My FUE with Dr Tejinder Bhatti - 01/06/16

[michaelk]

Hi all.

 

I'm having my first FUE procedure with Dr Tejinder Bhatti tomorrow and I wanted to share my experience as I go along.

 

My background

 

I am a 31 year old Caucasian male from the UK. My hairline started to recede around 8 years ago and for the last 4-5 I have been losing hair from the front, top and crown. Photos attached. I have been using minoxidil for the last year, which seems to have largely halted the thinning. For the usual reasons, and against the recommendation of several surgeons, I have decided against taking propecia - I feel this one is simply down to your gut feeling.

 

I have been using hair fibers for the last couple of years and I can't speak highly enough about them - I would have had to undergo this procedure much sooner without them

 

Selecting a clinic

 

I spent the last year researching which clinic to chose. Initially, I focussed on the UK and found various clinics ranging from ?6,500 to ?28,000 for my procedure. A lot of the clinics in the UK seemed reserved about doing my whole head all at once and instead wanted to do no more than 2,000 grafts per procedure (each procedure several months apart).

 

I started to look abroad in all the usual places and when I came across Dr Bhatti's work, I was very impressed.

 

Consultation

 

The consultation consisted of no more than sending a handful of images and talking about my expectations. Dr Bhatti recommended a maximum of 4,000 grafts and to confirm I picked a date and sent across a small deposit, around ?250. If we go for the maximum 4,000 grafts then the cost will be around ?4,500 all in. I have booked in to have the procedure tomorrow, with my preop appointment later today.

 

Travel

 

The travel to India was fairly painless. I chose a night flight from the UK and slept for most of it (around 9 hours). I booked my flights (return) one month before and the cost was ?400, flying with Virgin Atlantic. Once in Delhi I took another flight to Chandigarh which cost ?40 and only took an hour. The taxi to the hotel was incredibly cheap - around ?4 for a 30 minute journey. I have no idea how that even covers the fuel, but certain things are very cheap here in India.

 

I used the eVisa service which cost $60 and was ready within 24 hours. No problems at the airport.

 

Chandigarh

 

I've been in Chandigarh for 2 days and I quite like the place! It's modern, it's spacious and the people are very friendly. I haven't seen another white person yet and that's probably why I have been stopped several times for selfies. Everyone keeps asking if I'm an actor, which is amusing. There's plenty to do here and I've easily kept myself busy for 2 days. For those of you who are worried about India not being up to the standard of the west, I'd advise checking out something like the Elante shopping mall - it's as impressive as anything we have in the UK. My preconception of India was certainly wrong.

 

I'm staying at the TOY hotel, which is a nice 4 star hotel and it's costing me ?38 per night including breakfast. I've booked in until Saturday as I'd like to be close to the clinic for a few days after the procedure.

 

The food out here is wonderful and so far I haven't had the reported 'delhi belly'. I may be tempting fate but I've been drinking from sealed bottles and eating hot food and so far no issues at all.

 

Next Steps

 

So I have my pre-op in a couple of hours time. I have been asked not to shave my head as Dr Bhatti would like to see how the hair falls, in preperation for the operation tomorrow.

 

I will let you know how that goes and post again after my operation tomorrow.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

All the best...

Michael

[michaelk]

Pre-op went OK. The clinic is large and clean with many people working.

 

I spent 5 minutes with Dr Bhatti, who marked out my proposed hairline and asked whether I would use circa 500 grafts from my beard for the transplant for extra density. I said I would consider it, however this isn't something I'm prepared to do - whilst I'm sure it's low risk I'm just not prepared to risk scarring in an area as visible as my face.

 

I was then handed onto an assistant who gave me medicine to take this evening and took my blood. I was asked to pay for the 4,000 grafts, however I explained that 4,000 is the maximum and with all the bank charges for using my card outside of the UK I didn't want to pay more than what I needed to. I asked to pay half now and the rest after, once I know how many grafts I received. I think that's fair enough and they were happy to comply.

 

There is a 2.5% charge for using a non Indian credit card and combined with the poor exchange rate offered on the payment machine, it worked out a little more expensive than I planned. There is also a 15% service charge put onto the price on the website, though this was something I was already aware of.

