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Monday
February 5th, 2001
Australia, here I come! My plane leaves Boston Logan airport
February 5th and I have a two-hour layover in Los Angeles
before the 14-hour flight to Sydney. It's a long flight and I
have pretty good case of jet lag when the plane lands at
6:00am Sydney time February 7th. |
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Wednesday
February
7th, 2001
I clear customs and crash in a hotel for a day. I am picked up
the next day and meet Dr. Angela Campbell and get transported
to my accommodations at the surgery center where I met Dr.
Woods. I am examined by both doctors then settle in and
prepared for surgery the next day. |
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Friday
February
9th,
2001
As
prepared as I was and with the information I had, it really
comes down to putting yourself in the hands of the doctors.
Surgery starts at noontime! Extensive videotaping and then
discussion between the two doctors. The left frontal side was
damaged from prior surgeries as the thick wall of plugs and
scaring was severe in this area. The anesthetic is applied to
the frontal area by Dr. Campbell in very small amounts. The
"ouch factor" is minimal and I tolerate it well. Dr.
Woods and Dr. Campbell proceed with the labor intensive task
of plug removal and skin grafting the area where the plugs
were removed. The follicles from the plugs are disbursed into
other areas. The two doctors work together and independently.
Breaks are taken for lunch and resting.
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| Surgery finishes
13-1/2 hours later at 1:30am. I
take it easy over the weekend and I feel OK considering the
marathon surgery I just went through and prepare myself for
the next surgery. |
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Monday
February
12th,
2001
The
right frontal side is addressed in the same manor as the left
side. This area was very pluggy but was not as damaged as the
left side. Surgery time with lunch and breaks is 10 hours.
The
next day is a rest day. There is some minor swelling and this
is normal with hairline frontal surgery due to the anesthetic.
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Wednesday
February 14th 2001
This
was a short day with the top area approached away from the
frontal hairline and hair follicles are extracted from the
donor area and implanted into this region. Surgery time is 8
hours.
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Thursday
February
15th, 2001
Another
marathon surgery! Follicles were removed from the donor area
and implanted in the frontal area establishing a new hairline.
The hair follicle has to be inserted at the proper angle in
the recipient site. A very long tedious process! Surgery time
is another 13-1/2 hours.
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Saturday
February
17th,
2001
A touch up of plug removal in the back area and disbursement
of the follicles. Surgery time is 7-1/2 hours.
I
want to point out that this method of surgery is exhausting
for the physicians as they are bent over you for hour after
hour wearing binocular visual aids.
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