Dr Rafael De Freitas | 3027 Grafts | 12th and 13th December 2022

[drawdownfx]

Hello guys I am having my surgery tomorrow with Dr Freitas and it is only right to give back to this forum by Sharing my journey for anyone else in a similar situation. I was initially scheduled to go to a turkey hair mill clinic and I had my flights booked for April no joke!! Upon watching some videos on YouTube and coming across this forum I immediately cancelled my hair transplant and instead turned it into a holiday as I couldn’t get a refund for my tickets (lovely place and highly recommend visiting turkey). This is all to say if I didn’t find this forum I may not have been lucky with my scalp. I also want to emphasise not to blindly pick a doctor on the recommended forum list, you need to do your research and pick the one that has worked on patients similar to you.

About me

I am 27 years old and a NW3 with a little loss at vertex too. I started finasteride 2 years ago at 0.5mg everyday which I later turned to full 1mg after a year and a half for about a couple months before switching over to Dutasteride 5x a week. I also use topical minoxidil once a day, I know Dr Freitas prescribed oral minoxidil so I am open to this if the same is prescribed to me. 
 

Brief History

I started losing my juvenile hairline (loss at temples) at 13 and still remember the sad look on my face at the barbers lol. Since then I’ve lost more ground on my temples till now at a slow pace. I also started thinning at my crown a couple years ago. This is the whole reason I started finasteride couple years ago. I actually started finasteride for about a week at 19 but stopped due to the horror stories (I wish I had not because I didn’t get any side effects at 25 when I did start).

 

Reasons I went with Dr Freitas

1. Great portfolio

2. Great preservation of donor area

3. Love the hairline work

4. Homogeneous extraction

Consultation process

I initially messaged in May (I think) but heard nothing back for 3 months. I messaged again and finally got a response with an apology and a quote for 2800 grafts. After my research here and also Spanish forums I decided to go ahead with Dr Freitas but arranged a face to face which they gave me for September. He went through the process with me thoroughly in person though I do wish he was a little bit more thorough with my hair by using microscope etc. I expressed my desire to do temple work to which he agreed after looking at my hair and changed his quote to 3000 grafts and also said it will probably end up being a bit more but if it does I won’t be charged extra for it. 
 

The Dates

I was initially scheduled to have the surgery in feb 2023 which was pushed to Dec 2022 after cancellation. I was pushing for cancellations as my sisters wedding is in June 2023 and I wanted to have some growth by then! 
 

P.S. I understand hair transplant is not an exact science and even the best doctors can have mediocre cases. I have done my due diligence in my research process and hopefully have done everything from my side to achieve a good result. 🤞 

Final Thoughts (I AM NERVOUS ARGHH)
I am currently in my hotel room a day before and although I am excited I am also nervous as hell! I was a bit bummed out that Dr Freitas didn’t speak English so I am hoping that I am able to translate my thoughts across well tomorrow 🤞

I may have missed some details so if you have any questions feel free to ask. Please also let me know what are some good questions to ask before the surgery

I am attaching some photos and videos below of my current situation.

[Melvin- Admin]

Eager to see another Dr. De Freitas journey. Great choice!

[BaldGuy]

Good to see more Freitas patient cases...Nice surgeon choice. all the Best !

[Stilgar]

You have booked yourself one of the best surgeons out there, also you have already did the maximum to protect your native hair by following the medication route, I am also NW3 and been on Fin for one year, also i am planning to go to De Freitas in the next year. I just have one question though, why did you pump the meds up to Dut, has Fin not worked well for you or has the Dr. prescribed you Dut?
Best of luck with your endeavour and please keep this thread alive ✊

[thetdog666]

3 hours ago, BaldGuy said:

Good to see more Freitas patient cases...Nice surgeon choice. all the Best !

Loads on Spanish and Italian forums

 

[TorontoMan]

Ah I know the night before jitters at the hotel feeling. Great surgeon and hopefully that lets you take your mind off things. 

 

Best of luck 

[Kraki77]

I have the surgery booked for the exactly same dates next year. I'm surprised to hear that doctor is not speaking English. However, you have no reason to stress about anything. You've already done your homework by researching enough to ensure the best possible outcome. It's now time for doctor to deliver. Can you tell us what kind of weather we can expect during this time of year in Valencia and which hotel did they choose for you?

[Gramatik]

If Freitas doesnt speak English, then a translator should be used to communicate with the doctor. So i suppose there is translator, during the meeting with the doc?

[Vann]

Best of luck to you and dont fret too much going forward. If you have any questions feel free to ask the community. Stay strong and I am looking forward to your journey.

[deeznuts]

Ah good luck dude. I'm booked with him for March and just realized I haven't even got a passport lol. If you do a 3 month checkup with him or something like that I'll buy you a beer lol.

Which hotel do they have you in?

What's the plan they have for you? Just filling in the hairline? 

