Hi All,
I have now completed my hair transplant at Asmed Clinic in Istanbul - Turkey & wow what an experience I have had I must say.
11th Dec - night before flight - Goodbye smoking, nicotine and buzz
Enjoyed my last cigarette as I was told to be at least 48 hours clean.. I was motivated, its a big deal a transplant and most if not ALL doctors agree on stopping smoking atleast 24-48 hours if not a week before operation and ATLEAST 10 DAYS post op. It is day 9 now and I am still clean, infact clean now 12 days... First few days weren't too bad, I was drugged with Xanax and morphine on operating day so didn't have anxiety triggers to make me want to smoke. however not going to lie day 5 onwards, cravings do kick in, I had some strong cravings when back in the UK around my usual triggers, even day 8 and no doubt this will continue.. I am determined never to smoke again though. so guys please don't smoke if your going to spend thousands on a hair transplant, don't let it control you, deprive yourself of this luxury comfort and eventually you will come out stronger as a human.
12th Dec - Arrival
When I arrived in Istanbul, one of the Asmed drivers was waiting outside for me dressed impeccably finished with a 10 out of 10 dark grey tweed blazer. He was holding up a digital name placard, a cut above the usual name placards written by hand on cardboard.
My first thought was, this is going to be interesting and a sweet experience and it was.. Jumped in a black Mercedes carrier, leather seats, stocked with soft drinks and nibbles to make for a sweet ride to my hotel - Raddison Blu Asia. He also accompanied me into check in which was great for support on translation etc.
13th Dec - Consultation
I was told I would be picked up at 13:50 for my consultation by a driver, this was funny because when I got in I was shuffling around getting all comfortable and then before I could even finish... We were already at the clinic, to my amusement, the clinic was only one corner of the street away and literally a 30 second walk or a 15 second drive. How amazing I felt with this level of pampering..
Upon entering i felt like this place reflect an apple business kind of theme, everything white and crispy clean with a male receptionist by the door looking like James bond with the thickest hair (way to make some feel special lol) and two main receptionists - Bahar & Dila, two pretty attractive women! Also noticed a pianist and a chelo (large violin) player just casually playing some very soothing sounds, reflecting again the level of detail and premium feel that Dr Koray resonates with in his work. My patient coordinator Suzana, came in to greet me and filled me in on all the basics and was very detailed, happy to answer any question and was super friendly, some of the best and most genuine feeling of service was received. At this point I was thinking how come everyone ive met so far are very good looking or shall I say 'guzel' people!!
I was then taken for blood test done by Volkan and then taken to get my hair washed and pinned back for photo graphs.. This is when the anxiety kicked in - getting exposed in front of a team of girls who were around washing heads, shaving heads etc. Not good especially when probably 90% of the staff in the clinic are girls and all were very good looking ones too lol.
Anyway back to the detail - following this and all the photos I was then taken to meet the famous man himself Dr Koray Erdogan - slimmer looking in real life, really focussed yet relaxed man who looked at me and started analysing, he said I had
roughly 8200 donor capacity. He didn't speak much English however Suzana of course translated and told him I wanted a slightly aggressive hairline. So he drew away, after a couple of attempts I agreed on the design. With the desired hairline, Dr Koray insisted on temple point grafting even though I had temples, the idea was to reinforce these and to frame the face and protect the shape as eventually my natural temples may recede further. This required a total of 3000 grafts for the full work however originally quoted 2200-2500 based on photo consultation. Luckily I did come prepared with extra cash knowing I will probably need more grafts for a solid hairline.
Paid the cash and then to my surprise had to get my head shaved - thought I would get this on the day of surgery, this kind of ruined my plan of going out and about to explore lol but oh well got to do what we go to do. Dr koray then drew a new hairline, this time with more thought and each time he thought he was done he and a team of girls would be discussing it and then amending it and finally after few amends, I got to see it and I agreed with it.
My hair density was then analysed on some cool machine which went around my head capturing average hair count per graft which came out at 1.9 hair per graft which is ok, not the most dense but still ok.
I was given Xanax to take that evening and one in the morning in prep for operation and to calm nerves.
Operation day - 3020 Grafts
The day had come, driver picked myself and another two guys up at 7:10am, went in and got changed and kicked off straight away. I met Dr Umut as well who was the like drugs and pain killer guy, my arm was fitted with a needle and a waterbag, chest and stomach attached to cables for heart rate.
