Hair Loss Journal

Day Of Procedure

September 20, 2004

Now, I'm not normally a nervous person but I cannot begin to tell you about the apprehension I woke up with on the morning.

A driver arrived to pick me up and after a light breakfast we were in the car on the way to the surgery.

The clinic was very welcoming and the surgeon and colleagues were very warm and friendly.
I had a brief chat with the surgeon who drew on my new hairline and asked me some standard questions regarding health and wellbeing.
I was obviously very nervous so he gave me a vallium which kicked in surprisingly fast.

Into the gown and onto the bed face down...
I've been asked a few times "what was it like'"
Well the short of it is I've never experienced anything quite like it.
The only pain (of sorts) happens now with the local anesthetic injections - a short sharp scratch just about sums it up.
The surgeon then begins to cut around the donor area and then removes the flap for dissection. What a weird sensation! No pain, just very strange - I have to say that I chuckled during this bit as I couldn't get the thought of the final scene of "Hannibal" out of my head!
Stitched up and onto my back.

The surgeon then puts more anesthetic in the front of my head - a little bit uncomfortable but very short lived. Onto puncturing the holes ready for the grafts and after he'd done the front, break time for a cup of tea and a 10 minute relaxation.

Be prepared for a long day - the next few hours are long and go slow. They have CNN on so the first 20 minutes pass quite fast. You'll probably sleep for an hour or so but for the rest of the time you'll need a good book.
I actually phoned my mother in the UK and chatted for a while whilst they were putting the hairs in!
So 6 hours pass and after many breaks I can't believe it's all over - no pain, no discomfort.

The surgeon explains the post op procedures and gives me my antibiotics and pain killers and also some special shampoo. He explains what to expect and then he and his colleagues say goodbye and wish me all the best.

Traveling back to the apartment, the driver took me on a whistle-stop tour of Athens to see the Parthenon, Zeus's columns and the old part of town - I didn't really take that much in as I was still in shock that everything went so smoothly.
I slept for an hour or so at the apartment and then went out for a bite to eat on the night...and listen to this...I wore no headgear and didn't feel self-conscious at all.

You can actually see where your new hairline is going to be and in the light of dusk, you look as if you have all your hair back....what a feeling!!

Very rough night's sleep unfortunately - I guess the stresses of the day and the unusual sensations on my head didn't help but I did manage to drop off around 4am and got at least 5 hours.

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