It's been 2 months since my FUE procedure. Back to my native hairline since all the donor follicles have shed. Look forward to new growth, it looks like there may be some already. Donor area has recovered nicely.
It has been just over 2 weeks since my FUE procedure and the grafts have started to shed. There is some pink/redness in the recipient area, possibly due to the first application of minoxidil 5%, which tingles a lot.
The donor area is healing nicely, with a bit of itchiness and redness which should subside within the next 4-5 days.
Enter the ugly-ducking phase. Happy to report no complications with the healing process, and looking forward to resuming my normal exercise regimen sometime in the next week or so.
Woke up early and headed to Dr. Rahal's office around 6:30am.
I was enthusiastically awaiting my hairline consultation and proposed plan of attack.
Upon arrival, I first met with Mike, the head technician and a patient coordinator. We walked into a room and took before photos to document.
Then I was introduced to Dr. Rahal and we chatted about the goal. I wanted an aggressive hairline, FUE procedure and as many grafts as possible, as I'm sure most men considering the procedure would.
We discussed and decided on a hairline and 2500 FUE grafts would be the goal. Then it was off the the surgical room for prep.
The entire staff was very professional and the facility was immaculate. Mike shaved my head and Dr. Rahal came in anesthetised the donor area.
The harvesting procedure itself was a painless experience. I was completely comfortable and actually fell asleep for some moments. Luckily Dr. Rahal told me I was an excellent candidate for FUE.
After 2500 grafts were harvested, I asked how everything was going. I had almost as many 3 graft units as 2 graft units, so the density was going to be better than expected. Since the process was going so smoothly, we were finished around lunch time, I asked if there was enough donor area to get any more grafts. Dr. Rahal thought we could get another 500 grafts without depleting area too much.
In the end, we harvested 3015 total grafts. Then I had lunch.
After lunch, Dr. Rahal made the reception slits in the hairline and the magic began. It took about 5 hours to get all the grafts in place with three technicians.
At the end of the procedure, Dr. Rahal told me that the density would be better than originally expected due to the amount of 3 and 4 unit grafts. He took me back to the guesthouse around 6pm.
I was surprised at how little pain I felt. I only had to take Tylenol 3 and I watched TV for a couple hours, ate dinner and was asleep with minimal discomfort.
After much consideration and narrowing to down to three top HT surgeons around the globe, I decided to have my procedure done by Dr. Rahal.
I had spoken with his UK patient advisor Matt over the phone, who had recently had his procedure performed by Dr. Rahal as well, and in less than a week I was on a plane from Los Angeles to Canada to.
I had arrived a day before the scheduled meeting with the doctor, so I could be well rested. I took a cab from the airport and stayed at the Brookline Guesthouse, which is only 15 minutes from the airport and a 3- minute walk to the doctor's office.
The guesthouse is a 4 bedroom townhouse, where many of the out-of-town patients stay when having their procedures. I was surprised at how nice it was. Very quiet, and comfortable with recliners in each patient room and a flat screen TV. My room even had a separate tub and shower.
I planned to stay for 5 days after my procedure, before hopping back on a plane to Los Angeles.