The Day of Michael's Procedure

My appointment was 7:30, however, I arrived at about 7:15 and was greeted with a lunch menu and some other paperwork to fill out prior to starting my procedure.  After filling out the forms everything seemed to happen very quickly. I needed to remove my shirt and put on a gown, and then we started administering the meds to help keep me calm (and let me tell you, I needed them). As soon as those kicked in it was time to administer the stuff to numb my head. It was interesting because I hate needles, however, they really know what they are doing and made me as comfortable as possible. In fact, I hardly felt the shots since they used a crafty technique of using a massager to distract me from the injections.

As soon as my head started feeling numb my memory got a little fuzzy from the drugs given to me earlier, but I remember Dr. Winans talking to me about the procedure and letting me know he was about to start the incision. From that moment on I really don’t remember much until the Dr. asked me to sit up in the chair a little. I asked if he had started yet and sure enough the donor tissue was already removed!

All of the staff was extremely gentle, professional and kind. They asked me if I wanted to stand up for a few minutes and stretch, and continued to do so about every 60-70 minutes. After I sat back down I was pretty much back to myself in the sense that I remember the rest of the day. I watched the technicians when I would stand up to stretch as they were carefully dissecting MY follicles from the donor tissue and, I have to say, it was pretty neat how the whole process works!

I sat back down and Dr. Winans began to make the “sites” for the follicles to be placed later. As he made the tiny incisions one of the nurses was counting them out 100 at a time until they reached 2600. From this point until the end of the day Dr. Winans had started on the next patient and left me in good hands with the technicians and nurses, and periodically came in to check on how everyone was doing. I chose a movie to watch while the process of actually implanting the follicles into my scalp began. I know it sounds crazy, but it was a pretty relaxing day! I literally sat in a chair while everyone in the room was working. They were constantly asking me how I was feeling and if I needed any more sedation. Shockingly, I did not have any additional sedation the entire day.

Mid way into the day we all took a break for a little while and I ate the lunch Bosley provided for me and soon after it was back to the chair so the rest of the follicles could be placed. I watched a 2^nd movie and before I knew it everything was done!  I ended up having 2554 implants, which is pretty close to the estimated 2600 Dr. Winans had predicted the day before. Needless to say I was pleased with his ability to come so close. 

I was then carefully fitted with a hat and given specific instructions for the next 10 days. I was also given a kit to take home. I had to ice my forehead every 15 minutes for about 4-6 hours, take the pain meds supplied to me as needed and sleep in an elevated position.

-Michael