Mane Attraction

ES, I'm also in Australia and I decided there's no way I was going to a sub-par doctor for my HT! You want your HT to be done right the first time around, as it will drastically alter your appearance. For better or worse all depends on your selected doctor's skill. Be prepared to travel as far as necessary to get the results that YOU want and expect. Don't let any Australian doctor "sell" you anything or talk you into something you might later regret. Travel where you need to go for quality surgery, treat it as a bit of a holiday for yourself, and you'll be very glad you made the right choice months later when your results grow in. You can check out my hair loss web log below to read about my own experience traveling from Australia to Canada for my surgery.

Thanks, guys. Good to know that everything seems about as expected then. I have maybe 100 or more of these resilient hairs and I just wasn't sure what they were planning to do! I also have a single transplanted hair (one that Dr. Rahal transplanted near the lowest point of my widow's peak) which continued growing. It's now as long as my other native hairs. The interesting thing is that by examining this particular hair closely, I can see that it's thick and dark where it was transplanted, but as it has continued to grow, the base is white and thin, like vellus hair. Strangely, this hair didn't shed and contains these two consistencies in the same strand...

I haven't seen this subject covered elsewhere, so I figured I'd start a new topic. I'm 1.5 months post-op, and I still have a few scattered transplanted hairs that won't shed. They remain firmly put -- even when I massage them under the shower. In fact, I don't think I've seen a single hair shed in the past week. Most of my transplanted hairs ended up falling flat against my scalp prior to shedding (i.e. they wouldn't sit upright anymore) and they had a little black hook-shaped bulb at the bottom after coming out. However, the resilient hairs are still pointing upward at the same angle they were planted in. So, it seems like these hairs may not fall out at all. But these stragglers have also not grown any longer since approximately the 2 week mark. It's like their growth has been stunted and frozen in its tracks! All of my surrounding native hair is now at least twice as long as the remaining transplanted ones. I'm just wondering if this seems normal? And if so (presuming these hairs won't shed) how long before they'll resume growing again? Or can I expect them to shed eventually before their growth cycle kicks in?

I haven't seen this subject covered elsewhere, so I figured I'd start a new topic. I'm 1.5 months post-op, and I still have a few scattered transplanted hairs that won't shed. They remain firmly put -- even when I massage them under the shower. In fact, I don't think I've seen a single hair shed in the past week. Most of my transplanted hairs ended up falling flat against my scalp prior to shedding (i.e. they wouldn't sit upright anymore) and they had a little black hook-shaped bulb at the bottom after coming out. However, the resilient hairs are still pointing upward at the same angle they were planted in. So, it seems like these hairs may not fall out at all. But these stragglers have also not grown any longer since approximately the 2 week mark. It's like their growth has been stunted and frozen in its tracks! All of my surrounding native hair is now at least twice as long as the remaining transplanted ones. I'm just wondering if this seems normal? And if so (presuming these hairs won't shed) how long before they'll resume growing again? Or can I expect them to shed eventually before their growth cycle kicks in?

You must be pleased to see that forelock starting to fill in, Acrobaz! You know, I never actually realized how similar our loss patterns were until just now when I took another look at your pre-op photos. Like mine, your balding pattern seems to have performed the "Trojan Horse" attack. That is, it curved around the outer edges of your forelock and attacked behind enemy lines, in the mid-scalp region! I know all to well that a persistent forelock can be a blessing and a curse in equal proportions. Good because it makes you look less bald from the front, but bad because it's a telltale sign of the balding process. But not to worry. You won't have to concern yourself with such matters for much longer! Great things are evidently beginning to happen for your head. Your grafts have done their time and are now ready to break free from incarceration. Alright, I'm going to stop now before I use any more crummy metaphors.

Fantastic results, Leeson! Hell, I certainly won't complain if I end up getting "bed hair" of the same caliber as yours.

Why thank you, gentleman! Mr Tom Petty also mentioned something about learning to fly, which I feel I'm just starting to do now, having recently entered the ugly duckling stage and all! At any rate, my journal has today been updated with my one month progress photos. Take a look-see.

