Dr. Rahal - 2414 Grafts

[McLovin]

Hey Guys, I am now 7 days post-op from my 2414 graft procedure with Dr. Rahal. Here is exactly what I had done - totaling 2414 grafts (and 4693 hairs). 1's - 613 / 2's - 1323 / 3's - 478

I really couldn't of asked for a better experience with Dr. Rahal. What a difference from my experience with Dr. Jones. Rahal and his crew were really amazing.

Here on day 7 there is still numbness and tightness throughout the donor and recipient areas. The donor area still hurts quite a bit, but I am getting more used to it. It hurts the most at night when lying on it to the extent I am having trouble getting more than 4-5 hours sleep. Oh well: no pain - no gain.

Just to clarify, this was a repair procedure from my previous surgery with Dr. Robert Jones. Dr. Jones gave me really poor density and a scar that measured at 6mm (See pics). All Jones did was the frontal hairline (maybe an inch or so). The rest of the hair was native. He gave me a density of around 20-30 hairs/cm^2 which is kind of pathetic since we originally agreed on 100 hairs/cm^2 and 6 months post-op he assured me it was 70 hairs/cm^2.

Dealing with Dr. Jones was one of the worst experiences of my life. His way of dealing with an unhappy patient is to ignore them (to the extent of blacklisting my email - so emails sent to him were returned to sender). Enough about Dr. Jones and that mess.

Dealing with Dr. Rahal was a pleasure. From my first consult with him I knew he was a class act and his office environment exuded professionalism. The day of my surgery I was quite nervous (who wants to be cut a second time), but Dr. Rahal immediately put me at ease. It also helped knowing I was with an extremely competent surgeon with tremendous experience and some of the best results out there. After my initial jitters I really felt comfortable throughout the entire procedure. Dr. Rahal's techs are amazing. I think they were with me just about the whole time working diligently and keeping me at ease. It seemed like they went straight the 8 hours with me with just a 15 min lunch break we all took. All his techs are class acts also. Everyone was so professional and genuinely concerned- such a different experience from my surgery with Dr. Jones.

The day after my procedure when I went back to the office to get cleaned and checked out - I was inspected thoroughly by Dr. Rahal and also by some of the tech team that did my transplant. Everyone that was involved in the procedure wanted to make sure that everything was done to the highest standards possible. Here again so different from my experience with Dr. Jones.

I am extremely thrilled with the experience I had with Dr. Rahal and crew and am even more thrilled about my results to come.

I have included a bunch of pics from pre and post - op.

I will keep you posted with the progress of my growth.

[McLovin]

Hey Guys,

I am now 9 days post-op and so far everything is going great. I still have some pain in the donor area when i lie on it, but not like before. My main issue now is with itchiness, especially in the donor. I can't wait to get the stitches out.

I attached a pic I took after washing. Every time my head gets wet these little white things appear - they look like little pieces of skin tissue. Just today they have started coming off. Does anyone know what these things are? I am pretty sure these aren't the scabs, since there is no hair attached. I really have no recollection of this part from my procedure with Dr. Jones. Some of these little pieces of skin tissue are long and skinny (shaped like a follicle) which alarms me a little, but I'm sure this must be normal.

Also does anyone have any advice regarding taking proscar 1.25 mg (which I currently do) -vs- 2.5mg or even 5 mg?

Enjoy the long weekend.

[El Nino]

I had those white things as well, not sure what they are. But I wouldn't worry about them, I never and I'm thrilled with my result.

IMO, you should only up your dose of Finastride if your hair loss is still progressing.

[McLovin]

I contacted Dr. Rahal's office today to see if there was anything that could be done about the itchiness/irritation of the donor area. Adrian recommended I use Polysporin. The stuff works wonders. The itchiness/irritation is 80% cleared up after one application.

Hope this tip can be of use to anyone early post-op. I sure wish I knew about this day 5 post-op (when the itchiness started driving me crazy).

[Spex]

Sweet job -= congrats! Sounds like flaky skin - it will pass. Taking larger doses of Fin does not necessarily help - stick with recommend dose mate If you feel you are losing ground then maybe up it to DUT

[bigmac]

Hi Mclovin

Good to hear you had a great experience with Dr Rahal.The work looks excellent,nice and clean too.

Be great to follow your progress,thanks for sharing your story.

bm.