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2700 Grafts FUE - Tue 11th October 2016 - Dr Koray Erdogan ASMED Istanbul


JustJax

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So my HT journey has begun. I arrived in Istanbul last night and my surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday morning). Since I found the other Asmed threads really helpful, my intention is to try and do a daily post at least for the first week. I'm sure some of the stuff with be a repeat of what others have said but hopefully I can also include some stuff that others perhaps haven't mentioned before.

 

More than happy to answer any questions so ask away.

 

So here we go...

 

Day -2

 

Sunday 9th October - I arrived into Sabiha Gokcen airport around 6pm. Flight wasn't too bad, around 4 hrs (London to Sabiha Gokcen). Took about 20 mins to clear security and then I collected my luggage and then made my way to the exit (where family and friends and drivers wait to meet people off flights) and quickly saw the Asmed driver holding up a sign with my name. He didn't say much but was very friendly and took my case for me. We got out of the airport quite quickly and headed straight to the hotel. Traffic was okay at first but then got quite busy. Think it took about 40 mins to to the hotel. Anyway finally arrived at the Radisson Blu (which is Asmed's preferred hotel) and driver even came in and helped me check in. BTW, for any one interested you can upgrade to business class for an extra €15 euros a night. Worth it for the great view (you get a higher floor and I'm on the 15th floor) and you get some extras like free pay movies, free raid of the mini bar. Once checked in I went for dinner around the corner from the hotel then had an early night.

 

Day -1

Monday 10th October- I wasn't scheduled in for my pre-surgery appointment checks until 3:30pm but it was an early start as I was up early to be filmed. Yes, filmed. A few weeks ago Dr Erdogan himself called and asked if I would be happy to be filmed by an American documentary channel. I said yes. It quickly thought about backing out because the thought of being filmed suddenly made me more anxious than the HT itself but after a few days I calmed down and decided what the heck. So cut to me in the hotel lobby this morning being greeted by an American film crew and host. As well as filming at the clinic they wanted to film some footage around Istanbul so we did just that, but staying on the Asia side. We filmed for half a day and then I had about an hour to myself back at the hotel before my clinic appointment. Shortly after I got to the clinic the film crew turned up and this time they also filmed another client. We were both there for our Pre-surgery appointment so they filmed the entire thing. That's basically taking initial pics with current hair, medical checks (ECG, blood glucose, blood pressure) consult with Dr Erdogan and drawing on hairline, shaving head and then finalising the hairline one last time. That took about 2-3hrs but that's because we filmed it all. Guessing it would probably normally be only about 90 mins. After that we all had dinner in the garden and about 7:30 I headed back to the hotel exhausted.

 

So that was it for today. I have to say the clinic were amazing. Clinic itself is beautiful, very modern and slick (Even had a lady playing the piano in the reception). Seems like they have a zillion staff, all who were super friendly and welcoming. You also get a coordinator and mine is the lovely Sevinc. She was on hand at all times. She also sorted some food for me as soon as I arrived knowing I was a little tired after filming. I also got to chat lots with Dr Erdogan and some others on the team. All were very friendly although I will say Dr Umut is a little scary at first, but at one point he half smiled and Dr Erdogan joked that's as close as he ever gets to a smile which itself made me chuckle. :D

 

Anyway I'm now in the hotel and about to go to bed as tomorrow is surgery day and I need to be up at 6am to get ready and have breakfast before I get picked up at 7:10am. :eek: I'll try and post tomorrow night assuming I'm not too tired, otherwise I'll post the official 'day 1' post on Wednesday.

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Day 1 - 11th October - Surgery

Have to say today was a little brutal. I was up at 6am to shower and to eat breakfast before the driver was arriving to pick up. I was in the lobby at 7:10 on the dot as requested and the driver was ready waiting for me. Clinic is like 3 mins away so was there by 7:15. Was offered breakfast but I'd already eaten. We would have normally started there and then but as they were filming again we had to wait to start for the crew to be ready and have things set up. I think we finally started around 9:15 and first thing they shaved my head again and then it was down to the operating room. After I was numbed up, they filmed Dr Erdogan doing some of the extractions. Think he did about 250 and then we had a 10 mins break and Dr Erdogan went off to be interviewed and then I was back in the room with the techs continuing the extraction. This part as easily the most uncomfortable for me. The chair itself is really comfortable but you have to sit upright and looking down most of fine time and that's not comfortable for me as I have neck issues. Oh yeah almost forgot about the local anaesthetic. How could I forget. It'll depend on your pain threshold but the initial numbing up process isn't nice. Lots of little needle pricks and they had to top me up back and fore and I could feel the extractions at time. I think this part is very much down to the individual tho. I have read in other threads that once numbed up others were fine but for me the combination of the numbing and the neck position made it the most uncomfortable part of the surgery.

 

Because of the later start, Extractions weren't done around until around 1:25pm (normally noon I believe). We then broke for lunch and you get quite a spread, it was some Meat and vegetables dish, side vegetable dish, side dish salad, soup, juice and then some baklava. Had just over a 30 min break and then it was back into the operating room to be numbed up for the incisions. That was a little less painful (maybe less sensible area?) but still no exactly fun. Then Dr Erdogan arrived along with the film crew and he did all my incisions. This was actually the best and most relaxing part. Incisions and implants are done with you laying down on your back so much more comfortable and I also almost nodded off. Once incisions were done (45 mins ish) then we went straight into the implantation. This was a mixed back. Again I needed renumbing several times so it's was a little uncomfortable, but not painful at times. This took around 2 hrs 45 mins, so we finished around 6pm. Last steps was some PRP on the donor area (they also applied it to the recipient area before the implantation) and then 10 mins under a special laser lamp which apparently helps the grafts take. Sevenic then shows me how to use the ATP spray (every hour) and at the end the crew also did a final little mini interview about the experience.

 

So thats it's for surgery day. I opted to stay in the clinic tonight so I'm now in my private room. I picked staying the night mainly just because the rooms have a hospital type bed that can be raised so you are sitting/sleeping up right which i understand helps reduce swelling. Tomorrow I'll get my hair washed for the first time. Thought of this frankly freaks me out and I'm so worried about washing my grafts away but the good news is they'll do the first wash tomorrow and show how and again for me on Thursday.

 

I should also have all my surgery details (break down of the grafts types) and pics tomorrow and I'll upload those once I have them.

 

Finally I'm sure some of you are wondering, but I can confirm that I'm not receiving any money/discount off by Asmed for allowing myself to be filmed and neither do I get anything off the documentary channel .. guess my possible 15 mins of fame will have to be prize enough. :cool:

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Wow - JustJax - that would be cool being part of a documentary. I'm very keen to hear how your HT goes. As you know I had a similar procedure as Asmed 10 months ago and am pleased with the final result.

 

Thanks Ersko. Documentary part is kinda exciting (although stressful too). Hopefully I don't land up on the cutting room floor. :D

 

Will post more info on it once I have an idea on when it might air. How are things with you 10 months one? I'm dreading the ugly shedding. :(

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JustJax, it is a pleasure reading your thread. As you know, I had the luxury to visit Asmed twice and they like an second family to me. Congrats on your transplant, I know you were quite anxious with the whole thing and I am glad I was some sort of help to you regarding our private messages. Its all done now and now the real journey begins.

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Thanks Ersko. Documentary part is kinda exciting (although stressful too). Hopefully I don't land up on the cutting room floor. :D

:(

 

Things are great JustJax. Yes, the recovery is loooong; the 2 month mark was the low point where I looked my worst. It took me to 5 months to feel somewhat comfortable to be seen by friends and family in daylight, or any light really. Then there were a few more months where i was worried my hair was still thin or obviously a HT. That recovery phase is now a distant memory and I feel very lucky to have had a great result.

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JustJax, it is a pleasure reading your thread. As you know, I had the luxury to visit Asmed twice and they like an second family to me. Congrats on your transplant, I know you were quite anxious with the whole thing and I am glad I was some sort of help to you regarding our private messages. Its all done now and now the real journey begins.

 

Thanks Yaz, especially for the PM's, they were they really helpful.

I'm curious about your progress and pictures and will keep an eye on your thread as i am @ASMED on Nov 3rd.

 

Thanks will hopefully upload the pics tomorrow, just a bit of a pain on an iPad.

Great detailed write up jax , hope the documentary is available for us to view soon !! Look forward to watching your results develop ??

 

Thanks guys. I will post more info on the documentary once I know more myself. BTW, it's only going to be a segment on a documentary not a whole hour dedicated to me.

 

Things are great JustJax. Yes, the recovery is loooong; the 2 month mark was the low point where I looked my worst. It took me to 5 months to feel somewhat comfortable to be seen by friends and family in daylight, or any light really. Then there were a few more months where i was worried my hair was still thin or obviously a HT. That recovery phase is now a distant memory and I feel very lucky to have had a great result.

 

Glad to hear you are doing well. I'm dreading the ugly duckling phase even tho I know it's coming. I just hope my original hair grows back enough to hide it somewhat. Don't want to spent the next 4-5 months explaining it to people.

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Day 2 - 12th October

So today was my first post surgery day. As I mentioned in my day 1 post, I slept in the clinic last night. In hindsight I would have stayed at the hotel for the duration. I chose the clinic for the night of the surgery because you get a hospital bed which can be elevated to help you sit up (which was the main reason for doing it) but as hospital beds normally are, it was a single bed and as I'm so use to a double bed, I was worried I might fall out. Lol. Anyway that didn't happen but I really struggled to sleep and while potentially falling out of bed played a part in it, the more challenging part was the neck pillow they give you to sleep with and on top of that I had really bad acid reflux too.

 

Anyway i finally slept and woke up around 8am. I quickly showered and messaged Sevinc downstairs. She advised me to come down to get my head washed. They did originally suggest it would be done in the afternoon but I was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel (so I could sleep again if I wanted) so they said that was fine and for me to head straight down to the washing room.

 

Hair washing - have to say this is one of the steps that really scares me and I'm sure I'm not alone. Once I came down to the washing room, Sevinc met me in the room and put on some type of foam on my recipient area. That stays on for 15-20 mins then you wash it off and shampoo it twice. I mentioned I was worried about washing my new hairs away and she said she'd never seen anyone do that and not to worry as long as I followed the washing guide (you also get a video clip on how to do it on a memory stick in case you forget). After the 20 mins was up, Sevinc called one of the nurses and she washed off the foam and did the shampooing. Despite Sevinc's reassurances I was still nervous about the nurse washing my head. Once washed they pat it dry with a type of paper towel (you can use regular paper towels at home).

 

As soon as the washing was done it was straight into the photograph room for my final post surgery pictures. Once we did that they put some antiseptic cream on the donor area and I filled in some paper work and then had some breakfast. Finally, around 9:45am I was all ready to head back to the hotel. But before I went, Sevinc gave me the folder with all my graft info and a memory stick with all my pictures and advised me that I would be picked up at 12:50 tomorrow for my final wash and advised me of my pick up time on Friday morning.

 

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was the ATP spray. I was given this and told to spray the recipient area ever hour for 2 days (not over night) and then every few hours on the 3rd day until it runs out. Did that religiously last night and today. I've also been using the gel pad but note quite as consistently. Speaking of swelling, it has started and I could see it this morning on the top inch of my forehead and I think it's progressively becoming more prominent, at least to me. Hopefully I don't look like Sloth from the Goonies on the flight home on Friday :)

 

The rest of the day I was planning to just chill in my room. However I had three (yes three) mini melt downs tonight. I do suffer from anxiety so I firstly started worrying I had a temperature, but In reality I think it was just my hotel room being too hot. I finally calmed down but then decided to take a pic of my donor area with my phone and freaked out seeing it as it looked weird and raised, but 10 mins later realised it was all the anaesthetic cream still on the surface and finally while chatting on the phone half hour ago I went to scratch an itch without realising it and now I've worried I've dislodged a hair or two. :mad:

 

It's now almost 10 am local time and after working myself up in to a state and having so little sleep last night, I'm going to go to bed before anything else happens. ;)

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It's morning and my last fully day in Istanbul. All is fine (after my dramatics last night) except that I still didn't sleep well and my Sloth from Goonies look is starting to become a reality. :D

 

Anyway, time for some pics and stats :-

 

So in total I had 2709 grafts, 813 Single hairs, 1337 doubles, 507 triples, 49 quadruple, 3 quintuplet. Microns varied from 50-60 in different areas.

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Edited by JustJax
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The rest of the day I was planning to just chill in my room. However I had three (yes three) mini melt downs tonight. I do suffer from anxiety so I firstly started worrying I had a temperature, but In reality I think it was just my hotel room being too hot.

 

It's refreshing to hear of someone else who suffers with anxiety having a hair transplant as I do myself and I'm concerned about how I am going to handle the ugly duckling phase.

 

I'm booked in with Erdogan on the 13th December so only two months today. Starting to feel nervous now but I keep reading so many amazing reviews on Asmed and Erdogan that I'm certain I am still making the right choice.

 

A few questions if you don't mind:

 

1) Did you carry the cash to settle with you or withdraw it when in Istanbul?

 

2) Are you intending to travel home on the plane without hat? Did they mention anything about this?

 

3) Did you feel safe within the proximity of the hotel?

 

I work in an office so have no chance of being able to hide it from everyone so may have to bite the bullet and tell some people before I go.

 

I think your new hair line will work brilliantly for you by the way.

First Transplant: 5000 FUE grafts with Dr Koray Erdogan ASMED, December 2016

 

First Hair Transplant link: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185564-5000-grafts-fue-13th-14th-december-asmed-dr-erdogan.html

 

 

Hair loss regime

 

Propecia 1mg daily

Saw Palmetto 450mg daily

Biotin 1000ug daily

MSM 1500mg daily

Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000mg daily

1% Nizoral shampoo weekly

Lasercomb x 3 weekly

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It's refreshing to hear of someone else who suffers with anxiety having a hair transplant as I do myself and I'm concerned about how I am going to handle the ugly duckling phase.

 

I'm booked in with Erdogan on the 13th December so only two months today. Starting to feel nervous now but I keep reading so many amazing reviews on Asmed and Erdogan that I'm certain I am still making the right choice.

 

A few questions if you don't mind:

 

1) Did you carry the cash to settle with you or withdraw it when in Istanbul?

 

2) Are you intending to travel home on the plane without hat? Did they mention anything about this?

 

3) Did you feel safe within the proximity of the hotel?

 

I work in an office so have no chance of being able to hide it from everyone so may have to bite the bullet and tell some people before I go.

 

I think your new hair line will work brilliantly for you by the way.

 

Hi DEB1982, thanks difficult to tell what it will look like when it's this short, but I'm crossing my fingers and toes for a great result. :D

 

1) Yes I carried it in a money belt. That was a bit stressful to be honest but I had bought my euros in stages over the last several months (thankfully as rate with GBP is now terrible) so I couldn't then just withdraw it locally. It might be possible to make some local arrangement with a Turkish bank but it's not something I really looked into.

2) I wasn't planning to wear the hat, it's huge and not attractive looking. But I will have it to hand for when I get home as I will have a few minutes walk from the train station to my home so I'll pop it on if it's sunny.

3) To be honest this is something I forgot to touch upon in my first post. I was more than a little concerned about flying to Turkey given the terrorist attacks over the past year and the attempted military coup in the summer, but now that I'm here I have no concerns and would say to anyone who's booked and worrying or has been reluctant to consider Asmed or another Turkish clinic to really put it to the back of your mind. The airport was absolutely fine and everything around the city that I have seen is 100% normal. I haven't overly done big tourist things I and suspect many of these are quieter with less tourists coming this year, but the Turkish people are super friendly and having now made trip, I wouldn't hesitate to come back again. In terms of the hotel area, I only ventured around the corner to a restaurant on the first night and they were fairly quiet but very friendly and attentive. Also, transfers are now included in the price by Asmed so they will pick you up and drop you off at the hotel/clinic as standard.

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Day 3 - Thursday 13th October

So today was my last full day in Istanbul. As I mentioned earlier, swelling is in full force and I look a little freaky but it's too be expected.

 

Could have had breakfast in my room today (part of the upgrade) but went down to the restaurant anyway. It's funny because nobody at the hotel even flinches or looks twice at all the Asmed clients but some of the business people at the hotel sometimes had a double take at me. I actually saw two of the Italian clients in the restaurant during breakfast too. One who was filmed a little and had day 1 of his surgery with me on Tuesday and another guy who has his done on Wednesday. After breakfast I just chilled in my room.

 

Asmed driver was scheduled to pick me up at 12:50, but I was bored so went down about 10 mins earlier and saw the two Italian's again and also the two Romanians that also had theirs done the same day as me (both had 5000 grafts over 2 days). All were in high spirits and when I was chatting to the Romanian guys I could see he was quite swollen so that made me feel better.

 

Anyway it turns out we were all on our way to Asmed for our hair washing. Once at the clinic we all went straight down to the washing room and took turns in getting our washed (they can only wash two at a time). I did ask if they thought mine looked ok because I just naturally worry and was half convinced something might be wrong with the donor area and they said it was looking really good and will all heal up in no time. The only disappointment today was that Sevinc was tied up looking after another client having his HT so I only got to briefly chat to her for 2 mins before I left and I didn't really get to say goodbye to Dr Erdogan or some of the others. However they are apparently planning one or two London consultations in 2017, so hopefully I will see some of the team again then.

 

Ok that's it for today. Up at 5am for a 6am pick-up (for airport) so probably going to have an early night again. Will post next when I'm back in London.

Edited by JustJax
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One question: did you get any pain killers from ASMED for the nights after the surgery?

Dr Umut did give me some but to be honest I haven't needed them. I had some pain killers and Xanax during the surgery and he gave me some more painkillers that night but between what I had in the day and the local anaesthetic, I wasn't having any real pain so I didn't bother. I'm sure they will give you some if you ask though.

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Thank you for all your quick answers.

 

I imagine you are en route back to the UK as I write this. You'll have to let me know how you found the journey with the procedure in full view for everyone to see. I imagine the swelling must be in full effect now. Wondering if you bothered with the hat at the airport and on the plane?

First Transplant: 5000 FUE grafts with Dr Koray Erdogan ASMED, December 2016

 

First Hair Transplant link: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185564-5000-grafts-fue-13th-14th-december-asmed-dr-erdogan.html

 

 

Hair loss regime

 

Propecia 1mg daily

Saw Palmetto 450mg daily

Biotin 1000ug daily

MSM 1500mg daily

Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000mg daily

1% Nizoral shampoo weekly

Lasercomb x 3 weekly

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Thank you for all your quick answers.

 

I imagine you are en route back to the UK as I write this. You'll have to let me know how you found the journey with the procedure in full view for everyone to see. I imagine the swelling must be in full effect now. Wondering if you bothered with the hat at the airport and on the plane?

Yes, been home a few hours. To be honest after a few days of walking around the hotel with it on show (and Monday night with marked up head) I really stopped caring. Admittedly I was a little conscious of the swellings being more obvious today but otherwise I wasn't too bothered. I'm sure a few people on the plane had a good stare as I walked to the bathroom during the flight but whatever, I'll probably never see these again so who cares. Re the Hat, it wasn't really a consideration in my mind, it looks awful and I'd actually be worried about damaging the hairs when taking it off. I did have it to hand though just in case it has been really sunny back in London. Thankfully it was a dull and grey (not something we generally wish for in the U.K. :D).

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Day 4 - Friday 14th October

 

So today was home time. Was up with the alarm at 5:15am for my flight. Had another rubbish night sleep but this time I actually found a comfortable sleeping position (kinda propped up like sleeping in a chair) however I still didn't sleep as my mind couldn't or wouldn't switch off.

 

The Asmed driver arrived dead on 6am pick up and there was little traffic at that time so we were at the Airport by about 6:30am. For anyone using Sabiha G?k?en (and I understand Ataturk too) you now have to go through two sets of security checks so keep this in mind. The first check is immediately as you go in to the airport before check-in desks, then you have to check in (unless you've done it online and only have carry on), then you clear passport controls and then finally the 2nd set of security checks. Longest queue was definitely passport checks. I was intending to get a Fast track pass and I got one but then was told Fast Track was currently closed so went back to the store (thankfully right next to passport checking area) got a refund and joined the regular queue. Probably took around 30 mins which wasn't too bad but I understand Its worse at peak times so a Fast Track pass would definitely be a plus. BTW, anyone interested in Fast Track, its 30 TL (which is about ?8) and can be purchased at the 'Turkish Delight' store right next to passport control area (It can also be purchased online, but only if you have a Turkish mobile/cell and Credit card). Anyway, after passport and the 2nd security check you are in the duty free, food area and can relax.

 

My flight was on time but as I was concerned about getting knocked on the flight I made a point to speak to the Turkish Airlines women at the gate and she said I could go on first with people with babies and mobility issues, etc haha. Flight was fine, as I mentioned in the post above I didn't trying to cover my head. I did however specially request a window seat though to avoid someone walking past and accidentally elbowing me in the head etc. Also waited until almost everyone was off when I got to the London avoid similar incident.