Looks like awesome results so far, Leeson! As for the botox, I hear that while it does straighten out forehead wrinkles, it also makes it next-to-impossible to formulate any kind of facial expression that resembles a frown. Incidentally, I noticed that Dr. Rahal also does botox injections. It made me wonder how many other HT doctors also provide other cosmetic services.

Wow, is there such a thing as "graft envy"? Because if so, I think I have it right now! Shamrock, in 8 months time, your head's going to have more hair on it than my Great Aunt Ursula's chin (i.e. a lot!) Looking forward to seeing your results grow out.

Your hair is coming along very nicely at only the 4 month mark, Clint! Some definite thickening there. Must feel great for you to finally be stepping out of the doldrums.

Quick question for you, CB: At this stage, would you say the direction the transplanted hair angles are growing at consistently mimics how your hair sat prior to experiencing any hair loss at all -- Particularly along the hairline? For example, do the hairline hairs tend to grow forward and hang downward? Or are they more wirey and growing at unmanageable directions in this early stage?

Eman, I don't think anybody has to tell you that this is a stellar result, but what the hell, I'll add to the chorus here and echo those sentiments anyway. Fantastic results that just keep getting better month by month! I bet you're doing more reflection-gazing these days than even Narcissus himself! Your temples also seem to be filling in very well and adapting to the characteristics of the other hair in that area, judging by what can be seen in the photos.

Holy crap! That's a great result, pushing 40! It's also great to see grown-out HT results posted by somebody who hasn't spiked their hair but, rather, allows the bangs to grow out naturally. In my opinion, we don't get the opportunity to see how this looks in regards to 'matured' HT results often enough. But I must say Dr. Hasson's work on you certainly does this appearance justice. Seems like you had just the right amount of grafts for your age and hair loss level too. Wise choices!

Wow, what a nice cosmetic difference you've had in the past month or so, CB! It seems like a sudden hair growth spurt has just hit you overnight. Looks like it's coming along great (no surprises from Rahal here) and I'll bet you're elated to think of the further thickness you'll acquire in the coming months. Nice progress all around!

My sutures have been removed (what a bloody relief!) and I've updated my blog with my progress at the two week mark!

Frosty, your hair loss pattern seems very similar to mine before I had my HT. Check my blog for my "before" pics if you want further insight. I think, in order to re-establish a hairline and fill in the temples, you'd be looking at anywhere between 3000 - 4000 grafts. That seems like a nice amount to provide adequate coverage/density while still keeping an ample supply in the donor area for future need. Of course, the exact number of grafts will vary, depending on your individual goals, desired density, and the size of your wallet! Have you had any online consults with any of the top doctors recommended by this site yet? If so, what did they suggest?

Handsome: Dr. Pathomvanich is recommended by this community and has a good reputation. You'll be in decent hands with him as your surgeon. As for comments and results, why not check the blogs of other Dr Pathomvanich patients, here: http://www.hairtransplantnetwo..._doctor.asp?DrID=502

Your post-op result looks fantastic, Drew. You must be rapt with that coverage! You had your HT exactly one week after I did, so I'll be interested in seeing how you progress along the same timeline! Happy growing.

Actually, Dr. Rahal does do FUE. I was surprised to see this mentioned in his promotional booklets, as I was also under the impression that he only did strip surgery. So I decided to inquire about it. He mentioned that he only does FUE for smaller cases. I'm not sure how many grafts exactly, but I'm guessing 1500 or less.

Sorry to hear the unfortunate news, Dr. Lindsay. Though the neurosurgeon's optimistic prognosis sounds promising and gives you and your family something quite positive to focus on. I wish your daughter a swift recovery. All the best.

Just added 1 week photos to my weblog (link below).

