Second Transplant with Dr. McGrath.

RockStoneSteel · December 22, 2013

I had a second hair transplant with Dr. Dan McGrath in Austin, Texas on Thursday, Dec 19th, 2013. The first was 2,500 grafts in February of 2011, so it has been almost three years. This time around it was another 1,500 grafts. Both procedures centered on the crown area. This time was a second pass for added density. In the future, I hope to get the hair line and temple areas addressed.

The attached photos are dated. The first is about 9 months after the first transplant and was taken about two years ago. It is for reference as to what this second transplant is building upon. The recent photos include the sutured donor area. It is amazing how clean the wound is, even a day or two after surgery. The donor strip for this second surgery was taken from the same scar as the first surgery.

Day of surgery (Thursday, 12/19/2013):

The surgery went well. Professional staff and courteous techs. I arrived at 7:30 am and completed paper work and such. Got a few Valium that really relaxes for the procedure. Dr. McGrath began with the donor strip removal at 8:30am. He buzz cut the graft site, so I now have a somewhat bald spot once again on the crown, but fortunately that is temporary. The techs completed the graft separation by about 11:30 am. The only uncomfortable portion of the entire procedure was the application of the local anesthetic. The actual transplantation of the 1,500 grafts was completed by 3 pm.

1st day after surgery (Friday, 12/20/2013):

Went to doctors office for first hair wash and quick follow up. No real pain. No pain killers were needed at all after leaving the doctors office. Minor throbbing in part of the graft site and the donor site. Tried to sleep upright, with some difficulty. Wore paper cap to prevent any minor bleeding onto pillow cases. Put old shirt over pillow just in case.

2nd day after surgery (Saturday, 12/21/2013):

Very little pain, only minor discomfort. If anyone is avoiding this procedure over fear of pain, not too worry. Surprised at how the donor site scar is so inconspicuous. Bought some of the paper painter's caps from Home Depot and Lowe's for going out in public. If they happened to get blood on them at all, they are simply disposable. However, there seems to be no further bleeding from donor site, so I feel comfortable transitioning to a standard ball cap for day 3.

Day 3 (Sunday, 12/22/2013):

Awakened early with moderate pain in sutured area. Suspect that I slept on it wrong or perhaps stretched the wound by accident. It was early morning and I wanted to sleep, so I broke down and took a pain killer. Worked great, slept great. Otherwise, the pain wasn't enough to have taken a pain killer if it happened during the day.

Days 8-10

The scabs finally came off. Got the stitches out on day 10. I suspect 10 days may be a bit long to wait for stitch removal as skin started to grow over the stitches, making it difficult to locate and remove them. 7 or 8 days may be more appropriate, assuming the wound is healed strongly enough. I suspect removing the stitches earlier may also reduce the scarring from the stitch themselves.