Ozguy

@ David - thanks for the feedback, good to know everything is normal. This is my second HT (first with a local doctor), this time everything seems to be going much more normally. I'll definitely keep updating my blog and this thread on the forum.

@ Hairlicious - I understand you're nervous, I was too! But once I got in there and met everyone I felt much better. The whole Rahal team are so calm and professional you feel reassured. Are you staying at Foxbar Guesthouse? What size procedure are you booked in for?

@ Hairiri - thanks for the feedback. I did my research and Dr. Rahal really appeared to be right doctor for me. I narrowed it down to about four, but in the end I just keep seeing great results from Dr. Rahal's clinics of patients that had a similar norwood pattern to me. When is your procedure? I am sure it'll go well

Great to see all the Rahal patients on here that have had, or having their procedure, so close to mine. Be great to germinate our budding hairlines together!

I've created a new blog to update on the status of my hair transplant. This blog covers from leaving Ottawa, to come back home, at day six and up until day 20.

Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss Patient Blogs

I've also created a new album with pics from day 20. I am at about day 26 now. I will do another update at the one month mark.

Thanks

My understanding, through reading and talking to nutritionists etc, is that we are all born with genetic predispositions to certain things, it may be disease, or it may be certain strengths. However, environmental conditions such as diet and lifestyle will affect certain hormones which in turn affects dna expression.

For instance - you may be born with the potential to be a great athlete but if you're brought up only eating junk food and never exposed to exercise it's unlikely you'll fulfill that potential. You may be (as in my family) have the potential to develop lung cancer, but if you choose not to smoke it's less likely that you will develop it. (Only the smokers seem to be affected by lung cancer in my family).

My understanding, and I know this is contentious, is that MPB is an auto-immune disease as the body is attacking and destroying healthy cells. I would, and do, question what it is that I am doing in my lifestyle that causes this situation.

I also think looking after your health is one of the most important things you can work at and it amazes me how so many people never think about what they put into their bodies through either food, impure tap water, toiletries, pharmaceuticals and polluted air.

It's been a week since I arrived in Ottawa and six days since the procedure. Time flies! I am feeling quite well and looking forward to going home.

I have updated my blog with the final hair counts (still can't believe that he got 4,400 grafts out of me).

Any advice on how to deal with Canadian and US customs? I am wearing a fedora and hope not to have to talk it off too often. I'll also take some of the medical caps provided by Dr. Rahal's office which might be more comfortable to wear on the long haul flight. Unfortunately the fedora won't be comfortable to actually wear on the plane. I did bring a cap, but Mike at Dr. Rahal's clinic said it wasn't deep enough to wear. I might try and get another at the airport.

Thanks for the well wishes Levrais

I've now added pics to my blog - I still have decided if a journal or a blog is better...

Thanks for all the well wishes guys - I've had the surgery and all went very well. I've created a blog entry about the process @ Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss Patient Blogs thus far.

Pictures to come as soon as organise how to download them onto my computer (i forgot to bring the cable for the camera and laptop). I'll ask at Dr Rahal's clinic if they're OK to pass some of their pics on to me for posting up here.

Thanks for sharing the info Levrais - no-one at security pulled me aside to put me through the scanners or give me a pat down. I did have an issue at immigration at LAX due to the airline not giving immigration the correct info about me, they were very nice about it though. There goes TSA's current rep for being evil!

The actual travel took about 36 hours, so it was quite long and arduous, lots of delays and rerouting - but well worth it. I always had a strong instinct about this particular clinic being right for me.

Tomorrow I fly from Melbourne to Ottawa for my second hair transplant. I found this site and forum as I was recovering from first hair transplant which I had in Melbourne, Australia. I wish I had found it before I booked my HT as I probably would have done things differently. While my first HT was somewhat successful it was not nearly as impressive as most of the HTs found on this site.

Earlier in the year I decided I needed another one and this time I wanted to go with a surgeon recommended on this site. I contacted many, if not most, of clinics on this site to compare their recommendations. Without going in to too much detail I was most impressed with three of the surgeons in Canada. It was hard narrowing it down to one, but I kept seeing cases presented on this site from Rahal's clinic that were very similar to me with around the same amount of grafts recommended. And the results were uniformly impressive. So I booked in for December 15th with estimate of around 3500 grafts.