Thanks, M&M! I just completed the equally long return journey back home, but I can say that I'm very glad to have traveled the long distance and to have done this! Such a sense of accomplishment which feels great. I actually got a US customs officer this time who'd had a HT himself with Dr. Lawrence Shapiro in Miami (he considered it to be a bad experience). He was wanting a 2nd procedure, so I ended up delaying the line for a good 10 minutes, answering all his HT-related questions! Dr. Rahal mentioned he'd only had about 3 Australian patients before (I guess most Aussies go to H&W due to their closer proximity). But I didn't want location to hold me back from my choice of doctor. I wanted to base it on the artistry and experience alone and then travel wherever I had to go in order to achieve that. As far as density is concerned, Dr. Rahal told me he planted at 60 cm squared in the hairline, and 50 cm squared going further back in the mid-scalp region.

Acrobaz: Thanks! Yeah, I wanted to write an account of the surgery day soon afterward, as (more than likely due to the drugs in your system) it's the kind of thing that can get hazy and ebb from your mind if left it too long. I'm glad you enjoyed my write-up, but when I read YOUR account of your staples removal in another thread, I actually thought to myself, "Wow, this guy should be writing comedy screenplays!" Shamrock: No problems! Rahal requires all of his International patients to stay for 5 days post-surgery to give the swelling a chance to go down. Though in my case, 5 days may not even be long enough. In fact, a couple of days back, Dr. Rahal and I were discussing the finer points of whether my swollen head looked more like Mickey Rooney or Mickey Rourke! I'm hoping for the swelling to subside a bit more before Tuesday for my 20 hour flight home. Dr. Rahal gives patients a bunch of blue surgical caps to wear after the surgery. They're really easy on the grafts and, once you get used to them, kind of cool. Eman: Thanks for the well-wishes! And thanks once again for all of your assistance and for being a guiding light on these forums! Your write-ups over the years certainly helped me out a lot. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do as much touring of Ottawa as I would have liked, which is a shame because it seems like a great city which I'd love to explore. It's also been raining the past several days (it's like I never left Melbourne!), and in addition to the swelling, I've just been trying to take it easy as per the docs orders. And, oh yes, don't worry, I'm being very mindful of all those "don'ts"! It would kind of suck to come all this way to Ottawa only to jeopardize the success of my HT! The migraine was indeed a nuisance, but like I mentioned in my write-up, the onset only occurred in the last 30 minutes of surgery and wasn't present for the entire day, so it wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. Bill: Cheers! I feel that creating a blog and sharing my experience is the least I can do to support this community. It's great that newcomers can benefit from the collective experiences of others and make great choices first time around. This place opened my eyes to a bunch of docs I'd never have considered before. Invaluable! Thanks for the good wishes too. CB: Yup, sitting for 24+ hours straight in planes wasn't too exhilarating, but at least it gave me some good practice for sitting in Rahal's chair all day! I know that a lot of Koreans make a 22 hour trip to see Rahal, but I wonder if my 24+ hour trip is some kind of new world record? Thanks for the kind words and also for the good advice you gave.

