Day 5 After Hair Transplant Procedure
Last night was awful! I tried to go the whole night with no pain medication because my head didn't hurt yesterday during the day. In fact, it didn't hurt today either. The reason is during the day my head isn't laying back on a pillow. I started in the recliner and went to the couch in all sorts of positions but just couldn't get comfortable. I think I may have slept off and on between 5 and 6 AM! So this morning I got up and took my last Methylprednisolone and a Darvocet in case I wanted to lay down. That chance never came.
No need to be a hero, I'm going to take the milder Darvocet for my night pain. The Vicodin is overkill at this point.
Day 4 After Hair Transplant Procedure
Last night I tried sleeping in a bed for the first time (with Vicodin). I did it but a couple more days in a recliner will be a bit more comfortable. Not much to report today except that I'm feeling better. My head isn't red anymore and the transplants are now looking like little dried up scabs. Hopefully, they fall off soon.
I just thought of something that may be interesting. Throughout the day, I have been feeling slight tingling of and on where the new hair is. It almost feels like somebody lightly touching my head. My guess is it has something to do with the nerve regeneration. If anyone knows what I'm talking about please drop me a note with a little explanation.
On a pain scale, I'm at a 1.5 out of 10 at the worst. It's more of a discomfort than anything else. No Vicodin anymore. I have one Methylprednisolone to take tonight and then one more tomorrow and that's it for the drugs.
Day 3 After Hair Transplant Procedure
Today was a great day! I woke up after my first full night of sleep and there was minimal pain. As a result, I didn't need to take any Vicodin today. I did take the Methylprednisolone before breakfast and after lunch as directed. I have two more days and then it will be gone.
I am experiencing a little more itching as things heal up. I can't scratch but I was told that I could gently touch the area but don't rub it. It seems to work pretty well. When I touch the transplanted area, I feel all of the little stubble from each hair. It feels pretty neat.
Today, my scalp doesn't look any worse than a bad sunburn. It does, however, feel tight since the skin was stretched slightly to close up the donor area. For the last two days, my scalp has been getting very oily. It's probably just a by-product of the healing process. I definitely need to wash my hair every night. It's a delicate process where I mix the shampoo with water in a cup and then gently pour it over my head. I then pour clean water to rinse it. It doesn't seem like much but it actually removes that oil. The problem is, I can't really comb it too well for another 10 days. That will be a great day!
Time to take my last Methylprednisolone for today. I'm going to try the bed tonight so I need to take the Vicodin. I want to at least lay my head down without any pain.
Day 2 After Hair Transplant Procedure
I almost made it through the night. At 5:30 AM I woke up in pain again and had to take another Vicodin. After about 20 minutes it started to kick in and I slept for about 3 more hours. When I awoke, I turned on the TV and my doctor, David Deutsch, was speaking in a Bosley infomercial. I thought the timing was quite funny and felt lucky that I was worked on by one of their lead doctors.
The first thing I noticed today is that my head isn't as purple as yesterday. I took a Vicodin at 10 AM and that was it for 8 hours. I wanted to see if I could last without any pain medication. The answer is definitely no. Without the meds, my pain went up to a 5 out of 10. I took the Vicodin at 6 PM and the pain went away; it also made me tired.
I also noticed something else today, I have a completely numb area in the back of my head just above the center of the donor area. I'm guessing when the strip of skin was removed, some nerves went with it. I am told that they will fully regenerate within 3 months.
I can definitely see a difference in the transplant area. When the hairs are transplanted, they are very short like stubble and give the area a filled in look. These hairs will fall out within the next two weeks when they go dormant. Three months later they will start to grow. I can't wait!
I am going to take a Vicodin and a Halcion before bed tonight and I just noticed I forgot to take the Methylprednisolone yesterday (5 pills) and today (4 pills). I will take one of the 4 pills and resume the schedule per the directions on the box.
Day 1 After Hair Transplant Procedure
Last night was not a great night. I started in a bed but at about 2 AM I woke up in pain (Mike's pain scale 5 out of 10). Surprisingly, the 3002 holes in my scalp for the transplant don't bother me, but it's the suture in the back of my head. The strip of skin from the donor area was 25 cm long (10 inches) by 1 cm. Two large stitches in a cross-stitch pattern (similar to a baseball glove) are pulling the scalp back together. The local anesthesia must have worn off completely while I was sleeping as well as the Vicodin because it hurt to lay my head down on a pillow. I went ahead and took Vicodin for the pain and Halcion, a sleeping pill. I then went to a recliner chair for the rest of the night. After about a half hour, everything kicked in and I was able to get comfortable by putting a pillow under my chin and leaning my head forward. This kept all pressure off the back of my head. Once the Vicodin took hold, the pain level went to 1 out of 10.
This afternoon I went back to Bosley to get my hair washed and also to get instruction on how to wash my hair. After my hair was washed, they blotted some of the blood clots to clean me up. They told me to mix a tablespoon of Bosley shampoo in a cup of water and pour it over my head gently so as not to dislodge any of the transplants. I have to do this for 2 weeks until the hair is set.
Here are a few pictures after my hair was washed. It's purple but it doesn't look too bad.
While riding in the car to and from Bosley, I was feeling a bit nauseous and very tired. I think I might have been hungry and not realized it. Hopefully this is a one-time event; I'll make sure to eat more regularly while I'm healing.
Today's drug schedule was as follows:
Vicodin: 2:30 AM, 10 AM, 4 PM, 10:30 PM
Halcion: 2:30 AM, 10:30 PM
This time I took the Halcion before going to sleep along with the Vicodin to see I can make it through the night. I'm also sleeping in the recliner chair to start.
