3259 FUE in 1 Day - Dr Feriduni - March 25th 2013

[tooktheplunge]

Hi

I would like to share my recent experience with everyone and welcome any questions that you may have.

 

Firstly let me introduce myself., i am from the north of England, male and aged 41. I have only just joined the site but I have been looking around for about 8 months taking in what other people had to say about hair transplants and the best doctors.

 

My issues have been with my receding hairline for about the last 4 / 5 years, it was progressively getting worse so something had to be done, for me this process didn’t take that long to sort out, I quickly found the doctor that I wanted to use and knew exactly what procedure.

 

After reading for about 1 month I chose Dr Feriduni from Belgium and opted for FUE, initially I sent about 10 photos and he said I was a good candidate for FUE and would need 3000 in total, 2500 for the frontal third and 500 for the crown, I was told that it would take 2 days, that was good enough for me so I asked when I could have it done, the end of March 2013, a 6 month wait.

 

Around the end of January after reading more and more I decided that a face-to-face consultation would be a good idea, this was also a great way to have a dry run for my March op. I got the ferry from Hull to Zebrugge which is a 13 hour overnight trip, I then drove my car to Hasselt which was around 110 miles, for me all in all 180 miles driving, I would advise anyone to do it that way. I met with Dr Feriduni who was a very nice, charming man who definitely shows that he cares for his patients, he confirmed that I was perfect for FUE after checking my density etc, Cristian and Daphne at reception are also very nice people and very welcoming.

 

TIME TO SET OFF

So the day had come for me to finally set off, once again I got in my car accompanied by a very good friend of mine and we set off on my journey, the 13 hour ferry trip from Hull to Zebrugge and then a 2 hour drive to Hasselt, Daphne recommended that we stayed in the Hassotel and this was booked after my face to face consultation. This hotel could not have been better, straight through the main doors the desk is right in front of you in a small reception, then just to the right is a lift and the stairs, this is perfect for keeping a low profile if like me you are not used to walking around in a bandana, lol…..

 

THE MORNING ARRIVES

Up bright and early for breakfast and on time for the taxi that arrived around 7.40, we arrived at the surgery around 7.55. I was duly welcomed by Cristian and Daphne and then was led into my own private room for the day where my friend could stay, we both ordered a sandwich for dinner which is paid for by them. I filled out all the necessary paper work, put my surgical gown on and was then greeted by Dr Feriduni who took me to his office. We went over the already discussed procedure just to be 100% sure I was happy, he then drew my hairline on which had also been discussed previously.

 

THE START OF THE OP

This is it, no turning back. I was led into the surgery by one of the nurses, who once again were very nice people who put you at ease with their smiles and humour. The next part was the dreaded one for me, getting my hair shaved totally off, I have been dying it for about 8 years so I wasn’t sure how grey it had become, lol. An intravenous drip was put into my arm for the antibiotics, I was then laid down on my stomach and was given a relaxer (I think through the intravenous) I can honestly say after that I didn’t even know he had injected the back of my head with the anaesthetic until it started going numb.

For the next 4-5 hours I was then laid on my stomach whilst the nurses began to extract my follicles, this was probably the hardest part of the op, I kept slipping down the bed and the pillow with the hole kept on covering my mouth and breathing through just my nose was quite hard.

 

It was then time to turn around and Dr Feriduni told me some rather unexpected good news, my follicles had come out easy and they could do the whole procedure in just 1 day, this does not happen often but I was one of the very few. I was quite relieved until he started to inject my forehead with the anaesthetic, this time I could feel them, some say they are about the same kind of pain you get from the dentist, I have to disagree with that but I do hate needles. Dr Feriduni then began to put the incisions into my head ready for the follicles to be replanted, altogether he did 3259 this was more than originally discussed but I did sign a form saying if he needed more I would be willing to pay, its best to get the job done properly the first time in my opinion.

 

It was now time for the planting; originally the nurses only extracted 3000 so they had to take the rest to fill in the gaps. I was in an upright position throughout in front of a flat screen tv with a remote control, for me this part was a breeze and before I knew it around 5pm I was finished, I was bandaged up and led back to my private room to find my mate was bored out of is mind, lol. I was given overnight care instructions and left about half an hour later. The taxi dropped us right outside the hotel reception door and the only person we saw from there until our room on the fourth floor was the receptionist, I made light mood of this by saying I looked a bit of a pratt, you have to laugh about it in my opinion.

 

THE DAY AFTER

We got up about 6.30 and my friend brought breakfast to our room, I wouldn’t have minded going down with just a bandana on but with a big bandage wrapped around your head too its not a good look, lol. The hotel was absolutely fine with this and my friend brought plenty up for us both. I did book a deluxe room so breakfast was included as was a free mini bar, soft drinks and snacks only and free wifi, we stayed for 4 nights so this was pretty essential for me.

