bambam101

Hi mate, Ill give you a quick run down on how it went. i met with Dr Pong on the Wednesday morning, at about 9am i think. Sat in his office when he arrived, We had a quick chat about how id found him and my previous surgery with another Dr in Australia. He showed me all his awards/certificates etc. He had a good look at my hair and lightly drew an outline on my head with a purple ink to show me where he would implant the grafts. I told him that I was happy with that but did make a small change which he was fine with. I guess ultimately its up to you where you have the grafts and how your hairline is re-created but he will advise you based on his experience. Listen to him! He knows what hes doing funnily enough. He told me to come back in the next morning for the surgery at 8am. All up, the consultation took about 45 mins? Maybe only half hour? His only advise was not to get drunk that night. 1 or 2 beers only! (I did not adhere to this advice!) The day of the surgery i woke pretty early and has a small breakfast. Was a little nervous. Not really about the surgery itself as i knew it wasnt painful, but more so nervous about the night following the surgery. My previous experience wasnt pleasant. Almost ended up in hospital because I was in excruciating pain. That was when I was 23 and living at home with mum to look after me. This time i was alone in a foreign country. I got there on time and changed in to a gown. Theres no farting around. The nurse just takes you at the back to a change room as soon as you walk in the door. They then washed my hair. I then sat in Dr Pongs office and he came through and went through a few more questions with me and then proceeded to take what felt like 500 photos of my hair. Then he drew the grafting area on my head again. Checked with me that I was happy and we then went upstairs to the operating room. Forgot to mention, prior to all this, the nurse gave me a quick HIV test witch was just a little stab on the finger with a testing kit. I think that was the most pain i felt all day. lol. Negative thankfully! She also gives you a couple of valium to relax you. Up in the operating room, you sit on a chair with a face pillow and lean on a table. The nurse then tapes your hair out of the way and shaves the donor area. Dr Pong then draws on the donor area with the purple ink, and outlines where he is going to cut. This seemed to take forever. I was actually getting a bit nervous now. I kinda just wanted to get it over and done with. Finally, you go and lay on what looks like a dentist chair come massage table. You lay on your stomach with your face in the pillow. Its a donut pillow so you wont suffocate! lol. Nurse attaches a heart rate monitor to your finger and then they start putting ice block on the back of your head to numb you a little for the injections. The ice stings more than the injections!! You feel the first couple of needles but as your head numbs, you feel nothing. It was no worse than a dentist needle. Plus, the valium is just starting to kick in now so you probably wouldnt give a shit regardless! You spend a few hours laying like this whilst Dr Pong removes the donor grafts and stitches you back together. You dont feel a thing. You can hear him making the cuts though. I actually fell asleep during this bit. Eventually you get up and youll probably be a little wonky on your feet from the valium but Dr Pong might take you over and show you the nurses busily dissecting the grafts and prepping them for implant. Then, its in to another room for lunch with another valium for dessert. And outside for a smoke! After lunch, its back to the chair. On your back this time. More ice block on your forehead and then some more needles. Again, you feel the first couple but after that, nothing. The nurses spend the next few hours grafting. I spent the first hour or so in la la land and the next hour or so alseep. Could have taken an ipad and watched a movie or listened to music, but I knew I slept through the first op i had and was pretty confident I would do the same this time. Finally its all over and youre changed back in to your clothes and sitting downstairs waiting for Dr Pong. Hell give you a hat or a bandanna to wear home and a nice big bag of drugs to take. Pain meds, antibiotics etc. Theyll give you a good rundown on what to take and when. I paid by credit card and said see ya later. Walked back to my hotel. About 20 minutes away. Felt great! That night, I had no pain at all. I actually walked to a restaurant and had dinner and 4 or 5 beers. I did wake up during the night in a little bit of discomfort though. Not hurting as such, but just a slight discomfort. Popped a few tramadols and went back to sleep. Dr Pong gives you a neck pillow similar to one you would use on a plane so as you can sleep upright. I did this for the first 3 or 4 nights. First thing the next morning, I was back to the clinic to get my hair washed by the nurses. The relief you feel when they take the pressure bandage off to wash your hair is amazing. The pressure bandage kinda feels like youve been wearing a hat that is 2 sizes too small for a week! I think this was the cause of most of my discomfort over the next few days but you do get used to it. You only need to wear it for 10 days. I only wore mine for 6. After the hair was, Dr Pong will come and check the stitches and grafts. Have a quick chat and before you know it, the nurses have you bandaged up again and your on your way. You can go in every morning to have your hair washed by the nurses. I was in Chaing Mai for the following 6 days so I went every day. Only takes about 10 minutes. I cant remember what else you asked!! haha. Chain Mai felt very safe to me. Truth be told, I actually found it to be rather boring. I stayed at Kantary Hills Hotel which was extremely nice. Great food and service. Great facilities. There isnt a lot to do in Chiang Mai unless you like insect museums or sex with prostitutes. If either of those two float your boat then youll have a blast! Although, no sex for 2 days after the surgery. I pretty much spent most of my time by the pool, drinking beer, at restaurants and a little bit of shopping. Couldnt wait to get home by the end of it! All in all, I totally get why people would be nervous about doing something like this and I have to say, my first op I was terrified. But honestly, Dr Pong and his nurses were in a different league to the Dr I saw here in Australia. A real professional. Once youve had the op, youll wonder why the hell you were nervous about it in the first place! Im heading back next year to have another one done! Good luck buddy!

