Seamless, Generally (Norwood III / 35 Y/o / ~3500 Grafts / VIP / Acar Channeling)

I must preface this by noting that the anticipation related anxiety was far worse than the surgery itself, which, overall, went rather swimmingly. I think there were a few minor hiccups along the way, all of which are attributable to my inability to communicate with staff and perhaps the fact that I'd not received quite the volume of literature I wish I had directly from Cosmedica.
I. Pre-Surgery
I stayed at my preferred 5 star hotel when visiting Istanbul. I flew in from London the night before and used UBER (Mercedes vans) to travel to and fro. It cost me roughly 13 EUR to travel from my hotel to the clinic. I preferred not to be forced to interact with other patients - although most of the patients I did end up seeing in the clinic (vast majority were blue collar Brits and Spaniards) were pleasant. Given the plethora of hotels in Istanbul, I'd recommend this to the Radisson Blu by the Airport. That being said, a friend said it was just fine and the commute from the Airport and of course to the clinic were negligible.
II. Day Of
I arrived earlier than the group of patients. The Spanish receptionist who spoke English very well provided me with my post-operative medications, shampoo and materials. Shortly thereafter, the group arrived. As I had paid for VIP treatment, I was taken for a room where photos were taken of my head and blood was drawn. That blood would later be put into a centrifuge and the platelet-rich plasma extracted therefrom injected into my head (post-op). I then had roughly 3-5 minutes with Dr. Acar who advised that I ought to add to my crown and not solely focus on my frontal area - indeed having seen the pictures, that seemed sensible.
I was then taken to a room where my hair was to have been shaved. And here is where a bit of confusion arose. I had clarified over email with Cosmedia that I could indeed hide the donor site by shaving a window which was to have been covered by the hair above. Accordingly, a window was shaved (i.e. the donor site). When Dr. Acar presented pre-harvest, at which point I was already robed and xanaxed, he instructed the technicians to expand the window stip (i.e. the donor site). Ultimately, and for a week post-op, ended up looking like total psycho with thick tuft of hair around my crown, and sides, and then a shaved donor site and frontal area. I had to wait a week until I could have my barber over to my house to delicately shave the said areas.
III. Harvesting
Directly after my haircut, I was given a Xanax (quite strong as I was in and out of sleep for the next few hours) and shown to a modern, sanitary surgery room. The facilities are indeed excellent and I very much appreciated the ambiance - very professional and a swift pace. The harvesting began with the administration of anesthesia via a gun device. In terms of pain, it felt somewhere between being snapped by a rubber band and being pricked with a pen. I recall some 20 of these being administered. I was not expecting this, and although it wasn't particularly horrible, I wish I had been aware. Thereafter the injection based anesthesia was administered. This process took roughly 10 minutes and the harvesting began thereafter.
The harvesting was effectively painless. I recall this lasting roughly two hours with two technicians working either side of my donor area. I very much liked both of them. Pleasant, young and proficient. They were playing R&B top 40 songs from a mobile phone which I liked, though I'm not sure everyone would. From time to time a lady technician would come in to the surgery room to check in on progress.
After the harvesting stage, I was taken out of the surgery and few steps to the reception area which I was served a lunch (a not particularly appraising cheese and tomato sandwich with a juice box - not fresh OJ) - in retrospect, I should have asked my hotel to pact me a light lunch. In any event, I didn't have much of an appetite.
III. Transplanting
After roughly 15 minutes, I was taken back to the surgery and Dr. Acar presented to do my channeling. I understand that this is a particularly important process as the channels influence the manner in which hairs end up growing out. These channels were done by hand with a scalpel, and administered with great rapidity. Although painless, I still recall the sound of the consecutive delicate thrusts of the scalped penetrating my skin. This was the key distinction between the normal and VIP services.
IV. Bandaging
The donor site was bandaged. The transplant site was not. A headband was placed around the forehead and over the donor site bandages.
V. Departure
Thereafter, the harvested hairs were placed into the channels. The same technicians who handled the harvesting addressed the translating. I recall this taking roughly 2-3 hours. Every 5-15 minutes a nutrient spray was generously applied to the transplant site. I had entered the clinic around 7:30 AM and it was now approximately 4:00 PM. The rest of the non VIP patients were waiting in the lounge - most had completed their procedures and were waiting for the remaining surgeries to complete such that they could be transported back to their hotels.
I thanked my technicians, and within 5 minutes, they, and seemingly all the technicians and receptionists had left the clinic. There was a certain eeriness to this unnoticed exodus. A driver came to collect the patients. I had seen a patient with a large black cap and asked him for one. He found one for me and placed it on my head. I wish that there has been more post-op hand-holding, though I suspect the staff are all desensitised and keen to get home after a long day, whilst this was all new to me.
I called an UBER and returned to my hotel. I felt a bit shaken up, though overall pleased with the surgery.
I was frustrated about my head not having been shaved and looking silly and also the manner in which all staff seemed to have disappeared. Surely a receptionist could have stayed for the sake of good order.
VI. Post-Op
I came in at 9AM the following morning to have my bandages removed. There was a bit of bleeding and pus from the donor area which is normal, I understand. The following day my head was shampooed and from there I went directly to the airport few home.
It's frustrating to liaise with Cosmedia via email given the lack of English competency. Responses generally come within 24-48 hours, thought they're brief and do not provide detailed responses to queries. Would make sense for someone with a native command of the languages the tend to deal with regularly (Spanish, English, Arabic) take charge of their email administration.
VII. 6 Months
I'm now roughly six-months post opp. The hairline has certainly started to come in and its a world of difference given I had been Norwood III. I've keen to see what the next six months bring and premature to assess result at this stage.
VIII. Conclusions
Pros:
- Excellent Technicians
- Modern sanitary facilities
- Large teams well suited to mega-transplants
- Affordable
Cons:
- Lack of English competency (makes communication and assuaging normal pre-surgery trepidation difficult)
- Lack of clarity re: process (a simple scheduled outlining the events of the day would have been excellent)
- Post-op unnoticed exodus was disconcerting
Overall:
The surgery went seamlessly, generally. Dr. Acar and his team are professional, proficient and highly recommended. The Cosmedica clinic would do well to provide more information to their patients and provide additional immediate post-op support. The lack of English competency was/is frustrating, albeit understandable in Istanbul. Competitive price point. Should I need to, I would return.