Tweet
Hello all,
It is Day 4 after my transplant with Dr Glenn Charles so I wanted to give you my first update. I am going to try be thorough, so it may be a bit long. I received a total of 3410 grafts.
I flew into Florida on Thursday night. My wife decided to come along, so that made the trip all the better. It was almost midnight by the time we made it to the hotel. I woke up early Friday morning before my alarm went off. I was nervous and anxious and just wanted to get the day started. We went out and had a nice breakfast before heading to the Doctors office. We got to the office about 9:15 and filled out the required paperwork. We met with Dr. Charles about 9:40. We went over the placement of my new hairline and then he explained the steps of the HT. Dr. Charles told me that the only pain I would feel during the procedure would be from the needles of the local anesthesia he was going to inject in my head. I was very nervous at this point since I have been very worried about the pain during and after the surgery. Dr. Charles asked me if I wanted to be up for the procedure or not. I told him I would rather be up as long as he did not think it would be a problem for me, so he gave me a Valium and an antibiotic and he brought me in to get prepared to start.
After gowning up, they sat me in what looked like a electric barber’s chair covered plastic. I just wanted to get started because I knew at that point there would be no turning back. Dr Charles starting injecting me in the back of my head with the local and I have to say I only felt a couple of the shots and the pain of that part was much less than I thought it was going to be . With the help of one of the technicians, he then shaved the area in the back of my head where he was going to remove the strip. Once that was complete, he started to remove the strip. I did not feel any pain at all for this, but I could tell what he was doing behind my head. Once the strip was removed, the technicians started working on cutting up the grafts while Dr. Charles stitched me up. He had about 5 technicians cutting the grafts. Next he had me lay back in the chair while he started making the incisions for the grafts in my head. After this was complete, he had the technicians start to place the grafts in my head. There was one technician at first placing grafts. She was very nice and talkative, which helped put me at ease. After about 20 minutes a second technician started placing grafts on the other side. I told her I could feel the right side slightly, it did not hurt, but I could feel it more than the other side. They gave me some more anesthesia and kept inserting grafts. The technicians would rotate about every 20 minutes. Dr Charles would be in and out checking on me periodically. They ordered us lunch and we stopped to eat at about 1:00 for 20 minutes. I was glad for the break. I was not in any pain, but my neck was starting to hurt from being in the same position for so long. Once lunch was over we resumed the process, sometimes with 2 technicians working at a time and sometimes 3. The last couple of hours were a bit tougher, although I did not feel any pain I was getting antsy sitting in the same position for so long. We finally finished about 3:30. Dr Charles checked all of the grafts and then he cleaned me up and had me get dressed. We went into his office and he gave me instructions on what to do over the next few days. He told me all went very good with the transplant, he said I did not bleed much at all and all the grafts went in very easy. He had previously prescribed me a painkiller and antibiotics. I had a 7:00 flight back to NY, so he told me to take 3 Tylenol when I got to the airport, since the local was going to start wearing off and he told me to take one of the painkiller when I got home that night. His staff was very professional and the procedure went just as he said it would.
I could not wait to just get home at this point I was not in pain, but the back of my head was sore. I was tired from the toll the day had taken. I finally got home at about 11:00 pm. My wife wanted me to take a pain killer, but I decided just take Tylenol again. I wanted to avoid the painkiller if possible, since they do not agree with me. Since I was sore, but not in a lot pain I figured I would stick with the Tylenol and take the painkiller if things got worse during the night. Dr Charles told me to sleep in bed with 2 pillows, but I decided to sleep in a recliner with a neck pillow. After going through this whole process I was afraid of rolling over and damaging the grafts, so I thought the recliner was a better option. I sprayed my head with H2Ocean (saline solution with Lysozyme), which the doctor had given me and went to sleep. I woke up about 3:00 am and I was in more pain than when I went to bed, but it was still more sore than actual pain, so I took more Tylenol. I went back to sleep and slept to about 5:30 am.
My thoughts at this point is I am very glad it is over and that I went through with it. I was very worried about the pain after the HT, but for me at least I have not had any real pain, just some soreness and discomfort. I am just hoping that I am happy with the eventual result.
Day one: I was still sore when I woke up, but it was much better than I had thought it would be. There was no severe pain at all, just soreness in the back of my head and no pain in the graft area. I kept spraying my head with the H2Ocean every couple of hours and kept checking myself in the mirror. I was still worried about hitting my head or doing something to loose grafts. I went to bed that night again in the recliner and again I woke up a few hours later in some pain in the back of my head. I took 3 Tylenol and went back to bed.
Day two: I got up and was happy because I was going to take my first shower. I used a cup to pour water over my head. I lathered up the sides and back, but I was afraid to touch the grafts ever though Dr. Charles instructions said I could lightly pat the grafts with soap. I decided to mix soap in a cup and pour it over my head. After the shower my head started to look much better to me. I continued to use the H2Ocean spray. I wanted to sleep in my bed that night, so I laid down with 2 pillows. I was in some pain in the donor area because I was lying on my back and I gave up after about an hour so back to the recliner went. I figured I would get a better nights sleep that
Day three: MY wife is telling me that the grafts are looking better and some of the redness has gone away. It is hard for me to tell myself looking in the mirror. My forehead was starting to swell up and bit, which the doctor warned me about, so I kept icing for 5 minutes every couple of hours. I took another shower and gave the donor area a little more of a scrub, I still used a cup to rinse off, I did very lightly pat the top of my head with soap, which is still totally numb. The funny part is I knew the donor area was numb, but I did not realize the graft area was as well. I am still using the H2Ocean spray every couple of hours.
