2229 Grafts FUT Procedure with Dr. Rosanelli

[MoonHowl]

Hi all,

 

I've done it! After years of contemplation, I've decided to pull the trigger and have my first hair transplant surgery right here in my home town (San Francisco) with Dr. Rosanelli, who is a surgeon recommended on this site. My full hair loss story can be found under my profile.

 

I'm 29, and the procedure was done on 07/23/13. Got in at 6AM and got out by 4PM. Everyone there was very friendly and professional. I felt very well taken cared of. The only real pain was the numbing injections, which I had to take a few times because both my donor and grafting area started waking up at least twice throughout the procedure. It was also quite uncomfortable to just sit in the same position for such a long time. Other than that everything went smoothly.

 

As I am writing this, I'm already two days into my recovery period. Following the doctor's post-op instructions, I'm icing my grafted area religiously every 20 minutes with my chin tilted up towards the ceiling. It's making my neck and shoulder really sore but at least it keeps my face from swelling. Most of the pain is coming from the doner area but it's manageable because I'm on schedule with the doctor's pain medicine (which also makes me feel kinda gross). Sleeping is uncomfortable mostly because of the suture but that's OK too because the Valium kept me asleep all the way through morning. Showering is awkward. My shower spray cannot adjust to low pressure so I just use a cup to slowly pour cool water over the grafted area and then pat lightly with prescribed shampoo. Applying the antibiotic cream is also has a learning curve. I was sure the nurse has instructed me to not over use it but I still squeezed out too much cream and made my grafted area really greasy on my first application.

 

I can't wait to have the first suture removed; hopefully life would be more normal and I'll be on my way to a brighter future *knock on wood*. I'll also need to decide if I want to use Finasteride, but as of now I know I'll be using a 10% monoxidil for sure.

 

I hope to use this thread to update my progress in the future; hoping this will be a sucess story to be shared in this wonderful community. I've already have some pre-op selfies taken but they are of poor quality so I'll consider posting them for reference if the doctor's photos aren't enough.

 

Please feel free to comment, recommend anything about post-op care, or share your experience here!

 

Thanks for reading!!

[MoonHowl]

<place holder for future update>

[Shampoo]

Congrats. Sounds like Dr. Rosanelli and staff really took care of you. For sleeping you may want to get a neck pillow at a store like BedBathBeyond. Keep us updated.

[TakingThePlunge]

MoonHowl,

 

Welcome and congratulations! It's no surprise that Dr. Rosanelli and his staff delivered a world-class experience.

 

I look forward to your future updates!

[MoonHowl]

Yay! I'm 5th day into my recovery period! Not having to keep a bag of ice on my head every 20 minutes is definitely a relieve. Feels good to finally move my neck normally but the sutured area still feels a little tight so I'm taking it easy for now. I'm also off the Vicodin and Valium at the end of my 3rd day and everything seemed fine.

 

To reduce scabbing, I'm trying to washing my scalp 2-3 times a day using the doctor's shampoo instructions. So far no bleeding or excessive pain on the grafted and donor area so I guess it's a good sign. But each time I wash, I'm really scared of knocking out any grafts out even though I'm already doing it as gently as I can.

 

Does anyone know how long it generally takes for the new follicles to be "anchored" into the grafted area? Many thanks in advance.

 

Oh and I seem to have passed the 3 day icing period without any swelling on my face. Hooray! At least I can go back to work without looking like I got beat up.

[jerzig]

Congrats MoonHowl! I had my HT done with Dr. Rosanelli back in October. You are doing everything right and it sounds like you are going through the exact recovery process ups and downs that I did (meds making you feel gross, uncomfortable sleeping, etc), but you will be stoked on your results. Your grafts should be in place my now. I did the cup in the shower trick for about a week post-op just to be safe. It takes a bit longer and is a bit awkward, but stick with it. Keep us posted!

[MoonHowl]

Thanks for everyone's support!

 

This past Tuesday was the one week mark post-op and I've got my first suture removed! It still feels kind of tight but at least there are less wires behind my head. I'll leave all my excitement for when they are all taken out next week.

 

Not too much scabbing as I kept up with cleaning the donor area daily except for one small part where the nurse had to remove the scabs for me. The doc ran his fingers through my recipient area to see if there was any pain. There wasn't but I must say the sensitivity on those areas definitely weren't as good as before the surgery. Hopefully that will recover. Other than that the doc said everything seems to be healing up pretty nicely.

 

I'll also resume washing my hair with the regular shower spray (it's still feels pretty powerful even at the weakest setting). Apparently I've applied too much of that antibiotic lotion and now it's making my recipient area kind of greasy. Plus the way I washed during the first recovery week (by pouring cool water slowly with a cup) wasn't enough to knock out the grease that got stuck in the longer hair that were originally there. Also I'm still afraid to style my hair back to the way it used to be pre-op because I comb a blow dryer so I'm pretty rough on my scalp. And therefore I'll wait another week before styling it. For now I'll just have to keep up with the gentle spray washing and combing. Hopefully the grease will go away soon and I can start applying the topical solutions.

 

Speaking of which I've decided to go back on them good o' minoxidil (used the 5% foam for most of 2011~2012 but didn't help with the regrowth so I stopped at 2013). Now I'm subscribing to the doc's topical finasteride with 10% minoxidil and will start as soon as I feel like the grease is completely gone from my scalp. I've done a lot of research on topical finasteride but the results seems very divided...I wasn't too sure about it but will give it a try nonetheless...

 

Sorry forgot to ask the doc for pre/post-op pics. I'll be sure to when I see him next week. Please feel free if you have any comments/inputs!

 

Thanks for reading~

Edited August 2, 2013 by MoonHowl