Day One – Afternoon Of June 9/16

12:30 P.M.

The harvesting has been completed, and I don’t know if it maybe had a little bit to do with the effects of the sedatives, but the morning flew by!! I thought it was maybe 10:00 at the latest when they told me that it was 12:30 and also time for lunch. The first half of the surgery was seriously minimal as far as pain or discomfort. It was obvious that something was taking place back there, but the girls were always on top of the local anesthetic, and anytime I let them know that I was feeling any kind of discomfort, they were very quick to remedy it.

1:00 P.M.

After eating my pizza, chugging down some more water, and taking a couple more pain meds and sedatives while updating Wifey through text messages, I am back on the table. This time I get to sit up! The girls show me all of the 2,200 “hair seeds” that they will now be “planting” into my head. It’s actually pretty cool when you see how small they are and realize the skill that must be necessary to pull this all together. I compare it to the people that build those model ships inside a bottle . . . if that makes any sense.  Ha ha

Dr. Cory checks in once again before we get started to make sure that everything is still looking up to snuff. He has been in and out throughout the day to make sure that I am doing well and to keep a close eye on yet another one of his masterpieces.

This part of the process definitely has a very different feel to it, and it was quite interesting to see how all three of the ladies worked together as a team and each attacked their own little area to make sure that all 2,200 seeds would make it into the 2,200 plots that had been made in the transplant areas.

We all had many good laughs as the day went on, and I normally am not this naïve, but I will say for the record that I was tricked into believing a few tall tales throughout the day. I am going to blame the sedatives for this one though. And I will get my revenge. Hee hee

6:00 P.M.

We are pretty much done!! With the help of 3 people, including myself, we manage to get my shirt back on with very little disturbance to the affected areas. I am given the package with all of my post-op do’s and don’ts and aftercare. I also choose to take the after-care products to make sure that everything goes as perfectly as can be. I choose to take the calming mist, which has been a lifesaver so far for the harvested area, mostly when it starts to itch or become agitated in any way. I also take the spray-on shampoo that I have tried already by wetting my hair using a small bucket of warm water, then spraying my hair with the spray-on shampoo, and then making sure to rinse it out using the same bucket with more warm water. The third thing that I choose to get is the scalp cream. As well, I am given my prescriptions from Dr. Torgerson, and as soon as I am bandaged up and loaded up with my goodies, I am on my way.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you have someone there to pick you up and give you a ride home. I was definitely a little woozy and “fuzzy” from the surgery and medications.

Once I got home, I arranged my bed so that I could get the optimal sleep, while still following the instructions for how to make sure that you don’t have any unnecessary complications from the surgery . . . such as swelling, bleeding, etc.

LAST IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THE DAY: Find yourself a cheap, yet comfortable pillow. Also a pillow case that you don’t mind getting a little blood on. I didn’t think of it until it was too late . . . but it’s also nothing that a little stain remover couldn’t take care of. I would also maybe try one of those pillows that you take on an airplane. I haven’t tried it myself yet, but at around 3:00 a.m. I had kind of wished I had one with me. Also, don’t stress too much about anything (like I did). Everything is going to turn out just fine as long as you follow the instructions that you were given and don’t get too carried away. Trust me, getting up throughout the night to take selfies in the mirror so that you can see the back of your head doesn’t really do much more than give you a sleepless night unnecessarily.

So to all of you who are reading this and are considering going this route for your hair transplant, I hope this at least starts to give you a better understanding. I will be updating frequently with as much information as I can to make sure that this is something that truly changes people’s lives and the way they feel about themselves. I know it did for me.