Bax

Hello gents! 9 days post-op and still very happy and healing nicely and enjoying the process! No longer sleeping with that neck pillow. This morning was the first time I was able to massage the recipient area with the special shampoo to begin the removal of some of the scabs. Didn’t go to crazy so that I dont damage the grafts. Definitely a messy job 😂. Very cool to see the hairs underneath it and to have a hairline again ahahaha! Donor area is completely recovered and no more itchiness, although I am still applying the Aloe Vera anyways! Just waiting for the inevitable shock loss and hope that the ugly duckling phase is short-lived! Will post another update once all the scabs are out!

Hey! This is true! They charge an extra 300 euros if you use credit card. Personally, I took out euros before I left Canada and then hide it inside my carry-on bag. Only took it out when I had paid for the procedure. 300 extra euros is pretty hefty, so I didn’t want the extra charge haha! Hope this helps!

A 0.7mm punch size was used for me

Awesome man! I just checked our your forum and you’re looking great so far! Nice results and excited to see how things go with you too!

There’s so much panic all thanks to the media unfortunately. I’m not too worried. And I’m doing it out of free will because I’m a doctor and I work directly with patients so just doing my due diligence. But I have no symptoms whatsoever. Just going to enjoy this time to relax and recharge from the life!

Thanks man! I feel super lucky to have what I had in the beginning and to have a decent donor area! And airports we’re actually packed with so many people who were unable to get back to their respective countries (Italy, US, etc). Pure pandemonium! But the airplanes themselves were really quiet! Had an entire row to myself for every flight! Currently on a 14 day quarantine just to be on the safe side. So gives my head some time to heal haha. It all worked out!

Thank you! And right!? 😂 I definitely won’t be forgetting that anytime soon. That light-headed-ness was so real! I’m very happy that there’s no more pain or anything though, just the occasional itchiness at the donor side! Have you had the procedure done yourself?

4 days post-op update! 27 hours of travel to get back home to Canada, but I made it! Wore a mask the entire time for that extra precaution. Got a few extra looks because of the headband and recent transplantation, but what’s life without a bit of extra head turning and an audience 😂. Was extra cautious navigating the plane with the overhead bins and people lifting their luggage. So happy to report that there has been no head trauma! Anyways, been feeling really good! Swelling is done a lot more and took the headband off this morning for my head wash. Still a bit of tightness in my scalp, but nothing uncomfortable. Super happy with how it looks and feels so far (just trying to enjoy what it looks like right now before the shock loss 😂). Feels weird to have a hairline again - never thought I would see the day! Since I’m a doctor, might be quarantining myself next week since a lot of my patients are a bit older and I don’t know if I’m impacted by COVID-19 yet since symptoms take awhile to generate. Works out well for me though because it gives me more time to get my scalp back to normal Donor area is a little bit itchy, but I’ve been applying Aloe Vera regularly throughout the day to deal with that! Otherwise, feeling great! Will check in again once I’m able to start massaging the scabs out of the recipient site!

Thanks man!

Update after the first night: Definitely not the most comfortable sleep (which I was prepared for). Lots of stiffness into my upper back and back from having the sleep on back with neck pillow around my neck. Even switched to sleeping on the ground so that I could have a stiffer service so my back could relax (chiropractor hacks 😂) Not feeling much pain today and swelling is very minor and nothing even remotely like it was yesterday, which is awesome! Follow-up with Dr. Cinik at 2 today!

That’s what I’m hoping for 🙌🏼 ! Let’s hope it’s simple and short enough 🙌🏼

Thank you! Definitely feeling less sore this morning already!

Thanks! I feel as though it was important to recount my emotions right away for a more authentic experience! Can’t wait to see where this goes!

Thanks! Based on what Dr. Cinik and I spoke about, this time around should be all I need for hair restoration given my donor area and how many follicles had multiples in them! Going to be heading back to the clinic tomorrow afternoon to have my bandages looked at. But I’ll be taking my medications this morning and afternoon for inflammation and edema, etc. Been sleeping with the neck pillow and keep on waking up because it’s not the most comfortable, but definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be! And absolutely haha! Need to stay patient for the inevitable ugly-duckling phase that will come 😂. But I’m ready for this journey and to handle the challenges as they come! And definitely going to be easier than having to lay down again. 😂

