Jump to content

Have my appointment in less than 24 hours at Cinik! experience will follow


CanadianPT

Recommended Posts

  • Regular Member

well, booked everything back in august, on the 26-27-28, I'll be in turkey going for it!

I'll be documenting everything I've experienced and will experience so that people understand what they'll be going through.

 

First of all, I'm a Canadian (from Quebec) born in Portugal, I first thought about going to turkey from my country as I go there every summer, but people told me the sun should be avoided at all cost in the first few weeks, so that took care of that option... I then looked at the perfect time to go there, since we have a long (don't be fooled by the Canadian quality of living lol we have 8 months of winter, not 6 and certainly not 4 haha) anyway, I'm a teacher also, did not want to miss work for this so I though, Christmas vacation! perfect time to go there! So I got to look at plane ticket prices to go to turkey, more expensive than I thought, but still got a decent price back in august. Then, I looked at the different clinics and doctors. regardless of the doctors, there will always be some negative feedback... So I just went with my gut (and wallet...) and contacted Cinik and another doctor we have back here in Ottawa that is pretty renown. For less than half the job (grafts) here in Ottawa, they were quoting me close to 7 grand... So contacted a couple of doctors in turkey and with the many reviews found on the internet and mainly here, I decided to go with cinik. Have to say though, I went with my decision also because my hairdresser in Portugal knew a guy that did it with them and got GREAT results, that is pretty much all I needed to close the deal, first hand testimony. 

So we talked for a bit (on whatsapp), sent pictures to them back in august, got around to the best possible plan and a date. The date was then concluded so I could book a plane ticket according to those dates. The dates were pretty important, I needed around 10 days to recoup, so Christmas vacation was pretty optimal, chose to leave on the 25th so I could spend christmas with the family and am right now at the airport waiting for my flight to amsterdam and from there to istanbul. 

So far, I've contacted them a few times and I have nothing bad to say! they are quick to answer and have all the answers I needed. I even got an airline company go bankrupt a week ago and KLM got me on other planes and arrival time was pretty much the same except in another airport and Cinik's people were super comprehensive and told me no problem at all. I still hope the taxi guy will be there on time lol Will post back when I get there 😛

 

 

Keep you posted!

 

20190825_112309.jpg

20190825_112323.jpg

20190825_112338.jpg

20190825_112350.jpg

20190825_112407.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

little follow-up. Arrived with a bit of lateness due to technical difficulties back in Amsterdam. 

For my fellow Canadians (and others) you might need a visa (we Canadians do) and I didn't know about that! Thankfully, I always bring euros with me and it was 50 euros for the visa. Had to wait in line TWICE, once for them to tell me that I needed a visa and the second time to go through... lost about an hour there.... also, there is no free wi-fi in the entire airport... Thankfully, the guy that the clinic said would be waiting for me with the sign was still there and had wi-fi for me!

 

Had a wonderful drive in a very luxurious taxi with a fellow named Peter from the Czech republic that had the procedure done 2 years ago at Cinik and I swear I would have never guessed he was almost completely bald! gave me a lot of hope! He also told me a lot first-hand about what I should expect. Was very happy to have been in the same taxi as him and to have met him!

Arrived in a very posh hotel with about 3 millions dollars worth of lambos and ferraris right next to it. The neighbourhood is obviously well-off. Had a great burger at a nice little restaurant just in front and now am in my hotel room with a very well deserved shower waiting for me and a good "night" sleep so that I can be ready for the alarm tomorrow "morning". It's 8 hours + from the time zone in quebec canada, so 7:30 am will feel weird lol going to sleep right now feels weird lol but I haven't slept in almost 24 hours so I should be good. 
 

The real update tomorrow!

oh and p.s. restaurants and most places accept euros and they just do the conversion, very convenient!

20191226_205221.jpg

20191226_212653.jpg

20191226_214101.jpg

20191226_215322.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

Well, it's done... Holy christ. I cannot wait for everything to go back to normal. 

