Dr Rahal Experience 4/4/2007

[Hairfree]

Tomorrow evening I leave for Ottawa to visit Dr. Rahal's clinic for a HT on Wednesday, April 4th 2007. Dr. Rahal looked at my photos and reccomended 3000 grafts during an online consultation. I am looking to possibly fill in as many grafts possible in my front 1/3 maybe close to 4000. I will write more about my journey when I return. I will be staying at the Days Inn Ottawa Airport and expected to arrive at Dr. Rahal's office at 7:05 am to sign consent forms and for the pre-op consultation and rest of the day will be surgery.

 

It is only an hr and half flight from Philadelphia to Ottawa and I am expected to arrive at 7:30pm. I plan to check out downtown Ottawa and eat at one of the restaurants in the market area. I figured it will keep my mind of the HT and help time go by. I know I will be anxious and excited at the same time. It wont be easy to sleep tomorrow night.

 

I want to thank everyone on this forum for the support especially Bill. We had a good time at dinner on the past Thursday night. He brought along his wife and my fiance' joined as well. He was able to answer all of my questions and concerns about the HT. I asked if he would be willing to come over after I return to take a look at my bloody scalp and take some pics. He said he would be glad to stop by. Its nice to have someone with HT experience nearby who can help me out with the post op advice especially if I feel something went wrong.

 

I will post my pre-op photos.

[stillhere]

Good luck, Dr. Rahal is a very good doctor and I am sure you will be happy. I am looking to have a procedure with him soon, I was also quoted 3,000 grafts for the front to add onto my 2,000 I had 18 months ago from Dr. Charles. Best of luck and looking forward to your pictures.

Also, did you have to get a passport to go to Canada?

[the B spot]

Tallyho!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see some pics!!!!

 

Anyway, make sure you spoke to the ACTUAL Bill..........

 

I am hearing his clones are horny little buggers, so BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!

 

[the B spot]

Stillhere--- As an citizen of the U.S. your drivers license will do nicely.

 

I always brought by birth certificate along....just in case......

 

Take Care,

J

[Hairfree]

Pre-op Front Shot

[Hairfree]

Pre-op donor Area

[Hairfree]

Pre-op Side

[Hairfree]

Pre-op Top

[Hairfree]

Thank you for your support!

 

I just posted all of the pics I took last night. I am brining along my passport just in case for back-up but a drivers license should be good.

 

I just checked the weather in Ottawa..snow on the day I return. I hope it dont get me stuck at the airport!!!

[hairbank]

Hairfree-

 

I'm excited for you, brother..........actually kind of envious ! You're really in a pretty good situation when it comes to your loss (if that can be said ) The crown looks great.......with some dense packing to the frontal 1/3 I think you'll have excellent results.

 

I second B spot comments..........it was likely the little purple Bill clone you had dinner with. I hear the real Bill is more reserved and definitely wouldn't have offered to come and take the pics post op. !

[MrJobi]

3000 grafts and you will have a nice mop.. You are luck you have your crown intact as well as wavy, thick hair

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hairfree,

 

I hope you are sleeping at this point...hopefully you will have a restful sleep. I know the night before all 3 of my surgeries I really had a hard time sleeping. BUT, at least you are close to the clinic already and don't have to get up super early to drive there...that always helps!

 

You're in good hands brother...and it's been a pleasure not only talking with you here but getting to know you in person as well. It's nice knowing someone in person who's been through or going through the same experience! I'm glad I can be a mentor to you regarding HT and a friend! Email/text me when you get back in town and sometime this weekend (maybe Saturday sometime) I can stop by and see how you are doing!

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

B Spot...you said:

 

Stillhere--- As an citizen of the U.S. your drivers license will do nicely.

 

I always brought by birth certificate along....just in case......

 

Take Care,

J

 

I was under the impression that this changed! I believe passports are required now to go to Canada as of January 1st of this year (2007 for those who are stumbling upon this post in the future )

 

Bill

[Hairfree]

Hello folks,

 

I am now at the Days Inn Ottawa airport. I made it to the aiport in Philadelphia an hour ahead of schedule. I had some ice cream in the terminal and just relaxed till boarding time. When the plane took off I fell asleep and woke up as we were landing. It went by quick. I'm glad that I had my passport in hand. I didn't know that it was mandatory.