 

One last thing about airports, if you can fly into either and you are going to Asmed then definitely fly into Sabiha G?k?en as its on the Asia side and only 30 mins away from Radisson and Clinic vs over an hour if you come into Ataturk.

 

Back in London, I got home from the airport without a hitch and first thing I did was to wash my hair (myself) for the first time. It was definitely a little stressful. Mousse bit was fine, but I couldn't get the shampoo into a lather like they did at the clinic and I was so scared about applying it and rubbing the recipient area and possibly dislodging the grafts. Almost wish I'd stayed in Istanbul for another two or three days so they could get a start on breaking up the scabs that have already formed. Hopefully tomorrow's effort will be better. :(

 

Finally, here are three pictures from today taken just after I had washed my hair. Hair is definitely growing back already. Will be interesting to see what it looks like in a few days. Also restarted my multivitamins and biotin today.

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The work looks really clean and the recipient area is healing fast. It's going to be a really dense pack so I expect this result to be as great as all the rest of the results coming out of ASMED. Congrats

 

Thanks Trashpanda, I hope you are right!

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Day 5 - Saturday 15th October

 

So first full day at home and I'm bored already. :rolleyes:

 

Not sure if its because I was still on Turkish time (2hrs ahead of the UK) but I woke at 4am. I slept reasonable well to be fair, but started getting some minor pain in the donor area and itching sensations (all over) are increasingly regular so I think that stopped me from going back to sleep.

 

As some of you might have read in a separate post, I'm freaking out a little with the washing process. So scared of damaging the grafts. In hindsight I would have definitely stayed in Istanbul for a week just to get them to do the daily wash. For now I've decided just to dab on the lathered shampoo and just leave it on for a few mins rather than massage it in as instructed, at least until I'm over a week post op. I've read that hairs are pretty much anchored around day 6-9 so will be more vigorous once I'm past that stage.

 

As I mentioned above I'm now getting some pain in the donor area. The Asmed booklet suggest a small amount of people can suffer from this and I found a thread on here that suggests it can kick in around day 4-6 and last 10-14 days. It's not horrific, but it's a bit uncomfortable, probably a 4 sometimes 5 on the pain scale. It's kinda of a tingling burning sensation. Haven't taken any painkillers (not since the day of surgery) but may try something tonight.

 

On the plus side, donor area looks like it's healing well and my original hair is growing back faster that I expected so I'm hopeful that my donor area will be looking ok by the time I go back to work a week on Monday (24th).

 

One last thing, I think the cockiness of not caring what I looked like while in Turkey has carried over into to London. I've popped to the corner store twice today without anything to hide/cover my hair. Definitely getting some looks, but what the hell. :cool:

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Fair play to you for going out like that. I have actually told a few of my work colleagues about my upcoming procedure and it was quite refreshing to see how little they actually cared about it. I think it's often our own minds that make it worse than it is.

 

How did you find the shaving the hair off part? Was it quite liberating? I've still got a pretty good head of hair and can just hide where I have receded by pushing my fringe forward so am a bit worried about how I will look once all shaved off.

First Transplant: 5000 FUE grafts with Dr Koray Erdogan ASMED, December 2016

 

First Hair Transplant link: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185564-5000-grafts-fue-13th-14th-december-asmed-dr-erdogan.html

 

 

Hair loss regime

 

Propecia 1mg daily

Saw Palmetto 450mg daily

Biotin 1000ug daily

MSM 1500mg daily

Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000mg daily

1% Nizoral shampoo weekly

Lasercomb x 3 weekly

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Fair play to you for going out like that. I have actually told a few of my work colleagues about my upcoming procedure and it was quite refreshing to see how little they actually cared about it. I think it's often our own minds that make it worse than it is.

 

How did you find the shaving the hair off part? Was it quite liberating? I've still got a pretty good head of hair and can just hide where I have receded by pushing my fringe forward so am a bit worried about how I will look once all shaved off.

 

The head shaving was actually my 'OMG, what am I doing?' moment. To see myself essentially bald (it's literally down to the bone) was a little unsettling if I'm honest. In an ideal world I would like to have actually shaved it down to a grade 2 or 3 before hand though just to see what my receding hairline would have looked like without longer hair and styling to disguises it.

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