Arrived in Istanbul

[OleBaldy]

Well, my flights were uneventful. After a little searching, I was able to find my gate and the contact person at the airport. This is located on a board on the sides of the walkway not someone holding it after a 10 minute wait I was walked up to a van that took me to my hotel. The van was very ornate. The driver had it re-decorated like a limousine. He was very talkative and put on some Turkish music at my request. We were both rocking to this great sound. At the hotel everyone was very pleasant. I was checked in, and my bags were bought my room. The restaurant was still open in the hotel, and I ordered a steak with blanched spinach. The food is good at the hotel, and there are plenty of choices. The hotel room is very nice and clean. Although you may have to have them show you how to operate the air conditioner. It is not intuitive. I slept until about 2:30 in the morning and then could not sleep. I guess the anticipation of the day and jet lag. I am going to order breakfast now and wait on my driver. Today is the day again thank you to everyone who gave advice and have share their stories on this forum. It is truly the best place on the Internet if you were looking at hair restoration. I will try to post more this afternoon after the surgery.

[OleBaldy]

I guess I should have stated I am using Fue Capilar and Dr Gur

[Cooper48]

Good luck!

[Jupiter_]

Good luck...how many grafts and how much are you going to pay for the hair transplant ?

[Hairwolf]

Good luck and keep posting!

[RobsHair16]

Best of luck, hope all goes well 😀

[OleBaldy]

Ok I guess I messed up the post the night after my surgery so I will try to duplicate it. 
I ate breakfast at the hotel the morning of the surgery and it was really good! The hotel is a Wyndham property and is nice and comfortable only complaint was the phone didnt work to call room service. Around 9 AM Ahmet text me to say he was on his way to pick me up. He arrived about 10 minutes later, and we walked together back to the clinic, which is only a short walk from the hotel. Upon arriving at the clinic Ahmet provided me with some paperwork that needed to be filled out. This was mostly releases for the surgery and some personal and medical information. Shortly after arriving Dr. Gur walked in and introduced himself. From the first time meeting him, I instantly liked him. He was warm and genuine. I finished up my paperwork and Ahmet escorted me back to a room where they do the tri scope, and also take before pics. I told them they needed to make everyone stick their bottom lip out and the before picture. I was told that my density was good and that my scalp was in good condition. After explaining the procedure and what was going to happen this was done by Ahmet I was led over to the surgical room where I took off my shoes and socks, and my shirt. Again was placed on me. It was a black stylish, one, not the ones with the flowers showing all your goods. 😂 they also put some white paper slippers on my feet. They were kind of goofy and didn’t like to stay on so when I got on the table I kicked them off.  I would put them on when I needed to stand. The staff came in consisting of two assistance, a male and a female and two other females that were set up in front of microscope’s. I was told I would be giving anesthetic shots in my scalp, and they placed rubber donuts in my hands to grip down on. The guy giving the shots was excellent. I literally just rolled the donuts around in my hand and spun them around my fingers. The male and female then started to extract the graphs. I was face down on the table and this was a pretty lengthy process. I would guess 2 hours or more. Occasionally, I felt a little heat and pricking sensation when they got in a certain area. The two working on me paid close attention and could tail when I was having pain and asked me if I was having pain they would then administer more anesthetic to the area. As they removed the graphs, they had small sponges on their hands or two by twos I believe they were, and they were placing the graphs on these the two that were at the microscope’s were examining the graphs and separating them into groups ones twos threes etc., after they finished extracting the grafts it was time for lunch. I had chosen earlier when I filled out my paperwork. What I would like for lunch there was a pretty good variety. I chose the chicken and it was excellent. I only took about 10 minutes for lunch and then it was time to get back on the table this time laying on my back. There was a prop that was placed underneath my neck for me. It was very uncomfortable, almost painful and they tried to adjust it for me to be more comfortable, but never got it to work. I just decided to block it out and go with it. Dr. Gur came into the surgical suite and asked how I was doing. I told him everything was good. He told me he was doing the final design and channel openings at this time. It was time for another round of shots and this went equally well like the first time one or two times near the temples. It was fairly painful but nothing unbearable and didn’t last long. I had heard people say they had really painful shots but I did not experience anything over the top. After the anesthetic was administered, Dr Gur started making all of the channel openings that seem like it took around an hour to accomplish may be a little longer. After all of the channel openings were made, the team came back in and started placing the grafts. As I laid on the table, thoughts rush through my head of the mini years I have been without my hair. I got just a little bit emotional to myself appreciating the journey I was now on. I had thought about for a very long time, having a hair transplant, but never going through with it and here I was on the table having it done. After several more hours, the surgery was done. They wrapped the donor area in gauze I was given some more instructions for the night And walked back to my hotel when I first arrived at the hotel I didn’t feel bad but I didn’t feel great either. I decided to lay down and rest a bit which I did for a couple of hours and felt great afterwards I ordered some room service, and after eating, decided it was time for bed , I slept with three pillows that kept me away from the headboard and with the neck pillow that was provided by the clinic. I slept pretty good that night awaking a few times and by morning I felt pretty good. I once again ate a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. It is a Buffet style and there are lots of choices. There is an area out on a glassed in patio that I sat by myself so as not to cause any disturbance to anyone else eating there. The hotel staff was so gracious, bringing me drinks and making sure I had everything I needed while I ate. At around 12:30 PM Ahmet came to the hotel to bring me to the clinic again for my clinic wash. Your clinic wash is not considered your first wash that will come when you do your own at home. They are very careful with how they handle you when they wash your hair. It is more of a tapping down with foam and then a gentle rinse. This mimics the same technique you will use to wash and care for your hair in the immediate days following your surgery after the wash we went and took more pictures of the after results. I also got pictures with the staff and of course with Ahmet and Dr. GUR. I did quite a bit of research before I chose clinic and a doctor. Everyone has to do this for themselves but for me, I will tell you I do not believe I could’ve made a better decision. Dr. Gur is one of the most warm and sincere people you will meet. His entire staff is exactly like him. They are warm and kind and it made the entire experience that much better. Ahmet works very close in the clinic with Dr. GUR and is highly knowledgeable of the entire process and what they do. Your communication will be either with him or Akif, which I also met and really a great guy. After my wash, I had asked.Ahmet if he thought it would be OK if I went and saw a few of the mosque they were close by. I wanted to see the Hagia Sophia I believe it was built in 400? It is worth your time to go see this. It is amazing and beautiful. Also, in this area is a bazaar and another mosque close by the blue mosque. Both of these are accessible to the public. Everyone will remove their shoes. There are places to keep them outside, and women must wear head scarves. Also, right here in this area are many restaurants and there is a large Bazarre you will find most anything you could want to here. Be aware the people in these bizarre’s are super high pressure salesman sometimes. I rather appreciated this experience and did buy some things from them. There are all types of shops, including a leather shop that had some amazing leather jackets. The man running the shop had been there for well over 60 years, and he was kind and gracious. The bazaar is an extremely large area, and there are many people from all nationalities. I stopped at a little roadside Café called The Old House Terrace and had the lamb. It was really good. I missed one of my flights on the way home and so I did not get home until Sunday mid day after surgery on Thursday. I have completed my first wash and have very little tenderness or soreness anywhere in my head. I have had some swelling, probably due to the long plane ride and activity. It is important to rest and allow your body to heal. Your body heals best when you sleep. Also, before leaving the airport, I stopped in the drugstore and bought finasteride a year supply and vitamins. They were recommended by the pharmacy for hair growth. I will continue to post and keep you updated on my progress. I’m excited to see some soldiers up top there.