Hi mate, Ill give you a quick run down on how it went. i met with Dr Pong on the Wednesday morning, at about 9am i think. Sat in his office when he arrived, We had a quick chat about how id found him and my previous surgery with another Dr in Australia. He showed me all his awards/certificates etc. He had a good look at my hair and lightly drew an outline on my head with a purple ink to show me where he would implant the grafts. I told him that I was happy with that but did make a small change which he was fine with. I guess ultimately its up to you where you have the grafts and how your hairline is re-created but he will advise you based on his experience. Listen to him! He knows what hes doing funnily enough. He told me to come back in the next morning for the surgery at 8am. All up, the consultation took about 45 mins? Maybe only half hour? His only advise was not to get drunk that night. 1 or 2 beers only! (I did not adhere to this advice!) The day of the surgery i woke pretty early and has a small breakfast. Was a little nervous. Not really about the surgery itself as i knew it wasnt painful, but more so nervous about the night following the surgery. My previous experience wasnt pleasant. Almost ended up in hospital because I was in excruciating pain. That was when I was 23 and living at home with mum to look after me. This time i was alone in a foreign country. I got there on time and changed in to a gown. Theres no farting around. The nurse just takes you at the back to a change room as soon as you walk in the door. They then washed my hair. I then sat in Dr Pongs office and he came through and went through a few more questions with me and then proceeded to take what felt like 500 photos of my hair. Then he drew the grafting area on my head again. Checked with me that I was happy and we then went upstairs to the operating room. Forgot to mention, prior to all this, the nurse gave me a quick HIV test witch was just a little stab on the finger with a testing kit. I think that was the most pain i felt all day. lol. Negative thankfully! She also gives you a couple of valium to relax you. Up in the operating room, you sit on a chair with a face pillow and lean on a table. The nurse then tapes your hair out of the way and shaves the donor area. Dr Pong then draws on the donor area with the purple ink, and outlines where he is going to cut. This seemed to take forever. I was actually getting a bit nervous now. I kinda just wanted to get it over and done with. Finally, you go and lay on what looks like a dentist chair come massage table. You lay on your stomach with your face in the pillow. Its a donut pillow so you wont suffocate! lol. Nurse attaches a heart rate monitor to your finger and then they start putting ice block on the back of your head to numb you a little for the injections. The ice stings more than the injections!! You feel the first couple of needles but as your head numbs, you feel nothing. It was no worse than a dentist needle. Plus, the valium is just starting to kick in now so you probably wouldnt give a shit regardless! You spend a few hours laying like this whilst Dr Pong removes the donor grafts and stitches you back together. You dont feel a thing. You can hear him making the cuts though. I actually fell asleep during this bit. Eventually you get up and youll probably be a little wonky on your feet from the valium but Dr Pong might take you over and show you the nurses busily dissecting the grafts and prepping them for implant. Then, its in to another room for lunch with another valium for dessert. And outside for a smoke! After lunch, its back to the chair. On your back this time. More ice block on your forehead and then some more needles. Again, you feel the first couple but after that, nothing. The nurses spend the next few hours grafting. I spent the first hour or so in la la land and the next hour or so alseep. Could have taken an ipad and watched a movie or listened to music, but I knew I slept through the first op i had and was pretty confident I would do the same this time. Finally its all over and youre changed back in to your clothes and sitting downstairs waiting for Dr Pong. Hell give you a hat or a bandanna to wear home and a nice big bag of drugs to take. Pain meds, antibiotics etc. Theyll give you a good rundown on what to take and when. I paid by credit card and said see ya later. Walked back to my hotel. About 20 minutes away. Felt great! That night, I had no pain at all. I actually walked to a restaurant and had dinner and 4 or 5 beers. I did wake up during the night in a little bit of discomfort though. Not hurting as such, but just a slight discomfort. Popped a few tramadols and went back to sleep. Dr Pong gives you a neck pillow similar to one you would use on a plane so as you can sleep upright. I did this for the first 3 or 4 nights. First thing the next morning, I was back to the clinic to get my hair washed by the nurses. The relief you feel when they take the pressure bandage off to wash your hair is amazing. The pressure bandage kinda feels like youve been wearing a hat that is 2 sizes too small for a week! I think this was the cause of most of my discomfort over the next few days but you do get used to it. You only need to wear it for 10 days. I only wore mine for 6. After the hair was, Dr Pong will come and check the stitches and grafts. Have a quick chat and before you know it, the nurses have you bandaged up again and your on your way. You can go in every morning to have your hair washed by the nurses. I was in Chaing Mai for the following 6 days so I went every day. Only takes about 10 minutes. I cant remember what else you asked!! haha. Chain Mai felt very safe to me. Truth be told, I actually found it to be rather boring. I stayed at Kantary Hills Hotel which was extremely nice. Great food and service. Great facilities. There isnt a lot to do in Chiang Mai unless you like insect museums or sex with prostitutes. If either of those two float your boat then youll have a blast! Although, no sex for 2 days after the surgery. I pretty much spent most of my time by the pool, drinking beer, at restaurants and a little bit of shopping. Couldnt wait to get home by the end of it! All in all, I totally get why people would be nervous about doing something like this and I have to say, my first op I was terrified. But honestly, Dr Pong and his nurses were in a different league to the Dr I saw here in Australia. A real professional. Once youve had the op, youll wonder why the hell you were nervous about it in the first place! Im heading back next year to have another one done! Good luck buddy!

