alternative. A few doctors whom I have reviewed here in the States show great results, but the cost is astronomical!

I have been researching several FUE doctors in India and I think this is the direction I will take to get the FUE procedure I desire without draining my savings.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It very helpful to me in determining which HT doctor to choose. Please keep posting your progress!