sillymusic

Days 1-4:

Immediately post op:

Hello I had my second operation with Dr Hakan and my 3rd overall, you can find the previous surgery here - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/173133-dr-hakan-doganay-3000-fue-05-06-dec-2013-a.html You can read a detailed journey of my good experiance in Antalya on my last thread, and this time was no different. Thanks AHD and sorry about the flight time on Sunday morning 12 January 2015 Graft totals: 1700 FUE (1000 beard) There are my pre-op:

Conclusions: The goal was to repair previous bad surgery and initially cover the birthmark to an extent that I don’t need to be concerned about it being visible. I’m happy that they achieved that I'm slightly disappointed by a few small areas that didn’t yield, and the mid-section has miniature further somewhat. I had come off meds around 6 months into it which probably facilitated the native loss. Realistically with my hair characteristics and remaining donor I think they have done a great job with what they had to work with. Dr Hakans team have been fantastic throughout, and decided to have another round in January 2015 to add a little more density in the temples and if my donor could handle pack some into the mid-section. Started back on the the ‘big 3’ meds 2 months prior for 3rd HT in January to try and limit any shock loss and help the crown out. I should get the pre op photos soon from the clinic and ill post up a comparision :cool: Cheers

I had a biopsy taken from the lesion during the research before this surgery. as some of the docs I visited were cautius (rightly) of performing on me. Histology confirmed that 'the lesion is a benign intradermal melanocytic naevus with no signs of malignancy' -in other words just a birthmark

11 month and shave

10 months

8 months

5 months

4 month

3 months

2 months

Apologies for the massive delay... 1 MONTH

2 Week Update

I believe I met this gentleman while I was out there and it looks great first hand, he was really happy!

Haha well I didn't want to pack the thread with too much timber One week in and the beard has healed well, cant shave till the 20th day though. Shame its not Movember anymore. Recipient and donor scabbing over as expected looking forward to when they're off completely, hope my native hair returns some thickness over the coming months

nice one Mask!

Hairs it going? Looking good in the pics, any updates please you fue fighter?

Miscellaneous, Clinic room, supplies, donor healing plus a cheeky snap with the great man himself, one for the family album! Sagol AHD! Welcome any feedback please

Day 4 recovering and looking into the mirror faaaarrrrr too much :rolleyes:

Post Day 3 700 BHT, pictures of the choi instruments and the beard grafts ready to be placed into my head!

Post Day 1 3300 FUE taken with and without flash.

Shaving Down and Hairline Placement

Taken 2 weeks prior to HT - Brushed back, donor and with the use if Toppik.

