5672 grafts with Dr Rahal

[mg39]

So...just over a week post op from my procedure with Dr Rahal. Despite the anxiety leading up to the morning of the procedure, all things went really well. The goal was to get 5500 grafts, and we ended up getting 5672 with the following count:

One's 991
Two's 3387
Three's 1294
Total 11647 hairs

Dr Rahal went back as far as possible, and went into the sides a little to add desity knowing that I wanted the hairline as dense as possible. He did 60 grafts/cmsq in the first band followed by 50 in the next two and 45 after that I believe. I know when this grows out, I will want to address the crown and maybe tweak the hairline a little bit. He figured I had at least 8000 grafts for FUT in total and then FUE on top of that if need be.

I have to say, it was a pretty surreal experience sitting in the chair before the procedure, knowing that a strip almost 50sqcm would be taken from the back of my head, but all things considered I didn't want to go on with the depression and feeling of helplessness from my hairloss anymore. I've been lurking this forum for a while now, posting from time to time and soaking up all the information I could...so to the many of you that have shared your stories, both good and bad, you have helped tremendously in my decision to go forward with the procedure with Dr Rahal, and I thank you for that.

Right now, I'm sitting looking utterly ridiculous and I know that I will for quite some time, it's just part of the process. I'm trying to break up my HT journey into milestones so I can manage my expectations and not get overly anxious waiting for the end result. Next week I get my stitches out (WOO HOO) and can run my head under the shower for the first time in 2 weeks, really looking forward to that. I think I will trim the hair on the sides and back as well, even if the scar shows a little, it's not like I'm going to leave the house without a hat for the next couple months anyway!

After that, the dreaded shed, so the next phase will definitely be trying. All I can say is I am a fast healer and hopefully following Dr Rahal's strict post op care will speed up the growth process.

Anyway, that's it for now. To impart any words of wisdom to anyone on the fence, do your research and if you do decide to go forward expect nothing but the best for your choice of surgeon.