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My FUE 2,200 + PRP, Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic


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So after 9 months of intensive research, I'm sitting here in my hotel room having spent the last 2 days with Dr Bisanga and BHR clinic. My hair is now well and truly in the lap of the hair Gods.

 

Many of you would have already seen my detailed thread on how I went about with my consultation: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/169664-blitzing-belgium-2-days-4-top-docs-bisanga-feriduni-de-reys-mwamba.html.

 

Regarding the Op itself, it's been a relatively long enough 2 days but certainly manageable. As I type this my forehead is getting bigger and bigger so forgive me if I am brief for now.

 

What is probably the most interesting aspect of my op compared to many others posted is that I'm a diffuse loser who had a lot of native hair pre-op. I consulted in March with Dr B and we agreed to a 2000 FUE. The actual transplanted figure was 2200, and as requested, PRP was administered too.

 

All in all I found it to be a very positive experience. The full proof would be in the 12 month growing, but so far so good. Again a big shout to Stephen who has been great pre and post op.

 

Graft Breakdown:

 

1 Hair - 289

2 Hair - 926

3 Hair - 770

4 Hair - 215 = 5,311 hairs = 2.42 hairs per graft.

 

The clinic took plenty of shots and I'll get plenty of those up when I can. I also have a few of my own I'll be adding over the days ahead. I'm popping back into the clinic in the morning for the doc to take the bandages off and a quick clean.

 

**********Detail added************

 

DAY 1

 

6:45am: Alarm goes off in the HC Brussels. Have a nice shower and get down to the restaurant for 7.15 for some breakfast which I’d recommend to get in as it can be a long day! The first thing I see when entering the restaurant is a black-bandana’d guy, so no reward for guessing where he had just been the day before! (Turns out this was Baldietwo from this site). No caffeine recommended so stuck with the juice, some croissants and cereal.

 

8:00am: Arrive at the clinic after taking the long 90 second walk from the hotel!  I am greeted by Leandro, who assisted Dr Bisanga throughout day 1. Nice bloke who is from Argentina and mentioned he also worked in Cyprus for many years so I asked if this was with HDC/Dr Maras and he confirmed. I told him my only experience of Cyprus would have been two debaucherous trips to Ayia Napa a decade ago! I sign a consent form and a few minutes later Dr Bisanga arrives down and we go into his office for consultation.

Seeing as I had been here for consultation 5 months ago, he inspected to see if much had changed. We still stick to the plan of starting just behind my hairline and filling in my forelock and midscalp. This in itself is rare enough seeing as I had no work done in zone 1. Instead, my zone 2 area to the left side and zones 3 and 4 were to be thickened due my Ludwig pattern diffuse loss. 2,000 grafts was the plan 5 months ago and said we will likely be in or around that, but day 2 usually decides this when all recipient sites are made.

 

Some notes I had taken to the clinic to discuss with the doc were:

- Possible to keep as much native hair as possible? The doc said he will shave what he needs and can leave the rest.

- Request for a prescription for 1mg Propecia as 5mg is only available in Ireland. I wanted to adjust my Fin routine from 1.25mg MWF to either 0.5mg daily or even 0.25mg daily.

- Since I am staying in the hotel for one week, I would like to call into the clinic when possible over the course of this recovery week to have the doc/staff assess things and clean if necessary.

- Discuss the possibility of getting PRP. From research PRP seems to respond well with diffuse patients so was keen to try everything to aid my case. He said he will likely use it, but will confirm on day 2.

- I had seen several cases where guys kept a strip of untouched donor during their FUE, from a future strategy point of view e.g. if FUT is required they have a large untouched area to work with. Having discussed this with Dr B, we decided that as of right now there is no need for this approach. This pass of FUE should not exhaust too much of any area anyway.

- Assess my beard from a future perspective. My own scalp donor should be good for up to 5,000 safe FUE grafts, so I wanted to know what my beard may contribute to. Dr B reckons that my facial hair is in fact coarser than my scalp hair (medium fine) so wouldn’t be optimal. If anything it may possibly be used only as ‘filler’ in the distant future, with maybe 2,000 grafts in the bank. Again, I wasn’t overly concerned as of right now but I wanted all angles covered so was good to get the docs perspective.