I drove my car to the surgery as the taxi was 16 euros return, another good reason to drive there if you can. Once again we were greeted very nicely by Cristian & Daphne, Dr Feriduni came out straight away and took me into a room where he removed my bandage and rinsed my head, he then checked that all was ok and we went into his office. He took some more photos which he had been doing since my face to face consultation, I was then asked how I felt about the whole procedure and from my side I said perfect, he then said from his perspective it had gone flawlessly and was very happy with the whole op. Quite surprisingly I wasn’t in any pain at all, a little bit of throbbing but no pain so I only took ibuprofen for the first night. I was given instructions for that night and made an appointment for the next day to have it cleaned by the nurse.

I did this for the next 2 days and then it was time to say goodbye to everyone and Hasselt and now I wait to see the outcome.

 

FINALLY

Well that is my journey so far and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, my mate kept my head up by making a joke of how daft I looked in a bandana, lol. When I decided to have this done 8 months ago I never had great expectations, just a solid looking hairline that’s all, I don’t want a big afro.

 

Personally I would not change a thing, Dr Feriduni and all his staff are amazing people who care about how you feel, I am not rich but money didn’t even come into it, as soon as I read about and then met Dr Feriduni I knew he was right for me.

 

I will keep you all up to date in the coming months and like I said any questions I will answer apart from how much it costs, that is between you and the doc.

 

Thanks to Dr Feriduni, Cristian, Daphne and all their amazing nurses, also any other staff I might have missed

[hairshopeing]

Great write up!!! I agree, great dr and person!! We just need good results now!!! And like you I'm sure dr Feriduni is the right person for us to get them!! Fingers crossed eh!! I stayed in the hassotel, but was on my own and just wandered round afterwards without a cap or bandana and hardly anyone batted an eye!! Spent most of my time in the room,think the maids thought I was mental!! Nice hotel!! Happy growing mate!!!!

[tooktheplunge]

Cheers mate, have you just had yours done too?

[hairshopeing]

Yeah, had 2137 fue done on the 10th so almost 3 weeks out now!! Had some shock loss in the donor area, but the recip area is fine do far fingers crossed!! Stressful to do and a very surreal experience eh!!

[james84]

Great write up and a great Doc.

 

Look forward to your progress.

[JohnnyDrama]

Wow, 3259 FUE in one day must be close to a record for a top clinic is it??

 

Was in the clinic only last week with Dr F, great choice and I'm sure with a procedure of that size you'll be a changed man!

[james84]

ONE DAY!!!!! WOW....

 

Dr Feriduni uses manual punch? Or am i mistaken.

[JohnnyDrama]

ONE DAY!!!!! WOW....

 

Dr Feriduni uses manual punch? Or am i mistaken.

 

Yes, Dr. F uses manual, which makes it even more impressive!

[james84]

This is impressive.

 

A few years ago this would of been snarled at, great to see that FUE docs are proving what can be done using this method.

 

Cant wait to see this final result as i rate Feriduni up there with the best:)

[tooktheplunge]

I think the main reason is that Dr Feriduni has 6 very experienced nurses on his team, some with 12 years of FUE experience. They rotate doing the extractions so they don't get fatigued and with me there was 2 nurses at a time doing them. If each nurse can do say 400 an hour each then there is no reason big sessions cannot be done. Dr Feriduni also explained to me other factors like heavy bleeding and a tough scalp, all this comes into play with how long it takes, i guess i was just one of the lucky ones that could have it done in one day :-)

[socates123]

@tooktheplunge - thank you for the detailed write up. I'm encouraged by the fact that there is a dedicated experience team involved who rotates. I'm suspect that fatigue is one of the problems in that could lead to transaction. I look forward to read your progress.

 

I have almost the same balding pattern as you.

[tooktheplunge]

Hi Socates123

 

Are you thinking about having yours done? Like i said Dr Feriduni and his team are excellent and know exactly what they are doing, it didn't take me long to research and make my decision and my gut instinct definitely paid off.

[tooktheplunge]

Update!!!

 

On day 9 now and the scabs have nearly all gone, its still a bit red on the recipient area but the donor is nearly back to normal, the donor is still a bit tingly at times but i haven't needed to take any pain killers.........

[JohnnyDrama]

Looks great! I'm still intrigued as to how so many FUE grafts were done by Dr F in one day!

 

Did he give any more detail other than your grafts came out easily?

[Mickey85]

Wow... 3,259 FUE grafts in one day is staggering. Very curious to see how this turns out. Feriduni is amazing.

