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FUT Surgery Tomorrow 7/29/20

Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
OK, I'm taking a big step in this ongoing battle against hair loss.

Tomorrow morning I'm having FUT replacement surgery.
I'm in New England (USA) and I've entrusted my hair to a very reputable plastic surgeon.

Most people on this forum would probably think I have a great head of hair but I have been fighting hair loss for about 5 years now and to no avail.
I've always had hair that was so incredibly thick, I can't believe that I can see my scalp when I get out of the shower.
When I run my fingers through the front of my hair it feels like baby hair. :mad:

For the most part, people wouldn't think of me as having a problem but I know this DHT has been attacking me for at least the last 5 years and I've done everything I can to reverse it or slow it down and nothing really seems to be working.

I'm 57, in great shape and I take no prescribed medications and nothing over the counter.

Over the past 5 years I've done the Saw Palmetto, Biotin, Finasteride and DHT blocking pills from the Internet.
I have a laser cap that I use religiously, I've used a derma roller, DHT blocking shampoos, crazy oil concoctions that I saw on Youtube and nothing has really worked except for Minoxidil and to be honest with you, I'm starting to have my doubts about that too.

I recently went to a hair care specialist that gave me a great detailed report about my hair and he has given me some great advice and I might continue to work with him after my surgery for some aftercare and future progress reports.

My doctor will be filling in the thinning area which so far is just the frontal section.

I'm in no way a doctor and I don't like to play one on a forum but I'd be more than happy to share my experiences with anybody who is struggeling with hair loss.
My opinion is that we're all in this together and it would be nice to learn from one another.

Here are some Pic's I took today, the last day before my procedure.

Spyder
 

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sl

sl

BHR Clinic Patient Advisor
All the best for your surgery! Let us know how it goes..
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
I`ll look forward to hearing all about your surgery.
Good luck and hope all goes well.
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
OK, Here's a picture of my scalp less than an hour after my procedure.

I was under drugs while it all happened. I could hear people but I didn't feel a thing.
I'm a little loopy right now so I`m going to rest.
 

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Arnold6

Arnold6

member
Under drugs? What type of drugs were you given that lasted the whole surgery?
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
Not sure about what drugs they gave me but whatever it was it kept me almost comatose. Like I said, I could hear people talking but I don't think I spoke. I do remember looking up and seeing three people working on removing the graphs from the strip. They were all working with microscopes.
I was scheduled for 1800 graphs but I ended up with 1900 because hey pulled every follicle from the srtip that was cut.
 
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Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
They gave me strong medication for any pain (oxycodone) which is basically Tylenol with codeine but it's now morning and I have experienced no pain...so far. I don't feel ike I need anything for pain. I had a towel on my pillow last night and there was no sign of blood on it this morning.
For the record, I slept like a baby.

According to the Post Op literature, I can gently wash my hair 48 hours after the procedure. My doctor feels that I can resume my Minoxidil usage in 10 days.

I have so much hair in the doner area, you can't even tell I have a rectangular strip on the back of my head.

So far so good.
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Usually, clinics give Valium to relax you during surgery, it can make you drowsy.
1900 is a decent amount of grafts. Did the clinic take pictures of the placement?
Your long hair does hide the FUT donor closure. Did they staple or suture it?
Good to hear you have not suffered any discomfort.
Were you provided with any sort of spray solution to keep the areas moist?
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
Whatever they gave me was like a date rape drug.

I arrived home from the doctors at 3:30 in the afternoon and today I don't remember eating supper last night (even
though my Wife assures me I ate),I asked my wife last night "where's my car", she said it's I the garage. I asked her "who put it in the garage" she said you did. I don't remember squat!

I'm not sure if the doctor took photos or not.
All I was given was Bacitracin.

My wife put Bacitracin on the stitches because I can't see it.

I was told to put the Bacitracin on the sutures twice a day.

It has now been just about 24 hours since the surgery and I feel fine. I've taken nothing for pain but I feel like I've been wearing a baseball cap for
24 hours. I just feel like theres a hat on my head.

I can't wait until I can wash it tomorrow.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Good to hear you feel fine now.
Has the clinic sent you your surgery pictures?
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
No, no surgery photos, at least not yet. I'm going back for a follow up visit on August 5th & I'll ask if there are any photos.