[OleBaldy]

On 10/26/2023 at 4:19 AM, Jupiter_ said:

Good luck...how many grafts and how much are you going to pay for the hair transplant ?

I had 3230 grafts 3300 euros that included two nights at the hotel and all transfers including airport. 

[Gatsby]

That’s basically one Euro per graft including accommodation and transport! 😳

[OleBaldy]

7 hours ago, Gatsby said:

That’s basically one Euro per graft including accommodation and transport! 😳

I dont think I could have made a better decision on this one not just based on money but the entire experience was really good.

[OleBaldy]

Well here I am day 13 post op. The scabs were all gone on wash day 9 and I seem to have good coverage. Hopefully will get to see more growth before shedding occurs. Some of the pics do not show the hair as I see it looking at it. Looks less in pics Ill work on trying to make the pic more indicative of what it looks like. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Hans - Webmaster
moved images the end of the text

[OleBaldy]

Day 25 post op and over the last few days I have shed a lot of hair both in recipient and donor site. If not for this forum and the information here I would really be stressed out and worried. I am instead embracing this as part of the journey as other parts have been also. Having a visible hairline for these past three weeks has been amazing I even bought a set of brushes. I have been looking at hair styles something I haven't given thought to in over 20 years and it feels good. I took a few pics tonight of the carnage of shedding.......give me your best funny jab at what it looks like  

 

[austx]

How is it looking @OleBaldy ? Please update.