Pre-op visit to foreign surgeon

[Scoobs]

Hi.

 

Having contacted several surgeons in Thailand (2) and India (3), I have received a good deal of information concerning my needs for hair transplant. I now know roughly the amount of grafts and price each doctor will charge having received emails from all 5, although one doctor from India mentioned that I would need a further pre-op visit with him to determine a more definite appraisal to confirm donor suitablility and the exact number of grafts needed.

 

What I was wondering from members of the forum is whether it is desirable to make a journey to all 5 doctors I have contacted to view their clinics and gain a more conclusive appraisal of my needs or whether this trip would simply be time and money wasted.

 

I am currently living in Australia and to travel to both countries for a pre-op visit would involve resources that I'd prefer be directed towards the surgery itself.

 

What are peoples opinions of pre-op travel to meet with prospective surgeons in foreign countries ? Was it a useful and necessary undertaking ? What kind of information will you learn from the trip that an email cannot provide ?

 

Thanks, Scoobs.

 

P.S. - It's nice to have found this forum.

[gillenator]

Well unless you have unlimited financial resources, that would be quite a challenge to do for the obvious reasons.

 

Only an in-person exam and eval will provide the surgeon the clinical analysis of what they need to really know what your donor resources are and what the proposed graft count will be once they measure the surface area that you want restored.

 

I have a question that you may not have thought of. How many of these docs took a preliminary medical history of you including all prior and current medical conditions and medications? If they did not, then for all they know you could have Lupus, cancer, etc, etc. And here you are going to fly all the way from your home country and they have no idea of who they are treating? See what I mean? This is an extremely important step "prior to any surgery" yet you would be shocked at how often this area is ignored.

 

Further, an in-person visit would be ideal because the initial in-person visit and on site impression can and will potentially speak loudly of the clinic, staff, and even the doctor.

 

I always recommend to patients that when they are on-site for their consultation appointment, ask the doctor if you can get a quick tour of the clinic including the OR rooms. Do they freak out at the request and appear to panic? Are the OR rooms kept clean and sanitized? Does everything appear to be kept in order or is the OR room a mess when not being used?

 

You can also tell a lot about employee moral and the overall environment in general. Are the staff friendly and inviting and courteous? Or do they treat you as an invader of the clinic and unannounced to their shock and surprise when you ask for a quick tour.

 

How does the staff interact with one another? How does the doctor interact with the staff?

 

Ask to use the patient designated bathroom and take note if it looks dirty and unclean, or is it clean and obvious it is being cleaned routinely (daily). One might not think this is important or necessary but again it "speaks loudly" about the general "hygiene and cleanliness" of the place where a team is going to cut into your scalp.

 

Does the admin staff seem out of place in the front office and/or do they seem to be in chaos? Do they appear that they like their duties or are they cumbersome or do they work together as a team with clear evidence in attitudes that they support each other and have some pride in what they are doing?

 

I spent a fair amount of time working on the inside of clinics and it's many times these areas that make all of the difference in the world...

[Scoobs]

Hi Gillenator.

 

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate the issues you discuss.

 

You bring up some really good points about hygiene and moral which are aspects of the surgery I would like to inspect before making a decision.

 

I think I will need to study each of the 5 surgeons results in closer detail to determine which doctor performs the most realistic reconstruction and make a more concise list of maybe 1 or 2 that I can visit for an inspection on a brief trip.

 

Some of the doctors did mention a health check-up would be needed prior to surgery, but I'm quietly confident that I'm in good health following my recent full body exam which indicated everything is in good working order.

 

I'm sort of in the initial stages of research and am still reading quite a bit on the whole process so I'm not in any great rush. Essentially I just want to try and give myself the best possible chance of a successful outcome, so your reply has helped me greatly.

 

Cheers,

Scoobs.

[gillenator]

You're very welcome my friend. When I first started working in the industry, I was employed by a large hair mill that got acquired by another hair mill several years ago. You have seen the type that do endless infomercials on late night TV.

 

I witnessed so many horrific things that I ended up quitting and went to work for an independent. It was like night and day...

 

You have the right approach, narrow down your search and definitely meet several who you have targeted.

 

Honest and talented docs will have no problems in answering some of the issues that I brought up. In fact, many of them will introduce you to their staffs, give you a quick tour, and answer all of your concerns.

 

It won't take long to get that good gut feeling that they have your best interests in mind and you will find that your decision will bring you confidence that you chose the right team...

 

Best wishes to you in your journey!

 

P.S. Don't forget to ask to use the patient designated bathroom!