Well, I finally went through with my HT on the 7th of May 2009! I'd firstly like to thank Pat and Bill for this extremely useful forum resource and all the dedicated work that has been done to inform prospective HT patients to be well-informed the first time around. Hats off to you guys for this! Thanks also to fellow Rahal patients Canadian Buba and Eman for filling me in with in-depth details of their experiences of what to expect throughout this whole process. Okay, without further ado, here's my account of events as they unfolded, leading up to my surgery with Dr. Rahal. I've just copied and pasted this from the blog entry I made, so click on my blog link below to see the pictures. Thanks! I awoke early on the 4th of May 2009, after only 4 hours of sleep. Boarded my plane at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport (Australia) at 10am. As I walked through the metal airport security gates, I knew that there was no turning back and I was really going through with this Hair Transplant gig! After a 4 hour flight, the plane stopped in Auckland, New Zealand with a stop-over of several hours. Then, jumped back on the plane from NZ direct to Los Angeles - all up, 17 hours of flight time just there! Upon arriving in LA, I was scrutinized very carefully by a rookie customs official who was apparently still learning the ropes. Had to go into immigration for questioning, as they got my passport confused with someone of the same namesake who had been running drugs into the United States via the Caribbean. Yikes! I thought they were going to put me on the next flight back to Australia and that I'd miss my appointment with Rahal. But to cut a long story short, after much inconvenience I was allowed to proceed. Another four hours later, I boarded my flight from LA to Toronto, which took 4.5 hours. Started watching Valkyrie with Tom Cruise mid-flight, which was almost enough to put me to sleep... but not quite. I think I was analyzing Mr Cruise's hairline most of the time, rather than comprehending the actual film. After reaching Toronto, I had yet another waiting period of 1.5 hours. I was also questioned by customs and immigration at Toronto's Pearson airport and had to tell the immigration dude about my HT procedure. The customs officer really perked up when I mentioned that I was staying at Adam's Airport Inn, because apparently he'd stayed there himself on the one and only occasion he'd been to Ottawa. I guess that must have earned me some brownie points with him, because he let me through right after that. All in all, I found customs coming into Canada to be much, much better than those coming into LA! Finally, I was onto the final stretch of my very arduous journey -- the one hour flight from Toronto to Ottawa. As the plane touched down in Ontario, everything felt a little surreal. I had been in transit for over 24 hours and awake for even longer. I was mere minutes away from the fabled Adam's Airport Inn and Bank Street, which, until that point in time, had only existed to me on the virtuality of the Internet. After escaping the very last airport I jumped into a taxi and moments later, I arrived at the inn, greeted by that huge, red, glowing sign! Inside I was greeted warmly by Jallal, the night manager. He gave me a tour of all the facilities, and finally the key to my room. Sorry about the rambling, but the point of all the above preamble is to provide an accurate and honest account of the amount of travel and inconvenience I was willing to endure in order to ensure I received top results from a top Doc. Seriously, I consider all of these inconveniences to be minor in light of the benefits a Rahal HT can provide, and even if I had to go through it all again, I still wouldn't have had it any other way. Anyhow,After setting up my laptop, settling into my hotel room, and having a shower, I went to sleep, ready to begin the next phase of my follicular journey... I spent the next few days familiarizing myself with the Bank Street area. Stocked up on food, snacks, and drinks to put in the mini-fridge in my room, so that I'd have a stockpile of supplies post-surgery. I also walked from Adam's Inn to Dr. Rahal's office a few times, in order to time myself and judge the distance. It took about 35-40 minutes. Not bad, and I actually prefer to walk both for the exercise benefits, and so as not to overspend on taxis unless it's absolutely necessary! Cabs seem to be quite expensive in Canada. My pre-op consultation day arrived and I met Adrian and Dr. Rahal for the first time. Both were great! Adrian was extremely helpful and accommodating. It's very settling to be in his presence, as his un-salesman-like, truthful approach when answering the plethora of questions thrown at him (both about your own surgery and his) really puts you at ease. This is a guy who understands what it's like to be in the shoes of a balding male, and I found his attitude to be most refreshing. Adrian also gave me a tour of the front and back of his head. When I mentioned that this was the first time I'd ever seen a HT in person, Dr. Rahal joked that he hoped I wouldn't cancel the surgery now and run out the door! In all honesty, I have to say that Adrian's hair looked fantastic. He also had a totally undetectable donor scar, and I was excited to be able to see some of Dr. Rahal's handiwork in the flesh. Dr. Rahal and I went over my plans, goals, and expectations. I mentioned to him that I wanted a lowered hairline and he said we'd need to measure it the next day to see if it would look symmetrical with my face or not. After filling in the consent forms, I caught a cab back to the inn, took a Temazepam pill, and went to bed early to I could get up for my 6:30am surgery the next day. I had no qualms sleeping the night prior to surgery at all. No anxiety, no fears. no doubts. Nothing. I woke up nice and relaxed! I have to say that I was never the slightest bit nervous in the lead-up to the surgery, and the same was true on the day of my surgery. I awoke and headed down to Rahal's clinic in the service of good old "Mo", the Rahal token cabbie. He reassured me that Dr. Rahal was the best, and that he has driven tonnes of satisfied patients back and forth over the many years. This was very good to hear, as it only solidified in my mind that I had made the correct choice of Doctor. I had no major doubts going into the surgery, although I did have a bunch of questions and comments for Dr. Rahal! Upon arrival, I had a good chat with Adrian for about 15 minutes, while Dr. Rahal prepared. When he was ready, I went into his office and we started designing my hairline. Dr. Rahal measured my facial dimensions and then strictly cautioned me that he wouldn't want to lower my hairline any further than approximately half a cm down my forehead, due to the chance of future increased loss in the crown later on. Now, I must state here that a lowered hairline is something I REALLY wanted going