Dr Rahal FUE Transplant Log

[patrick21]

Hey everyone..

So I have been doing research and waiting over a year. I am now over 25 and decided to go through with an FUE HT with Dr. Rahal in Ottawa.

Today I came and his staff took photos, and I met with Dr Rahal to go through the whole process. He is a very calm man, and he is coming up on 22 years of doing this, with thousands and thousands of patients - so his experience is reassuring.

They drew the markings on my head but did not shave my head today. I head in tomorrow morning for 6:00 AM to start the whole process.

I will be keeping a daily log of everything, as well as photos though the photos may take a few days to post up.

I decided not to stay in the guest house he offers, as I am with a guest and we were more comfortable at a hotel in downtown Ottawa.

If any of you have any questions at all, please let me know and I will be sure to do my best to either ask Dr Rahal and his staff, or explain the experience you may be curious about. I will try and make note of just about everything!

I am scheduled for 2500 grafts, all in my frontal region. I am a NW3 but do have extremely mild thinning in my crown but he felt that it could easily be covered up with product such as toppik, or even microblading (I am not familiar with this technique but he mentioned it today). He is doing this amount and saving some of my donor area in case I require another procedure in the future.

I opted to go for the PRP treatment during my transplant tomorrow. He basically explained it is best for us to put as many things in our favour that we can, so although PRP maybe can't be guaranteed to make hair grow, the idea behind it is good and can't hurt. I believe he suggested rogaine at some point during healing so I will do that as well.

Wish me luck!

[patrick21]

Day of Procedure

Arrival is at 6:00 AM, you are greeted by one of the staff and you choose what you want for lunch that day.

Then you are taken to the back, change into a gown and your valuables are sealed up and put in the room with you and you are given the key.

You meet all the staff and Dr. Rahal asks if you have any questions, then they buzz you. They give you a sedative and you go face down, which is a little uncomfortable but you are feeling pretty relaxed at this point. You are frozen off and they get started! There was a few painful moments during the 3-4 hours I was down there, but I actually fell asleep a few times. They extract from your back then you turn on your sides and extracted as well. You are offered lots of breaks, I didn't really take any except when finishing a phase. Once my extractions were complete, they gave me a protein shake, I used the washroom then came back and they sat me up right. Dr. Rahal does every single incision, but he gave me two shots above each eye to help freeze my entire head which it certainly did. This was the shortest of any phase, maybe around an hour or so.
Once complete, it's time for lunch. I ate rather quickly because I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could.

Dr. Rahal and his staff are very kind, they offer you snacks, breaks, whatever you need really. Finally, the last phase of putting the grafts in your head begins! Two people are placing them one by one, they warned me it would take about 3-4 hours but I think it took much less. I watched American Gangster and as it was finished there was only about 30 minutes remaining. Dr. Rahal comes and does all the finishing touches and any changes he wants to see. During the final phase I was pretty uncomfortable mid-way so they gave me another shot of sedative to help me relax.

Finally, you get bandaged up after a long day! Get changed and they give you a care package with everything you need for the night. I stayed in downtown Ottawa, but I know they have the guest house available which is probably much more convenient.

I can honestly say through the entire procedure, the pain was minimal. A few points were extremely painful, mostly just the injections and a couple incisions, but they'll freeze you right away if you are in pain.

Sleeping is quite challenging, your head is extremely swollen and it is pretty uncomfortable. I stacked some pillows and I was able to sleep a few hours in intervals. The first night you do not do anything.


Day 2:

Arrive at Dr. Rahal's for 8:30 AM, and they do your first cleaning and teach you how to wash. Again, very easy and no pain. Once the bandage comes up, all the swelling is at the top of your head so you kind of look like a mushroom. Don't worry though, that'll come down into your face within a few days haha.

They ask you if you have any questions, explain the total graft count and breakdown.
1 unit: 436
2 unit: 1292
3 unit:1068
4 unit: 22

Total 2818
total hair: 6312

His staff indicated I still had a good amount of donor area remaining if I need to come back down the road.

On this day the pain was okay, I took 2 perc's the entire day and I was fine.


Day 3

His staff reached out to me to see how I was doing and if I had any questions. I have been doing the wash's, twice a day and have not used any pain killers today. The swelling is all around my face at this point, which is a little annoying but they said it should be gone in 2-3 more days.

I am taking photos everyday which I will post all at once once I have a little more content.


Tips:

- Utilize his staff! If you have any question at all, definitely ask! It'll make you feel better
- If you are worried about pain, you don't need to - there is only a few painful moments and they will accommodate you.
- Lay on a 45 degree angle as much as you can, I really think this helped the swelling not go into my eyes too much.
- They suggested advil to me, so I am going to try that and lots of massaging!
- Also remember to do the spray every hour!!
- I am having a lot of neck pain, so I rolled up a towel and have left that under my neck while laying down because I find the travel pillow is a bit too thick.
- Drink lots of water, as much as you possibly can

[patrick21]

Day 4

Face swelling has gotten pretty bad today, mostly on my right side because I think I lean a little that way when I sleep.

I am taking Advil and trying to massage my face but I am not sure if it's helping

I started taking biotin and vitamin B today. Head is getting a little itchy but nothing a spray of water or the solution they give you doesn't fix.

Photos to come soon!

[patrick21]

Day 5

On my 5th day, the swelling is probably at its worst, especially around my right eye.. left side isn't bad. Still pretty uncomfortable around the head and neck area.

Redness in recipient area is coming down, looks a little dry but trying to maintain the spray every 2 hours, as well as rinse out the baby shampoo extra well.

Donor area is good on the back, still noticeable with scabs and dried blood on side. I think basically of laying straight I have rubbed off most of the back markings. During my washes I gently massage the sides and get them wet to try and loosen it up.

I am taking advil every 4-6 hours to try and bring the swelling down

[mattj]

This all brings back many memories! You're at the peak of swelling right now and I know for me it all went down very quickly. Like you I fell asleep during the procedure and have no idea what film was playing!

I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

[patrick21]

Day 6

So last night I think my nerves came back to life and boy was I in some serious pain through the night! I got through until morning and called Dr Rahal's clinic and he prescribed me some painkillers because the one's he gave me to go home with weren't quite doing the job.

Swelling has definitely reached it's peak! My left side which wasn't swollen at all, puffed right up, and now my right side is coming down. I imagine it's down hill from here.

As for the donor site, it's healing very nicely, the back is almost entirely clear and normal, sides still have some scabbing but I notice is coming off when I wash.

The recipient area is looking good, red is fading and it's starting to dry up a bit. I am spraying it maybe a little more often than every 2 hours with the solution but I think it's heading to the scabbing phase which looks gross but I know that means healing so I am excited! I planned to take this entire week off work so I am good to relax, I think by next Monday I will be good to wear a cap. For now I am trying to just stay in my room and not cover up too much.

I should have enough content sometime this week to post some photos!

[Bdot]

How does it look now

[patrick21]

I’m going to post before and after pictures and discuss the whole process. Wish I never fell off but going to make a very informative post about the procedure, healing, and Dr. Rahal!

[Bdot]

Everything looks good?

[patrick21]

I think it looks very good compared to prior to my treatment. Obviously I’d love a lower hairline but I had to be realistic about my results. I am still in a position to have another treatment which is great and he can use hair from other parts of my body for filler in certain spots. He is extremely talented and his staff are great.

Before my procedure I never even left the house without my hat or Toppik in and I just most recently went on a trip with some friends and forgot my hat and it was weird not having it for a few days but I realized how great my results are.