Disasterous hair transplant - Rye Brook, NY

Today I had FUT hair transplant. It was a relaxing & painless procedure from start to finish! I've had a high hairline my whole life & always wear bangs to cover it. It's made me self conscious forever. I'm so glad I finally did this! After the dr. & I Discussed a doable plan, we took photos & he explained everything, allowing me to ask as many questions as I needed. I was so excited! The procedure was about 4 hours & I got 1500 grafts, local anesthesia with a painkiller, antibiotic & sedative by mouth. I was asleep for half of it but didn't feel a thing. Woke up a few times & chatted with the doctor & nurses. The insertion of the 1st 2 needles of anesthesia was the only painful part, but dr kleinman & his assistants gave me some squeeze toys to hold & helped me through it. By the 3rd needle I was numb enough not to feel it. After the anesthesia they cut the strip from the donor area of the a knof my head which, after being stitched, is barely detectable! I have long hair though, so ive got excellent camouflage. I felt nothing. They gave me a menu to order lunch, I ate, drank LOTS of water as the meds were giving me dry mouth, then we started part 2. The donor follicles were placed into tiny incisions along my new hairline. Once finished (I was sleeping for most of this), I woke up, the gently sprayed saline & patted any blood & residue from the recipient area & made sure I was ok. I felt great! A little high yes, but great! The doctors assistants escorted me to another room where Dr Kleinmsm came in to assess the work & let me finally take a look! Bearing in mind I knew my hairline would be bloody red dots, with little stubbly pieces, I was just amazed at the placement & shape of my new hairline! The nurse gave me my post op instructions & a bag w saline rinse, spray bottle, gauze & disposable covets for my pillows in case there was any residual bleeding. I was driven to the pharmacy to pick up my painkillers & one course of prednisone to reduce swelling, went home & have been on my couch. By the time I got home I had some soreness & pain, do I took one pain pill. I did not need another since. I got a little scared because there was some bleeding that I patted with gauze when I got home @ I saw to hair bulbs come out. The office got back to my text ASAP and assured me I was ok but to just not rub, let it alone then spray again later. I'll update with photos so you can follow my progress!

So last night I slept with my head elevated. It was slightly incomforable because I'm usually a side sleeper, but also my incision was a bit numb & sore which felt weird. I slept with no problem though. When I woke up, I had zero pain. I used the saline the Doctor gave me & some gauze to gently spray & rinse away & crust or blood that may have accumulated overnight. If you look at the photos, you'll see one spot that looks like a big scab. That's the spot that started bleeding yesterday when I sprayed & patted it with the gauze. Doctor said it should be fine, so I'm just treating the entire area gently. Here's a photo or two of day 1, after surgery

I woke up today with swollen upper eyelids. Yesterday I had done swelling around my forehead. I've been sleeping elevated but probably should be a bit more. As far as pain goes, I just have a little irritation around the donor area, especially when I lay down because it places pressure on it. The recipient site has zero pain. I woke up in the middle of the night & my forehead was itchy & I almost scratched it- then I remembered the grafts were there, thank god. My doctor told me to wait until the 3rd day to shampoo the area but I'm going to call him & ask because I was really foggy from the meds when he told me this & forget what the reason he changed my protocol was. I did shower last night & wash hair in the back, without touching the recipient site, & have been using the saline spray on it as directed. I can't wait for these scabs to be gone. Thankfully my bangs cover my new forehead so I don't have to worry about anyone knowing what I had done. It also makes it easier for me to ignore it. I find myself staring at it obsessively! Ugh, the next few months of waiting are gonna be rough!

My eyes are still pretty swollen. The swelling has moved downward, & is now mostly under my eyes. I had to go off of the prednisone the doctor gave me because I was having a very bad time with it-- sleeping, moody, nervous symptoms, stomach issues.. A lot of ppl have reactions to this stuff. Right now I do not look presentable. I went out today with sunglasses to get a manicure, & have been drinking plenty of water along with lightly massaging the area to disperse the fluid. My donor area is a bit itchy at times, as well as the recipient area. I am NOT scratching either though! When I go to sleep, I use one of those travel pillows so the back of my head is off the pillow, or the donor area gets a little sore. The doctor used dissolvable sutures, so all u really feel back there are the little knots on both ends that he will have to remove at my follow up. So far the recipient site is the same, nothing has moved, fallen out or bled & it's not red or inflamed so my biggest complaint is my appearance. I can't wait for these scabs to fall off & to feel more like myself! I'm lucky that, as a woman, I can cover this with bangs because it's pretty gnarly looking right now!

