EMERGENCY HELP: Dr Bicer recommends I postpone my last minute surgery for next week

[cr1mson]

Hi guys,

thru all the commotion of getting a last minute appointment with Dr Bicer, and booking last minute flights and coordinating logistics, I forgot to ask Dr Bicer a very important question. When her coordinator Ozen told me all the things to avoid before surgery ( drinking alcohol, using blood thinners, smoking cigarettes), I forgot to ask about something I use everyday. I am from Canada and have been smoking marijuana every day for a few years. She told me today that she wants me to postpone the surgery as she recommends not to smoke marijuana three months prior to the surger and 6 months after. She said that the smoking marijuana, especially daily smokers, will constrict blood flow and affect survivability of grafts. She says that in her professional opinion it is not a good risk to take but ultimately it is up to me. What do you guys think? Idk why I thought I can stop smoking a week before would be ok, but now I have a decision to make. I told Dr Bicer I would let her know by the end of the day but most probably will reschedule it to fall 2022 as I have a few weddings between May - October so dont want to get it done close to that time. I thought I would create a post and get some feedback from some of the vets!! What should I do in your opinion?

[Gokuhairline]

reschedule....not worth risking.

[Curious25]

IMO if you are willing to put your head in the hands of a particular surgeon, then their word goes for everything surgery related. 
 

I can’t see them filling that slot in again now this last minute, so the fact she’s willing to lose a days work over this speaks volumes. 

[Britanium]

Yup, definitely not worth any risk. Reschedule 👍🏽

[kirkland]

Linking @DrTBarghouthi on this on as he posted last year about smoking before and after a HT.

 

 

[Curious25]

36 minutes ago, kirkland said:

Linking @DrTBarghouthi on this on as he posted last year about smoking before and after a HT.

 

 

With respect, it shouldn’t have to take a second opinion from another surgeon, to decide whether or not you’re going to listen to your own surgeons advice. 
 

You choose a surgeon because you have faith and confidence in them. 

[lakes9925]

Wow Dr Bicer really cares about the outcome of her procedures.. you picked a good clinic

unfortunately so many Drs out there just look at you as just a number.

[kirkland]

39 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

1 hour ago, kirkland said:

Expand  

With respect, it shouldn’t have to take a second opinion from another surgeon, to decide whether or not you’re going to listen to your own surgeons advice. 

OP asked for advice from others on this board. What's your problem with that?

 

[Curious25]

20 minutes ago, kirkland said:

OP asked for advice from others on this board. What's your problem with that?

 

I addressed that in my original answer. 
 

I’m on the surgery table with dr Hasson, but I just want to give dr Bisanga a call first to check whether he thinks it’s ok that dr Hasson uses a 0.9mm punch on me. Actually - I’ll ask on here just to double check, maybe someone who’s had a few transplants will know better than my Dr. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Curious25

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, Curious25 said:

IMO if you are willing to put your head in the hands of a particular surgeon, then their word goes for everything surgery related. 
 

I can’t see them filling that slot in again now this last minute, so the fact she’s willing to lose a days work over this speaks volumes. 

Pretty much this ^

[kirkland]

12 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

I’m on the surgery table with dr Hasson, but I just want to give dr Bisanga a call first to check whether he thinks it’s ok that dr Hasson uses a 0.9mm punch on me. Actually - I’ll ask on here just to double check, maybe someone who’s had a few transplants will know better than my Dr. 

Your example is silly because you have changed the context of the original post. OP's surgeon has suggested quitting smoking 3 months prior to surgery and 6 months post surgery. Doesn't take long to see that such an extreme suggestion of 3 months prior and 6 months post is in the minority of HT's surgeons who address the topic on their websites. I linked Dr. Barghouthi's response on this very website to a similar question with his suggestion to quitting a few days before surgery. If OP is asking for advice, and other surgeons are offering a dramatically different guideline than his surgeon, why can't OP consider alternative opinions on the subject.

With your logic, if OP's surgeon is cool with a 1.5 mm punch but most other docs are using a 0.9mm punch, OP should stick with the 1.5 mm punch because that is the preferred choice of the surgeon. Does not mean that it is the best advice.

[Curious25]

1 minute ago, kirkland said:

Your example is silly because you have changed the context of the original post. OP's surgeon has suggested quitting smoking 3 months prior to surgery and 6 months post surgery. Doesn't take long to see that such an extreme suggestion of 3 months prior and 6 months post is in the minority of HT's surgeons who address the topic on their websites. I linked Dr. Barghouthi's response on this very website to a similar question with his suggestion to quitting a few days before surgery. If OP is asking for advice, and other surgeons are offering a dramatically different guideline than his surgeon, why can't OP consider alternative opinions on the subject.