 

I texted Dr. Rahal after I walked through customs and he responded quickly offering to pick me up at the airport and take me to the hotel. I thanked him and told him I was taking the cab. He told me to make sure I eat a good breakfast and looked forward to meeting me in the morning.

 

When I got to the hotel around 8pm I asked if it would be worth checking out downtown Ottawa and the front desk person said that the restaurant across the parking lot is very good. At that point I decided to stick around the hotel. I got in the hot tub to relax and then went over to THE STEAKHOUSE & BAR across the parking lot. I had a NY Strip steak classic with a salad and baked potato. It was top notch food and the service was excellent. I highly reccomend it for those staying at the Days Inn to visit Dr. Rahal.

 

Im off to bed now. Good thing I brought along my own alarm clock. It will definately give me security that I will get up on time. I plan to get up at 6am and have the continental breakfast here at hotel before heading over to Rahal's office at 7am. I will take some post-op pics to post.

 

Billaros..Thanks man for all of your support. I am fortunate to have you on hand to help me out as I go through this process. I will drop you an email.

 

Everyone else..thank you for the support as well. I will keep you posted on my journey.

[MrJobi]

GOOD LUCK!!

 

Break a leg , but not a Follicular unit!

[hairbank]

Every time I hear someone mention that the Doc offered to pic them up at the airport it blows me away!!

 

Class act, Dr. Rahal!

 

Hairfree- Good luck, my friend........I'll be anxious to see the results!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Wow...offered to pick you up at the airport? That's incredible! Kudos to Dr. Rahal!

 

You're midway through your surgery by now...or more likely almost finished . Look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Just heard from hairfree...he is out of surgery. I am tempted to post how many grafts/hairs he received, but I'm sure he'll be excited to do that...so I'll give the honor to him! Now all he has to do is heal and rest

 

Bill

[irish homer]

hope it all went well, hurry up and give us the numbers

it's like waiting for the birth of a baby.......

IH

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Hairfree,

 

Congratulations on your wise choice in going to Dr. Rahal. He has really established a top track record on this community. I also had dinner with him during the big annual ISHRS meeting in San Diego last fall and I really enjoyed him on a personal level as well.

 

We will all be excited to hear your account of the surgery and hear how many hairs and grafts you ultimately got. Please feel free to create a free weblog to journal your journey from "hairfree" to "hairy".

 

Kudos to Bill for meeting you in person. He's a real mentor on and offline.

 

Best wishes for a rapid recovery and a bumper crop of new hair. Hairbank is right, you are in a truly enviable position to achieve a great new look.

 

Pat

 

P.S. Yes, accept no substitute when seeking Bill. Insist on the quality original.

[Hairfree]

Hello!

 

I just got up from resting in the room. I will fill in all of you on my day!

 

Last night I got to bed around midnight. I just couldnt fall asleep. I woke up on and off throughout the night worried that maybe I wouldn't wake up to the alarm and many thoughts were racing thru my mind. Im sure most of you had the same thing happen

 

I got up at 6am and took a shower and took a good look at my hair for the last time before heading into the surgery. I ate the contintental breakfast at the hotel and took a taxi to Dr. Rahal's office two miles down the road. When I arrived Adrian, his patient advisor, had all the consent forms ready for me to sign. That took about 20 minutes. After that I met with Dr. Rahal for the pre-op consultation. He took many photos and drew the hairline. I explained to him that I would like a mature hairline and that I wanted to go for more than 3000 grafts. He felt that I would get good results at 3500 grafts.

 

He took about 30 minutes to draw the hairline. I guess he is a perfectionist! Several times he erased part of the line and made adjustments. I was very satisfied with what he drew up for me.

 

After that I was off to surgery! The removed the strip as I was in the seated position. They did not make me lay down on my stomach. I guess every doctor does it differently. The only pain I felt was the injections into the donar area and after that all I felt was a slight tugging and it was over in 30 mins. After they removed the strip I was able to walk around and see what the techs were working on. It was really neat to see my own scalp sliced up and put into cups by the number of hairs each follical had. The techs were very friendly and explained everything to me.