[tooktheplunge]

Hey JohnnyDrama

 

Not really, he just said there are certain people that things just go smoothly, i will let you know how smoothly when my hair has grown back, lol some people bleed quite a lot too which obviously slows down the process..

 

Hi Mickey85

 

I too cant wait to see how it turns out, so far so good though (new pics added), you are right in saying that Dr Feriduni is amazing....

 

The pics added have been taken today, still a bit red and a bit numb but most hairs are still in, i know this won't last long so i won't think i might be one of the 1% who's hairs don't fall out........

[Bill - Seemiller]

TookthePlunge,

 

Congratulations on your recent hair transplant with the world renowned Dr. Feriduni. He's not only a great surgeon, but he's one of the most genuine and pleasant people I've ever met.

 

And if you haven't already, I encourage you also to create a free patient website to document your journey with photos :-).

 

I look forward to following along with your progress.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[tooktheplunge]

Hi Bill

 

Much appreciated, i will look into setting up a page. Yes Dr Feriduni is an all round genuine guy and a great Dr, i will keep everyone up to date with my progress for sure

 

Cheers

[PupDaddy]

I'm still intrigued as to how so many FUE grafts were done by Dr F in one day!

 

Dr. Feriduni didn't do the extractions. His nurses/techs did them. Tooktheplunge says that Dr. Feriduni has 6 nurses/techs who extract the grafts from the donor. (I assume by "extract," taketheplunge means punching out/excising each follicular unit and removing it from the donor scalp.) According to taketheplunge, the nurses/techs, working in rotating teams of two to minimize fatigue, extracted 3,000 grafts initially and then an additional 259 grafts. Dr. Feriduni's direct, hands-on involvement apparently was confined to administering the numbing shots and making the recipient sites -- unless I am misunderstanding something.

 

Wishing tooktheplunge fast, high-yield growth!

 

Thank you for sharing your adventure. Please keep us posted of your progress.

[tooktheplunge]

PupDaddy

 

That's exactly what i meant, thanks for explaining in more detail and yes i will be keeping this post updated........

[JohnnyDrama]

Pupdaddy, that doesn't entirely sound correct to me. My understanding was (this is how Bisanga and BHR operate, I'd be surprised if Feriduni was different) :

 

Techs give the numbing jabs into donor site .

The doc then punches ALL of the grafts in the donor

The techs then remove and clean the grafts

Techs then numb the recipient site

Doctor then makes all of the incisions in the recipient

Techs place the grafts. The doctor oversees this, and can do some placements himself but it's not to be expected

 

 

 

The two most intricate parts of FUE are 1.punching the grafts and 2.making the incisions. I'd be amazed if Dr F didn't do these. Maybe Spex or a recent patient could clarify?

[tooktheplunge]

Here's how it went, seeing as it was me who was there!!!!!

 

Doc numbed

Techs punched & extracted

Techs took grafts to lab

Doc made incisions

Techs placed grafts

 

I don't see what is wrong with that if all is going well? The doc kept checking everything was going ok

 

Like i have already stated, some of his techs have been there 13 years doing this, that's more than some docs have been qualified.......

 

To be honest as long as my hair grows i don't care who punched them out!!

[JohnnyDrama]

Sorry mate, I hope I didn't come across as dismissive of your account of things, I just thought you may have been a little unclear of things can go over your head when in the chair. I've had several procedures on a lung before under local anaesthetic and I'd be lying if I tried to account for everything.

 

But fair enough, you seem pretty confident that's how it went so I won't doubt you!

 

II am a little surprised by it, but hey, I'm not a world class surgeon! By the way, I was in the clinic with Dr Feriduni a few weeks ago and I can see entirely why you went with him, top guy and top doc. I've no doubt you'll end up transformed for the better!

[tooktheplunge]

Hey no offence taken

 

To be honest i was very alert, at least i think i was, lol

[hairshopeing]

I Aldo recently had fue with dr f and can 100% say my account was identical to took the plunge!! What also needs to be remembered is the time the grafts are out of the body can affect the result, with 2 very experienced techs removing grafts either side then more per hr are removed then 3 place, reducing the time there out of the body! At first I expected dr f to do the extraction and placement but he explained in my initial consult, the techs are as good if not better that him at extracting as that's what they do day in day out, and he would make all the incisions and administer the numbing injections on both recip and donor. The techs then place as again they are very experienced in this process, he mainly oversees the whole process!!! I think you have to trust what your dr tells you as ultimately they know best!! And to be fair dr f has got your best interests at heart and will address any issues!! Hopefully we won't have any to address!!! Fingers crossed!!!!!