 

8.45am: I get into my scrubs and Leandro takes the pre op photos.

 

9.00am: I get brought upstairs to the surgery room and get introduced to Natasha, a very pleasant girl, who turned out to be my main nurse for the two days. I get a valium pill and an antibiotic before getting bloods taken for my blood test and then my blood pressure. This turned out to be sky high in the high 170s! They took again 5 minutes later and it had dropped a bit. I didn’t think I was overly nervous but there was probably more going on inside than I was letting on! What probably didn’t help was what they brought out next, the clippers! They shaved the donor and the area where grafts will be placed.

 

9.30am: Natasha gets started with numbing the donor region. I had read that this is the most painful part of the procedure, and while I found this to be the case, I would describe it as uncomfortable more than painful. Maybe I have a higher than norm pain threshold, but these initial shots were not bad at all and very manageable.

 

10.15am: Dr Bisanga then gets started on punching my donor region. The most uncomfortable aspect of this is the positioning you are in, but again it’s bearable. The punching itself is a strange sensation, as you can hear a little ‘scrunch’ with each one. We spoke a lot about soccer which was good as it passed the time. Turned out he had punched 1,279 grafts.

 

11.30am: Natasha then gets started on numbing the recipient. This was slightly more painful than the donor numbing, but again this was fine.

 

12.00: Dr Bisanga then begins punching all of the recipient sites. This was fairly straightforward and no real discomfort at all. Once the recipient sites were made, the donor grafts were removed and these would be sorted/cleaned by another tech while I was having my lunch. The doc explained that he likes to keep the grafts attached to the donor for as long as possible with minimal time out of the body, blood supply, graft survival etc.

 

12.45pm: Lunch time.

 

13.45pm: Back up to the chair where I meet Helen, the placement technician. Nice woman who I spoke a lot with and had a good laugh with. Turns out she has 11 years of placement experience, and has also worked with the likes of Dr Mwamba, so I knew I was in good hands. Dr Bisanga came in once or twice through this process to see how things were progressing, he may possibly have placed a few grafts himself, I was nodding off at times as the valium had taken its toll and I didn’t have a great sleep the night previous. There is no pain to be felt in the actual placement, but I did feel quite uncomfortable in the chair at times and this really did drag on.

 

16:15pm: Placements finished and that’s me pretty much done for the day. Some photos taken and I’m told to come back in for 11am tomorrow. On goes the famous black bandana.

 

This evening/night was uncomfortable in that I was still a little groggy from the valium. Ordered food to them room that night and sleep was a little broken due to the upright position etc.

 

 

 

DAY 2

 

11:00am: Back into the clinic and greeted by Carmen, the receptionist. Dr Bisanga pops in to check on things and we have a brief chat. Scrubs are back on and up I go to meet Natasha and blood pressure checked again. This time I take half a valium and this certainly helped in that I didn’t feel as groggy throughout the day. Blood still sky rocketing! We give it another 5 minutes and it comes down and we get started on the donor shots. Nothing too bad to report here.

 

12:00: Dr Bisanga starts punching the donor again and slightly over 900 grafts are punched in this session.

 

12:45: Natasha performs all the recipient jabs again.

 

13:00: The doc performs the recipient sites and grafts are extracted.

 

13:45: Lunch. Have a brief chat with a Spanish patient who is also there for FUE.

 

15:00: Meet Helen again who gets started on placing the grafts again. Like yesterday this seems the longest part of the day.

 

17:00: Placement coming to an end and Dr Bisanga confirms he is going to take some blood as we are going to also perform PRP. He makes the PRP injections just before all grafts are placed.

 

17.30: All done and post-op photos taken. I found the second day easier. The jabs were a little tougher particularly when performed near day 1 recipient but all in all I felt better in general.

Carmen brought over my post-op pack and sat down for 15-20 mins to go through everything in detail and showed me the different products etc. Couldn’t really ask for anymore. Spoke with Dr B again before I left and he kindly agreed to meet me the following day (Saturday) at 10am to remove bandages and have a look at things.

