48 Year Old African American Female FUT (Strip) 2515 Grafts to Lower High Forehead - Dr. Diep Los Gatos, CA

Hello All,
I finally did it. After researching and contemplating for over a year. I finally decided to have my hair transplant. I am from the East Coast and decided to go with Dr. John Diep on the West Coast (Los Gatos, CA). Initial contact was with a Skype Consultation. He answered all my questions and even showed me some of his most recent African American female patients. I watched absolutely all his Youtube videos of other African American females HT patients and decided Dr. Diep was the one for me. After our consultation I requested the 1st available appointment which was in August. I requested to be put on the wait list for any cancellations and although I was called a couple of times for early appointments unfortunately the dates just didnt work for me:-( I flew out to San Jose the day before my surgery and stay at a hotel that was about a 10 minute cab ride to the medical building. Compared to Boston, cabs in California are expensive. Airport to hotel average about $25 and Cab to Dr. Office was about the same. So all in all on cabs alone I spent $150. Forgot to mention out of town patients do get an $500 credit for travel off the cost of the Transplant, so that was a big plus. I ended up prepaying for 2500 grafts and on the day of surgery it actually ended up being 2515 which Dr, Diep did NOT charge me for the extra 15 grafts. Kudos to Dr. Diep. The staff were very good. Very attentive and made sure I was comfortable. One thing that scared me was the fact that I arrived at the clinic before any of the staff. Yes I was like 15 minutes early but I freaked out thinking I was at the wrong location because I knew he had another location. Whew staff person showed up at exactly 5:30AM which was my appointment time. Signed a bunch of papers opted to not do the A-cell which I researched but didn't find too much information saying it would benefit me. Plus that was an extra $500 and I was already at my budget. The procedure went pretty much as expected without any complications. Sat down with Dr. Diep before going into the surgical room. He drew my hairline, I look a bunch of pills not sure what they all were, but I believe they were valium to relax me, steriods for the swelling, some antibiotics and a couple of more I'm not sure of. He took a bunch of pics so maybe those will end up online at some point. Once in the surgical room, he gave me one shot in the right arm (not sure what it was) and another shot in my left arm which he said was a steroid shot to help keep the swelling down. Then several shots in my head to numb my area. The whole thing was pretty painless. I don't even remember if I was awake when he took the strip from the back of my head. I think I kind of heard the cutting of my scalp but I felt nothing. I pretty much slept most of the time. My procedure took like 12 hours. I remember watching TV a couple of times but mostly I just slept. I ate lunch which was good. Love those Famous Amos cookies. They gave me some to take with me. They gave me like 6 envelopes with prescription meds in them. Antibiotics, Valiums, something for Nausea, Tramadol for pain, something to keep the swelling down and a written prescription for Hydrocodone. Not much pain or swelling but I did take the Valium and Tramadol the night of the procedure before I went to bed. Had to go to the clinic the following morning so that could wash the donor area and the receiptient area. Dr. Diep spoke with me while I was their the following day and said everything went very well and he expects good results. I am at the airport headed back to Boston as I type this. So this is the day after my procedure. I am attaching some photos.

Swelling is really kicking in around both eyes as well as my forehead. See side view of forehead. Starting to have some throbbing in the donor area numbing is starting to subside. Haven’t had to take any pain meds or valium as of yet but thinking I will take one of each tonight to have a good nights sleep. Washed hair as directed with shampoo supplied by Dr. Diep’s staff. I am also providing some Pre-surgery pics of me so you have some idea of why I was so uncomfortable and self-conscious about my high forehead. Will update again at 1 week post-op unless something funky happens that I need to share with you. Oh yeah, the donor area seems to be doing ok so far. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will heal in a nice thin almost invisible scar.

Well, most of the swelling in my eyes has gone down considerable. Scalp still numb and recipient area is drying into a crust. As of today 8 days Post-Op, I have finished my 7 day course of antibiotics. Pics posted are 7 day postop pics. Nothing significant to report. Will be going to Urgent Care on Monday to get the sutures removed. Also on day 7, I started taking hair vitamins and BiotIn which are suppose to promote hair growth. Not sure if I will be taking Rogaine/Minoxidal as I have heard some people do. I will see what Dr. Diep suggests on that but for now I don't plan on taking it.