into this HT, so I tried to push Dr. Rahal for it, but he said that it really wouldn't be a good idea since his main concern was framing my face naturally, and that the new fringe (bangs) he was going to place in the receded areas would do a LOT to give the appearance of a lower hairline. At this point, I decided to shut up and listen to Dr. Rahal's advice, as I realized he really was doing what was in my best interests based on thousands of prior surgeries, which was very admirable of him! He actually did end up bringing down the right side of my hairline slightly more than the left, in order to match the bone structure in my forehead. He made the hairline nice and staggered for a natural appearance and also added a triangular widow's peak in the center -- the type I used to have before it receded away years ago. I took a glance at the new design in the hand mirror (I was going to do the Batman Jack Nicholson/Joker gag, putting out my hand and shouting "Mirror... MIRROR!" and then laugh maniacally upon glancing at the hairline... but I thought better of it. Anyhow, I looked at my newly drawn hairline from the sides (using 2 mirrors) as well as from the front. I had Dr. Rahal slightly tweak the rounded corners at the temple points, and I really liked what I saw. We were ready to go! After throwing on the blue surgical gown, downing some pills, and being given an injection of Midazolam, the techs shaved my hair off completely, at my own request. This is the first time I have ever sported a buzzed head, but I didn't want the "bozo" look to plague me for the next 2 weeks, and I also figured that cleaning the donor area would be way easier with very short hair, in turn, making the sutures easier to remove. Next, Dr Rahal administered the anesthetic shots in the back of my head. Now, for me, these were nowhere near as bad as I'd anticipated. I was expecting far worse pain than the little stings that accompanied the needles. I'd say they just felt like someone slowly plucking out a hair, or a very aggressive mosquito bite. Many people say the anesthetic needles are the most painful part of the surgery, but for me, the most "painful" part was actually the slight neck-ache I got from lying in one position for a very long time. The needles are certainly no big deal and nothing to fret over. After the area was sufficiently numbed, Dr. Rahal started removing the donor strip. He seemed to remove it fairly quickly, but that may have just been the effect of the drugs screwing with my perception of time. Originally, Dr. Rahal had set me up for 3,500 grafts, but during my pre-op consult, he said we could try for up to 3,800 to 3,900 for an even denser appearance. I agreed with that, and he took a longer donor strip as a result. I believe he said it was 41cm (though, I could be mistaken on that). In the end, we only ended up getting 3,481 grafts -- only 19 off the original mark, so I'm still happy. Next came the anesthetic needles to the forehead. Same deal as getting them in the back of the head -- no biggie. Dr. Rahal then proceeded to make the recipient site incisions. He worked a long time at this and was concentrating intensely on keeping count and ensuring that all the angles correctly flowed with and matched those of my existing hairs. Dr. Rahal informed me that he implanted with a density of 60cm squared in the hairline region, and 50cm squared going further back towards the mid-scalp. All the while, a room-full of dedicated techs were cutting my grafts. One of the techs allowed me the honor of looking at a section of my strip, and peering through the microscope as she dissected grafts. It was all very interesting to see! Once Dr. Rahal finished making the recipient sites, implantation of the hairs began. I opted to try and take as few breaks as possible so that we could finish up faster. As the techs began implanting into the recipient area, I watched a movie. After that, I took a lunch break, then watched another movie. Dr. Rahal told me that, for some reason, in my case, there was a lot of oozing and bleeding where the techs were implanting hairs. This was despite the fact that I followed the pre-op instructions to a T, that I don't drink at all, that I haven't been using minoxidil, and that my bloodwork levels were all normal. According to my bloodwork results, Dr. Rahal said that I shouldn't have experienced any abnormal bleeding. However, since I did, the surgery ended up taking much longer than a typical 3,500 graft surgery would normally take. I think it ended up being around 10 hours or so! Consequently, I required more anesthetic needles throughout the day, and experienced more swelling than I would have hoped for. Unfortunately, in the last 30 minutes I started developing a migraine which was harder to deal with than any part of the surgery itself. Throughout these last 30 minutes, the technicians were absolutely great. Very diligent, understanding, and reassuring. I have great admiration for the work they do, and their tenacity in seeing their job through to completion -- especially knowing that they are doing this on a new patient every day! The techs were very helpful in regards to my migraine, they quickly informed Dr. Rahal who permitted them give me some Advil (which didn't actually help), and they would keep telling me how many pads/gratfs were remaining so I had an idea of how long it would be till they were finished. Finally, after roughly 10 hours of lying on my back, we finished at 6:30PM -- a 12 hour day! I was able to rise for the first time as a re-haired man! In spite of the headache, I felt great about everything. I was given a few final instructions along with some meds, plus a take-home dinner. A cab was ordered to take me back to the inn. My headache was getting quite severe and I started feeling a little nauseated. I haven't thrown-up since 1993, though. I have a bit of a record going, and I didn't plan on tossing in the towel now! When I got inside my hotel room, I took one of the anti-nausea pills that Dr. Rahal gave me and that cleared me up right away. I took both a Tylenol 3 and the stronger Percocet as well, but neither seemed to have much affect against the headache. In retrospect, I guess it was due to the amount of anesthetic fluid and swelling around my forehead. I simply went to bed at 7pm, resting at a 45 degree angle, as instructed. I fell right to sleep. I woke up about 4-5 hours later, and took a Temazepam sleeping pill to ensure that I'd sleep the rest of the night through. I then slept for another 4 or so hours. Woke up and the headache was gone, no pain in the recipient area at all, and only minor discomfort in the donor area. I'm amazed at how good I felt only one day after surgery! A big thanks goes to all the staff, including Dr. Rahal, Adrian, Allanah, and the techs Faith, Mike (sorry, I didn't catch the names of the others, but thanks to all of you). I am definitely excited about things to come!