 

Very positive experience and the whole place just seems like a very tight run ship. Felt at all times that any questions I had (I already had about 100 plus answed by Steve at this stage so I was probably over-informed if anything ) could be asked and were always answered in detail. Staff are all very pleasant and seem to bounce off each other and enjoy their environment.

Edited by JohnnyDrama

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Well done mate u choose a great team and I'm sure you'll get the results your hoping it doesn't seem like give minutes since I was in the Catalonia forum myself.

Good luck

 

Aj

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Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Aj and Levrais, both of your experiences played a part in me going this route so I'm grateful for your documentation.

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Regarding pics......I want to keep some form of organisation with them so I will first post the clinics pics so as to start with a proper pre/post op profile. Then I will add my own pics throughout.

 

Day 1: Dr Bisanga kindly agreed to meet me at 10am to remove donor bandages. He was happy with how things were looking. My donor is quite bloody (dry) still because I think I bled a little more than average due to my blood pressure being a little on the high side during the op. I asked about what looked like a little indentation towards the front of recipient but was told this is very likely to be an early scab that has set and the surrounding area has swollen around it.

 

Stephen had warned that PRP can add to swelling due to the increase in fluid injected in the scalp and this certainly seems to be the case. Much of my first day post op was spent massaging the fluid in my forehead out towards my temples so as to try to avoid severe black eyes. When I wasn't doing that, I was applying the saline spray to the recipient every two hours.

 

Certainly the quietest Saturday night of my life!

 

I've also upped my MSM intake so as to hopefully increase growth rates of native hair at least.

 

 

Day 2: Had a much better nights sleep and the massaging has definitely helped as much of the fluid is in my temples and creeping down my face. I've been sleeping at 45 degrees too and also have a travel pillow which I'd highly recommend as it greatly reduces contact with the pillow. I've also devised a system where I have a shirt of mine underneath me, and I basically slip my arms into the sleeves so as to retrain them while I sleep. My worst nightmare is me scratching the recipient area while I sleep!

 

Started the proper cleaning process today, applying betadine shampoo to both recipient and donor. I then combined Cortisone cream (clinic provided) with Aloe Vera gel (suggested by Steve) and massaged into donor, hopefully this will prevent too much itching over the next few days.

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Dr B has again kindly agreed to meet me on Monday afternoon (he'll be sick of the sight of me!). The clinic is on a bit of a break as of now too so I'm grateful for any time. Granted not a huge amount can be done seeing as the work is done, but I had planned on staying in Brussels for the first week anyway so it's great to be able to pop in to see him. We probably spent more time discussing soccer than hair anyway! I also need to return an umbrella he loaned to me as the skies opened as I was leaving the clinic.

 

Congratulations champ!

 

Cheers mate!

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Congratulations on your transplant.

 

You had yours on Thursday and Friday last week right? I had mine on Wednesday. I stayed at the Catalonia so our paths may have crossed unknowingly :) I was also at the clinic on Thursday to have my hair cleaned and checked.

 

Hope your swelling is not too bad. I had a head like a Klingon on day 1 to 3. Now (day 4) it's finally subsiding.

 

I'll be following you progress.

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Hi mate....I have a feeling I had breakfast beside you on Thursday morning before I went to the clinic! Were you with a lady friend?

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Yes I was! Had breakfast at 7am with my wife (a.k.a ladyfriend :)

 

Wearing the black bandanna and probably looking really miserable as I had close to no sleep and was in serious pain (from the strip sutures).

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Yup, that was definitely you. I was the guy sitting two tables to your right, in my buttoned shirt ready for business!

 

You did look a bit down haha. The cheeky side of me wanted to go over and have a brief chat but I thought otherwise! I figured you were a strip patient and that you wouldn't have been in the best of places! It's funny, your bandana was the very first thing I saw when I got downstairs! I've been in your shoes the past few days but thankfully the hotel seems to be far busier during midweek, and nice and quiet at the weekend. I'm here for another 4 nights!

 

My left eye is pretty swollen alright.

 

How are you now in general?

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Today I feel great! Swelling is almost gone and no real pain anymore. The only exception is if II sneeze. This pulls on my sutures in the donor area and hurts like hell.

 

Minimal scabbing from what I can see. I rigorously sprayed the saline every 2 hours and I think that helped. I posted the full story with some pics in the "surgeon review" part of this forum.