Alright gentlemen, today was the day! I’m wanted to make a post today so I could be honest about my experiences and how I felt during it 😂 DISCLAIMER: I first want to start off by saying if you are considering this procedure, to NOT take it lightly. This is a major surgical procedure and it’s a very lengthy process. So make sure you are all in because you’re going to need all of your mental strength to work through the pain and the uncomfortable positions you need to put your body in. So, let’s get started by going through a play by play of my day! I’ve been staying at the Points Hotel, which has been awesome! It also includes breakfast, which is an all-you-can-eat buffet, which is especially great for the first morning when you’re going to be in surgery for the day. Anyways, I was picked up this morning at 7:30AM with two other gentlemen (one was from France and the other from the UK). All of us were chatting and looking forward to our procedures. At this point, I wasn’t nervous at all, just more-so excited and still feeling like this whole experience was so surreal. We were greeted by the very hospitable and personable staff who talked us through how the day would look. We were then taken into a room to have blood taken for our PRP treatment after the implantation process was completed. Then we each had our consultation with Dr. Cinik. I was very happy with how this played out and was very impressed by his demeanour. He answered my million questions and let me go through the old pictures of myself as well as talking about the options of hairlines I was considering. He then drew one, which I wanted some modifications done on it, which he happily did until I was satisfied with the results. Didn’t once feel rushed or like I was just a sheep walking through a processing plant. He talked about the grafts again (which was still quoted at around 3200), He was very attentive to my concerns. After this, we had our before pictures taken and payment was made. As mentioned by another member above, make sure you bring old pictures of yourself and desired hairlines you are interested in and it will be way more customized to your interests. Then I was moved to another floor where we had our head shaved and then awaiting surgery. Once my head was shaved, I noticed my hairline was a bit off from what I had imaged, so I brought it up to the technician and Dr. Cinik and we modified it again. Once again, he was more than happy to do this and wasn’t upset at me and assured me that my satisfaction was paramount to anything. Now, this is where the fun begins hahahaha! I go into the treatment room and I was very happy with the set-up! The table you lay on looks like a massage table and I found it to be very comfortable. Because I’m 6”3’, they even rolled another chair to the end of the table to prevent my legs from hanging off the edge the whole time (and thank God for that because you will be there for 7-8 hours!). The most painful part of the extraction and harvesting process was definitely when they were injecting lidocaine. That hurt like a bitch, but it was short-lived (around 10 mins), The harvesting was pain-free other than having to turn your head for a time while they extracted from the side of your head. That part took about an hour and a half and then they gave me a sandwich, a juice box, and a Turkish chocolate pastry. This was well-received and also allowed a break from the procedure. Then we begun the actual implantation (I went with the DHI option). Now once again, having the lidocaine injected sucked and was very painful, yet short-lived. Then we begin the 5 hours of implantation and let me tell you, this part sucked the most! Everything felt fine until some areas had the lidocaine wear off and I started feeling everything again. BUT the technicians were very attentive and kept checking-in and reapplying the lidocaine to make sure I was comfortable. I started to feel very uncomfortable from having to lie down for so long and found it hard to find a comfortable position for myself to be in and the pain was becoming unbearable. So we took another break and they gave me some more snacks. I apologized (like a good Canadian should do 😂) and they laughed and said not to worry about it and I was doing well. We got back into it and after a few more hours they finally told me that they were going to be another 45 minutes, which a piece of me died on the inside because I was so done with this haha! Side note: Dr. Cinik came in to see me multiple times and asked how I was doing and rechecked the hairline and had me check again and ensure I was happy with it. Finally we finished and then started wrapping things up. I felt very light-headed from laying down so long so they didn’t rush me and got me some more juice and water until I felt ready to move again. Then they brought me downstairs were I received my very thorough post-op instructions, which were written for me (thank God because I felt so out of it haha) and the was sent back to the hotel. I was so wiped after the procedure, I got back to my hotel room and crashed for a few hours before writing this. Attached are some photos from throughout the day as well as the end product, which I am SUPER happy about it! However, with that being said, I can never go through something like that again in my life, so let’s hope this is it or me 😂 Overall, great experience with a great surgeon and great team and very happy I ended up here! Will be posting throughout the weeks with more updates on progress photos and possibly reaching out about certain questions that pop-up. Ciao for now!

Thank you!

I sure am!

Thank you so much! That truly means a lot and I’m excited to share my experience with the rest of the men on this forum!

I booked it through the RBC Rewards platform, which put me on a flight with KLM!

Hey Thomas! I was actually lucky and I was able to get my entire flight on points! The total cost to fly would have been around $1100 for a round trip

Thanks man! Yeah, so many great results so I’m really looking forward to it! They said my donor area is great and has nice and consistent density. They’re saying about 70 grafts per cm and ranging from 3200-3500 grafts in the front and temple area.

Thank you! I’ll do what you did in that case!

Was just reading through your post and I saw that you needed to have a visa to go to Turkey?

Thanks for the input! So they provide you with one of the inflatable ones? That’s good to know! And that’s great! Looking forward to following along on your post as well and comparing progress!

Thanks man! I appreciate it! And good idea! I will definitely do that. Also, I’ve read that some people said to bring your own neck pillow because the one they provide is not very comfortable. Is this true?