Surgery scheduled with Dr. Rahal…

[Homestead1]

Hi everyone,

After having read countless posts on this forum and several others, I have decided to go with Dr. Rahal for my second HT procedure; I’m looking at circa 4000+ grafts to help fill in the frontal region and crow area. My surgery is scheduled for mid June and I feel fairly confident in my decision.

My question relates to the amount of time needed to recover from a procedure of this size, I have read some inconsistent answers on this topic, some say it only took 2 weeks while others say they required over a month before being able to return to work. I am only afforded 3 weeks before going back to work so I need to plan accordingly and the fact that my job requires face to face interactions, I can’t afford to look like I just had a this procedure done.

After having spoken to Adrian, I was told that Dr. Rahal will not perform the surgery if the patient does not consent to having the recipient area shaved. I was hopping that I would be able to keep the modest hair that I have left to cover the area but I guess that’s not an option and once the top is shaved I will have no choice but to do the same with rest before going back to work.

My first surgery of 1300 grafts was performed by Dr. Samuels of St Louis, Mo. No shaving was required and given the size of the procedure, I was able to go back to work after 3 weeks with minimal inconsistency in my appearance.

To any one who had a HT specifically patients of Dr. Rahal, how did your scar look 3 weeks post-op? What was your explanation to colleagues concerning your new appearance (3 weeks post-op)?

To be honest, the surgery side of it does not bother me as much as the explanations that will inevitably follow. I interact with clients and potential clients on a daily basis and my major fear is that they will automatically focus on my head and if my scar is apparent… I don’t want to be the butt of any jokes, I’m sure most of you are familiar with the stigma attached to HT…

Thanks for reading and for any suggestions you may have.

-H