With your logic, if OP's surgeon is cool with a 1.5 mm punch but most other docs are using a 0.9mm punch, OP should stick with the 1.5 mm punch because that is the preferred choice of the surgeon. Does not mean that it is the best advice.

Well you’re missing the point completely - why choose that surgeon in the first place if you are going to doubt their advice or techniques. 
 

OP was asking for advice on whether to still go ahead with the surgery date with the SAME surgeon, despite her advice. 
 

If the question was whether or not he should have surgery performed by a different doctor instead, who has less strict rules on smoking - then this is a different talking point, and other dr’s input would be appropriate. 
 

The rule of thumb on here is that you choose your surgeon because you have spent Countless hours researching, and you have shortlisted them based on having total confidence in their skill, ethics, and output.
 

If there is any doubt about their guidance at this stage, then I suggest you may have opted for a surgeon you aren’t fully confident in, or isn’t suited to your case/for what you require. 
 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Op I think it’s certainly fine to seek a second opinion, but remember, different surgeons have different philosophies. I always say follow your physicians advice. I’m sure Dr. Bicer wants to ensure she gets the best possible outcome. But it doesn’t hurt to seek other opinions. 

[MachoVato]

Meh. Go for it. 

I don't smoke but I never stopped drinking beer, before and after the procedure. I've seen plenty of posts from smokers saying that they didn't skip a day. Some doctors won't operate unless you are on finasteride for 6 months and there are plenty of people that don't do take it. 

IMO, waaay too much emphasis is given to smoking and drinking. Sure, the "no blood thinners" rule is valid, but the other stuff is silly.

Edited December 15, 2021 by MachoVato

[HappyMan2021]

@cr1mson you are getting really bad advice in this thread, and clearly from people who don't smoke weed regularly. 

I vape weed on a daily basis. I have gotten 3 HT's. 

For each HT, I stopped my weed intake a few days before surgery. And resumed vaping 10-14 days after. The weed had no impact......

For what its worth, I am completely abstinent from alcohol. 

What are the alcohol guidelines? Also no drinking 3 months before and 6 months after? Alcohol for sure would have more of an impact than weed.... If the alcohol guidelines are wayyyyy more liberal than this weed timeline,  this is 100% reefer madness hysteria. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by SadMan2021

[cr1mson]

3 minutes ago, SadMan2021 said:

@cr1mson you are getting really bad advice in this thread, and clearly from people who don't smoke weed regularly. 

I vape weed on a daily basis. I have gotten 3 HT's. 

For each HT, I stopped my weed intake a few days before surgery. And resumed smoking 10-14 days after. The weed had no impact......

For what its worth, I am completely abstinent from alcohol. 

Did the coordinator mention anything about alcohol? If there are no guidelines on alcohol consumption, but there are for weed, this is 100% reefer madness hysteria. 

 

Thanks for your note! Are you a diffuse thinner as well? Dr Bicer kept saying that there is a real chance some grafts will die because of my smoking weed daily. She also said to avoid alcohol a week before as it causes too much bleeding, as well as cigarettes. I am leaning on rescheduling, but it will now have to be in the fall which is extremely dissapointing, but again I dont want to pay this much money and risk precious grafts dying.

[cr1mson]

13 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Op I think it’s certainly fine to seek a second opinion, but remember, different surgeons have different philosophies. I always say follow your physicians advice. I’m sure Dr. Bicer wants to ensure she gets the best possible outcome. But it doesn’t hurt to seek other opinions. 

 

I was thinking the same. I tried to research as much as possible on my own if marijiuana can affect a hair transplant but I never found anything concrete supporting or against it. Dr Bicer really recommends postponing the surgery so my gut is saying to take her advice. The thing is, when I reschedule the surgery, I am not sure if I will be able to stop smoking for 3 months prior, as I have been a habitual smoker for so long. I have never smoke cigarettes by the way

[JDEE0]

Some surgeons recommend fairly extreme things sometimes. Some recent ones include not wearing a hat or shaving your head for 6 months to 1 year... I understand the argument of following your surgeons advice regardless, but it's your choice.

