wilkinte

My doctor has me applying neosporin to pimples that will form (you will get those too). I'd hit the area with that to keep any infection out.

At 16 days you shouldn't be losing grafts, they are in there!

Given where you started it looks good to me. You had zero coverage in the sides before the HT.

I'd grow it out more.

It looks like you're healing nice. I'm 3 months post FUE and still a little pink in the recipient. My doctor has me rubbing aloe gel in it to try and help the redness.

Now just be prepared for all the new grafts to fall out as you enter the ugly duckling stage (where I am now).

Best wishes and keep posting pics

Well, I can say I hope my hair looks like that in 6 months! congrats

Boy the ugly duckling stage is not for the faint of heart!

We all know it's coming and expect it, but its just a bummer that you look better 10 days post op when the scabs come off versus 2-3 months after.

Still have a little lingering redness, but there is no tenderness at all like I had the first month or so post op.

You can see some zits in the pics, I've popped two or three of them with a tool I bought to avoid squeezing them. Dr. Nader is OK with that as long as they have a white head and are poppable. He advises neosporin on the zits that are underground bumps.

Dr. Nader advised yesterday to go back on the aloe for the redness, but thought everything looked normal. If you zoom on the pics new thick hairs are discernible, but those guys need some time to grow out.

I have had two haircuts, going about every three weeks to avoid the bozo the clown look.

No regrets! Just looking forward to the future.

I'm going to post 2 month update pics in a couple weeks.

Redness in the recipient area is fading nicely, some sprouting happening, but I'm keeping my hair short so it's not horrible. Also the lingering tenderness in the donor area is gone completely.

Glad to hear you're in great shape 5 months out!

And PS, on the cash discount he will take a certified check from major US banks.

Welcome to the Nader club and please keep us posted with pics!

Thanks iq, good to hear from another patient, and its good to hear that 9 months out you feel great about the results.

I'm one month out and the ugly duckling stage is beginning. Many of the transplanted hairs have fallen out. Even though I've read about this and prepared for it, it's still a bummer.

Redness is fading slowly, definitely not fast enough. Dr. Nader advised trying Merderma a couple days ago so I'm rubbing that in. On the interwebs I don't read a lot of success with the stuff but it's worth a try.

I have been pretty religious about the aloe up until now.

I'll shoot some update pics at some point, I may wait until the 8 week point since I'm guessing not much will happen between now and then.

Thanks I'm happy so far too.

Looks like I'm a little sunburned.

Glad to hear from another patient of his!

Over the last week I've had some growth in the transplants (I know, don't get excited about it), some shedding of transplants, and a gradual reduction in the redness.

Dr. Nader is happy with everything he's seen.

My donor area is still a little tender, he's having me spread 1% hydro-cortisone on the donor area at night along with a couple ibuprofen's at night. My scalp has always been weird, prone to dry spots and "barnacles" - what my dermo calls them, that they've burned off. I'm guessing my physiology is part of the continuing issue with the donor area. But to keep things in perspective it's truly no big deal and I'm doing everything I normally do, including hitting the gym.

I've been hitting the aloe hard everywhere (pure gel, 2 times a day) with the hope of getting the red gone. That's the only mental thing I've got at this point, I'm OK being crew cut and thinning, I just want the red to go away. From the forums I can see it might take a while.

That's all for now. I've been impressed with the after care, if I don't text Dr. Nader for a day or two he hits me asking for an update. Also I'm going to shift to updating about monthly since not a lot changes week to week.

Cheers!

Sleep with your head on a towel so you don't get blood on the hotel sheets or they will charge you a fine.

my surgical cap soaked them up!

I had FUE, so no scar to deal with. That being said, you'll still be numb from the anesthesia plus the pain killers you better be on from the doc. That's a good thing.

I wore a sanitized baseball cap (clinic did the sanitizing) home. No problem. I had taken the dressing off my donor area the morning before I flew, you may need to leave yours on. If worse came to worse I would have flown in a surgical cap. He should send you back to hotel with this. Real risk of scratching out your grafts when you sleep. If you're lucky enough to sleep, my HT was spread over 2 days and I hardly slept at all - nerves or something.

I showered every day of surgery and right after, no water on the head. My first wash was two days after the HT. Doc had very specific instructions on that.

After about a week I got more aggressive with the hair washing, again under his instructions. Key thing is to lose the scabs.

Keep em coming,

Your doc should provide you a very detailed plan for after the HT as well as the meds you need. Meds include antibiotic, anti inflammatory, and some kind of pain killer. Mine gave me a saline spray too. You need this plan from your doc, and you need it before you get on a plane (or drive).

Getting knowledge from these forums is helpful, and has helped me, but there is no substitute for your doc's plan (I'm presuming you picked a good doc).

The one useful thing he may not mention (my doc did and it's noted above) is the importance of button down shirts. