1800-2000fue in Belgium planned experience so far with research and choosing a dr

[hairshopeing]

So thought I'd start a thread as on march the 11th I'm off to hasslet in Belgium to have an fue procedure done by dr feriduni!! Iv spent about 18 months researching endlessly the procedures,the surgeons,the results that can be achieved!! And I have to say this site has been completely invaluable to me!! The information you can gather on here is outstanding and has educated me on the whole process more than I would have ever thought possible!!

Before finding this site I had done a lot of research into hts but only in the uk,and I was adamant I wouldn't be able to travel abroad!! After months online I decided to get a consult at Harley street hair clinic as there results seemed the best fue in the uk and varied from excellent to average! Made a weekend of it and traveled with my wife for the consult,the place was pretty plush and the consult was ok,I thought at the time,the surgeon was taken out of surgery for about 10 mins to examine my hair,she said I had good donor hair and I'd need about 1500 grafts to restore my hairline and she drew a prospective hairline. Now iv got a big forehead and always have had but thinning of the hairline makes it much worse,but the hairline she drew was higher than I wanted,she literally drew across my existing one not lowering it even a couple of mm.I said I wanted it slightly lower nothing silly,but she was adamant in not lowering it!! I left a little frustrated by that but generally ok with what was suggested, I thought I'd need more grafts but that's what they q

Quoted!! I was given reference material for previous patients who I spoke to on the phone who were happy with there results there and both were on there websites as examples!! I decided to book the procedure and payed my deposit!!! As I continued researching I found this site,and saw some great and some not so great results and realised that there's no guarantees in this game,but I was intrigued by the detail people on here provided!!! Everyone here said avoid the uk at all costs which made me extremely nervous,the key on here was research,research and research and s that's what I did!! After reading hundreds of threads I realised that my consultation hadn't lived up to my expectations,the surgeon although lovely,was very rushed and completely inflexible,the donor check was running her hand over my hair at the back and sides and saying it was good!! There was no mention of hairs per cm2 in the donor or what hairs per cm2 would be transplanted,so no calculations were done and I was in there for about 20minutes!! Alarm bells rang and I decided after careful consideration that because of the info on here,because the consult was rushed and no detailed enough and because in the year I had been checking there website hardly any new results were shown and most were immediate post op not grown out(another thing I learned on here) I would cancel and continue researching!! I have to say that they were great about me cancelling and were lovely people when I met them and I still believe there furze results are the best in the uk by. Mile and they do have ome really good results!! Big thank you to rws who I spoke with about Harley street and who has had a fantastic result from them,but I need more examples like his to be sure!!

So my extensive research showed me I had to travel in order to get a reputable recommended dr!! Being from the uk I am lucky that in my opinion the best fue drs are from Belgium,which little did I know is only a hours flight from the uk!!(seriously I did not know that!)

This lead me on to 2 highly reputable and very skilled surgeons in feriduni and bisanga!!

I contacted both offices and at there requests sent photos via email(which I struggled with) i am useless with computers and technology and geography as is clear!!!! Bisanga suggested 2000-2500 based on my poorly taken photos and feriduni said 1500-1800.

I arranged a consult with both,unable to get them on the Same day!! Bisanga was pretty easy to see but feriduni was a 2 month wait for the consult!!! I decided I'd fly and see bisanga,but just as I was arranging it there was a post on here saying he was in London in november and also feriduni was there in december so I decided to wait,do more research and see both over here!! I have to say I was swayed towards bisanga at this point!!! But in the coming months and continued research I came across several people on here who had been torn the same,some chose one,some chose the other!!

What made me decide before meeting either surgeon was 2 things

1) I needed hairline restoration,the very front and flitered back into the front third,and from all the examples I was sent and have seen on this and several other sites dr feriduni does the best and most realistic hairlines of any other dr anywhere, in my opinion!! His quite ups as very in-depth and he seemed meticulous in what he does!!

2) every single patient he has performed on had nothing but good words to say about dr feriduni and his clinic!! His customer service seems second to none and every patient says he is a very honest, professional and likeable guy!! And some examples iv read on here of that are exceptional!!

I also had the pleasure of meeting beardy weirdy in person who had a procedure done by dr feriduni,and was blown away by his result!! His hair was awesome and a big thanks to beardy weirdy who was a top bloke and has been a big help to me in this whole prcess!!

So met with dr feiduni in December in London for consult

As expected he was very nice guy as was cristian his rep on here who has been fantastic at answering any questions and was another reason dr feriduni seemed the best choice!

The consult wasn't rushed in the slightest and a thorough examination of the donor was done and dr feriduni asked me what I wanted done and hoped to achieve!! My goal is realistic I'm not after a Norwood zero flat hairline, I'm having it slightly lowered,the doc measured where it should be and was exactly where Id hoped for and requested!!! I'm happy to have a recession say Norwood 1 to 1.5 as long as form the hairline it's as dense as possible!! The dr says my donor was average at 80 hairs per cm at the sides and 85 at the back,my individual hairs are very strait and quite fine and which hopefully will o for me with fue and was looking to transplant the hairline at 60-65cm2 hair which should give me a good result fingers crossed!! I have to say I left the consult very happy,that dr feriduni and I were on the same wavelength and that it was the right decision to wait for him!!! Even my wife said she couldn't believe the difference between the consult at Harley street and the one with dr feriduni!!!

I'm sorry if this post is ridiculously long,but I'm sure a lot of people I. The on here from the uk are considering fue in Belgium or uk and I was hoping that this post might assist in what you should expect when going for a consult and making decisions!! It says on here when at a consult make sure you ask the right questions and get the right answers!! Great advice,but if like me on my first consult your a novice then the questions you ask might not be the right ones and neither will be the answers, maybe a helpful section that the moderators could put on here is a list of questions you should ask at a consultation and what answers you should expect to receive!!! Donor checks,densities,shock loss,post op care,hairs per cm2 all stuff!!

There are as no guarantees with this as I said earlier,but i believe I have done enough research into it that iv chosen the best dr possible for the type of procedure I need and if my results aren't up to what should be expected I'm sure dr feriduni will stand by his work and do whatever is needed to make it the best result possible!!!

[Sean]

Great write up & excellent doctor. I've been impressed by his work too. I heard he switched back to manual punch for FUE. I can't wait to see your updates. Please share all the details of the procedure and everything. Wish you the best.

[Blake Bloxham]

Dr. Feriduni's FUE work is phenomenal. I think you made an excellent decision. Look forward to the updates! Good luck.

[james84]

Great Doctor and i agree with you about the hairlines, very impressive.

 

No doubt you will achieve a great result.

[chrisdav]

Great choice.

 

Keep us posted.

[Mickey85]

Feriduni is a true gentleman and I love his hairline designs, very aesthetic along the lines of Rahal. Possible even better actually in my opinion.

[Raj Jayukdht]

Great write up & excellent doctor. I've been impressed by his work too. I heard he switched back to manual punch for FUE. I can't wait to see your updates. Please share all the details of the procedure and everything. Wish you the best.

 

Why would he go back to manual punch? Was he using James Harris machine. Does anyone know if JH machines is good and used by surgeons?

[Mickey85]

Why would he go back to manual punch? Was he using James Harris machine. Does anyone know if JH machines is good and used by surgeons?

 

Taken from my manual versus motorized punch thread:

 

Dr. Feriduni only tried an automatic device once but it was not a great success since you have much more accuracy with a manual FUE punch."

 

That was via email from Feriduni's representative. Feriduni himself reiterated the same sentiments via Skype when I consulted with him. He elaborated more about being able to feel when you are about the transect a hair but I don't have the comment verbatim so I did not include it.

 

He wasn't using the Jim Harris motorized punch. That's all I will say about that.

[hairshopeing]

Thanks guys!!! Just counting the days down!!!! I too agree dr feriduni is a great choice and I'm glad my research led to him!!! Can someone tell me how to add photos onto this site and how to add them from a camera or phone on to an I pad 2!!!!! I havnt got a pc so need to put photos on to a i pad 2 then onto this site, I'd like to take a selection of before and after pics then obviously update unto around the 12 month Mark post surgery but I'm useless with technology!!!!! I intend to show my pre ht hair at is worst and best and then do the same pre op at the 12 month Mark!! Also I'm looking at keeping my hair shaved to around a grade 1 for the first 6 months after the procedure through the doldrums!!!! Well that's the plan anyway!!!! We shall see!!!!

[JohnnyDrama]

Nice post and great choice. I'm following a similar path.....in that I'm flying to Belgium for a weekend next month and meeting no fewer than 4 docs for consultations!

 

I'm edging a little closer to FUE and right now Bisanga and Feriduni are top of the wish list, and I'm meeting both so can't wait to get their feedback. I'm also meeting Mwamba and De Reys just to mix it up a bit. Will be documenting my weekend in detail for everyone! I think the work I'd be looking at may be closer to 3,000, as I want some midscalp filled in as well as my hair line! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!.

[beardywierdy]

Hi mate

Nice to hear from you, glad you made it to Belgium and the pic you sent looks great. It's going to look very nice. Hope you are healing well. I went to Feriduni when he was little known on the forum and its nice to see him getting the recognition he deserves.

Both him and Devroye are outstanding guys who perform top class work and yet manage to have zero ego.

Let me know when you are up for a trip to Manchester again

Beards

[hairshopeing]

Cheers beardy!! It's been great to be able to speak to you throughout this whole process!!!!

Well I'm now 9 days post op from 2131 grafts with dr feriduni!! Sorry it's taken so long to update but I spent 5 days in hasselt with no I pad so couldn't update via my phone as a paining the arse with small keys and this week have been just resting up and getting back to some sort of normality!!

 

Anyways here is my experience!!!

My surgery was booked for Monday the 10th of march,so firstly I had to get there!! Now although I am 38 years old I have never travelled anywhere on my own before.so this in itself was a daunting task!! I was initially going for 3 nights 2 days but at my consult dr f suggested a week as the post op care is critical,this ruled out my wife travelling with me as iv 2 young children and it's wouldn't be fairt to leave them for 5 days!! But also meant that getting there was going to be more stressful!! My wife and a friend (the only friend iv told) took me to the airport on the Sunday morning and to be fair although i put on a brave face on to not worry the mrs I was shitting it!! When I went through the gates and my wife and mate disappeared I did think what the he'll do I do now!!! I checked in really early then hung around waiting for my gate number to be displayed!! Luckily for me spex had recently become a uk advisor for dr f and had txt me a few times about my trip and phoned me just as I arrived at the airport so I couldn't answer but I returned his call whilst I waited!! He reassured me the trip would be fine and not to stress about the travel or forth coming operation!! I think being able to speak to someone who knows what your feeling is a big big help and it will only be good for the dr,spex and the patients from the uk that they now have someone who is easily contactable and very quick with responses!! Also I'll point out that it was mothers day on the Sunday,so a big thanks goes out to spex for that and the on going help he's provided since!! So I eventually board the plane and arrive at Brussels int airport,collect my luggage and take a deep breath!! I'm here!!! Just go to get to hasselt now!! Now one thing that is very expensive in Brussels is taxis and I had been offered a taxi service for something like 150 euros which in the grand scheme of things isn't a lot!! But I'm not throwing money away at this trip,I'm here for a procedure not a holiday and extra grafts I'm happy to pay,a taxi back I'll pay but not on the way!! I arrived at around 1pm on the Sunday so had all afternoon if necessary to get to hasselt!!! Now directly below the airport there is a train station,so you literally go down some steps which are sign posted and there's a underground station, unfortunately there's no direct train to hasselt,but the office staff will tell you which one to get,from which platform and where to change!! I know this sounds obvious but I as I'm sure most non frequent travellers would be was concerned about getting to some where on the out skirts of Belgium in my own,which is why I'm including the details of travel!! The first train is a 15 min journey,then you get off at Leuven,hang round for 45 mins then get a connection to hasselt!! Which takes about an hour and 10!!!!! Weirdly that train was completely empty for the last 30 mins except for me!!! Anyway I arrive at hasselt station and find a taxi who tells me the hassotel which is where I'm staying cannot be reached by taxi as it's the annual street fair in hasselt and the roads are closed!!! Great!!!!! So I end up walking, it's probably as 15- 20 min walk if you decide to do this but it's a strait road from the station and quite easy to find!!!! So I'm at hotel!!!! To sum up the travel,honestly my wife was more worried about me getting there then having the procedure!!! I am beyond useless at this type of thing!! But honestly it wasn't bad, quite strait forward and if I need to do it again,I'll have no problems and won't worry about it!!!! If anyone is travelling and needs some advice I'll be happy to help or I'm sure spex will be a big help with this part too!!!

HASSOTEL

Situated in the centre,clean and modern,didnt eat there much just first night after the op room service meal,she should of wore a balaclava when she delivered it(day light robbery) and breakfast was ok,usual continetal stuff,weird bacon,sausages,scrambled eggs and breads,cereals juices etc!!! What ud expect!!! I happily walked round the hotel after my op with no bandana or hat,a few stares but nothing major and the staff didnt seem bothered at all by it!! I used to make the odd joke about it so it wasn't an awkward situation!!! Hotel is at a discounted rate of 70 euros per night and the dr pays for one of them,so my accommodation for 5 nights cost me 280 euros which is good value to be fair!! It's just drinks and food there are expensive so be careful,9 euros for a bottle of water!!! Shit the bed!!!!! I spent pretty much all day everyday after the operation in that hotel room,just resting at 45 deg and drinking water!!!! Tv is ok,mainly foreign but has got BBC 1 and bbc2 and free wi fi. So all in all good value!!!!!

DAY OF THE OP

Didn't sleep to badly,but due to the street festival was pretty noisy outside the night before so not great also had that slight what the fxxk am I doing in Belgium on my own about to get a hair transplant!!!!!! Have I gone mental!!!! I'm sure everyone gets this feeling and I was expecting it, I just reminded myself of how much it bothered me and could I of put up with it as it was,and no I couldn't!!! I waste too much time thinking,checking,and worrying about hair!!! Quite frankly it's exhausting and I need to put up or shut up as they say,and it's time to put up!!!! Another deep breath,get a grip,as this is what you want and have researched for 2 years for,so I shower,go down for breakfast and pack my bag ready for the clinic,they arrange a taxi to pick you up from your hotel,it takes about 5-10 mins to get to the clinic from the hotel!! The clinic pay for your taxi to and from the hotel on the day of surgery and you pay the other fares on the follow up days, it's 8 euros each way,set price. And in have to say the taxi service is fantastic,never late,really nice guys,very chatty and helpful a great addition to the whole process in hasselt!!!

THE OPERATION

Arrive at the clinic greeted at reception and shown into a private room,read through the documents and sign,pretty severe stuff if you red it,but same as any survey,no guarantees etcs,possible complications etc!!! I expected that!!

Chilled isn there for a good 30 mins,again trying to stay calm,I just kept telling myself nerves and concerns won't help,man the fxxk up!! Messed with my phone for a bit,looked at some pictures of my kids and at that point did get a little emotional.leaving them behind to do this,but put that to the back of my mind,as I'm sure they would want there dad to be happy!!! Noticed a pill with water on the table but wasn't sure wether to take it,anyway I didnt,thought I'd ask later but forgot,I think is should of as it's the pain killler/ relaxant I think?? Maybe someone on here knows?? But anyway I didn't!!

Met with the dr, he drew on a hairline and measured it with a mask that checked it,said it was correct and I was happy so went into theatre!!! They shave my head,which was fine but now revealed 2 moles I knew I had,but they look awful!!! Really bad!! So I asked the dr if he could remove them at the same time, he seemed surprised but said if I wanted to,then no problem!! I agreed and away we went!! He said my blood pressure was little high but probably nerves,looking back i think possibly not having that tablet won't of helped buy maybe nerves??? At this point it becomes very real and inside you slighty panic,just relax and breath is my advice it all seem very surreal with everyone around you and the lights shining and monitors etc,they numbed the back of my head,the injections are nothing,very little pain at all,I thought if that's as bad as it gets then great!!! Then the techs began removing the grafts!! Now the bit I dint like was lying face down with very little room to breath as your lying with your face against a circular spacer which is pretty uncomfortable and I almost panicked at that point,also I hadn't shaven and it was passing into my face which was quite uncomfortable!! 2000 grafts were removed,all done by 2 techs,no problems,very easy to extract,he's said,very little tension and all good quality!! Although they struggled to find 500 singles for the hairline apparently!!! Still facing down dr f came in and said I'm going to numb the front of your head this may be a little uncomfortable,this is the bit I was dreading,but I'm ok with pain,and to be honest it wasn't bad at all,more weird then painful,your feel them go in and up and you think,just as it's registering the pain it's out,it really isn't anything to worry about at all!!! Dr f then turn me over and made the incisions,again,no pain at all,what i would say is it feels like your wearing a really tight crash helmet and some one is pricking and plucking that,it doesn't feel like it's your head,they really blow it up,which I didnt know!!! So 2000 cuts later and the techs begin to plant,there is no break for a drink or food just strait on with it!! 3 techs did this,1 on the right,1 on the left and 1 doing the muliti haired grafts behind the hairline!! The dr did show me in the mirror as they planted them,which was surreal!! This again was pretty painless although towards then end on my right hand side I did start to feel the motion,not painful but annoying!! At the end the dr sometimes does what they call stick and place,but he didn't saying it looked perfect and didnt need to!! Only time will telll i guess!!! He then kindly removed my 2 hideous moles and that was a rap!!!started extractions at 10 am finished up at about 2.45 so 2000 plus grafts removed and placed in about 5 hrs so good going,not out of the body long!!! I was then cleaned up and sent back to my room,where I phoned my wife and just had a sandwich and a drink and got my post op instructions and meds!!! I have to say all the surgical team were great,very nice people,who knew what they were doing,the dr himself is fantastic,lovely guy,if nice guys can grow hair then you can't go wrong with dr feriduni,however it's down to skill,and again im sure I picked the right person!! He is very committed to you being happy with your results,, but like he says he's not god he can only do what he can do,but I'm rue if results aren't favourable then he as much as or more so than any other dr will do everything he can to put them right!!! Immediately after the post op care instruction I had a meeting with dr f where he said everything went exactly to plan,extraction and placement,very few cap pings,very little tension on removal and they didn't take any of the 2000 plus grafts from the sides all from the back,and were planted at between 60-65 per cm2 at the hairline reducing backwards!! Also have got plenty more grafts for future enough to do the whole top of my head if read if I didn't need the crown doing, so that was good news!! I was then ordered a taxi and returned back to my hotel or about 5 pm!! I shut the door looked in the mirror and smiled,it was finally done!! I had a little bleeding after the survey, I couldn't see it but a line of dark dry looking blood developed at the dense packing point behind my hairline on the right hand side,that night I texted a pic to beardy weirdy and spex both said it seemed fine,and not to worry,again a big help from them and both appreciated!!! The next day t the drs the cleaned it off by basically spraying the area quite hard and then they washed my head and I then had a meet with the dr,I was worried that praying it so hard may damage the grafts but he assured me it wouldn't!! And said it is fairly common!!! Everyday there after I returned to the clinic had hair wash,spray and a meet with the dr,which I think days a lot about his level of commitment to patients!! He was very busy whilst I was there but everyday without fail took pictures and had a chat with me about everything or answered and questions I had!!! Like I said,I spent nearly all day everyday in the hotel room resting and drinking water and following to the letter the post op instructions which are very detailed and strait toward!!!If anyone is thinking of going to dr f which I'm sure there's loads,I would advise staying for that first 5 days,although it didn't suit me to do so I'm glad I did,it's a huge help on them first few days having someone professional cleaning it and speaking to the dr about any concerns!!! My tip would be,on the night before go to a supermarket and stock up for the week in your room,unfortunately there's no fridge,but I used to use the window sill, as you won't wa t to walk around for them first few days!!!

