FenderPlayer

Hey guys, I just had my procedure done by Dr. Feller on Tuesday August 12th. He did approximately 3100 grafts in the frontal third. Here's a quick run down of the procedure, that will hopefully help out people considering scheduling a procedure, or those who already have one booked and aren't sure exactly what to expect. I left my house at 6:00AM to ensure I wouldn't be late, and ended up getting to Dr. Feller's office at 7:00 - 45 minutes early, but always better to be early than late. The Dr. arrived shortly thereafter and we went to his office where he took some pre-op pics, and then drew on the hairline that we had agreed upon during my consultation. As we were both pleased with this, we went to the procedure room where the techs shaved both the recipient area, and the donor area. After this we went to another room where Dr. Feller administered the anisthetic while I lay face down. We had a conversation about politics as he was injecting me with the lidocaine, and it honestly was not painful at all. In fact I barely felt it, except for one spot where I was told I had some scar tissue that he had to inject through. After this we returned to the room where the reaminder of the procedure was to be done. Since I had told him that I was feeling a little nervous about the strip removal, the doctor gave me a valium just to calm me down a bit. As Dr. Feller began the strip removal I thought back to an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 that I watched with my wife where they mentioned that you would hear ripping and pulling as the strip was removed, and the idea of that kind of freaked me out. I didnt notice much of this noise at all however, and before I knew it Dr. Feller was already stapling the incision shut. The strip was removed in pieces. A part was removed, then that area was stapled, and so on. Basically I had worried about nothing, because as I was told you didn't feel a thing, and you also barely heard anything being cut (it sounded as if you were GENTLY scratching your head). The strip was then disected by the techs under microscopes. While they were doing this, Dr. Feller administered the lidocaine to the recipient area, and then a few minutes later began making the slits where the grafts would be placed. I believe he said this part took about an hour and 40 minutes. Since I didnt sleep very well the night before, I actually fell in and out sleep as the slits were being made. As some techs continued disecting the strip, others began to place the grafts, starting with my new hairline. This was done in shifts with techs switching between disecting and placing grafts while the area was constantly irrigated. After the second team of techs finished placing grafts, they gave me the lunch which they had ordered for me (I had a choice of pizza or deli, and went with pizza). At this time I was also able to see my wife and my father who came along and waited for me through the whole procedure. After my lunch break the techs finished placing the grafts. Since there were a few more left, Dr. Feller had to make some more slits. Finally the rest of the grafts were placed. I was given post op instructions, as well as told what to expect as far as swelling. Dr. Feller then took some after pictures, and then my wife, father, and I left. I took a vicodin an hour after I left Dr. Feller's office, and about an hour after taking that vicodin, I felt a pretty decent amount of pain for just under 2 hours in the donor area. I took one more vicodin and then the pain slowly subsided. By the end of the night there was only slight discomfort, and I actually ended up sleeping well. When I woke up the next morning I felt a little sore in the donor area, but nothing unbearable. I didnt even take a vicodin until about 3 pm when the feeling of tightness began to bother me a little bit. If i didn't have the vicodin it wouldn't have even been a big deal as the pain was minimal. Overall, at this point I am very satisfied with Dr. Feller. His staff was very professional, and everyone kept me informed through the whole procedure of what was going on. Now I just have to wait and see how these grafts grow in. In a day or two I'll post some pre-op and post-op pics. I havent got a chance to start the blog yet but will do so shortly.

Hey guys, I just had my procedure done by Dr. Feller on Tuesday August 12th. He did approximately 3100 grafts in the frontal third. Here's a quick run down of the procedure, that will hopefully help out people considering scheduling a procedure, or those who already have one booked and aren't sure exactly what to expect. I left my house at 6:00AM to ensure I wouldn't be late, and ended up getting to Dr. Feller's office at 7:00 - 45 minutes early, but always better to be early than late. The Dr. arrived shortly thereafter and we went to his office where he took some pre-op pics, and then drew on the hairline that we had agreed upon during my consultation. As we were both pleased with this, we went to the procedure room where the techs shaved both the recipient area, and the donor area. After this we went to another room where Dr. Feller administered the anisthetic while I lay face down. We had a conversation about politics as he was injecting me with the lidocaine, and it honestly was not painful at all. In fact I barely felt it, except for one spot where I was told I had some scar tissue that he had to inject through. After this we returned to the room where the reaminder of the procedure was to be done. Since I had told him that I was feeling a little nervous about the strip removal, the doctor gave me a valium just to calm me down a bit. As Dr. Feller began the strip removal I thought back to an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 that I watched with my wife where they mentioned that you would hear ripping and pulling as the strip was removed, and the idea of that kind of freaked me out. I didnt notice much of this noise at all however, and before I knew it Dr. Feller was already stapling the incision shut. The strip was removed in pieces. A part was removed, then that area was stapled, and so on. Basically I had worried about nothing, because as I was told you didn't feel a thing, and you also barely heard anything being cut (it sounded as if you were GENTLY scratching your head). The strip was then disected by the techs under microscopes. While they were doing this, Dr. Feller administered the lidocaine to the recipient area, and then a few minutes later began making the slits where the grafts would be placed. I believe he said this part took about an hour and 40 minutes. Since I didnt sleep very well the night before, I actually fell in and out sleep as the slits were being made. As some techs continued disecting the strip, others began to place the grafts, starting with my new hairline. This was done in shifts with techs switching between disecting and placing grafts while the area was constantly irrigated. After the second team of techs finished placing grafts, they gave me the lunch which they had ordered for me (I had a choice of pizza or deli, and went with pizza). At this time I was also able to see my wife and my father who came along and waited for me through the whole procedure. After my lunch break the techs finished placing the grafts. Since there were a few more left, Dr. Feller had to make some more slits. Finally the rest of the grafts were placed. I was given post op instructions, as well as told what to expect as far as swelling. Dr. Feller then took some after pictures, and then my wife, father, and I left. I took a vicodin an hour after I left Dr. Feller's office, and about an hour after taking that vicodin, I felt a pretty decent amount of pain for just under 2 hours in the donor area. I took one more vicodin and then the pain slowly subsided. By the end of the night there was only slight discomfort, and I actually ended up sleeping well. When I woke up the next morning I felt a little sore in the donor area, but nothing unbearable. I didnt even take a vicodin until about 3 pm when the feeling of tightness began to bother me a little bit. If i didn't have the vicodin it wouldn't have even been a big deal as the pain was minimal. Overall, at this point I am very satisfied with Dr. Feller. His staff was very professional, and everyone kept me informed through the whole procedure of what was going on. Now I just have to wait and see how these grafts grow in. In a day or two I'll post some pre-op and post-op pics. I havent got a chance to start the blog yet but will do so shortly.