Well my swelling has gone away, thankfully! I don't have bruising either. I've been following the aftercare instructions & just wish I didn't have any scabs. I'm a bit itchy at times but I ignore it or very lightly tap the itch w my finger. I have started sleeping on my side again without worry since the swelling went down & also since my recipient site isn't being touched that way. I'll update again on day 9 or 10 when the grafts are said to be more stable & I get the ends of the dissolvable sutures removed.

I was just looking at some fairly well known & expensive hair restoration doctors before & after photos. I would strongly advise against going to a doctor for this procedure whose "after" photos have the patient sporting a comb over or any style that doesn't CLEARLY show the recipient area the exact same way as the before photo does.
As for me, some of the dead skin & scabbing is beginning to loosen up & come off. I won't pick or scratch it, just gently rub a bit when I shampoo. Zero bruising or swelling since yesterday. No hairs have shed & no grafts have come out.

I went to see Dr. Kleinman for my follow up yesterday. He said I am healing wonderfully & the results are looking good so far. He trimmed the knots at the ends of my stitches, which was a relief because they were really annoying me! He used the dissolving stitches & the incision line is barely detectable.
I posted a question 2 days ago about my procedure because I was getting a little nervous about my results. However, after doing the math myself, multiplying the length by the height of the advancement in centimeters, I realize the doctor placed the correct amount of grafts in & I am probably just seeing areas where hair fell out.
In the last two days, some hairs are falling out but it's not remarkable. It even appears some of the hair Is growing but perhaps what I'm seeing isn't real growth?
It's difficult to be patient & wait for the results. I considered a surgical hairline advancement prior but I didn't like the way most of them looked straight across & uniformly thick. Also, I was concerned about the scarring because sometimes I get thick scars. I'll be returning to see the doctor in three months and was advised that by then I should start seeing some results.

Ok, so in 3 days it will be a month since. My transplants. The hairs have finally shed, with the exception of just a few. There are a few stubbly roots that I thought were from hairs breaking off, but actually if you gently pull w a tweeter they don't budge. (Again, I did this gently!) my head was really itchy in both the recipient & donor areas these last few days. Since the hairs have shed its been a bit better. You can tell they are shedding normally & not grafts coming out because they slide out from the root extremely easily & there is no tugging. The donor area is annoying me because the "dissolvable" stitches still haven't completely dissolved. I was feeling back there & thought I was running my fingers through a few hairs that were tangled but it's a piece of the thread that must've caught something & came loose! It feels like a loop. I'm leaving it alone now. I can feel the hair growing back in there and it feels like it's even growing through the incision line. My recipient area still feels a little off in texture & is a bit pink but from what I was told this is normal. I can't wait to see some hairs sprouting!!

I have some hairs that grew which never shed. Most did, in fact, shed. I see some new hairs rising to the surface about to emerge. It's sparse at best but I'm not expecting much until the three month mark. One thing I'm concerned about is the discoloration I have. I'm hoping this goes away w time. It's reduced a lot since I had the surgery but it's still noticeable. I have bangs so I cover the area & no one knows I had it done except a few close ppl. Here's a photo. Feedback welcome.

Ok guys. I'm going to tell you that at 11 months, it is evident that this procedure was poorly done. I have what looks like Brillo growing for hair & the transplant was not dense enough so now i look like I'm balding. In addition, the doctor didn't create a natural or feminine hairline or pay any attention to the pattern in which my hair parts or my temples. I am very disappointed & have contacted the office to schedule a follow up to voice my concerns. I spent a good deal of money on this & honestly looked better w my big forehead than this oddly textured, weird shaped unnatural "hair" that I may now have to laser off. I wouldn't recommend this doctor for this procedure. Will let you all know what happens