Do I need to wash the donor area the next day? AND I think I lost 8 grafts overnight =(

[Jeth_E]

I just got my transplant (Dr. Diep) and since he's closed on Sunday, is it wise to wait the one day to get it washed at the clinic?

Also, like an idiot I ended up taking some of the sleep meds and they ended up working a little TOO well. I woke up in the middle of night on my side sleeping on the upper left side of where my transplant. I went back to sleeping upright but I think the damage was already done. When I woke up to remove my surgical hat there were about 8 grafts attached to it and that side started bleeding a little (not too much). 

Has anyone else experienced grats getting attached to their surgical hat after removing it?  Can they even be salvaged if I bring them in Monday morning? They're only 8 gratfs out of 2,000 (haven't received my final count yet tho), so I'm sure I'm just freaking out since they hopefully might be negligible in the long run lol  

Edited July 10, 2021 by Jeth_E

[Parasol]

I’m not sure you’re going to want to sleep in your surgical cap. As you can see, the risk to your grafts when doing this is very high.

I think you should reach out to Dr. Diep ASAP to get guidance on how to handle your post op care. 

[Jeth_E]

Yeah I took the cap off and don't plan on wearing it while sleeping again. Dr. Diep actually gave me some pretty thorough post op reading material and I just noticed it mentioned to wash it yourself if you're unable to come into the office to get it done. So I just got that done. 

Guess my only issue is the 8 grafts that came off with the surgical cap. I could have sworn one of the attendees told me to leave it on for the night and remove it in the morning (I even remember asking her twice). But I was also pretty loopy sooooo... gah. 

[Parasol]

I’m not sure if you should be wearing it at all. Your grafts are very vulnerable the first days after implantation. 

Not sure if they have a Whatapp or if someone at the clinic gave you their number, but you should not wait to reach out to them.

Diep’s in California, right? It’s Saturday. Are you close to his office? Are they not open for you to stop down there?

8 grafts in the long scheme of things is not much. I lost some grafts post op too (well, I lost one. But bruised my head also so who knows if I lost those too).

You don’t want to wonder several months from now if you did everything correctly. Trust me, don’t wait. Reach out to the clinic and get clarification on all your questions.

[Jeth_E]

They're not open today and I tried calling. I wasn't really planning on wearing the surgical hat going forward. I'll be reaching out to the them on Monday just to get some clarification. It's good to know tho that 8 grafts shouldnt be too bad. I'm gonna be extra careful from here on out. There's hardly any swelling and no pain or blood. So at least I have that going for me. 

I'm also taking pics and will be documenting it in the other section just to see what everyone thinks...

Edited July 10, 2021 by Jeth_E

[gillenator]

Very sorry to hear about this.

A couple of thoughts:  first, I have never liked the idea of wearing a cap or bandage over the recipient area post-op and especially overnight for the very reason you experienced…it takes on average about 72 hours for the grafts to anchor in the scalp and they can dislodge up to that time by sticking to something like cloth or gauze material…that being said, we realize that you were following your doctor’s post-op protocol.

Second, I suppose the clinic will not be open until Monday morning and as was mentioned, let your surgeon know about this.

Can your 8 lost grafts be saved?…IMHO, not really for several reasons:  the grafts need to stay hydrated and clean and free of germs to prevent ischemia reprofusion (deterioration)…and the blood supply is lost.

And I agree this will not negatively affect the final visual result…😉