BridgetJones

Hello Everyone, I had a call with Dr Rahal today and I will outline his feedback below but before that I would like to clarify few points. I believe there is a misunderstanding probably caused by some of my comments. Dr Rahal treated the wider area of my head: The hairline zone and the frontal area (behind the hairline). 1. The hairline zone (the strip aprox. 1.5cm in width) is my main concern as it did not grow as expected with only few dozens hair sticking out. 2. The frontal area did grow as expected. I have NO concerns about this area and I am glad it has grown as it creates a big difference on the overall appearance. As we spoke today and back in July, Dr Rahal reassured that he will do 400 grafts, or maybe more as it needs to be evaluated in person. We will also look into doing strip (FUT) procedure. Dr Rahal and his team are aware of my concerns about the hairline and we are exploring options of how to fix it. I know Dr Rahal cares about his patients and wants them to be happy and satisfied with the results. They were and are in contract with me and I know that they will take care of it.

But I am not saying that people are paying attention to the "transplanted" hairlines. If we look at many Dr Rahal's or other surgeons' hairline pictures they all look great. And of course you probably wouldn't even say that it's transplanted. What I am saying is that in my case the hairline does not exist pretty much. There are dozens of hair sticking out creating very unattractive look. Dr Rahal treated wider frontal area which has grown as expected and creates the cover. It looks alright from the distance but when standing closer you see a completely different "picture".

Wow, Slickers I won't even try to convince you. You seem to know everything and everyone in this world and that everyone operates the way you think. P.S. I personally approached one guy on the tube and asked him who did the surgery, because I could see the scar on the back of his head. But of course you will probably say that I am lying again.

I did not have a strip procedure. I only had FUE.

Hello Everyone, Thank you very much for your comments. While I have definitely contributed but I didn't push myself into such a terrible state: - First if I start with my family and friends. Yes, they are all supportive and say that it all looks fine. But even they admit that the hairline is far from being OK. The back of the temples did grow which does create a cover when looking from the top. - Second, my work involves working with a lot of different/new people. I swear to God, 70% of them always look at my hairline. And it's not a random look, they are deliberately looking at the hairline with the very curios looks. Not into my eyes (when talking to me), but to my hairline. - Third, I even had some people of the tube coming up to me and asking what has happened to my hairline. I had only 2 occurrences so far but still. When you have go through this everyday; when you meet new people and when shaking their hands they stare at your hairline, when saying goodbye people stare at your hairline, when people you already know/met also look at the your hairline everytime you see them again. If that all sounds amazing to you, let it be, I won't go into polemic. I didn't come here to argue with anyone, I am only sharing my results and experience. P.S. I still believe Dr. Rahal is a great surgeon. But it looks like I am not suitable for FUE and I wish doctors had better tools to identify who is suitable for what, but I understand that it's not possible currently. The density of my hairline was 47-48 follicular unit grafts per square centimetre, but the hairline does appear less dense than 20 FU/cm with some spots having pretty much 0 hair which can also be seen on the pictures.

8.5 months update: Mood: Very sad Friends & Family: Stopped talking about it. Overall: Well, I don't know what to say. I am very upset. 8.5 months did not bring much changes (I wasn't expecting though). I believe I made the biggest mistake in my life to have HT in first place. My life has become a nightmare ever since. My confidence has simply vanished, I don't go out anymore, I don't meet people, I don't socialise. I feel extremely uncomfortable even going outside. My hairline looks horrible. Like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast I just want to break all the mirrors. As a matter of fact I have pretty much changed all the mirrors at home so they never go above my forehead, because I don't wanna see my hair. I don't know what to do. I don't have donor grafts anymore. I really don't know what to do. All my hopes are broken. My whole life is broken

400 grafts of course will not change anything. It was just a comment from Dr. Rahal's meeting. If I ever do it again, of course it won't be 400 grafts... I also do not really agree that 1400 was too little. While it's of course a small amount of grafts but it was estimated not only by Dr. Rahal himself but by other surgeons as well that I don't need more than 2000 grafts to restore it to reasonable density. In fact, some have said that transplanting more than 2100 would not be a good idea as it could imbalance the hairline where transplanted area would look more dense than the existing hair. I don't not necessarily agree with that but still.. I don't think if we would do 2000 it would make huge difference. Besides Dr. Rahal wanted to transplant more in the back that he did with 1400 but the hairline was pretty much as he planned it with 2000 grafts. @Mickey85 In my case new hair are very thin first but after a month or so they do mature. Which is why there is difference between 5 and 6 months. In my previous post maybe I didn't express myself clear but I was referring to overall results, not just hairline. And hair at the back of the temples matured since then. If you would look at the first 6 months pic you will that the hairline is pretty much the same as at 4.5 months. I did have growth at the back of the temples but the hairline changed insignificantly. Again, because new hair are very thin they are even hard to see in the mirror camera wouldn't pick them up until they mature.