This
morning I was able to wash my hair. I used Johnsons baby shampoo and I didn't scrub, it was just a gentle washing with very gently spray from the shower.

So far I have not had to take any pain medication. The only discomfort I have is in the doner area. The back of my head feels really tight but it's not enough to wreck my day.

Here are two pice. One when I just got out of the shower and another where I ran my fingers through my hair to style it a bit.

So far, so good.......
 

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Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
I had my surgery on Wednesday. This afternoon (Friday) I just had lunch at a restaurant with two friends and they noticed no difference in my appearance. Like I keep saying,,,,,,,so far so good!
 

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bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
Congrats on your surgery dude....good to hear you had a positive experience even though it was a little hazy lol....
Also good to hear your feeling more normal and your friends didnt notice anything. Please keep us updated as things progress dude.
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
It's now been three days after my surgery and last night I woke up at 4:00 am and the back of my head, where the doner section is stitched up felt really tight.So tight it was rather uncomfortable so I got up and took 2 Tylenol capsules and went back to bed.

Today is really hot and sunny, almost 90 degrees outside and I fund that the sun on my head irritates it so I'm kinda avoiding the sun for now which is not really a problem because I'm part vampire. :devilish:
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
Day 6 update:

Over the last 24 hours the doner area on the back of my scalp has really become quite bothersome.
It is so tight that it tends to bother me through the day but it's tolerable.

Sleeping the last 2 nights hasn't been easy.
Sleeping on my back with the back of my head (scar) directly on the pillow is extremely painful.
Unfortunately I prefer to spend about 50% of my time sleeping on my back. Luckily I can sleep on my side so I'm getting some sleep.

So far I have not taken the Prescription Oxycodone but I now see why they gave it to me. Luckily Tylenol has relieved the nuisance discomfort
enough for me to tolerate it and go on with my day. The Tylenol PM allows me to get some sleep.

According to my post-op instructions, everything is going as expected.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Some people do experience more pain than others. Sometimes it can be a throbbing pain. Taking the pain meds at the suggested intervals usually keeps it to a minimum.
Did you have sutures or staples for the donor closure? I found staples made my scalp feel tighter and caused more discomfort than sutures.
Only a few more days to go and you`ll have them removed. It is a good feeling.
 
Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
Some people do experience more pain than others. Sometimes it can be a throbbing pain. Taking the pain meds at the suggested intervals usually keeps it to a minimum.
Did you have sutures or staples for the donor closure? I found staples made my scalp feel tighter and caused more discomfort than sutures.
Only a few more days to go and you`ll have them removed. It is a good feeling.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.

My wife was been applying
Bacitracin on the Doner area and she couldn't tell if it was sutures or staples.
She says it actually looked like somebody drew a black line on by scalp with a sharpie.

All I know is that whatever it is, it's making the back of my scalp wicked tight.

I see the Doc on Aug 10th. I'll get a full report from him about what he did with the doner area.
 
P

Philwhitehouseuk

member
Hi mate
Can I ask why u had strip fut surgery
Cos fut strip scar always stretches
Here are my pics
I was told by surgeon it would only b a pencil thin scar
Nope
My opinion fut surgery is out dated
Fue is better
 

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Alien Spyder

Alien Spyder

member
I had the same question but my surgeon felt that because I'm already almost 60 years old and I still have a massive amount of course thick hair everywhere except for on the top of my head that I would be a perfect candidate for FUT. He doesn't thiml that I'll ever lose the hair on the back and sides of my head. I'm the type of guy that has always had fairly long hair and I would never expect to have a short hair cut.

Time will tell I guess.

The one thing I really like about the FUT procedure is that from the minute I left the doctors office, nobody can tell that anything was done to my hair.
It's now been exactly one week since my surgery and my 16 year old son has no idea I had any kind of procedure done.
The only people who know I had hair transplant surgery is my doctors staff, my wife and you guys here on the forum. :)
 
P

Philwhitehouseuk

member
Oh ok that's fair enough
If u like keeping ur hair long at the back should be no probs hiding scar even if it does stretch over the coming yrs
All the best with the growth etc
 
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