Hey guys,
So I thought I'd start a new thread since my last one was mainly focussed on my slight freakout after the op and I wanted to give you my whole experience.
My experience with Dr.Bhatti was excellent overall, I have been researching FUE docs for years on this forum and others and in the end Dr.Bhatti came out on top when considering price for quality.
So I arrived in Delhi two days before the op and stayed one night in Delhi on the main bazaar road! This was crazy and I was slumming it like I've never done before, but it's a great city with huge diversity. Anyway, HT stuff.
I chose to be driven to Chandigarh by one of Dr.Bhatti's drivers, this cost about 3000 rupees and was an excellent choice in my opinion, you get to see alot of India on the way, and with some napping I arrived relaxed. I then checked into my hotel and was at the surgery center for 7:30 the next morning.
This part was my only qualm with the whole experience, the morning felt very rushed, quickly moved from room to room and never really feeling sure about what was happening, then a quick consult with the Dr to decide on the hairline (we had spoken before via email though) and before you know it you've had your head shaved and you're on the operating table! At the last-minute I picked to only shave the back of my head and leave the rest of my hair long... a bad choice in my opinion and one that didn't help with my mini -freakout after the op.
So, the graft extraction was only uncomfortable during the application of anesthesia, other than that it was fine, out the corner of my eye I could see the heart rate monitor and I played a game to try and keep my heart rate as low as possible, haha, sounds silly but it kept keep occupied! 58 was as low as I could go FYI
After we finished and the Dr had cut the implant slits we stopped for tea and biscuits + some meds, I was a little shaky at this point and later in the day I met another patient after extraction going through the same thing, so be aware this happens.
From then it was onto plantation. This was SO relaxing! As weird as that may sound, the surgeons played music and made the atmosphere very relaxing, I fell asleep multiple times, which is a testament as to how well the anesthesia worked since two people were poking me with metal implements and one was squirting water over my head.
This went on from about 1 till 4 with a small break for a bigger meal. After the op was finished the donor area was cleaned and dressed, the plantation area was left exposed.
Cap on, meds for the night and some instructions and I was back at my hotel for room service and sleep. I slept at about 45degrees and that was fine, slept pretty well! Up at 8:30 the next morning for a dressing change at 9 by the Dr's team and more post op instructions and goodie bags of medication.
At this point I also got them to shave my head completely, having shaved at the back and stubble/bruising/swelling at the front and long hair in between is not a good look for anyone, I promise.
On the first night I did have a mini freakout about the final look, I think it was mainly to do with not being totally prepared to see myself looking so different and I though the design wasn't 100% as I had expected but shaving the rest of my head today really helped bring the look together and made me way more confident I chose the right Dr and the right hair design.
My breakdown was:
229 singles
1207 doubles
868Triples
The pics attached are from day of surgery (with long hair) and day after surgery.My pre op pics are currently on my camera and I can't get them off(these are phone pics) but when I can I'll get them up along with donor pics (I've not even seen the donor area yet! Still under dressing, comes off tomorrow).
I've chosen to stay in Chandigarh for two nights after the op to take it easy, then I'll be off further around india (still taking it easy for atleast a week).
Thanks!