Before
Harline
Right After HT
Day one
Day 2 
Day 3 
Donor Area Day 3
It is Day 4 after my transplant with Dr Glenn Charles so I wanted to give you my first update. I am going to try be thorough, so it may be a bit long. I received a total of 3410 grafts.
I flew into Florida on Thursday night. My wife decided to come along, so that made the trip all the better. It was almost midnight by the time we made it to the hotel. I woke up early Friday morning before my alarm went off. I was nervous and anxious and just wanted to get the day started. We went out and had a nice breakfast before heading to the Doctors office. We got to the office about 9:15 and filled out the required paperwork. We met with Dr. Charles about 9:40. We went over the placement of my new hairline and then he explained the steps of the HT. Dr. Charles told me that the only pain I would feel during the procedure would be from the needles of the local anesthesia he was going to inject in my head. I was very nervous at this point since I have been very worried about the pain during and after the surgery. Dr. Charles asked me if I wanted to be up for the procedure or not. I told him I would rather be up as long as he did not think it would be a problem for me, so he gave me a Valium and an antibiotic and he brought me in to get prepared to start.
After gowning up, they sat me in what looked like a electric barber’s chair covered plastic. I just wanted to get started because I knew at that point there would be no turning back. Dr Charles starting injecting me in the back of my head with the local and I have to say I only felt a couple of the shots and the pain of that part was much less than I thought it was going to be . With the help of one of the technicians, he then shaved the area in the back of my head where he was going to remove the strip. Once that was complete, he started to remove the strip. I did not feel any pain at all for this, but I could tell what he was doing behind my head. Once the strip was removed, the technicians started working on cutting up the grafts while Dr. Charles stitched me up. He had about 5 technicians cutting the grafts. Next he had me lay back in the chair while he started making the incisions for the grafts in my head. After this was complete, he had the technicians start to place the grafts in my head. There was one technician at first placing grafts. She was very nice and talkative, which helped put me at ease. After about 20 minutes a second technician started placing grafts on the other side. I told her I could feel the right side slightly, it did not hurt, but I could feel it more than the other side. They gave me some more anesthesia and kept inserting grafts. The technicians would rotate about every 20 minutes. Dr Charles would be in and out checking on me periodically. They ordered us lunch and we stopped to eat at about 1:00 for 20 minutes. I was glad for the break. I was not in any pain, but my neck was starting to hurt from being in the same position for so long. Once lunch was over we resumed the process, sometimes with 2 technicians working at a time and sometimes 3. The last couple of hours were a bit tougher, although I did not feel any pain I was getting antsy sitting in the same position for so long. We finally finished about 3:30. Dr Charles checked all of the grafts and then he cleaned me up and had me get dressed. We went into his office and he gave me instructions on what to do over the next few days. He told me all went very good with the transplant, he said I did not bleed much at all and all the grafts went in very easy. He had previously prescribed me a painkiller and antibiotics. I had a 7:00 flight back to NY, so he told me to take 3 Tylenol when I got to the airport, since the local was going to start wearing off and he told me to take one of the painkiller when I got home that night. His staff was very professional and the procedure went just as he said it would.
I could not wait to just get home at this point I was not in pain, but the back of my head was sore. I was tired from the toll the day had taken. I finally got home at about 11:00 pm. My wife wanted me to take a pain killer, but I decided just take Tylenol again. I wanted to avoid the painkiller if possible, since they do not agree with me. Since I was sore, but not in a lot pain I figured I would stick with the Tylenol and take the painkiller if things got worse during the night. Dr Charles told me to sleep in bed with 2 pillows, but I decided to sleep in a recliner with a neck pillow. After going through this whole process I was afraid of rolling over and damaging the grafts, so I thought the recliner was a better option. I sprayed my head with H2Ocean (saline solution with Lysozyme), which the doctor had given me and went to sleep. I woke up about 3:00 am and I was in more pain than when I went to bed, but it was still more sore than actual pain, so I took more Tylenol. I went back to sleep and slept to about 5:30 am.
My thoughts at this point is I am very glad it is over and that I went through with it. I was very worried about the pain after the HT, but for me at least I have not had any real pain, just some soreness and discomfort. I am just hoping that I am happy with the eventual result.
Day one: I was still sore when I woke up, but it was much better than I had thought it would be. There was no severe pain at all, just soreness in the back of my head and no pain in the graft area. I kept spraying my head with the H2Ocean every couple of hours and kept checking myself in the mirror. I was still worried about hitting my head or doing something to loose grafts. I went to bed that night again in the recliner and again I woke up a few hours later in some pain in the back of my head. I took 3 Tylenol and went back to bed.
Day two: I got up and was happy because I was going to take my first shower. I used a cup to pour water over my head. I lathered up the sides and back, but I was afraid to touch the grafts ever though Dr. Charles instructions said I could lightly pat the grafts with soap. I decided to mix soap in a cup and pour it over my head. After the shower my head started to look much better to me. I continued to use the H2Ocean spray. I wanted to sleep in my bed that night, so I laid down with 2 pillows. I was in some pain in the donor area because I was lying on my back and I gave up after about an hour so back to the recliner went. I figured I would get a better nights sleep that
Day three: MY wife is telling me that the grafts are looking better and some of the redness has gone away. It is hard for me to tell myself looking in the mirror. My forehead was starting to swell up and bit, which the doctor warned me about, so I kept icing for 5 minutes every couple of hours. I took another shower and gave the donor area a little more of a scrub, I still used a cup to rinse off, I did very lightly pat the top of my head with soap, which is still totally numb. The funny part is I knew the donor area was numb, but I did not realize the graft area was as well. I am still using the H2Ocean spray every couple of hours.
Before
Harline
Right After HT
Day one
Donor Area Day 3
Comment