 

Yeah, the hotel was pretty busy when we were there. I thought about staying a few more days as well but decided against it.

 

If you are there for another 4 days I think you will be able to enjoy it much more since you had FUE.

 

I'm guessing you don't have any real pain anymore in the donor or recipient area? Looks like you had long hair in the preop pictures. I'm guessing you now are shaved to a grade 1...must be weird :)

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@ JD - what is your MSM and Biotin dosage? Did Stephen or Bisanga endorse it in the first 2 weeks after HT as well? I ask coz Dr. Paul did not think very highly of MSM.....

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Today I feel great! Swelling is almost gone and no real pain anymore. The only exception is if II sneeze. This pulls on my sutures in the donor area and hurts like hell.

 

Minimal scabbing from what I can see. I rigorously sprayed the saline every 2 hours and I think that helped. I posted the full story with some pics in the "surgeon review" part of this forum.

 

Yeah, the hotel was pretty busy when we were there. I thought about staying a few more days as well but decided against it.

 

If you are there for another 4 days I think you will be able to enjoy it much more since you had FUE.

 

I'm guessing you don't have any real pain anymore in the donor or recipient area? Looks like you had long hair in the preop pictures. I'm guessing you now are shaved to a grade 1...must be weird :)

 

To be honest I can't really say I've suffered much pain at all, even during the op. The injections were a little sore to start with but nothing major and after that it's just moments of discomfort more than anything else, no real pain. Itchiness is starting to set in a bit but I can't really complain. Actually, one of the most uncomfortable aspects for me was the actual positioning during the op over 2 days. I reckon 6.5 hours on day 1 and maybe 4.5 hours or so on day two is long enough, and like you said in your thread, it takes its toll on your ass!

 

Yes, I had my hair longish pre op (6-7 weeks pre op I got 5 blade on sides and back and trim on top)......and ya it's pretty alarming to be honest! The fun should start when I meet my gf in Amsterdam on Thursday! Not to mention when I get home.

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Very nice news, everything will go well I hope! :)

What was the price per graft at Bisanga?

 

Euro 5.5/graft....right?

PRP extra.....

 

Woah Rem, you've gone too high there mate! :P

 

For FUE, BHR charge €5 for the first 1,000 grafts and €3 for every graft after that.

 

I was not charged for PRP.

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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@ JD - what is your MSM and Biotin dosage? Did Stephen or Bisanga endorse it in the first 2 weeks after HT as well? I ask coz Dr. Paul did not think very highly of MSM.....

 

I'm taking 3000mg MSM and 1mg of Biotin. Yes I've tailored my regimen having spoken to Stephen and he has said the above are ok to take post op. They can improve growth rates but obviously there is no guarantee and I think each individual will react differently, but I'm going to do what I can to get my native hair back in order. MSM and Biotin certainly makes my finger nails grow faster, that's for sure!

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Have added details of my 2 day procedure to my first post!

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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Nice write up mate which I'm sure will be invaluable for those considering Dr Bisanga. Looking forward to the photos.

 

Did you see any more of how they get the PRP? I believe the blood is spun in a centrifuge or something to extract the plasma(?)

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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Nice write up mate which I'm sure will be invaluable for those considering Dr Bisanga. Looking forward to the photos.

 

Did you see any more of how they get the PRP? I believe the blood is spun in a centrifuge or something to extract the plasma(?)

 

Thanks Matt.

 

The PRP was performed while the grafts were getting placed, so it was all happening out of view. I'm pretty sure you are not far off though. Once they draw the blood, it's put into a 'machine' as such. Stephen would have to tell you the scientific/technical bits! :) Once it was formed, Dr B showed me the nice big needle it was contained in (yellowy substance) before he administered it.

2,200 FUE + PRP with Dr Bisanga - BHR Clinic, 22-23 August 2013 - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171950-my-fue-2-200-prp-dr-bisanga-bhr-clinic.html

 

Current Regimen:

- Rogaine 5% Foam 2x daily

- Jasons Restorative Biotin Shampoo 2x daily / Nizoral 2% 2x weekly

- Nettle Root 500mg, MSM 1500mg, Biotin 5mg, Multi Vit, Omega 3

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