[drawdownfx]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:24 PM, Stilgar said:

You have booked yourself one of the best surgeons out there, also you have already did the maximum to protect your native hair by following the medication route, I am also NW3 and been on Fin for one year, also i am planning to go to De Freitas in the next year. I just have one question though, why did you pump the meds up to Dut, has Fin not worked well for you or has the Dr. prescribed you Dut?
Best of luck with your endeavour and please keep this thread alive ✊

I had no side effects with finasteride and seeing my thinning in the vertex I wanted to do as much as possible to reverse that loss if possible so I jumped on Dutasteride and luckily I’ve had no side effects. My thinking was that if I do experience anything il go back down. I am going to do a post with an update on what the doctor has recommended so hold tight!

Edited December 15, 2022 by drawdownfx

[drawdownfx]

On 12/12/2022 at 3:39 PM, Kraki77 said:

I have the surgery booked for the exactly same dates next year. I'm surprised to hear that doctor is not speaking English. However, you have no reason to stress about anything. You've already done your homework by researching enough to ensure the best possible outcome. It's now time for doctor to deliver. Can you tell us what kind of weather we can expect during this time of year in Valencia and which hotel did they choose for you?

Hey I am from UK so it’s -3 here atm 😄. However in Valencia you can expect between 14-19 Celsius. A cardigan will do well! 

The hotel they gave me was silken Puerto Valencia. It’s like 7 minutes from the clinic in car. You can use an app called FreeNow (which is their version of Uber)and  cost is about 7 euros. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by drawdownfx

[drawdownfx]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:09 PM, Gramatik said:

If Freitas doesnt speak English, then a translator should be used to communicate with the doctor. So i suppose there is translator, during the meeting with the doc?

Yes translator was always available but it’s just different when you speak directly. I could tell there were things getting lost In between the communication.

[drawdownfx]

On 12/13/2022 at 7:45 AM, deeznuts said:

Ah good luck dude. I'm booked with him for March and just realized I haven't even got a passport lol. If you do a 3 month checkup with him or something like that I'll buy you a beer lol.

Which hotel do they have you in?

What's the plan they have for you? Just filling in the hairline? 

Filling in the hairline+ temples. Il take you up on that  I don’t drink alcohol but we can have some paella🥘

[BaldingEagle1]

Good luck man, hope everything goes well.

 

Excited for your journey brotha

[drawdownfx]

Day 1

I arrived at the clinic at 10:45. Doctor did the hairline design , I showed him what I wanted (basically a straight line, I wanted him to get as close to that as possible). He said because you are NW3 and you also have slight diffusion in the frontal lock we would have to be a bit more conservative to ensure density throughout and future preservation. I was not one to argue with the doc and tbh the line he drew was something I was very happy with. 
 

My extraction was done by a woman named Yasmin who has been with him for 7 years. I was scared of the injections from what I read but they were fine maybe 4/10. Max 6/10 in some areas but it lasts a couple of seconds. We did a 1000 extraction of grafts followed by a break for about 15 minutes and then Dr Freitas implanted the 1000 grafts and that was it for the day. We were done for about 16:00. Below Il attach some pictures of day 1. 
 

I was happy to hear Dr Freitas saying I have strong hair like the Spanish people here  let’s hope this translates to the growth🤞
 

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Day 2

The sleep was not as bad as I anticipated, I managed to sleep for a good 8 hours although I did wake up a few times to arrange the pillow but overall cannot complain.

I wasn’t looking forward to day 2 as I knew it would be a long exhausting day with an extraction of 2000 grafts. 

P.S. Dr Freitas said I had a lot of 3’s and 4’s which I was so happy to hear!

In summary here is how the day went for day 2

1) Extraction of 1000 grafts again by Yasmin. 

2) Implantation by Dr Freitas. This one hurt more on day 1 rather than day 2 and it’s because every time it hurt I let the doctor know. Guys any implantation with the implanter pens should not be hurting and if it does you should let the doctor know immediately don’t try to withhold the pain. Yes your head is going to feel like a helmet afterwards due to anaesthesia but it’s better than pain

3. Lunch break of 45 mins

4. Final extraction of 1027 grafts

5. Final Implantation of 1000 grafts.

A quote to remember from Dr Freitas with his broken English “Now anaesthesia, no cry okay :D” I proceeded to make crying sounds lol.

Man I really wish he could speak English or I spoke Portuguese (he’s Brazilian) so I could form a better connection and relationship with him.

All in all fantastic in every area. The clinic was so clean, modern and Pristine.

il attach pictures from day 2 here. 
 

I had slight discomfort in the hotel for the 2 days after the work done in the clinic but it usually subsided when I woke up in the morning. Also be prepared to see blood on your sheets (clinic will provide some to put on your cervical pillow) 

Edited December 15, 2022 by drawdownfx

[drawdownfx]

Day 4 and final graft count+numbers

Surgery was on the 12th and 13th  and I flew back yesterday on the 14th. My biggest worry was to prevent bumping into anything for the trip back and luckily I didn’t. 
I have been trying hard to trap my hands in my pocket to prevent touching the recepient area but I ended up scratching the middle of my head for like 2 seconds before Immediately woke up( it’s amazing how our body works). I got paranoid but when I looked in the mirror everything looked fine and I went back to sleep (this time tying my hands up, anyone else had a similar experience?) 

