HairDew

Crown is lagging but from what I've seen, the crown takes longer to grow.

Here are the pictures of the hairline.

I just wanted to update my thread and let you guys know that I'm now in the process of scheduling a touch up procedure with Dr. Erdogan. The growth has been good (minus the necrosis spot). I can cover the spot with surrounding hair no problem. Attached is a photo I just took under a harsh white light in my office. It's been 8 months after my procedure. The comparison speaks for itself.

Dr. Erdogan does an unshaved FUE (no shaving at all, including donor) but the cost is double.

vchorro, since you were trying to find an FUE surgeon in Turkey in 3-4 euro range, why do you also say that Dr.Erdogan is expensive? His FUE prices are 2.50 euros per graft (shaved) which are under the amount you were looking for.

People who already received their visa, can still go without problems.

I would say yes. I have the same hair sprouting. It's been little over 2 months for both of us so the best of days are still ahead

When I had my HT with Dr. Erdogan, he also told me to get on FIN. I told him I've tried it few years ago and I did have those side effects in the bedroom, so I stopped. He said, OK, you don't have to take it but he usually advises people to take it for holding onto your native hair longer. Because at some point my other native hair will start thinning. Just my $0.02

I started shedding after about 2 weeks and by week 3 most of transplanted hair fell off. I'm reaching my month 2, so I still look bald where I had a transplant. I'm in the ugly duckling stage and it sucks. I look worse than I did before my OP.

Necrosis scab fell off and is now healing. I'm little more than a month after my surgery.Everything else seems on schedule. Most new grafts shed, so just a waiting game. Once necrosis part heals, Dr. Erdogan will perform long hair FUE to take care of it.

WiFi was good enough as I could watch movies online. I also used WiFi for facetime with my wife back in US.

I'm glad you posted a full account of your visit to ASMED. We've been having dinner every night (along with other patients) at the hotel as our surgeries were on the same day Heal and grow well.

That's exactly what I had, an aisle seat so I could go in and out to the bathroom every couple hours. Keep checking your Global Entry application by logging in to global entry site daily. Once they say it's been "partially approved", you can select your interview date. If by any chance your closest interview date is passed your travel date, I would suggest checking if any of the closest airports around you allow walk-ins. I know in Phoenix you can just show up if you don't mind waiting in line for a couple of hours.

Thanks HairInspector. I would advise you to get Global Entry ($100 for 5 years). NYC have direct flights to Istanbul, so the flight for you should be a straight shot. Global Entry would allow you to go through US customs (on the way back) in about 2 minutes. Coming back from IST to NYC, you will go through at least 3-4 security check points in Instanbul. The last security check point was right at the gate, where they even opened our bags.

Just wanted to update everyone. I've been in constant contact with ASMED. Yes a small part on my head where I have a scar developed necrosis. This is second case of necrosis in ASMED's practice. I've been on antibiotics for 7 days, the wound is healing and is actually a lot smaller than it initially was. The reason for necrosis: I had a scar on my head. There could have been not enough blood circulation there. Plus I smoked a pack a day, that didn't help either (it could have been the biggest factor). So for all you smokers out there, quit at least 6-12 months before your procedure. I have been smoke free for the past 3 weeks. Dr. Erdogan stands behind his work and once the necrosis heals, he will provide a touch up procedure free of charge, including a flight ticket. I will keep you updated.

Thank you Dr. Feller. I have contacted the clinic and will see a local physician.

I haven't emailed the clinic but that spot was "dark" right after surgery.

That dark area is the scar on my head, it has a small cavity. It will come out within a week or so.

I know this is an old post. But I've met Dr. Umut (Jul 2017), His results in person are great considering where he was coming from.

