On June 5th, I received a total of 2766 Grafts via FUT (Strip Harvesting). This is my second procedure. My first procedure was with Dr. Alvi Armani at the age of 22 in July 2009 in which I had received 3200 Grafts via FUE. As the full 18 months for the final results had expired I found myself to be unhappy as it had resulted in patchy work and less than acceptable yield. My family history of baldness is pretty clear with the exception of 2 uncles on my mother’s side eventually halting at both Norwood 2’s. However, with the unpredictable nature of genetics, Dr. Rahal took this into consideration in addition to my donor being overharvested by the previous procedure. It was during the pre-op consultation that Dr. Rahal had made this assessment and estimated 2500 grafts give me the results I had sought after the first pass. In my first meeting with Dr. Rahal, I found him to be highly ethical and his bedside manner bar none. Dr. Rahal is truly an artist and assured me the results would look great.
I was somewhat nervous in this endeavor as it was my first experience with strip. However, once arriving to the Brookline Guesthouse (formerly known as Fox Bar) I found myself to be comforted by the likes of fellow forum members HairGoesNothing, and a few other lurkers. The owner of the guesthouse, Mahesh, was more than hospitable and truly exemplifies the hospitality of my fellow Canadians! During my 7 day stay at the Brookline Guesthouse I was blessed with the opportunity to connect and relate to several others hair loss sufferers as we traded “war stories” on a daily basis.
In regards to the procedure, I found it to be painless for the most part. The only discomfort I felt were the needles used to freeze the donor and the recipient, but for the most part, it went smoothly. After the procedure, Mike, the head nurse, wrapped me up and sent me on my way with a care package (pain medication, gauze, etc.)
I found the first few nights to be extremely uncomfortable while sleeping in the recliner. I probably had woken up every 3 hours. However as the days passed so did the pain albeit it was still somewhat uncomfortable laying my head with the sutures in.
My final thoughts
I’m currently 1 day short of the 2 week mark and will be removing my sutures with local hair surgeon Dr. Arocha on Wednesday. I’ve been following the post op instructions to a T and will be getting Dr. Arocha’s perspective on the progress on how everything is healing. At this point, I just finished my last antibiotic, and extremely glad to finish the vitamin E oil. I found the oil to be a pain in the butt! I can’t say enough about Dr. Rahal and the clinic. I have never been handled with so much care and I remain truly optimistic about my results in a matter of months. I can easily say at this point that this is the best investment I have ever made. My only regret is not going with Dr. Rahal my first time! if that were the case, I would have never needed this second pass. Also, a big shoutout to HairGoesNothing (The Jedi Master of Hair transplantation!) He even gave me a lift to the Ottawa Airport! All around stand up guy. I’ll be checking back in every month and providing month to month progress reports.
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