Hi tiztom. Was this your first op? It was my second but I do remember my head being numb for about 2.5 months after my first surgery. It's to be expected. I think the next time I see Dr Pong, the only thing I will ask is for them to slow the anaesthetic injections down a bit. Allow one part to start numbing a bit before they do the next one. I couldn't see but it felt like there was two or three people all jabbing me at the same time. It wasn't unbearable but wasn't pleasant. Maybe I was just being a wimp due to my previous experience. I think next time I will bring someone with me. I am here on my own now. I was resigned to the fact that I would be couped up in a hotel for a few days though. Keeping myself entertained but am only here for a few more days though. With the military coup and the 10pm curfew at the moment, the nightlife isn't really inspiring. But yeah, next time I will adventure a bit more and hopefullly have someone with me. Truth be told, I was nervous as hell for the 3 days prior to surgery because of my previous experience. Next time, I will be fine! Thanks for your info! Hope your next op goes as well as the last! Take care!

Hi all, First time poster from Australia. Well, Actually in Chiang Mai at the moment. Presently sitting in my hotel room, day 2 post op from surgery with Dr Pong. I am 33 years old and have had one previous surgery in Australia with a Dr Barry White from National Hair Institute. Firstly, let me say that Dr Pong is in a different league to my previous surgeon. While my previous surgery did improve my hair greatly, its only now that I am realising how bad a job he really did. Im not going to go on about the previous surgery, but I will let the picture of my old scar do the talking. I had my procedure with Dr Pong on thursday this week and it is now Saturday. I have felt zero pain and so far been conpletely satisfied by the whole experience with the exception of two things. We were not able to get as many grafts as I would have liked. I was hoping to go for between 3000-3500 to completely cover my balding area. It probably would have left me looking slightly thin but I would have been happy with that given I previously had 2200 grafts in Australia and I know how much of an improvement that was. The problem i had was that given the size of the scar the Aussie "specialist" left me with meant Dr Pong was only about to extract just shy of 1500 grafts. All of these were transplanted to the front of my scalp, leaving a very thin crown. I know this is not a fault of Dr Pong and he did make me well aware of it before the surgery. On the bright side, he did manage to remove about 90% of my old scar with his new "zigzag" cutting method. As I said, I really wanted to do this surgery once and be done with it. I know how EXTREMELY painful my last surgery was. Not the actual proceedure, although I could feel the Aussie "specialist" pulling and my head and tearing the skin. I had blood pouring down my gown and i remember thinking that htis guy was incredibly rough. That night, my entire head swelled up so bad that you could literally insert your index finger up to the first knuckle in to my forehead. No lie. It was disgusting. The pain was a 10/10. So much so that I ended up being taken to the emergency room that night and sedated. The lovely "specialist" charged me $12000 for the experience. Hence my apprehension in having a second procedure done, even 10 years later. All I can say now is how unbelievably happy I am having chosen to go with Dr Pong. He was 100% professional. He was kind, gentle and very attentative. His nurses were amazing. I felt absolutely no pain what so ever. Having said that, I did fall asleep last night laying down and woke up during the night in a reasonable amount of pain. Once I sat upright for 10 minutes or so, the pain was gone. So a little tip, sleep upright for a few days. Even if you feel comfortable sleeping laying down, the blood will rush to your head and it will start hurting. Funnily enough, the night of my surgery, I was in such a good mood, mixture of happiness that I had finally had the surgery done, and relief that I wasnt in any pain, that I actually went out to a local restaurant and had a nice meal and a few beers. Huge contrast to my last surgery spent in hospital. My only other disappointment from this experience is that Chaing Mai is actually kind of boring. Ive been to many countries. This place isnt on my priority list to return to. But I will return. Next year for my second procedure with Dr Pong. Hopefully he can get many more grafts for me then! If anyone has any questions about the procedure, feel free to ask. Im couped up in this hotel for another couple of days so will have plenty of time to answer! lol.