First day of FUE hair transplant – Aug 13, 2020.
Today is the day I have my Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) hair transplant. That means the Dr. will remove the hair grafts from my donor areas and transplant them to their new home in the frontal and mid-region of my scalp. There are plenty of vacancies, so there is enough room for everyone.
I had to arrive at the Shapiro Medical Group by 7 am. Which was difficult because I didn’t sleep well last night. After the Day 0 preparation of my scalp, I couldn’t find a comfortable position. The covers worked great for keeping the pillows clean, but they aren’t comfy for sleeping. However, I strongly recommend using the covers because my pillow looked like a murder scene by the morning.
My head looks worse than it feels. The top of my scalp is raw, and I still have some bleeding. At least it’s still numb from yesterday. I’m uncomfortable, but I’m not in too much pain.
I am nervous and excited about today. This is a new journey for me, and I don’t know what to expect. Part of me feels I should have done more research before jumping into this. However, it’s too late now.
When I arrive back at the Shapiro Medical Group, I was brought to a new room. When I walked in, Dr. Josephitis’s team was focused and organizing everything for the day. I found watching their process comforting because everyone knew what they were doing; they were working together and joking around. From their interactions, I can see that Dr. Josephitis trusts his staff and enjoys working together.
The room was similar to yesterday’s room, with an oversized chair in the middle of the room. This room has a nice view outside, microscopes lined the counter against the window, and multiple surgical tools were laid out. Until now, I never thought of a hair transplant as a surgery. You are being cut into and want to make sure you are in a safe and sterile environment, with access to medications and a trusted team who can support you. I feel relaxed about this because I know I am in good hands.
Morning
Before getting started, I took a few minutes to find a movie or TV show to watch. I selected a radio station. I learned yesterday that I won’t be paying attention to anything on the TV. Plus, I can’t wear my glasses, and I’m too far from the TV to see clearly. This might be a good time to wear your contacts.
While I am searching for a radio station, they began prepping me for the hair transplant. To start, they gave me a valium and started numbing my head. After I was suitably numbed and drugged, I had to turn over and lie on my stomach. This position makes it easier for the doctor to extract the hair follicles from the donor area on the side and back of my head.
I didn’t feel anything as Dr. Joesphitis started extracting grafts. I was able to space out and listen to the music and daydream about my new blonde locks. As the doctor removes the grafts, his technicians take the grafts and work on counting and separating the graphs in groups of 1, 2, 3, 4 in Petri dishes. Our hair follicles are in natural groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 hairs. These groups of hairs are all called grafts. During the extraction, the doctor doesn’t how many follicles they will retrieve from these grafts. This explains why it’s challenging to get the exact number of follicles you will receive during your hair transplant. It’s dependent on the number of hairs in the grafts they remove. Also, this procedure causes severe trauma to your scalp. Your body can only take so much, so they need to be cautious. Too much trauma to your head may result in slow healing or grafts not taking.
I was fortunate. A lot of the grafts they extracted had 2 and 3 hair follicles. They needed to separate some of the grafts to have more single hairs. These single hairs are used for the frontal region for a more natural appearance, followed by 2 follicles and then 3 strands to give a natural look.
In total, they were able to remove 2,800 grafts from the donor area. I was thrilled. My magic number was 3,000, and this was close enough. 200 hairs aren’t going to change my appearance.
Lunch
After the extraction, it was time for a 30-minute lunch. I sat down in front of the window, looking outside while I nibbled on my ham and cheese sub. I didn’t have much of an appetite and could only finish half the sandwich.
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