1,700 Grafts with Dr. Fisher Yesterday

[Fleetwood271]

Good Morning Everyone.

I was in Nashville yesterday having a HT procedure performed by Dr. Fisher. If you have not read my previous post about my meeting with Bosley and then my meeting with Dr. Fisher, you can read it here:

http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=5196

UPDATE:
I arrived at Dr. Fisher's office at 7:30 sharp. By 8:00 I had read, reviewed, and signed the consent for surgery forms, picked out some movies to watch, had my pre-op pictures taken, and had gotten into one of those "oh so sexy" hospital gowns.

I will have to say that I believe Dr. Fisher's office is the most efficiently ran Dr's office I've ever been in. It was the same way when I went for my consultation. Hardly any wait time.

So, right at 8:00 they give me a Valium to help me relax, and then Dr. Fisher and one assistant start prepping the donor area. He checks to see how elastic my scalp is, marks off the area, and pins my hair up out of the way. He then had me move over to a stool and we once again discussed the area we were going to work on today. If you read my previous post, you'll see why we are only doing the top at this point.

After that, I moved over into the chair where I sat for the next 6hrs. First thing is to numb the donor area. Dr Fisher uses a really cool device as he injects the scalp. He places some type of "vibrator" against your head, and then as it is vibrating, he gently eases the needle in. So, for anyone who is nervous about getting a shot in your head to deaden the donor area, if you go to Dr. Fisher, don't worry. You'll barely even feel it. As he was doing it he asked, "...on a scale of 1 to 10 how painful is this?" I kinda laughed and said, "maybe a 1." Seriously, the vibrations help to block the feeling of the needle. He said it was kinda like when you hit your finger with a hammer and you immediately shake it. You know how that seems to help the pain go away? Same thing here.
When he was finished, he said “The worst part is over.” This was great news, because to me, it hadn’t been bad at all. If it was all downhill from here, I had it made.

After I was numb, they began removing the strip, as I watched TV. Probably took 30 to 45 minutes to remove strip and stitch me up. I really don't know, since I fell asleep.
Could only have a piece of dry toast and clear liquids that morning, so that Valium hit me pretty quick.

The strip was removed and passed off to his techs to begin separating the follicle units. During this time, he was closing the donor area. When he finished, they started my first movie. After about 15 minutes or so, one the techs brought in the first of several containers of follicles.

Dr. Fisher returned and he and his nurse began doing the actual transplants. Dr. Fisher placed all follicles himself, which made me feel much better, than if some tech had been doing it. I had already learned from many sources that Bosley’s doctors only remove the strip and then they are gone. All follicles are put in place by the techs, while the doctor is off in another room removing another strip from another patient. Kinda sounds like Bosley's procedures are like a production line.

So, for the next four to five hours, I sat there watching movies, while they worked on placing 1,700 grafts into the top of my head. The worst part of the entire day, as far as pain, or being uncomfortable, was my neck hurting from keeping it is the same position for that long. We stopped a few times, so I could stretch my neck.

Here is a picture that I took this morning. Keep in mind, I just had this done yesterday, and my head has been in on of those blue, stretchy hospital caps every since he finished, until, I pulled it off to take this picture. It has not been washed, or touched in any way.



As you can see, this is not a large area, but I was more concerned about the top of my head, than with the front. My receding hairline does not bother me as much as being bald on top. And as for leaving the bald spot on the back of my head, you can read about that in my previous post (the link is above).

At my initial meeting with Dr. Fisher, he said I’d need to come back to his office the day after my procedure. However, when he finished yesterday, he said my procedure went so well that he did not see any reason for me to come back this morning. He simply told me to try to keep the cap from sticking to the graphs.

He had given me three prescriptions on the day of our first consultation, and asked my to getthem filled before the day of my procedure. So I took one of each as soon as I got in my car to drive home. I’m only about 75 minutes from his office.

If anyone has questions, please let me know and I’ll be happy to try to answer them.

[fitness-man]

congrats...look forward to seeing your progression!

[Winston]

Looks like extremely clean work! Keep us posted on your progress.

