Some facts I came to know (or felt) during and after my hair transplant surgery -

I'll write more details about my transplant once I'm in better shape (hopefully a week later). I'm not really good at writing but wanted to share this information if it helps other people. Pardon me for any typos or mistakes.

About me first:

I'm 36 yrs old. Have hair loss on top of my head and crown. Don't have any hair loss history in family. Never taken any medicines for hair loss.

Transplant Summary:

Grafts Transplanted: 3010

Total Surgery Time: 7 hrs (includes rest time, instructions session, etc as well). I don't really know the exact time but my guess is actual OT time was 4-5 hrs.

Donor area: one strip was taken (ear-to-ear) from back of my head and donor area was stitched using absorbable sutures (on my choice). I will get more information on donor strip (like width and anything else they tell me) on my follow up on third day.

Post Surgery Facts:
Please note - I never had any surgeries in past. I only dealt with needles whenever I needed an immunisation. Its been 18 hrs since my transplant surgery was completed and I walked out of doctor's office. So this information is based on what I've felt in last 18 hrs.

• Overall Condition: I can walk, eat and can do almost anything except stressful work. I can do easily everything. Please note any hard work that includes stress i.e exercise, swimming, is not recommended by doctor. And with what I feel now, I won't be able to do anything like that.
• A big and thick bandage wrapped over the donor area (from ear-to-ear) and a head-band (real tight) has been placed over it which covers the back bandage and my forehead.
• Recommended: Keep head away from water. Eat light food. Don't drink alcohol (that's really killing me) for next few days. Don't smoke (what the hell, I can't control myself - I'm smoking 1 cigarette almost every 4 hrs).
• Pain - As I already mentioned, I'm not good with needles. So I felt decent amount of pain while I was given local anaesthesia and until it took effect. After that (6-7 hrs after surgery), I felt pain (not too much but enough to make me uncomfortable) after the effect of local anaesthesia was gone. Specially, back in my head (in donor area, from where follicles were taken). No pain in receiver area. It's only bleeding a bit in receiver area (the area where hairs were transplanted) but not really much (its like small drops of blood at few places). 12 hrs after surgery, I cleaned the receiver area ONLY ONCE using the cotton and bandage provided by the doctor. I only touched the receiver area using bandage (without any pressure). After that, I still see blood but its dry now, no more bleeding or pain in receiver area. not sure how donor area looks as I don't have anybody with me today to check it out and I don't really want to take the bandage off.
• I have been given following tablets - antibiotic, antacid, pain reliever and vitamin. Have been recommended to take twice a day with meal except the vitamin which should be taken once a day.
• Comfort - Definitely uncomfortable in sleeping and laying down (couldn't really use pillows). Sitting, walking and doing anything which does not touches my head, is easy.

What I Can't :

• Can NOT turn my head down while standing straight (without bending my body). Feel pressure on my donor area if I try it more than 10-15 degrees.
• Can NOT turn my sideways more than 45 degrees (approx). If I turn more I star feeling pressure on donor area.

My Look Now:

Before Surgery:
I had cut my hairs few days before the surgery using #5 trimmer (not sure by I assume approximate length-less than 1/2 inch). Top of the head has few hairs (thin with decent density), on crown (very thin with very low density), less hairs between crown and top of the head (very thin with low density). Front sideways were clean without any hair with receding hair line. But top of my head had some hair so it was not really a desert.

After Surgery:
Hairs transplanted to front sideways, front and middle of the head top, leaving crown untouched. So my head was shaved only between crown and forehead leaving crown, sides and back untouched

Current Look:

• Not bad if I can cover my head. If I don't, I can't go to work with this look for sure.
• If I take off the bandage and head-band, no one will be able to see the donor area without moving my hair off it. Right after the surgery, the doctor took a picture of my donor area after taking the bandage off on my request. That's how I know about the look of donor area.

I will come back with more details (including doctor, transplant details, cost or anything else I can think of) later. Need sometime to get my head back to normal.

Feel free to leave a comment, questions or contact me. Please note, I won't be able to respond to emails/questions that asks about the doctor, transplantation details, cost, pictures etc even including my consultation experience with other doctors. You will have to wait for that information, I'll post all this information along with pictures to this blog and on my another blog on blogspot once I'm in good shape.