I decided not to let travel put me off too much despite the fact that Thailand and even most of the US are much closer than Canada - and then to top it off I decide to go to the East of Canada. So after booking and paying for a plane ticket at Christmas rates (nearly double normal rates!) I have a leisurely 26 hour flight ahead of me tomorrow. I also transit the US so I have to go through US immigration as well as Canadian. The things we do once we get our heart set on a surgeon!!!

I will be staying at the Foxbar guesthouse which seems nice and homey. I imagine I won't want to get out and about too much for the first couple of days after surgery, but I am looking forward to experiencing Winter in Ottawa. Being Australian the only snow I've ever seen has been up the mountains. The coldest it gets here is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit , so the negative temperatures will be a new experience for me. All up I'll be in Ottawa for a week and home just in time for Christmas. I've bought several hats in readiness for the next few weeks. I return to work on Jan 4th. Just a day under three weeks after the surgery - hopefully I can get a decent-ish haircut just before I go back as I can't really wear hats in the office. I am also a Toppik user so hopefully i can make myself look reasonably respectable.

Despite having been through the process once before I am quite nervous, it's such a long way to go I'd be disappointed if all didn't go to plan. Even the travel makes me nervous as there seems to be such a furor happening in the US re: the nude scanners and pat downs. I am not sure what to do there, I've heard the scanners emit quite a lot of radiation and I don't think I want a dose of that either before or after surgery! I am also wondering what security do if you're wearing a hat? I am very well traveled, and have been to both the US and Canada before, but traveling for surgery will be a new experience for me.

Thanks for listening!

Hi Ethan,

it's great to read your feedback on Dr Rahal and Foxbar house as I am booked in for an approximate 3,500 graft transplant in just over two weeks. I am very nervous and it's always reassuring to hear other patients having positive experiences.

Cheers,

Justin

I've taken Toppik right around the world with me. I am in Australia and have flown with it to South America, North America, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UK and Europe (multiple times) and have never had any problems with customs. I always expect it at Australian customs because it's so strict here, but never had any problems. I do always put it in check in luggage though, rather than carry on. I am sure Customs have seen it all before anyway...

It sounds like the better clinics have a high retention rate of hair technicians. Which is pretty impressive if given that the demographic seems to be young women in their 20s and 30s.

Employers would have to face both supposedly the "Gen Y" ethos (all the Gen Y people I know think two years of employment at the same place is too long), and maternity leave. I don't know what it's like in the US and Canada, but we're having a baby boom here in Australia and a great deal of corporate knowledge and experience is at home raising children. Not that there is anything wrong with that but there is a noticeable lack of women in that age group in the work force at the moment.

Are there many male technicians? There was at least one during my procedure, but most were young women, the head two techs were older women though, probably in their 50s I would guess.

There is a guy at work who obviously got a hair transplant in the 80s. He is a very pluggy but strong hair line and no hair behind it. I often wonder why he doesn't get it fixed. Maybe it is the cost, I am in Australia and HTs are prohibitively expensive here.

I have often seen guys with very strong hair lines yet what is clearly recession from the midscalp to the crown and wonder if it's a good HT. In my opinion it looks better than no hairline at all.

I know exactly how you feel. I had at least four inexperienced techs work on my head when I had my transplant, out of the six all up, and, unsurprisingly, I have had a rather low yield in the recipient area. And when I say inexperienced I mean they were being trained on the day and on my grafts and head. At least one of them said that the task of cutting up grafts "was not for me" and wouldn't do it again.

After reading this forum for the last year (discovered it the day after my transplant) I now know I made all the classic rookie mistakes in my decision.

Hi there,

I am also in Melbourne. I researched the Australian surgeons for years, and met with a few too, before deciding. I ended up going with what I thought was a decent surgeon, but the results, a year later, have turned out to be very medicore. And yes, way overpriced, I could have easily gone to one of the top docs, recommended up on this site, and had a nice holiday for the money I spent. All our cosmetic procedures are way overpriced here - like our housing.

Anyway - I am still determining who I will go with next, I think I've nearly decided and they will definitely be overseas.