[Fleetwood271]

Been 5 days now. Top of head is fine. No problems at all.
Back of head seems to be healing well. Stitches will come out in another week.
Question - How long will it take for this "tightness" in the donor area to go away? Will that get any better when stitches are removed, or is this simply a matter of time? Will my scalp just gradually stretch, and over time this will go away? If so, about how long does it take? A month? Three months?
Just curious.

Thanks!

[HTinTN30]

Fleetwood,
I had 2000 grafts done yesterday by Dr. Fisher as well. The procedure was a breeze and the place and staff were awesome! Once I got back to the hotel room yesterday evening the numbing medicine started wearing off and the back of my head at the donor site hurted really bad. I could not sleep at all last night because of not being able to get comfortable due to the pain. This morning I went for followup with Dr. Fisher and he said it looked good, and told me when I got home today to wash it. I washed it and it felt really good after-wards. I have the tightness that you are explaining as well. I am curious as to when this will go away as well. When did your pain go away at your donor site? I am hoping that it will be gone soon. I am taking two of the pain pills and still feeling pain back there. I cannot lay my head on anything without it hurting. The top of my head at the recipient sites do not hurt at all. It's been itching just a little.

[Fleetwood271]

Fleetwood,
I had 2000 grafts done yesterday by Dr. Fisher as well. The procedure was a breeze and the place and staff were awesome! Once I got back to the hotel room yesterday evening the numbing medicine started wearing off and the back of my head at the donor site hurted really bad. I could not sleep at all last night because of not being able to get comfortable due to the pain. This morning I went for followup with Dr. Fisher and he said it looked good, and told me when I got home today to wash it. I washed it and it felt really good after-wards. I have the tightness that you are explaining as well. I am curious as to when this will go away as well. When did your pain go away at your donor site? I am hoping that it will be gone soon. I am taking two of the pain pills and still feeling pain back there. I cannot lay my head on anything without it hurting. The top of my head at the recipient sites do not hurt at all. It's been itching just a little.

Good Morning! Sounds like you and I have had almost identical experiences with our procedures, and with Dr. Fisher. I forgot to mention in my post how great Dr. Fisher and his staff are.
I agree about the pain from the donor area, but I was expecting that, as DR. Fisher warned me it would be bad. I asked him why it would be so bad when he told me that, and he explained that it was like any other cut - There were lots of raw, exposed nerves, and the donor area where the strip is removed is a sizeable cut. He told me more than once that when the numbness began wearing off, it was really going to hurt.
It was probably 3 or 4 hours after I left his office before I really started feeling the pain. Also had a pretty severe burning sensation, which is common with larger cuts.
Like you, I had a hard time sleeping, actually for the first two nights. My procedure was on a Thursday and my donor area hurt until sometime Sunday. So, to answer your question, it was probably around 72 hours after the procedure when the donor area pain finally started to really go away. I'm sure everyone is different however. Oh, and as you mentioned, I took two of the pain pills at a time, about every 4 to 5 hours, for the first 48 to 72 hours. I tried one and couldn't really tell that it helped. But two did ease the pain quite a bit.
I did not experience any swelling at all, which may have been helped by the fact that my grafts were all on top of my head, and none in the front. Because I had no swelling, I was able to lie flat and sleep after the 2nd night, which really helped me to be able to sleep much better than attempting to sleep inclined.
You probably had a more difficult time than I did trying to sleep, as all my grafts were on top of my head. I didn't have to worry about the front or sides of my head.
I was also told to wash the area where the grafts were placed the very next day. I was told to use baby shampoo and to be sure that I did not let the shower directly hit the graft area. I poured water from a cup onto my head, then gently patted the shampoo onto that area, rinsing with water poured from the cup also. I've been washing it this way ever since the day of the procedure. But I was told that after the 6th day, I could begin washing it was usual. Today is my 6th day, so in a day or two, I'll probably stop using the cup.
The donor area no longer hurts, but is still sore, and is still quite sensitive to laying my head directly on that area. Even a soft pillow hurts the stitched area.
But, as we both mentioned, the tightness my main concern right now. I can't really find any position that doesn't cause me to experience a lot of tightness. Doesn't matter if I lower my chin, or turn left, or turn right, it creates a lot of tightness. I understand why of course, but this was something that I didn't expect to be this bad. Also, in an attempt to ease the tightness, I've found that if I raise my head, slightly tilting it backwards, that doesn't really help, because it then causes some pain in the stitched area, probably because it wrinkles or creases it. So, like you, I'm wondering how long this lasts? I'm sure it's a gradual stretching process, and one day I'll probably suddenly realize that the tightness has gone, and I didn't even realize it. But for now, I'm wondering, "How long is this gonna last?"
I should also mentioned that on day 5, my graft area began itching ever so slightly. Nothing bad. Nothing that drove me crazy wanting to scratch it. Just a slight itch, I'm sure due to the healing process.

