FUE 3665 Grafts - Dr. Bhatti - May 1st 2015

[techie]

Hi everyone. I would like to share my experience thus far with my FUE procedure with Dr. Bhatti I had done on May 1st. Here is a summary of what I've experienced thus far.

 

April 28 - 30

Flew from the US to Chandigarh, India and arrived at the hotel 30 hours later and after a short 2 hour nap had my pre op consultation with Dr. Bhatti.

 

May 1st

Had my procedure. Came in around 9am and left sometime in the early evening. There was minimal pain during the operation and Dr. Bhatti and his staff were all very professional and accommodating. As recommended by Dr. Bhatti I returned to the hotel wearing an oversized baseball cap but unfortunately I looks like I put it on wrong and noticed a couple grafts lost in the hat when I took it off at the hotel.

 

May 2 - May 6

I reserved my hotel for a week in India because it is a long flight back to the US and I wanted to give the grafts as much time as possible to root out of fear during travel the would get bumped or the cap would pull them out. I followed Dr. Bhattis pos op regimin and sprayed my head with the saline solution and carefully pat washed my hair with the clothes and shampoo given to me.

 

May 7

I returned to the US. I was asked to remove my cap at every security checkpoint, India, Germany and the US. In India and Germany I told the border control that my doctor recommend me leave the cap on and they were fine with that. In the US I just lifted my cap for a few seconds because I was tired and US immigration officials are more difficult to deal with and at that point I just wanted to get home.

 

May 8 - May 12

Crusts had formed over the trip home since the scalp became a bit dry. I followed Dr. Bhatti's shampooing procedure just blotting the hair with a damp clothe and rinsing with a cup of water poured over my head. I needed to return to work on the 11th so I started lightly massaging the crusts off on day 10(May 10) and by day 12 most of them had come off.

 

I returned to work on Monday the 11th. Some people definitely knew what I had done, some just said "oh you got a haircut on your vacation?". My scalp was pretty red and the hairs were different length from the native hair so it looked a bit patchy and odd. Whatever though, I have bills to pay and thankfully nobody directly confronted me on it since I work in a pretty corporate environment.

 

May - 13 - May 18

Scabs and crusts all gone by this point. Scalp redness slowly seems to be improving. Much better in natural light than fluorescent lighting. Hair actually doesn't look bad but the hairline seems to look a lot better than the crown. There are bald spots near the crown that were shaved that don't seem to be growing and I'm concerned at the density of the crown once it starts growing but trying not to get too worried.

 

May 19 - May 22

Recipient hair beginning to shed rapidly. Hairline beginning to look sparse and I can clearly see my old hairline now. Scalp still pink. I put aloe, distilled witch hazel and emu oil on the donor and recipient areas twice daily. I also take biotin, finasteride 1mg and 2% Minoxidil daily.

 

Things looking pretty bad at the moment especially the odd shaved areas. I'm also concerned that there were no grafts placed in the center where the hairline meets the crown as that area was thinning pretty severely pre op.

 

Preop

 

Day 2

 

Day 10 and 12

[TakingThePlunge]

Congratulations on your recent hair transplant with Dr. Bhatti and thanks for taking the time to share your experience and pics!

 

The hairline looks fantastic! It would have been nice to see larger, individual photos but, from what I can see, the front has been densely packed. I'm sure Dr. Bhatti would have planted in a lower density in the crown in in areas with existing hair in order to make the most of the nearly 4,000 grafts.

 

I'm certain this is going to look great in a year. Please keep us posted.

[BUSA]

yea u need individual pics. hairline looks good tho.

[paddyirishman]

hairline suits well , clean job, looking forward to update of photos.

 

What was your overall impression of Dr. Bhatti and his team, if you were to do it all over again would you change anything?

 

All the best for now........................Paddy.

[Tav1]

I'm also concerned that there were no grafts placed in the center where the hairline meets the crown as that area was thinning pretty severely pre op.

 

This does seem a bit abnormal based on what I have seen. Was it possibly due to the amount of available donor? I'm certain someone with more knowledge than I have will weigh in. Either way, looks great and happy growing.

[California]

Hi Techie,

 

Thank you for sharing your HT journey so far. I am very happy for you and am sure that you will end up with a great result. Even though you and I live in the same area, haven't had a chance so far to meet with you in person. Will wait for a few months now and meet up with you.....when you have a full head of hair:)

 

Please keep the updates coming.

 

Best regards,

California

[Shera]

Hi Techie, Your hair loss is very similar to what mine was and I too went to Dr Bhatti to have my FUE HT.

 

Personally, looking at the pics, I think your crown area has been addressed so I think its way to early to start to worry, just sit back, take the meds etc and enjoy the ride.

 

Hopefully you will have similar results to what I have had so far, good luck mate.

 

________________________________________________________________

Dr Bhatti FUE Oct 2014

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/178931-my-fue-dr-tejinder-bhatti-oct-2014-a.html

[husqvarnawrk]

Hi Techie,

 

I remember meeting you at the clinic. It was my post-op visit day and you were there for your consultation.

 

Good luck with your recovery. I am a couple of days ahead of you and in the same situation. That's no wonder they call it "ugly duckling" phase. It happens to everybody.

 

Take care

[techie]

Thanks everyone for your replies and it was great meeting you husqvarnawrk. Glad to hear things are going well for you. Shera great to hear that from you, it really puts my mind at ease

 

What was your overall impression of Dr. Bhatti and his team, if you were to do it all over again would you change anything?