 

Next Dr. Rahal made all the incisions into my scalp and he planted some grafts into the front. It was all painfree! The techs took over and planted the rest. I had a lunch break and ate the egg salad sandwich they provided for me. They were back to work on my 20 mins later and continue planting grafts until close to 5pm. I watched the Green Mile in the afternoon

 

Here are my final results

 

455 single hairs

 

1986 double hairs

 

1048 three hairs

 

I got a total of 3489 grafts - 7571 hairs

 

I asked if they cut any of the grafts into single hairs. The techs said no. They do not believe in the process of cutting 3 o4 4 hair grafts into single hair grafts.

 

Dr. Rahal dropped me off at the hotel and he was very friendly. The staff was very easy going and everyone kept making sure I was comfortable. I was very satisfied with the service.

 

I got back to the hotel around 6pm. I was uncomfortable from 7-10pm because I felt slight pain and tightness especially in the donor area. I stayed in bed and rested for a few hours and when I work up the pain was all gone. I still have little tightness but it is much better.

 

I will put up some post-op photos. I better get them from Dr. Rahal in the morning when I go in for post-op care. My flight leaves at 11:20am.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions! Hope you enjoyed my recap of the day.

 

Tom

[hairbank]

Awesome Hairfree!

 

Glad to hear things went as planned and you seemed to have reached your goal with number of grafts! Very anxious to see the work, I've become a real fan of Dr. Rahal.

 

I still can't believe Doc Rahal offering to pick you up at the airport then taking you back......that's unreal!!

 

Can't wait to see your pics, my friend.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hairfree,

 

I sent you an email but I'll respond here again and say CONGRATULATIONS! At close to 3500 grafts, you should be in great shape! I can't wait to see pictures (and the real thing this weekend) of the hairline and the work done. Talk soon bro.

 

The Real Bill!!!!

[Hairfree]

I am now writing this from home. This morning I woke up in great shape. I slept very well througout the night. Actually, at one point I woke up at 1am because I was in bed early and watched the Manchester U. vs Roma soccer match on ESPN for an hour and then went back to sleep. I guess I was exhausted from the long day!

 

I had a great breakfast at the Days Inn when I got up. I was back in Dr. Rahal's office at 9am. He took some post op pictures and answered any last minute questions that I had. One of his techs, a lovely lady, dropped me off at the airport afterwards. She worked for Dr. Rahal all 13 years since he opened his office in Ottawa. Top notch service and I had the chance to see up front how much Dr. Rahal cares about his patients. His own techs speaks volumes about his passion for his work and to make people happy.

 

My flight home went well and I was back on my comfortable sofa by 2:30 in the afternoon. Nothing like home! Now its all movies and hanging out with my fiance'

 

I am about to wash my scalp for the first time and apply some Vitamin E oil to the scalp. I am starting to see slight swelling now on the sides of my face. I am now entering tansformation phase

 

Pat- Thank you for following my story! I love your new Hair Force One and what you do for everyone on this forum. I will create my own web log soon.

 

B Spot and Hairbank - Thank you for following my story as well! I will have some post op pics available soon. I was having trouble posting them. I am hoping Billaros will be able to help me post the pics and creat the web log tomorrow. He is expected to stop by in the afternoon around 3pm.

 

Billaros - I hope I didn't bother you when you were watching the movie this evening. Thank you for answering a question I had. I look forward to having you come by tomorrow. Dr. Rahal gave me a CD with all of my pre and post op photos. I am not sure how to downsize the pics. I'll have you take a look.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hey Hairfree,

 

You are never a bother my friend. I'm simply EXTREMELY slow at text messaging, so that's why I write very little there and a lot more over email. Besides...I was watching the Lord of the Rings 2...a movie I've seen a hundred times...but it was a great night for it...and that series is one of my favorite! So my wife and I just relaxed and watched the movie...good times! So again, no bother...just hard for me to text message. On the keyboard, I can type almost 90 words a minute, however, on the cell phone, I type maybe 1 word in 90 minutes .

 

Still waiting for your address though my friend. If I don't get that, I can't come over . But I will come over close to 3pmish tomorrow with my camera...not sure if my wife is coming with or not yet.

 

Bill