6.5 Moths update Mood: Not suicidal Friends & Family: Asking where exactly did I have have hair transplant. They see 0% difference between now and pre-op. Dr. Rahal comments: In July I met with Dr. Rahal in London to review my progress. He said that it will continue to thicker, which is true. I do feel (like stubble) hair popping up. Overall: Well it did improve form 4 moths but insignificantly. At the end of the "temples" I do see hair growth and it's good I should say. But there is no hairline which is what I need… Dr. Rahal also said that he will do 400 grafts free of charge and we agreed to meet again later in 2013 to review the final outcome. While I know that is not possible to predict the results for patients and I do know that Dr. Rahal and his team do want their patients to have great results. I still think that perhaps there could be some kinds of test or something that could help surgeons to delivery better results for patients like me. It looks like I am not suitable for FUE or maybe even for HT at all... Below are the pics. I know that some people may say. You should be lucky, you have enough hair anyway and blah blah blah. Well, yes maybe I do and my hair loss is not as noticeable as for some other guys. However the purpose of the hair transplant surgery is not be happy about what you had but to be happy about new results…

With regards to my procedure: I mostly slept through it. However I do remember that Dr. Rahal did a part of extractions for me. It was in the beginning and when I woke up it was also Dr. Rahal who was sitting and doing extractions. But of course a part of extractions were done by Mike as it is with other patients. As far as I remember Matt said his extractions were also done by Mike... After the procedure Dr. Rahal did incisions and technicians inserted(implanted) the grafts. As far as I know surgeons do not implant the grafts. This is what I heard also from many clinics. I also felt asleep during the implantation part but when I woke up Dr. Rahal was in the room overseeing the process and giving instructions to the technicians. I don't think I received a B class service or something. From the comments I heard from other patients and people I met in the guest house, this is how it works in general and this is how it is in many clinics. P.S They did NOT use robotic system during my procedure.

Hello, I will upload some pix and comments from my meeting with Dr Rahal some time next week. There are no updates on my hairline, it has improved maybe by 10%. My colleagues, friends and family see 0% difference though.

5 months updates. I won't be uploading pictures this time, if you want to see how it looks like, you can take a look at the picture on Page 2 (June 2013), there is no difference to it. I was approached by the Dr Rahal's rep (mattj) saying that Dr Rahal will be in London week of July 15 and I should meet him on July 16 to follow-up on my "progress". I still haven't received any confirmation though.

To clarify, I am not expecting my hairline to be full of hair by 4.5 months and I am not making any conclusions. I did however expect to see some signs of growth by now... I do use propecia daily and minoxidil not more than 5 times a week (my skin can be sensitive).

To be honest I don't know where you are seeing "growing nicely" guys. It has been almost 4.5 months now and this what I have - No results. Same think on the right side - No changes since 2012 whatsoever.

Before the surgery there was enough hair to cover the scar. Dr Rahal said there is still enough to cover it even after this surgery should I decide to have a 3rd surgery in the future. I don't see how this would be possible looking at my donor area now, if I only grow long hair maybe it will cover...

Yeah, about 250 on each side. I believe I have those 250 on each side from the previous surgery so it should make 2000 in the end. I think I have standard head for the person of my size. It's not big or small, it's just right Btw, I have decided not to shave my head so in one month time I should start seeing if there is any new growth from this surgery and how much.

