8 days after FUE hair transplant – Aug 21, 2020.
Today I went through my bills. I gasped when I opened my American Express statement and saw the $16,401 charge. WTF did I do? I’ve been so caught up in the post-op care I forgot that I have to pay for this.
 |
This page contains affiliate links. Review the Disclaimer page for more information. |
The total cost for my FUE hair transplant was:
$ 1,000 deposit
$ 16,401 final payment
$ 200 hotel
$ 300 airfare
$ 100 food
—————————-
$18,001.00 total FUE hair transplant cost
Is this worth $18K? How am I going to pay for this? I’ve been saving for awhile, but I went $7,000 over budget.
I had a brilliant idea to apply for the American Express EveryDay Card that provided 0% interest for 15 months. This way, I could pay the extra $7K overtime. In hindsight, I should have applied for the card before my surgery. Now I’ll have to pay a 3% transfer fee, which is still cheaper than the credit card interest.
I turns out my idea wasn’t so brilliant. Amex only gave me a $1,000 credit limit. What a scam. They lure you in for a 0% credit card and provide you with nothing for a credit limit. My credit score is 836, I felt I should qualify for more than this paltry limit. I tried calling and using their online tools to increase my credit limit, but I was denied. I researched this scam, and it seems relatively common across credit card companies that offer 0% interest for a limited term.
I really liked the transparency of pricing at the Shapiro Medical Group. They charged (at this time) $7 per graft for an FUE procedure, and they gave me a discount for each graft over 2,000. With 2,800 grafts, this came to $6.21 per graft.
This got me thinking about opportunity cost.
6.2 grafts = 1 bottle of Woodford Reserve. (This is expensive, it should only be 5 grafts)
1,596 grafts = 6 nights in a One Bedroom Beach-View Overwater Bungalow Suite at the Four Season Resort Bora Bora
2,028 grafts = 1 Rolex DeepSea watch
2,549 grafts = 1 2021 Nissan Versa
The sticker shock is coming 8 days after my hair transplant. I still have 357 days before I can answer the question if this was worth it. The benefits I could have derived above satisfy short-term materialistic wants and won’t help with my personal growth and long-term self-confidence. This is an investment in myself that will take time to understand the impact and worth.
None of this makes it easier to swallow that $18K pill. There is nothing I can do about it now. I can only look to the future and be optimistic for the best results possible.
Progress Update
Today I feel rested for the first time in over a week.
I feel I crossed the tipping point of pain. I’m still uncomfortable, but it’s beginning to feel more manageable. Last night I actually slept for the first time and found a comfortable spot in bed. My new position consisted of 3 pillows to prop me up, sleeping on my side, and using my hand to elevate my head, so my new grafts don’t touch the pillow. Yes, I’m still being overly-cautious and neurotic.
While the pain is beginning to subside, the scabs continue to itch. I just want to take my fingernails and scratch all the scabs off my head. They are beginning to fall off naturally and I try to resist the urge to scatch them off. But I do rub my head gently from time-to-time and brush off the scabs that are no longer secured to my head. Also, when I shower, I have been soaking scabs to help loosen the up and rinse them off. At this stage, I think the hair that is staying is the hair that’s staying. However, I’m still being overly caution and I’m still not wearing my CPAP or placing my head under the showerhead.
After today, I’m even more freaked out by the shower. I could literally watch my money going down the drain.
TheHairAndNow.com 