I agree with JeanLucBergman. You are a diffuse thinner. You will need more grafts to cover them all because you are going towards NW5 and within a couple of years you will lose even more of that hair in the middle. I also want to comment on Dr. Erdogan's "excessive" graft counts. He usually takes a "one and done" approach. But even having some donor left, he will take a homogeneous approach. So if you need more grafts later on, he will transplant them in a way where your entire head will look the same. He did exactly that with Dr. Umut (an anesthesiologist at ASMED). He had 6k grafts transplanted and even though he doesn't have a very dense result, his entire head looks the same. You can check out Dr. Umut's results here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181820-dr-koray-erdogan-6008-grafts-performed-dr-umut-kartal-asmed-staff.html

As you can see, the scabs formed, front of my head looks very crusty but that was to be expected. Hopefully scabs will be gone within a week. The donor looks awesome. I couldn't believe how good it looks after only 6 days. Pictures were taken with flash.

First flight: Phoenix > San Francisco > Istanbul (Pacific) Flight back home: Istanbul > Chicago > Phoenix (Atlantic) Yup, seems that way. Just like the book "Around the world in 6 days" lmao

These are post op photos

More photos

So after 9 years of research the time has finally come. I returned last night (Friday July 28th 2017) from Turkey where Dr. Erdogan and his awesome team have transplanted 4147 grafts. Originally Dr. Erdogan estimated 4000 grafts but during procedure he said he felt that those extra 147 into hairline would be more appropriate. Also those 147 grafts were FREE of charge. Summary I began losing my hair when I was about 31-32. At first it wasn't as noticeable and I didn't really paid much attention. When I was about 35, I had to do what I call "Hair acrobatics" to comb and style it to hide my progressing baldness. At that time I also tried Finasteride but after about 3 months I got the side effects that every man is afraid of (lol) so I stopped. My choice of a Surgeon At first I started googling about hair transplant and saw old 80s and 90s plugs and it scared the hell out of me. I thought to myself, who in their right mind would want to have that doll hair. Then I found this site. The amount of information was overwhelming to say the least. I was so glad that I didn't stop my research. I've had consultations with some recommended doctors on this site about 8-9 years ago (FUT) but that dreaded scar was the only thing that was stopping me to pull the plug. Back then FUE was mostly for touch up procedures. I believe 1500 was the biggest I've seen and that was performed over 2 days. Over the years more and more new doctors were starting to post on HTN. Some of their FUE results not only looked on par with FUT but some looked far superior to FUT. I kept seeing Dr. Erdogan's results and I was always blown away. It went to the point where I would logon here, go to Patient and Doctors results and only looked for Dr. Erdogan's results. So I contacted his office first through their website and didn't receive a reply (they have a page where you can submit your pictures etc). So I wrote an email to their generic info@asmed.com.tr address. The next day I received a reply from Sevinc, a patient coordinator for Dr. Koray. We would then go back and forth for the next 2 weeks until the procedure was scheduled for July 26-27. Pre Surgery My patient coordinator was Sevinc (pronounced as Sevinch) and I can't say enough of good things about her. She was also with me for both days of my procedure. She sits next to me and tells me every next step that is taking place. Arriving in Turkey I left Phoenix AZ on July 23rd with only one stop in San Francisco I arrive in Istanbul on July 24th. Little scared and confused I walked out of airplane following the "Passport Control" sign. Took me about an hour to go thought the passport control but it was painless. After exiting the baggage claim area (I only had a carry on) I walked outside the doors where I see a big crowd. Many people are holding named signs I look for my name and after about 30 seconds I see a guy holding a sign with ASMED and my name under it. The guy (unfortunately I forgot his name) immediately recognized me because all ASMED drivers are given your picture before you arrive so they know what you look like. My driver then takes me to Radisson Blu hotel. Radisson Blu Hotel It’s a very nice and modern hotel. It has all amenities every nice hotel has. A restaurant downstairs where you get free