At this point anxiety hitting me only slightly due to fear of needles, which then to my surprise was told they are only the size of like insulin needs (around 1inch long) and barely any pain, more like slight pricks. Extraction took place, I was given an ipad so I decided to watch a bit of narcos. Xanax kicking in more so feeling very calm and pretty much pain free.
Following extraction we broke for lunch, after lunch incisions began, this was done by Dr Koray Erdogan. Admittedly I was in and out of conscientiousness at this point. I must have been drugged up heavily on morphine and other opioids - pretty much remember meeting him, joking around with him and that's it. I would like to have remembered him doing the actual incisions for it being the main part and most critical stage of the operation and not to mention decision factor, I don't all (my only complaint).. However its not a bad thing being asleep and wasn't too worried about this considering i was reassured and the job looked great anyway so no complaints there and fully trust the team.
The surgical team were a good laugh, I do remember having a few jokes with them whenever I was awake which probably wasn't much of the time, it pays to learn some of the Turkish language!
Woke up towards the end of implantation stage around the point when they had around 500 grafts left to place. This was done quite quickly and all in all everything finished by around 6 approximately. I was rinsed and bandaged up and then taken for dinner. The whole thing was blur pretty much and must say a good thing as it didn't feel like a long day.
Went back to hotel and went to sleep with a neck pillow given to me in an upright position.
Post op - Day 1
Went back into the clinic at 9:15am for a wash and photos and that's it really stayed indoors most of the time.
Post op Day 2 - 9
Followed the same routine as day 1, had to cream the recipient area with lotion for 15 mins or until absorbed and then washing with Sebamed shampoo. This was done in the clinic since I stayed close by and didn't return home. Crusting and cracks (empty lines in the recipient area) formed day 3 onwards which did worry me but was reassured all is finedry skin and swelling.
Day 2 - 5 swelling was insane!!! Looked like sloth!! Did not leave my hotel room apart for washing due to the sheer alien face I had - the swelling went to my nose and eyes to the point my eyes were almost close until day 5, it went down to my cheeks and so I just looked like a fat sloppy man until day 7 pretty much. Everyone I spoke to though I was genuinely just fat until I showed them pre op pics, what a rubbish feeling looking like crap!
Day 5 - present - Donor site pain as kicked in on overdrive, sore as anything! Alternating between paracetomals and ibuprofens to reduce the pain at the time of writing this - I can still feel pain! Avoid ibuprofen as it is a blood thinner, use only if advised by Doctor.
Today is day 9 and most of my scabs have gone. I noticed after washing today that on a very close up photo of my grafts, it seemed like there was some blood, although looking at the area in the mirror I couldn't notice anything. Got really worried so messaged Suzana but have been told it could be that the graft wounds are sizzling and therefore the wounds not yet closed off even though it should have by now but it does not mean grafts are out. So yeah, slightly worried today almost as much as I was on day 1-6 but apart from that theres not much to do but be patient and gentle.
Advice to anyone wanting to get a hair transplant -
Book a solid ten days off for post hair transplant if you work in manual labour or in a people facing role. This will give you time to sit at home let the swelling go down and just relax scabs fall man! If you are going to do it abroad in Turkey like me, then I recommend staying in turkey extra 5 nights, relax and heal away from your local scenes. It eases the anxiety especially if you are a smoker and have stopped, in general conscious about swelling etc and don't want everyone to worry when they see you at home.
If you are not going to stay that long, then you are better off flying back as soon as possible so as to avoid serious swelling before reaching your destination. Remember serious swelling kicks in post op day 3 for most including me but then again not for everyone but most.
Other tips - Download 'Yemeksepti' app - its like a deliveroo/justeat - order banging food from near by restaurants, whatever you want its all there and pay in cash upon arrival or card. Recommend adana kebab (mince kebab), bulgar pilav, tavuk shish (chicken shish), pastirma or sujuklu pide (Turkish pastrami or sausage pizza), doner meat etc and for dessert you have to try Kunefe or classic Backlava.
Please give me shout if you have any other questions or want to ask anything, I am hoping mines comes out well inshaAllah and will be placing another update in a few days once scabs are all gone... Just want 6 months to go already!
Credit to the entire team at Asmed who are friendly, smiling all the time and enjoy a chat. From the receptionists, drivers, clinical staff and Dr Koray himself. Patient coordinators are amazing, all available for every countries patients..
Official Stats
3020 grafts (paid for 3000)
actual hair density: 2.1 hairs per graft
Graft breakdown
Single 635 21%
Double 1736 57%
Triple 631 21%
Quadruple 18 1%
Total: 3020 100%