Severn - How far in advance of surgery would you recommend doing them? I started doing them a little while ago, but I haven't even booked my second HT, so I thought I'd start again when I have an actual date for the procedure.

Just an interesting aside. I have a very good friend who has had two kidney transplants over her life. She told me, and this was years ago, that the drugs made her hairy (she is very hairy for a girl) and that the anti rejection drugs actually promote hair growth and that male organ transplant recipients never go bald.

Now, I am guessing this is anecdotal and the anti rejection drugs are so powerful, and the side effects quite bad, you'd never choose to take them unless your life depended on it.

I must have had that conversation with her 15 years ago and only just remembered then.

Ah ok. Thanks for that, I am definitely considering Dr Hasson, I've already been in contact with the clinic. I just have to work out if I can afford it. I've also been talking to Dr Path, and have just requested a consult from Dr Shapiro and Dr Rahal. They all seem to do great work, and I wish I didn't have to think about money but of course it's a consideration.

15 hours really isn't that bad a flight. I thought it might be a good idea to stop off in Hawaii on the back to recover.

Here is a pic of the scar anyway - taken with flash, I think it's an ok job. But maybe there are better?

Hi Scar5 - are you Australian also? I definitely had a strip technique and to be fair he did a great job with that. The scar is barely detectable.

When (and I do mean when) I get another HT I am going international and will only pick a surgeon recommended on this site. That's confusing enough as there is a huge range in price and location alone! I am leaning towards a couple of surgeons in Canada but it's so far away from Aus!

I have spoken to the head technician, from the clinc where I had my HT, about the results, and my unhappiness with the final results, and this is what she had to say:

"There were no immediate post op photo's taken as far as I can remember,

I

have had a

careful hunt for them, they would be all on your file.

I keep looking at your pre and post photo's and taking into

consideration

that you would

have had further loss of your existing hair, the density is good and if

you

focus on the

density behind the hair line it's quite obvious that the density has

improved considerably.

I am really sorry that you are unhappy with the results but they

certainly

aren't unsatisfactory,

I shall consult our clinic manager and see wheather we can reduce the

cost

for a top up session."

A couple of things: 1.

1. I notice on their website that they only recommend doing 1,000 grafts at a time. They never said this to me when I asked for 2,000. In fact I asked them if 2,000 was routine for them and they said yes.

Number 2: I would have thought it was standard practice to take post op pics? If I knew what I know now I would have definitely taken them.

Well, I've written to them to see if there's anything I can do, i.e. get a full or partial refund. To help fund the next procedure. I hope they don't offer another or discounted procedure as I don't see the point in going there again.

Thanks for that bighosedragger I am definitely going to get another HT, it's just a case of who, where and how to fund it. I'll definitely go with one of the surgeons recommended on this site.

Hi there,

I am also Australian, based in Melbourne. I started looking around for an HT surgeon about four years ago - I spoke to Martinack and the NHI but didn't feel right about either of those clinics. In the end I went for a HT with a less well known surgeon and am less than impressed with the results. I have pics up at the following thread - http://hair-restoration-info.c...66060861/m/155107965

I am now in the process of working out what to do next. I definitely want another HT, but I am not sure where to go. I know I need to travel - but do I go for who seem the best in the business - Hasson and Wong for a session that will easily cost over $20 grand by the time you include travel and accommodation, or stay closer to home and see Dr Path in Thailand for around the $10k mark. I'd appreciate any thoughts on that, they are both recommended HT surgeons.

I am actually really annoyed as I spent $11,000 on a 2,085 graft HT and it's now a year one and the results have been really underwhelming. I should have gone OS in the first place, but I'd never had any surgery before and was very nervous about being in a foreign country in case something went wrong. I am over that fear now.

Thanks

To be fair, there was some growth, but it's certainly not what I was expecting. And I don't think it was the 80% yield that they said they guaranteed.

I just read that you the surgeon needs to shave the recipient area before implanting, otherwise they can damage the existing hairs.

They certainly didn't do that, should they have?

Right temple - this is the area I am most disappointed with. There's actually a missing piece right up near the hair line. When I spoke to the head technician about it she said it's the inward part of the "squiggly" line they follow when putting in the implants.

Left temple