breakfast every day. You can also eat dinner there (I did as did many other patients of ASMED that I’ve met on this journey). The only thing that was “foreign” to me was the fact that as you walk into your room, you place your room key card into a little slot by the door and it activates electricity, so the lights and AC wouldn’t work without the key. Apparently it’s very common in Europe but was a first for me. July 25th, Consultation Day The next day a different driver named Ahmed picked me up at about 1pm to take me to the clinic. As I sat in the mini VAN (every ASMED van has complimentary water and snacks available if you wish) I saw another guy entering the VAN, a guy from UK. We started talking on our way to the clinic. So from this day on we had dinners together at the restaurant at the hotel (we’ve met other people there who will dine with us later). As we arrive at the clinic, we are greeted by Sevinc. It was very nice to put a face to the name. We place one foot at a time into this little machine that envelopes your foot into plastic “shoe”. The clinic is state of the art. To be honest, it looks more like a spa. A pianist is playing in the lobby. We are then taken downstairs to take pictures where I also met my second patient coordinator Alesio. He also had a hair transplant with Dr. Koray and his pictures were posted on this site as well. His hair looked amazing. I would say even better in person than in pictures. This place has 50+ employees, all of them are good looking girls except Alesio, Dr. Koray and Dr. Umut (Anesthesiologist). I had a huge headache coming in, so I asked Sevinc if they can give me something for my headache. She smiled and said “I’ll be right back”. In about 2 min she comes back with Dr. Umut who then gives me a pain pill. We joked around (this guy has a very dry humor style, I loved it). Dr. Umut asked me about my health history (if I’m allergic to anything etc), all my answers were NO. He also asked me if I feel any anxiety, I told him NO, I told him I don’t need any Xanax, he smiled and said “Brave man” and started laughing. We are then taken to a washing room where I was shaved. Few minutes later Sevinc takes me to Dr. Koray’s office. As I was walk in, Dr. Koray greets me with a big smile on his face and I said “Hey Doc”, finally I can put a face to your name. His office has a huge flat panel TV which shows your pictures previously taken by one of his girls. You can see how badly your hair is with great clarity. I didn’t really realize how bad it was until I saw myself on the big screen (I have taken pictures of myself for years but never saw it in such a bad light). We talked about my goals again even though I already explained them all in my correspondence in emails with Sevinc. Dr. Koray wanted to make sure we meet all my goals. He then draws a hairline that he thinks is more appropriate for my face shape. We tweak it and tweak it for the next few min until I was satisfied. He shakes my hand and I leave his office. I’m then taken to a room where another of his girls take my blood. I’m then taken to a washing room where I meet a guy from UK. He is also shaved and has his new hairline drawn. Another girl comes in with a small tray on which she carries hot tea and grilled cheese. After having tea with grilled cheese, we were told to be read tomorrow morning at 7:10 am, the driver will pick us up from the hotel. We say our goodbyes to Sevinc and the driver took us back to the hotel. We agreed with a “UK Guy” to meet downstairs at 7:30pm for dinner. The food was great. July 26th, Surgery Day 1 After having breakfast at the hotel, Ahmed (the driver) took us back to the clinic. This time there were 3 of us in the van. We’ve met a very lovely girl from France. She has naturally a high hairline so she was here to get it lowered. She needed 1000 grafts. This is the only time we’ve seen her, I guess she left shortly after her procedure. We are greeted at the clinic by Sevinc and proceed to get our “plastic shoes” on again. We are taken downstairs again where we change into scrubs-like clothes and then taken to the wash room where get shaved again. Right next door is the photo room, I proceed there where Dr. Koray finalizes my hairline (using a laser) and number of grafts per each zone. We are then taken to the operating section of the clinic. I meet my team of nurses. The room is cold but they give you a blanket. Sevinc is sitting next to me and says “They are going to administer anesthesia now”. I started remember reading about shots in the back of your head, that its like getting shots at the dentist. I gotta tell ya. Those