The day started by them picking me up, I met up with Dr cinik, he looked at my head, drew a line that would look natural, told me what to expect, etc. After that, I went to a nurse that would put a iv line and then went to sign contracts and pay. Most people spoke good English except for the nurses. Dr cinik's English was ok. I was then brought to the barber that would just shave my head. I have to admit, I looked like a badass viking lol so if all of this doesn't work out, I think I'll be able to rock the bald look lol I was then brought to the room where I would spend the next 8 hours in the most uncomfortable chair ever lol the chair itself was ok, but the positions that they ask your head to be in throughout the process make that chair completely wrong. I'm sure something more practical exists! From what I've seen on different videos, everyone seems to have the same chairs... I don't get it! 

 

Anyhow, they explain what I'll be going through, I took the option of having needle free anesthesia before. They use some sort of punch with what I can only guess has air pressure to send the needle? Anyway, wasn't too painful, stung kinda like being hit by a pebble on your skin down the road on your bike, for those that have motorcycles 😅

 

After about 50 of those all around the places where they would take the hair follicles out, comes the anestesia needles... They were... uncomfortable and somewhat painful at some specific spots. After about what seemed like 80 of those, comes another Doctor that will take a kind of drilling machine that looks like a Dremel or those tools they use at the dentist with a very tiny tip that from what I understood, makes a hole around that hair follicle. I say from what I guess a lot now because from this point on, all 3 specialists that came in that room, didn't speak English AT ALL! some very VERY basic words and that's it. As an English teacher, I keep wondering what second language English teaching is like around the world... Sucky in turkey is my guess. I could ask for a translator and my guy was really cool! Loved him, but he didn't stay for long, he was going from room to room if patients were asking for something, but when I called him, he came pretty quickly. 

 

After 4300 of those... Uncomfortable drilling but not painful, came the extractions, those were the ONLY good thing about all this, I could barely feel them and it went super smoothly. I could also see them which was fun to look at. They have someone counting them one by one and placing them into different round things depending if they are singles, doubles or triples, they said I was a really good donor as I had around the same number for each but a bit more triples. 

 

After that came the next set of punch shots and then needle anesthesia on the area they would go to. 4300 little incisions later (which weren't too bad) came the part where they put it in. I was by then around 5 hours in and had another 3 to go to finish everything up. 

BTW, they took some from my beard too and that position was the absolute worst because my head was somewhat upside down and blood rushed to my brain and that's when I felt a bit of a headache. They gave me what I suspect is some sort of very mild morphine through my iv tube. 

 

Anyway on to the grafting itself, it went very well up until the end. They finished with the back of my head and for some reason, that part hurt a lot. I could feel them puting them in quite well and by the very very end, I just felt very uncomfortable and was really hoping it would finish soon... 

 

When everything was done, I thanked everyone, went upstairs to a fellow Portuguese speaking employee and he explained all the steps that I'll have to take in the following few days. Taking of pills and cream and shampoo and band and hats and what I can and can't do etc. Told me we'd meet back tomorrow for the check-up and that's it! 

 

I was taxied back to my hotel and here I am typing this, I slept about 4 hours when I came in and now am just unable to sleep anymore. Some due to my jetlag but mostly due to the fact I cannot sleep on the side of face down or anything, can only sleep lying on my back with a pillow that's exactly like the ones people have on planes that go around your neck. 

 

All this said, I took some pain killers, I usually never do but I'll make an exception lol it's an already pretty uncomfortable experience, kinda don't want to make it any harder than need be. 

My thoughts after all this? Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and F these hair loss genes... I'm just even more jealous at the people that will never have to go through this. I don't understand how people are ready to go through this a second time... I will NOT. 

 

I'll try to sleep before the check-up tomorrow but I'm sure my chances are slim to none. 

For anyone that will stay at a hotel, they have about 4 channels out of 45 that are in English, the rest is NOT subtitled, everything is in Turkish... So I'm watching the news a lot lol. 

All in all, I like the look that the new line gives me! I can imagine it with the last photo if all goes well, what it'll look like and I love it. 

Will give more feedback tomorrow and in the coming weeks! 

20191228_034022.jpg

20191227_185113.jpg

20191227_185334.jpg

20191228_034112.jpg

Edited by CanadianPT
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

well, fast forward 6 days in and everything is going quite well! No grafts lost, they seem very solid now!