I am not really good at writing essays but I thought I should put something and share my experience with Dr Rahal's Clinic. After Transmed killed about 2000 grafts, took no responsibility for their failure whatsoever and simply started ignoring calls and emails. I will deal with those butchers a bit later but I knew that I had to fix what they have done. I started searching for new surgeon back in summer 2012. Looking online Dr Rahal was coming-up as one of the best in the field with consistent positive feedbacks. I approached their Clinic in August 2012 and after the reviews and consultations scheduled my surgery at the end of January 2013, 30th of January to be precise. Evaluations: After meeting with Dr Rahal's rep. here in the UK it was estimated that I need 2000 grafts to restore my hairline. Because I am blond and my skin ton is pretty fair I wouldn't need more than that. In the meantime I also spoke with few other doctors and their estimations were the pretty much the same. Payments: For international patients the easiest way to pay for the surgery is by credit card or bank transfer. Not sure if EU's continental banks are trying to rip off their customers but UK's bank definitely do. If paying by credit/debit card or doing a bank transfer Hight Street Banks in the UK charge 1) oversees transaction fees and 2) currency exchange rate is extremely bad. Hair Transplant is not the cheapest "pleasure". After countless calculations; if I would pay using my bank I would pay on top of the surgery cost about 700 CAD (450 GBP) in fees only. Of course I didn't want to overpay that massively. The other option was to use exchange dealer. Their fees are significantly lower but still I didn't understand why I should be paying more just because I want to send money abroad. Luckily I found the solution that cost me nothing. As an advice for other UK patients needing to pay for something oversees (non GBP currency). There is only one Hight Street Bank in the UK that doesn't charge any oversees transaction fees, that is Metro Bank. In addition to no fees they are opened till 8pm every day (7 days a week) and can issue you with a credit card on the same day you opened the account. Using their Credit Card I saved 700 CAD, I couldn't be happier. Stay: In Ottawa I stayed in Brookline Guesthouse. From my experience I believe it much better than staying in a hotel. You get to meet other people, and you feel so much better knowing you are not on your own. And It definitely gives you emotional help especially after the surgery and it's about 400-500m away from the clinic. Surgery: This is where it got interesting. I was scheduled to be in the clinic at about 7am. The clinic itself isn't very impressive, if I compare it with Transmed which looked like the state of the (medical) art. Anyway, looks doesn't matter I guess. I met Dr Rahal who evaluated my donor area and my hairline. He confirmed the original plan of 2000 grafts with FUE. Before the surgery we agreed that if I am not suitable for FUE they will proceed with FUT instead. The time for the surgery had come. This is where the first shock was; while already lying on the medical chair I learned that the extractions are not entirely performed by Dr Rahal but also head technician. I literally freaked out and they brought Dr Rahal to explain me the process. As it turns out the extraction is done around 50/50 or 40/60 (at least in my case) by Dr Rahal and head technician - Mike, who is a very nice guy. I was given a pill for relaxing or something and it pretty much nocked me down - I slept almost throughout the surgery. The design of the future hairline (insertion) was done by Dr Rahal and he also coordinated some parts of the actual transplantation. After the extraction Dr Rahal told me something about the graft counts but I didn't pay attention to it because I was too sleepy. The surgery lasted for less than 6 hours, when after the surgery I was sitting with the nurse Dr Rahal came-in and told me that because of my previous surgery they could only extract 1400 grafts. And that killed me. I felt like I was stubbed by an axe. Form that moment I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't think of anything. I was just trying to hold my tears while the world was crushing down under my feet. I rushed back to the Guesthouse and luckily the time was about 3pm local and I could call my family in Europe - that's the only thing that kept me going without collapsing. I thought about many questions that I could ask Dr Rahal. Why he didn't evaluate my donor area properly and didn't suggest doing FUT to get the necessary 2000 grafts? Why, why and why? The next day, I already didn't see the point asking. The surgery is over, I cannot turn back time. There was no point of asking, it would have made thing even worse for me. I guess I just accepted, but did I have a choice? Post-op recovery Dr Rahal has very strict instructions. I was provided with the necessary medications, sprays for the recipient area and other necessary belongings. After a week at the Guesthouse it was time to go back home. I could only get 2 weeks off my work so I had to be in the office mid February. While in Canada I several times checked with Mike and nurses if I could start wearing bandana after 2 weeks post-op. I even brought all the bandanas with me to show them. They gave me all clear! I didn't have much scabs, the head looked really good. Just a bit of dried blood from the surgery (no blood post-op). It was really clean. For the next 1.5 month I was wearing bandana (not tight) and only while in the office. In the end or March I finally got my first haircut and didn't need any cover in the office anymore. Because of my skin tone, the redness did not away for about 8 weeks post op. I wasn't worried about it, I know that my skin is sensitive. After the surgery, I had no pain, no zits, nothing. It was all fine expect for that (light) redness for 8 weeks. 3 most post-op. On May 1st it was 3 month after my surgery. No visible changes since. Because of my previous surgery I have to shave some part of my hairline. Because of this I really cannot evaluate if I have any new growth. I will need to shave all my hair again or accept an ugly hairline for the next 2 months. Shaving all again might be a challenge, haven't decided what to do. But I know that I should make that decision in the coming days. So when I approach 4 months mark I have something to evaluate. I must say however that I am seeing new hair at the end of the temples but I don't know if those are surgery result or also some are from minoxidil. The concern at this stage is my donor area. It now looks very light and is very noticeable if I have short haircut like I do now... I will keep updating this post with new pictures after 4 months and so on. Pre-Op 1-3 Days Post Op 2 weeks Post-Op 1 month Post-Op 3 moths weeks Post-Op