I saw the dr for the last time on the Friday,he checked everything over and said everything was perfect,had all gone to plan and if for any reason I wasn't happy in 12 months time he would address it which I believe he would,and that's a big reason when making a decision on a dr,yes results are critical,but also is trust!!! I got a taxi back to the airport on the Friday,again fantastic guy,gave me a reduced rate 120 euros,didn't wear any head covering,no hat or bandana,didt want to risk any gaffs,was a bit paranoid to be fair,felt like everyone was staring,and I was praying my head every 2 hours in the toilets which were packed ,, in fact only when I was taking a piss was I sure no one was looking at my head as we all know everyone just looks strait ahead at the wall in public toilets when taking a piss!!! Was a little nervous about going through the uk airport with no head covering incase I saw someone I knew,thank god I didn't,quite stressful going through the checks and getting your bags and watching your head on the plane if I'm honest,travelling afterwards is defiantly more stressful especially if you don't cover up!!! Sorry if this is ridiculously long,but I wanted to document the whole process as well as the procedure,I think we all know what a ht involves,but it's the worry that goes with it,the little things,I will be adding photos,iv took hundreds before and afters just need to work out how to and get the time,but I promise I'll do this next week,with an update of how things have gone!! A big thanks to dr feriduni and cristian and the team for everything,also beardy weirdy and rich fog who have been a big support for me with this,so thanks,both top guys!!! And spex for your continued help with everything,super fast responses and a great asset to the dr feriduni team!! Any questions feel free to ask,sorry if it's gone on a bit!!!!

[chrisdav]

Congratulations Hairshopeing!

 

What a write up.

 

You have done plenty of research and picked a top surgeon.

 

Look forward to your progress.

[Raj Jayukdht]

Have you got any photos to show us

[cueball35]

Congrats Hairshopeing, wish you all the best for great growth in the months ahead

 

I can empathise with you regarding the travelling and the emotional aspect of hair restoration, the things we put ourselves through eh!! You researched well and found a great ht surgeon in Dr Feriduni and his team.

 

P.s. I too wasnt sure what to do with that pill in the waiting room beforehand , i think it was an Ibuprofen 600mg painkiller, the girl reminded me to take it before i went into surgery though!

[hairshopeing]

Thanks chris dav!! Hopefully I can get a result like yours!! Very impressive!!

Yes Jayukdht iv got loads to post as I said in the write up, just need to work out how to put em from my camera to I pad then on to here,so need some time over the weekend,will post next week with 2 week update!!

Cue ball yours is coming in great mate,hopefully I'll be like that at 3 months!!! Top dr eh!! And nice team, hopefully the results will follow!! Haha thought that tablet was for that but forgot all about it until I was back in the room!!! Typical!!! But yeah very emotionally draining,and I'm not the type to be bothered by stuff,but the procedure itself isn't a big deal,infact when it was over I thought,well that was easier then expected!! But it's the lead up and the afterwards,travelling back,worrying about the grafts and the post op worry!! Still be worth it in the end,fingers crossed!!!! Guess it's the same for everyone!!

[Rawhair]

Great story.

 

I also liked the part of the 2 technicians doing the extractions. I spoke to one of them briefly, but she politely asked to refrain from speaking as I moved too much.:)