My Experiences and Photos - 2146 FU (Strip) Transplant With Dr. Feller

[JaminD]

This is in the process of being edited - Bear with me. Photos and more to follow.

Apologies to those who have read this in the Drugs sections, but in that post I covered both my experiences with trying to stop my hairloss over the past 10 years and my recent transplant. The thread was becoming confused by the two subjects, so I have also posted (and edited) again here. I believe Spex will follow with some pre-op photos.

My goal throughout the past ten years has always been to regrow my hairline naturally whilst maintaining elsewhere. Hair loss greatly affected my confidence, but I tried to focus on building my confidence regarding my physical appearance in other ways, such as keeping fit in the gym (aerobic and weights), dressing "well", attempting to fulfill life aspirations and, ultimately, trying not lose sight of the whole. That said, there were many occasions when I obsessed over hairloss forums seeking answers. I tried many treatments, including snake oils out of desperation, but none were successful in regrowing anything that significantly changed the appearance of my hairline. Whilst certain proven treatments strengthened my hairline and perhaps brought it foward slightly, I continued to style my hair in such a way (essentially, short curtains with a quiff) so as to minimise the appearance of my greatly receded hairline and thus any cosmetic results I achieved remained hidden. I did go through a phase of more often than not wearing a hat socially, but that makes matters worse as it is more evident that one is trying to hide something.

Prior to my transplant (see below), all my hairloss treatment experiments had always been done in a very methodical manner and after much research. I am a scientist, so have plenty of experience in scientific research. In my early twenties, my frontal recession was pronounced and the hair on top my head felt very fine and limp, but with no obvious thinning to the eye. My hairloss (and perhaps thinning) was accompanied by soreness and itching, a bed full of hairs, and a deluge of hairs falling out every time I rubbed my head. It has always been evident to me when a treatment is working as these things stop or are less apparent:

My Experience and Unwanted Finasteride - Currently dead link.

On 21st Feb. I had a 2146 FU (strip) transplant done by Dr Alan Feller in NY. A wonderful experience, a fantastic doctor/team, and after three months the fine hairs are currently covering the transplant zone and slowly maturing. I now wonder why it took me so long to make this decision. Basically, I couldn't come to terms with doing something "unnatural"; and this is despite having had numerous operations in the past for other (non-cosmetic) reasons. I took advice from various people, including Spex (see his guide here: Maximum Hair Minimum Loss), before embarking on this journey.

I combined my trip to NY with a short holiday, so also had a five days to enjoy Manhattan and Great Neck, Long Island. I arrived 4 days before my operation and departed on the second morning after the operation. I walked to the unit housing the Feller Medical Centre during the evening before my operation as I wanted to confirm the location. Fortunately, I had also planned to walk to the centre on the morning of my op., as it had snowed heavily. Despite what others have suggested, the walk is beautiful, along wide leafy avenues and took me 15 min. in the snow. I thus arrived for my operation early, refreshed and buzzing (albeit slightly wet from the snow); it was also where I had wanted to be for some time, so there was no sense of trepidation, just hope.

My transplant included the frontal, temporal and lateral zones. Dr Feller and I designed my hairline beforehand and chatted about the world in general as each member of his team battled their way through the snow to arrive on time. The most painful part was the local anesthetic injections into the frontal/temporal areas (particularly on the left side - apparently this is common). Dr. Feller suggested that he would be willing to cut me any time as he didn't need to use the cauteriser. I initially took this as a complement, but realised afterwards that "sticky" blood is not necessarily a good thing! My operation was all finished by 1pm as my physiology also meant that graft placement was very quick and easy!

I grew my hair long on top, so with the exception of immediately after the transplant, it covered the transplant areas. Immediately after the transplant I had no choice, but to parade my transplant zone to all who past me in Great Neck (I caught a taxi back to the hotel). The extent of my frontal transplant mean that wearing a cap was impossible without undesirable forces being exerted on the lateral transplant zones. Despite this, and after years of trying to hide my receding hairline, I felt strangely proud as I stood chatting to the bell-boy as he inspected my bloodied scalp, before hibernating in my room the following day during my post-op blues.

I didn't sleep particularly well the night after the operation; this was less to do with pain and more to do with being a side sleeper propped 2ft up on pillows with an additional neck pillow to stop me from turning and dislodging grafts. I washed my hair the second evening after the operation as described. I experienced some swelling (or bloating) of the forehead from draining of the anesthetic fluid, but this wasn't particularly pronounced. The bruising also wasn't too bad. After three months, the donor and transplant areas still feel abnormal (slightly numb and sore in places), but this is slowly fading. I still have some frontal scarring, but again, this is also slowly fading.