Congrats on your choice of Doctor! I'm 2 days post-op with Rahal and connected to the net from my room at Adam's Airport as I type. You can take food back to your hotel room. The staff just don't like visitors cooking inside the rooms. There is, however, a microwave downstairs near the front desk which is always available and once you've heated your meal, I don't believe the staff have any problems with taking the food back to your room. Every morning there's a constant stream of patrons taking their breakfast trays back to their room, so it's no problem. Just one tip: If you plan to bring canned foods like soup or fish, you might want to ensure that you bring a can opener, bowl, spoon, knife, and fork with you, otherwise you'll just end up looking at the cans rather than eating their contents. There's a strip mall not far from the Adam's Inn, easily within walking distance, where you'll find a supermarket. You can stock up on all of your food and drink items in advance and place them in the mini-fridge in your room so that you'll be fully stocked for several days after your HT surgery. Buy staple items such as cheese, milk, bread, and fruit, as well as lots of Gatorade (or Propel which is better, but sadly I couldn't find it), plus any other snacks you feel like. The staff at Adam's Inn are all great and very friendly. I'm certain that they'd assist you with ordering meals after your surgery. There are Pizza stores and a lot of restaurants close to the inn, so you'd have a good selection. Buy a European to USA/Canada adapter plug, man. They're relatively inexpensive and most travel agents should sell them. Goldilocks: You live in Ottawa but you stayed at the Adam's Airport Inn -- how does that work? Or did you just read that on their site?