shots hurt like a MOTHER…..I have a very high tolerance to pain but these shots hurt a lot. All I was thinking was, it’s only couple minutes, its only couple minutes. After about 2-3 min I was done with shots. Then the extractions began. I didn’t feel anything except one time I felt a pinch in one spot. I told Sevinc and they gave me another shot in that area immediately. This procedure was about 3-3.5 hours. I almost fell asleep but Sevinc woke me up because extractions are done with you sitting upright, so you better not move too much. After extractions were done, total count for the day was 2027, I was taken to the room where they brought us lunch. “UK Guy” wasn’t there because his procedure was still in place. He needed 3000 grafts in one day. So knowing that he needed 1000 extra grafts (comparing to my 2027) would place him probably for another hour behind me. I ate lunch. Dr Umut was there along with Sevinc. We joked around, talked about politics etc. After lunch Sevinc brought me back to the Operating Room again. 5 minutes later in walks Dr. Koray with a big smile on his face. I said “Hey Doc”, are you here to make me look even more beautiful than I already am? We laughed. Sevinc translated the joke to the rest of nurses who then broke into laughter. Incisions took about 45 minutes. At some point I fell asleep, Dr. Koray woke me up to tell me he’s all done with incisions and now I would be given more shots into recipient area. I thought to myself, those damn shots again. So same mental comfort: only couple minutes, only couple minutes. Nurses started implanting. I fell asleep for the most procedure. I was awaken by Sevinc to tell me I was all done for the day (around 4:45 pm). She brought a mirror where I saw my new hairline. It felt amazing to see what is to come when it all grows out. After that, they took me to the room where I changed into my clothes, then back to the washing room where a girl brought me another hot tea and a small pastry. Few minutes later Dr. Koray comes in to check on everything. Sevinc told me tomorrow will be the same schedule, we say our goodbyes and the driver takes me back to the hotel. July 27th, Surgery Day 2 The second day went exactly the same way as the first one, only difference is that shots hurt more in the donor because the area was still sore. After I was done, I was told to be ready the next day at 9:20 am. We said our goodbyes and I was taken back to the hotel where I later met “UK Guy” and 2 others (2 guys from France) for dinner. After the dinner we said our goodbyes with the guys, friended each other Facebook so we can send each other pictures after our results come in. July 28th, Wash Day and Departure back to US I was picked up by Ahmed at 9:20 am and brought to the clinic where I was met by Sevinc. Went to the room where I was given a nice wash. I was then given all the post-op instructions and a flash drive with all my pictures, grafts counts and a video on how to wash your hair after post op. We chatted with Sevinc for a little bit and then I was taken to the airport by Ahmed. It took 4 security check points until I could get on the plane. Last security check point was right at the gate, where they even open your bags. I guess all flights back to US are rigorously checked. They check and double check everything with you. My flight was late by an hour and a half, I was afraid I would miss my second flight from Chicago to Phoenix. The flight from Istanbul to Chicago took 10 hours 30 min. I had less than one hour to get to another terminal at O’Hare to catch my second flight. I was so glad I had “Global Entry” setup couple months before. I saw the line where you had to go through (passport, custom forms etc), it look a line at Disney land. It took me exactly 2 minutes to go through customs with Global Entry. You scan your passport, the machine also takes fingerprints of your 4 fingers, spits out a receipt and you’re done. I was running to catch a little train that takes you to another terminal. I got there 3 minutes before my second flight was boarding. The next flight was only 3 hours, so I slept through it mostly and arrived home at around 10 pm. Things to consider Have buttoned shirts for operation days and the days after. If traveling from US, get Global Entry setup before you go ($100 for 5 years) Only have a carry on to prevent problems if you need to change planes etc Graft Counts: Total Available Donor: 8600 Total: 4147 Singles: 697 Doubles: 2262 Triple: 1030 Guadruples: 153 Quintuples: 5 Thickness: 68 microns Hair Ratio: 2.16 P.S sorry for typos, grammatical errors (still jet lagged).