 

Overall impression is everyone there including Dr. Bhatti are both very personable as well as professional. I felt extremely comfortable the whole time. They would send a driver to take me wherever I needed to go at any time. I had 3 separate drivers so if one is not available they will send another. One thing I will mention is that while I was changing back into my normal clothes after the procedure I had bent over while tying my shoes and some slight bleeding occurred in my recipient area. I was not aware that I wasn't supposed to do that and became paranoid that I had dislodged my grafts. I was assured by Dr. Bhatti and staff that everything was fine but to not bend over for the next week or so. So please anyone planning on getting this procedure do not bend over after your procedure just as a precaution. Time will tell if I would do it all over again once I see the results but judging from Dr. Bhatti's portfolio I'm optimistic at this point.

 

I will post a one month update next week (with individual pics ). My transplanted hairs are about 70% all shed at this point and not looking good but I can ride it out and look forward to the upcoming months ahead.

[techie]

Here is the 1 month update. As you can see nearly all the grafts have fallen out and much of the native hair has not grown back either so things are looking worse than pre op. Trying hard not to get depressed. I've also been pretty stressed from work and hoping it won't have a negative effect on my grafts.

 

[California]

Hi Techie,

 

Your 1 month progress seems to be in line with the expected results so far. You are going through the toughest phase of the process right now. Try to stay positive and look forward to the happy "hairy" days to come.

 

Best regards,

California

[thewalker10]

Hi techie, could you please kindly share your expectations from your transplant? I mean, are you expecting "full" hair around crown region? I'm in a similar situation and contemplating on whether to go with fue or fut.

[TakingThePlunge]

Looks normal at this stage. One month is just scratching the surface. You have to be prepared to wait a long time before things start looking impressive and it's common for the hair to look worse during this early stage.

 

Hang in there. I'm sure everything will be just fine.

[husqvarnawrk]

Hang in there, Techie, I'm in the same situation. It can only improve from here

[techie]

Thanks for the encouragement Dave. It's going to be a rough couple of months for sure. I'm just going to focus on working out and eating well in the meantime.

 

@thewalker10 - I was explicitly told I would have complete coverage with good density prior to my procedure and it would take anywhere from 3500 - 4000 grafts to accomplish that. I received somewhere in the middle on the lower end of that scale. At this point I am still expecting full coverage since that is what I was told. I'm a bit skeptical looking at the crown post op pics but after reading Shera's post I'm going to keep my faith. I can't tell you whether to go with FUE or FUT at this time but I did meet a guy at Dr. Bhatti's office that had a procedure about a year ago who had brought his friends to have a consultation and his results were amazing. Very dense and natural looking.

[thewalker10]

Unfortuantely, Dr. Bhatti told me that I wasn't a suitable candidate for HT as he thought I seemed to have diffused hairloss.

 

Good luck to you, though.

[Raj Jayukdht]

Hey techie, Dr Bhatti has given you a very nature hairline. Your healing well for 1 month pics. Sit back and relax.

[techie]

Thought I'd post a 2 month update. Cosmetically not much to report but some grafts are indeed starting to grow. Prior to cutting my hair to a #1 guard a few of them were as long as 1/2 inch. I've noticed the numbness of the donor area has almost completely gone away. The recipient area sometimes feels numb and sometimes has a strange tingling feeling. I'm hoping month 3 will have some more visible improvements.

 

[California]

Hi Techie,

 

Happy 4th of July.

 

Thanks for sharing your update and great quality pictures. As you have rightly said, you are going through the toughest phase of the HT process. Looking forward to your updates in the coming months. So far, looks good.

 

Best regards,

California

[husqvarnawrk]

Looking good, man.

 

your skin has healed well, it seems.

 

Same situation here - I remember a taxi ride together in Chandigarh. Good luck.

[techie]

Hi folks. I'm at 6.5 months now. These photos were taken at 6 months. Clearly there is some growth now but if I'm being honest I was hoping for better results at this point. There is a strange pattern where there is a gap between the original hairline and the edge of the newly formed hairline. I'm really hoping this fills in. The crown does not seem to be growing as well as the front. The donor area is still very obvious as well.

 

Up until 5 months I had been buzzing my hair to a #1 guard. I have since been growing it out since then. I'm starting to panic because when I look at other posts from people at the 6 month period their results seem much better than mine.

[butchcoolidge]

I had my procedure wth Dr Bhatti just a couple days before you... Similar amount of grafts too. Honestly I think your result is looking pretty good! I don't see the gap you're referring to. And from what I've researched, the crown takes longer than everywhere else to mature, so in time I'm sure it will get better there. Keep your head up bro, you still got several months of growth.

[feldeghast]

Its all a little slow now for the next 2 months...Hang in there. I think this is going to look good

[butchcoolidge]

i see the gap you're referring to now, i was on mobile view when i saw it last night. i currently have 1 side that's more full than the other, but i think most of it just translates into waiting the appropriate time to make judgements about the final result... it's too easy to get discouraged when we see some patients have ridiculously fast growth (i'm looking your way shera! ) and others are late bloomers who lose hope at 6 months and then end up having crazy growth at 6-9 months. rooting for you!

Edited November 14, 2015 by butchcoolidge

[Melvin- Admin]

I'm not gonna lie it does look a bit sparse at the moment, with that being said, you still have another 6 months of growth, hopefully you're a slow grower, have you mentioned this to the clinic? May I ask did technicians perform the extractions or did Dr. Bhatti? Also, one thing to consider is the length of your hair, I recommend not cutting the top anymore and letting it fully grow out that's how you get the most bang for your buck.