I have done 2 washes so far so Il update by latest pic now. Next update will probably be after the full wash. I have slight swelling near my eyes but that should hopefully go down within the next couple of days. 
 

I have to say I was very nervous about getting my temples done simply because of how many botches I’ve seen and that includes clinics who claim to be experts in the temple region. What gave me the confidence was I had not seen a single case of freitas where the angles of the grafts implanted looked incorrect. Now all Fingers crossed it turns out well🤞

 

Here’s the most up to date pics taken last night and today after 2 donor washes (very lightly with baby shampoo).

 

If I have missed anything out or if you have any questions please let me know. Please do give me feedback on the work done too.

 

Final graft count 

singles: 484

Doubles: 1,512

Triples: 990

Quadruples: 41

Total grafts: 3027

Total Hairs: 6642

Ratio: 2.19

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by drawdownfx

[Melvin- Admin]

Wow what a detailed thread, you’re giving @NARMAK a run for his money. Everything looks fantastic. Happy growing.

[drawdownfx]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Wow what a detailed thread, you’re giving @NARMAK a run for his money. Everything looks fantastic. Happy growing.

Oh c'mon Melvin he's still using LG Chocolate to upload his updates. @NARMAK update your damn phone bro  

P.S. could you update the title to 3027 grafts @Melvin- Moderator

P.P.S Forgot to mention roughly 200 grafts were used for each temples.

[NARMAK]

42 minutes ago, drawdownfx said:

Oh c'mon Melvin he's still using LG Chocolate to upload his updates. @NARMAK update your damn phone bro  

P.S. could you update the title to 3027 grafts @Melvin- Moderator

P.P.S Forgot to mention roughly 200 grafts were used for each temples.

You take that back! Everybody loves chocolate!

Great write up and really chuffed for you that everything has gone well so far. Lots of rest, patience and small touch of luck now should see you get a solid result. 

I'm looking forwards to seeing the temple point results as i definitely think they help to cement a solid hairline too. 

[TheGreatPretender]

Great review man, i remember speaking to you a few months back about you going in for De Freitas so congrats for getting it done early.

Now its time for managing the "growth pains" and letting time work its magic out.

By the way, I am also from the UK so it seems like I am not the first one to go there from around these parts. How did you manage the cab transfer proccess to the hotel if I may ask? 

Also, about the blood test, did you do yours at NHS or privately?

Edited December 15, 2022 by TheGreatPretender

[Vann]

4 hours ago, drawdownfx said:

Day 1

I arrived at the clinic at 10:45. Doctor did the hairline design , I showed him what I wanted (basically a straight line, I wanted him to get as close to that as possible). He said because you are NW3 and you also have slight diffusion in the frontal lock we would have to be a bit more conservative to ensure density throughout and future preservation. I was not one to argue with the doc and tbh the line he drew was something I was very happy with. 
 

My extraction was done by a woman named Yasmin who has been with him for 7 years. I was scared of the injections from what I read but they were fine maybe 4/10. Max 6/10 in some areas but it lasts a couple of seconds. We did a 1000 extraction of grafts followed by a break for about 15 minutes and then Dr Freitas implanted the 1000 grafts and that was it for the day. We were done for about 16:00. Below Il attach some pictures of day 1. 
 

I was happy to hear Dr Freitas saying I have strong hair like the Spanish people here  let’s hope this translates to the growth🤞
 

I like the aggressive yet conservative approach. Those temple points are greedy imo but I think it’s going to be suuuper impactful on your long term symmetry. 
 

thanks for sharing man and keep up the updates there’s a lot of people here watching this closely.

[Hairy Henderson]

Great pics and description; the temples looks great.  Eager to see how this one turns out.

[drawdownfx]

1 hour ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Great review man, i remember speaking to you a few months back about you going in for De Freitas so congrats for getting it done early.

Now its time for managing the "growth pains" and letting time work its magic out.

By the way, I am also from the UK so it seems like I am not the first one to go there from around these parts. How did you manage the cab transfer proccess to the hotel if I may ask? 

Also, about the blood test, did you do yours at NHS or privately?

Thanks man. I know you are eagerly waiting for yours and I hope we both have home runs!

I actually asked them about patients from UK and they said UK is a bit rare. They mainly get patients from Spain, Italy, America and Canada (not 100% sure if she mentioned Canada).

I used an app called "Free Now", that is their version of uber. However on the way to your hotel from the airport I highly recommend getting Valencia travel card. Depending on how long you are going for you can get up to 72H and can use unlimited amount of buses and metros. Once you get your scalp touched though I would only use taxi for transport which is what I did as you want to minimise getting your recipient area bumping into anything.