My personal opinion would be to go for it also. I'm no doctor, so I'm by no means saying you should listen to me, but I really think that 99 percent of the success of a HT rests on what the doctor and technicians did on the day of your surgery. There are obvious caveats to this such as banging your head and killing grafts, getting an infection, having an underlying scalp condition, and so on, but I'm talking about things you actively do post surgery (in this case, smoking). 

Obviously it's best in any case to stop smoking etc before and after a HT and do all of the other things recommended to give yourself the best chance, but yeah, I really don't see it making any difference in the grand scheme of things. 

 

                          

Edited December 15, 2021 by JDEE0

[HappyMan2021]

7 minutes ago, cr1mson said:

 

Thanks for your note! Are you a diffuse thinner as well? Dr Bicer kept saying that there is a real chance some grafts will die because of my smoking weed daily. She also said to avoid alcohol a week before as it causes too much bleeding, as well as cigarettes. I am leaning on rescheduling, but it will now have to be in the fall which is extremely dissapointing, but again I dont want to pay this much money and risk precious grafts dying.

Alcohol absolutely, and cigarettes likely, have way more of an impact than weed. Yet they are telling you to stop weed use 3 months prior, but alcohol and cigarettes only 1 week before? That goes to show the non-rationale of their thought process. True weed stays in your system much longer, but it stays in your fat cells and would have no impact on a HT. But even so I think this is all silly. Whether its alcohol, cigarettes, or weed, you don't need months of abstinence. 

Keep in mind too that this is Turkey and the doc may have a much more medieval view of weed than Canada and the US. I feel confident if you call some clinics in the US and Canada, they will different timelines than Dr. Bicer. 

I am not a diffuse thinner. My hairloss is classic Male Pattern Baldness pattern. 

Ultimately do what your gut is telling you, but IMO this is all really silly

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by SadMan2021

[hairman22]

a very bad diet full of sugar & salts would be worse than smokimg weed

[kirkland]

Following your surgeon's advice is a good idea but that doesn't mean that some of that advice shouldn't be challenged, especially if the advice doesn't seem reasonable or isn't rooted in research. The suggestion that OP might have a sub-optimal outcome if they don't stop smoking weed 3 months prior to surgery is not based on anything scientific. That guideline is an example of an opinion by an expert but not an expert opinion.

[Curious25]

It is the most extreme time frame I think I have came across with regards to smoking, but maybe I’m just too black and white with these things - I think that the reasons you choose a surgeon are largely based upon respect you have for that particular surgeons work and reputation. If said surgeon has strongly advised you against something, to the point it is likely costing them money, it would be disrespectful to over ride their advice and go ahead anyway, because of what perhaps other surgeons or patients have said. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Curious25

[Melvin- Admin]

20 minutes ago, SadMan2021 said:

Alcohol absolutely, and cigarettes likely, have way more of an impact than weed. Yet they are telling you to stop weed use 3 months prior, but alcohol and cigarettes only 1 week before? That goes to show the non-rationale of their thought process. True weed stays in your system much longer, but it stays in your fat cells and would have no impact on a HT. But even so I think this is all silly. Whether its alcohol, cigarettes, or weed, you don't need months of abstinence. 

Keep in mind too that this is Turkey and the doc may have a much more medieval view of weed than Canada and the US. I feel confident if you call some clinics in the US and Canada, they will different timelines than Dr. Bicer. 

I am not a diffuse thinner. My hairloss is classic Male Pattern Baldness pattern. 

Ultimately do what your gut is telling you, but IMO this is all really silly

 

This sounds like bro science. 

[MachoVato]

41% of Turkish men are smokers. Do you really think they stop smoking for 9 months for their transplant?! No way!

[SamV7]

Not sure if this helps, but when I had my surgery with Dr. Bicer, the next day I went to remove my bandages, there was one patient filling out forms for the next week's surgery. Dr. Bicer's assistant was going over dos and don'ts with me, and when she said no weed for 6 months, the other guy panicked ... so did I to some extend 😂 We both started questioning the logic, and she said it'll thin the blood and affect the outcome of HT. After she left, me and other patient chatted for a little bit and he told me "Dude, I just smoked like last week". To my knowledge he went through the surgery in the next few days anyway, and so far he had no issue. We're still in touch. The only thing he mentioned was that he had clotted quite heavily in a couple of places, and Dr. Bicer wasn't overly worried about that. I am not saying the bleeding was due to using marijuana. I am just stating that he smoked 1-2 weeks before surgery and had no major issue. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by SamV7