I need to post a Day 6 picture when I get home today to keep everyone up to date.

[DAVE52]

As you can see, this is not a large area, but I was more concerned about the top of my head, than with the front. My receding hairline does not bother me as much as being bald on top. And as for leaving the bald spot on the back of my head, you can read about that in my previous post (the link is above)..

Hope you don't mind me asking but why did you have work done on the top and leave the front ( the part that is suppose to frame your face ) and the back ( the crown ) as is ?

I read the link but I could not find the reson why

It would seem to me, when all is said and done , will you not have a bald spot at the front and crown , with a patch of hair in the middle ?

[Fleetwood271]

Hope you don't mind me asking but why did you have work done on the top and leave the front ( the part that is suppose to frame your face ) and the back ( the crown ) as is ?

I read the link but I could not find the reson why

It would seem to me, when all is said and done , will you not have a bald spot at the front and crown , with a patch of hair in the middle ?

Hi Dave,

I gave a short explanation for this in a previous thread, but here is the whole story.
When I went to the Bosley consultation, the guy who was there to answer my questions, asked me what areas of my head I would like to take care of. I said, "All of it." "Back, Top, and Front."
He said. "Ok, that shouldn't be a problem. Let's look at our chart to see how many grafts you'll be needing."
Bosley lead me to believe that it would be no problem at all to have enough grafts moved from the back of my head, to the balding areas on the back, top, and front. He simply showed me their pricing chart and said I would need about 2,000 grafts to cover all my bald areas. Then he showed me the price.

However, when I went to see Dr. Fisher, he told me in less than one minute of him walking into the room that he would not be able to get enough grafts from my donor area to cover all my bald areas. He examined my head and told me that my hair was not dense enough to get enough grafts. He jokingly said if he took that much from the back, he'd have to use my butt to close up the gap!
I never even told him I had been to Bosley, until I was ready to leave. So, when he had explained everything to me, and answered all my questions, I then told him what Bosley had told me.
He said that they might have been able to get 1800 to 2000 grafts from me, but they would have had to take a very wide strip from the back, and also a strip from each side in order to get that many. He then explained that 2000 would not be anywhere near enough to do all of my balding areas. He said what many companies do is to place grafts all over the head, but they are placed so thin that no real true effect is ever achieved. He said if they started growing before anymore hair fell out, it might appear for a short time that some good had been done, but that it would never be thick enough to look natural. And then, when more hair did fall out, the grafts that were placed would be so far apart, the person would be no better off than before.
As to why nothing in back or front.
Back - He explained that I was going to continue to lose hair from the back of my head. And that if he did grafts in the area that is bald there now, and then in 2 or 3 years when my natural hair fell out, it would look very funny. Kinda like one of those Indians in the old West movies, where they were bald except for a ponytail growing out of one small circle on the back of their heads. He said he has told people this in the past, and they would go somewhere else and get a transplant anyway. Then they come back to him a few years later and say they should have listened, and have him to fix it.
Front - He said he could get enough grafts to do the front, or the top, but not both. He asked me which I wanted to do. I told him I was more bothered by the shiny, bald top of my head, than the front.
I will be going back to him in a year or so for a second procedure. At that time, we'll access my progress, and discuss my options, and what's best to do at that point.
I understand why you ask. And no, this is not the best of situations. In a few months I'll have some hair on the top, but still be bald in back and in front. I'll just have to address that in a future procedure. I knew going into this that one hair transplant was not going to be enough to give me a full head of hair.
Hope that answers your question.