 

I'm being picked up at 6.50am tomorrow for an early start. Dr Bhatti said he tends to do one large and one small procedure each day, with mine being the larger one for tomorrow

[Shera]

Hi Michael,

 

So tomorrow is the big day, I'm sure you (as others before you, myself included) will have a successful procedure and everything will go as planned. It will be a long day so just try to stay relaxed about the whole thing.

 

I'm glad you are enjoying the City of Chandigarh, it is a great place and every patient I have ever sent has had a wonderful, memorable and rewarding experience there. The Elante Mall is definitely on a par with any other super mall, the sports bar on the top floor where the restaurants are located is up there with the best I have been to anywhere in the world.

 

The people of all classes are very friendly as you have experienced yourself. You really can't go wrong and I'm really glad your experience has changed your preconception on what to expect.

 

All the best for tomorrow, feel free to get in touch with me whilst in India or when you are back in the UK if you need anything.

[Ernie]

Good luck to you mate. Looking forward to reading your story.

[michaelk]

So it took a little while longer to post an update on here but that's because I didn't realise I shouldn't look down for a couple of days!

 

Procedure went well, a quick overview of how it went:

 

Driver picked me up and took me to the clinic for 7am. The first hour was for paperwork, fitting a cannula, administering antibiotics and changing into an operational gown.

 

Just after 8am we started, with Dr Bhatti administering the injections into the donor area (back and sides). This is the only part which was painful, though it's over quick and not too bad. The harvesting then took around 2 hours and I couldn't feel a thing for this - not even a scratch. Again, this was all done by Dr Bhatti.

 

Once the harvesting was over then the follicles were sent to be separated/counted and Dr Bhatti proceeded to inject the hairline/top of my head and then make the slits. This was completely painless, however I didn't realise it would be so noisy - it turns out skin is hard and there's a lot of brute force/scraping/crunching. Not pleasant but it's better people know to expect these things!

 

After the slits were made, Dr Bhatti took me to the plantation room, where several of his technicians spent the next couple of hours planting the hairs into the top of my head. Dr Bhatti only came in occasionally to check on the progress, though this wasn't a concern as his team seemed to work efficiently and in harmony. I can now see why clinics in the UK wanted to do this procedure over a couple of days - it's unlikely they would have this many staff working on you at once. I probably had 10 staff work on me throughout the day. You couldn't feel a thing for the plantation, I think I even fell asleep at a couple of points.

 

We had lunch around 2pm and got back to it around 2.30pm.

 

Once the top was complete, Dr Bhatti came back to inject and make the incisions in the crown. Again crunchy but not at all painful. Then the last hour and a half were filling up the crown.

 

Total grafts: 3516 (518 singles, 2766 doubles, 232 triples).

Planted: 2816 hairline and 700 crown

 

We finished around 4.30pm and I was asked to stay at the clinic for another hour to make sure I was OK. I was given some saline spray to administer every 20 minutes to the plantation sites, as well as some drugs to take. I was then bandaged up and the driver took me back to the hotel.

 

I returned yesterday morning at 9am for a wash/clean and a checkup from Dr Bhatti. Everything looks fine apparently. I spent an extra night in Chandigarh so I also went to the clinic this morning and the team once again washed and cleaned my hair. I was given a large bag of products/dressings/drugs and a lot of information on how to care for my hair for the next couple of weeks.

 

I am going back to the clinic today around 3pm to talk through potential next steps with Dr Bhatti (future donor areas/donor amounts/long term plan/how long to leave it) - it seems to make sense to do it while I'm here rather than wait for a further consultation in the UK.

 

All in all a fairly pain free process - I guess the proof will be in the results over the next 6-12 months!

 

Any questions feel free to ask.

 

(The Wifi is terrible in my hotel so I will post pictures in next reply...)

 

Michael

[michaelk]

Hairline immediately after the prcedure

[michaelk]

Top and crown plantation area day after procedure

[michaelk]

Donor area 2 days after procedure

[michaelk]

Day 6 and everything seems to be on track

[michaelk]

Donor area at 6 days

[michaelk]

4 month update from me.

 

I kept my head shaved for the first 2 months post op and for the last 2 months I have let it all grow. The top and crown was all but bald a couple of months ago, though the hairs have now started to grow in - some of them thickening up but still sparse at this stage. I'm going to leave it all grow naturally now so I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks at Christmas!

 

[michaelk]

[Hairhoho]

Looks good for the 4th month !!

 

Good luck.