I am taking good care to follow everything as prescribed. Been staying at home relaxing. I would NOT recommend going back to work right after that's for sure... the lack of sleep is insane! there is just no good way to sleep well... Have neck pain from the unnatural positions and neck pillow and also have sporadic headaches in the donor area. Like a discomfort that doesn't allow me to totally relax or to sleep well. Tylenols take it away quite well, but I hate taking pain meds, so I try to tough it out until I'm fed up. 

I'll post pics when the first week is up!

The only thing I was somewhat concerned is that I have barely no blood scabs at all! my scabs are yellowish... I was pretty afraid that it was the hair bulb that was being rejected, a shitton of them! but upon further reading, seems as though it's just dead skin, just looks weird is all... 


so update to come! 

 

Picture normal right? Thanks guys

20200101_144829.jpg

Edited by CanadianPT
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

Thanks guys! We'll, 8 days later, some updates! First, about 2-3 days ago, my donor area scabs started coming off, they came off very easily, I was never too worried about the donor area and massaged it quite well, redness pretty much is non existant today on day 8.

 

As for the receiving area, I'm still super worried about it, so I still don't massage it and go and dab it when I wash it. Yesterday in the shower though, a LOT of dead skin came out pretty easily, the yellowish parts, sometimes with a hair stuck to it, but I doubt it's a graft that hasn't stuck or something... Seems a bit too small, but maybe someone can clarify this for me? 

 

I still have a hard time sleeping... When I put my head on any pillow, it still hurts or is discomforting... It's very annoying, I thought this would go away on day 3-4 max... But I still have it... Taking tylenols still... And I hate taking pain medicine. Donor area is where the pain comes from, receiving area is fine, zero pain, it still feels somewhat numb when I touch it though. 

 

Here are some pictures! 

20200104_102742.jpg

20200104_102348.jpg

20200104_102255.jpg

20200104_102246.jpg

20200104_102155.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

2 week update! Everything going smoothly! I told everyone at work and everyone seems super surprised that I did it and had tons of questions! Everyone was super positive about it! 

 

Anyway, shedding has started! Lost about 20 little tiny hairs in the last two days, more to come I'm sure lol

 

Sleep normally, everything seems back to normal I'd say 😊 can't wait to update more. In normal lighting, you can barely see the donor area, so far, pretty happy. 

 

What do you guys think? 

20200111_111529.jpg

20200111_111510.jpg

20200111_111346.jpg

20200111_111246.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

Looking right on track @CanadianPT.  Had mine done 16 weeks ago @Belman. I've kept my donor area done to #1 for most part which I feel helps keep the buzz cut look. How did you find Cinik? I thought they were very good. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member
6 hours ago, Belman said:

Looking right on track @CanadianPT.  Had mine done 16 weeks ago @Belman. I've kept my donor area done to #1 for most part which I feel helps keep the buzz cut look. How did you find Cinik? I thought they were very good. 

Nothing bad to say really! I hope they change their chairs lol other than that, so far so good!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey CanadianPT, thanks for the well-written summary and updates. Planning on Cinik for Feb/March...can I ask which of the ackages/procedures you went with, I'm inclined to go DHI, the most expensive package, in part due to it being expensive makes me think it has the best potential for a good outcome...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Regular Member

1 month mark! A bit concerned with the back, I feel as though they've mainly used beard grafts there, I can very easily feel the texture difference, wondering on the future results... Otherwise, shedding has been obviously going on 😅 still expecting some more! But it has dramatically slowed down in the last week. 

20200127_081052.jpg

20200127_081034.jpg

20200127_081021.jpg

20200127_081002.jpg

20200127_080945.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Regular Member

This is after two months and 3 days! I'm quite shocked as everyone tells me I clearly have more hair, but I feel it's impossible since it hasn't been 4 months... Shouldn't even have more than 10% after 4 months. Guess I'm doing better than I should! 😊 My hairdresser says she can't see where they took out the follicules too. I was kinda worried about that cause it kinda looked like I could  a month ago but have to see, can't really see it now. So far so good! Cut them only once since the surgery. 

20200301_121110.jpg

20200301_121049.jpg

20200301_121028.jpg

20200301_120939.jpg

Edited by CanadianPT
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...