Hair Transplant

Well its done I went to the doctor this last Friday and had 2300 hair follicular units transplanted. I can’t even begin to describe the range of emotions I went through on the table but I will try. I got there at 7:45 in the morning and was greeted by a very nice young lady. From that point I followed her to a room where she asked me a few questions and then gave me 6 pills that taste so bad. Then I took some more pills for pain. She had me put on a gown over my shirt, I sat down and the doctor comes in. I had already called and told them what I was looking for so there was no debate on the hair line. He drew a line we looked at it and adjusted a few small things then it was on to business. He starts combing a section of hair in the back and taping it with masking tape. At first I am very nervous I thought it was going to be some little strip of hair in the back… He outlines from ear to ear in the back of the head and masks it off with tape. I am starting to get very nervous at this point. Then he had my lie on my stomach and said he was going to numb my head. I can’t even count the number of times he pokes me with shots. I look to the side and he is requesting more I think in total we went through three maybe four full syringes of Novocaine. The whole time I was thinking God what am I doing, why am I doing this and all the while getting sick to my stomach. There were several times I just wanted to throw up and the constant poking and numbing feeling just gets more intense. The doctor keeps saying doing good, going great… and I am thinking yeah right you have not idea the range of emotions I am going through. I was wondering if I could just walk out and forget it at this point, but I know I have to do this I can do this.

Then he starts cutting… First he starts cutting the hair which he would have to do because it was fairly long in back then the real cutting starts. I keep hearing this crunching sound over and over as he works his way from one side of my head to the other. By now I am so numb that really you don’t feel a thing except in one spot it was very tender and I could feel the pulling or poking as it was. The whole time I am much calmer because I know I can’t feel the pain now. He cuts all the section out and then sews up two layers of stitches. He tells me he is looking for big numbers at this point so am I after all its a huge section in the back to cut out.

After this is all sewed up they clean up the area and start numbing again. This time my whole head is just well numb from the back so the poking doesn’t really bother me as much up front. I am still in a state of shock that I am doing all this, but can’t wait to be done. The doctor finishes up numbing then starts poking holes in the front of the head. I guess from my understanding he decides how the hair follicle will be placed in the head. So he tells me to just watch my movie and that he has to really focus on counting. From there I was told before this that they got 2280 follicular units from the back (big numbers). So he starts placing all these holes on my head while I watch my movie. Then when he is done his two assistants come back with all the hairs separated and they start placing them into the holes. Its an odd sort of feeling and you know they are pretty much stapling a hair follicle into your head, but by now your so numb and out of sorts it doesn’t bother you at all. We talked about movies and I was watching, “Just my luck” for the 3rd time. Really it was kind of a odd sort of moment when we were all just chatting away like nothings going on.

Then we do clean up again once the hairs are all placed and lunch is there. Its now 2pm and I have been cut at and poked for hours on end. I am hungry but feel sick at the same time. They bring me some food and tell me that they just need to clean me up. At that point I asked if I could eat first just to feel some reality and they say sure. We talk for a bit about nothing and after care procedures and then clean up and out at 2:30. I wish I could tell you more about the after but the drive was a blur. I am sure I was beyond dizzy and really shouldn’t have been behind a car. I drove slow, but its just such a disconnected feeling that its not good to be driving. I cried a few times at home just because of all the emotions that I ran though and not because of pain. Now I have a ton of pain pills, have to wash this thing twice a day and hope its all worth it. I can’t really feel the pain but know its going to hurt later. All I can do now is follow all the directions exactly take my vitamins, pain pills and hope it heals as best as possible. I can’t wait to have long hair and I sure hope it doesn’t 6-9 months to blend as they say it does…

In all I wonder what a nose job would be like or a chin reshape now? I know it hurts, its pain, but in the same sense its amazing. Someone is reshaping your body to what you want to look like or what they think you want to look like. I guess in a sense its scary the things that can and do go wrong, but in the same sense its amazing we have the option. We can change who and what we are and how we look to such a great extent. No one is stuck if you have the money or the option you can look however you want. So while I am in pain I look to this as a great step and am very excited to have hair and then do something else down the road.