Arrived back to the UK on late / early Tuesday from a extremely positive experience with AHD clinic, and wanted a couple of days to absorb it all in so I could approach the write up rationally so sorry for the delay. As much research as you can do and knowing what to expect regarding the process there’s very little that can prepare you for the days post-surgery. Its emotionally intense and the anxiety that sets in worrying if you have made the right choices, you are following the post op instructions correctly, reflections in your personal life and the bridges that been burnt because how low your confidence had been leading up to it. I've come to realise that these bridges can be rebuilt and this is hopefully the start of a new life. Breakdown 1's 775 2's 1800 3's 725 Beard 700 Total: 7250 Method: Choi Implanter Arriving in Antalya and Consult As much as you think you have prepared and checked you have done everything you need, double check! I had missed simple things like a travel adaptor, the connecting coach to get to London Stansted broke down and managed to get onto the flight with minutes to spare. My advice here would be to use as little external factors as possible that could go wrong! Discovered later that you can get a direct flight to Antalya from Manchester for the Uk guys out there. Much to the amusement of a fellow patient on here. I had a connecting flight from Istanbul at 4am, worth noting here that there is a visa charge to pay of 15 euro when entering the country. The clinics superb rep, Didem, met me at the airport at 8AM in the pouring rain. I knew that she was my contact as she was holding a sign with AHD Hair in her hand! She brought a spare umbrella with her for me, a nice touch and this pretty much set the tone for how I was treated throughout my stay. They really do think of everything, a very classy and professional clinic. Proceeded to the clinic and was fed some breakfast, met a US patient who had his the day prior. I then met with Dr Ayhan for a review about the days ahead, a very friendly doc who puts you completely at ease. At this point id been travelling for 15 hours so was shown to my very nice clinic room, had a snooze ready for the consult with Dr Hakan in the afternoon. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all taken care of and delivered to your room. WiFi is also complimentary. In the afternoon I met with Dr Hakan and we reviewed my situation, discussed meds, goals and what was possible. My donor is quite thin so we discussed the used of beard hair, which I hadn't considered prior. We agreed on a plan to extract the bad grafts from the previous surgery and depending how the operation goes the following day to camouflage in some beard into the temples. Day 1 Extractions began at 09:00 and lasted for around 2.5 hours, admittedly the first couple of injections are temporally uncomfortable. We were going for 3000 but managed to get 3300 grafts. The doctor has an excellent bed side manner and kept saying excuse me excuse when applying the local anaesthetic which made me laugh at the time. His English is ok but Didam and Dr Ayhan are always on hand if you have any questions needing translated, at no point did I feel I wasn't being understood. Lunch then buzz down completely. I’d never seen my birthmark like this before which was quite shocking, coupled with a clearer view of what I'd been left with from previous surgery it was all pretty upsetting. Hairline placement was next and I was sweating so much from laying down his pen wouldn't work! I was open to suggestions as i dont recall seeing a bad hairline from the doctor on this forum. I was happy with the first choice, but decided to take the second and go slightly conservative and utilise more grafts in the front for the hairline. So I sat on the operating chair in a much more comfortable position facing a smart TV. They originally put too fast and furious on which I’m sure he did for my benefit as he thought I’d enjoy it , there was some trouble with the connection so the doc then put a classic western on, John Wayne special. The nurses were all talking in Turkish and occasionally the doctor would say shut up nurse in English, to which I replied thank you in Turkish which was a nice little moment. Implantation finished at finished at 17:15, and the doc and nurse stayed behind for much longer ensuring the birthmark was accepting the grafts permanently. The skin tissue is very soft and he said it was a difficult surgery because of this, as there were occasions that grafts would pop out after one was placed. I was then given an injection in the backside and provided with anti-inflammatory medication to aid swelling along with pain killers. We enjoyed some Turkish cuisine which was ordered in and then gingerly aided back to my room to rest. The injection in the backside did make me walk like John Wayne coincidently for a short while after. Day 2 I spent the day resting mainly in my room as advised not too go out into the sunshine for the first few days. I did find myself wondering around the clinic practising my Turkish on every poor unsuspecting soul. They must have thought I was mental. I may have dislodged a graft from taking my bandana on and off, no blood but could see the tissue surrounding the root. At this point I had to remind myself what I had just done and to give the hair transplant the respect it deserves. Day 3 Picked up at 09:00 and was time for the bandages to be taken off and get washed. In my opinion i found this much more painful than the injections. I was tensing so much from the pain I starting bleeding from my temple! Thankfully no grafts were lost. I had three of the nurses blowing and spraying cold water on my donor to calm it down! As per the post op instructions the grafts should be nice and secure by day 2/3, this is much sooner than I was expecting and perhaps its relating to the Choi implanter technique used, perhaps Mickey or another fue fighter could chime in here At this point you are shown how to wash correctly and given all the lotions and supplements you need post op. I then sat down with the doctors for review, was advised that the surgery was successful and everything looked OK which was a great relief. We decided to go for some beard grafts to provide further density into the temples and birthmark. The beard extractions started at around 15:30 which were not too painful, bearing in mind it was Saturday tea time the enthusiasm and diligence of the team never diminished. A plastic surgeon came in to see me who seemed quite esteemed, everyone was trying to get me to speak Turkish to him but at this point to be honest I was completely drained I couldn't even remember my own language. I told him where I was from and he kept chanting Glasgow Rangers, I didn’t have the heart or energy to correct him with the right country. During implantation you really do feel in safe hands with the doctor, you trust him and his experience. Such a surreal time being in the hands of someone top of their field doing something they clearly have a passion for. He's like an artist and all that was missing was some opera or somewhere over the rainbow or something playing in the background. Plus he’s a top bloke. I was then taken to a very nice hotel to rest for a couple of days and again all food and expenses taken care of by the clinic, seaside view, I must admit there are worse views to wake up to after 2 HT's in 3 days! I also met with another UK patient who had his on op on the Friday, so we ventured out for some Turkish cuisine in the evening. The Sunday we took advantage of the buffet style food and we shot some pool. Day 5 Picked up from the hotel and taken back to the clinic for a final check by the doctor and to answer any questions I that had before being taken to the airport. I'd advise to write these questions down as my mind went completely blank.. A few email exchanges after and was satisfied with the quick responses. I can't speak highly enough of the whole team, first class treatment from start to finish. I was sad to leave Antalya in the end, it’s lovely place to be. I realise that my situation is unique and the operation was difficult, and I honestly don’t know what really to expect. I can't find a similar situation out there to me. I hope with 4000 grafts (7250 total hairs) it will make a significant difference cosmetically and give me that confidence and happiness that alas was taken away. Thanks for reading!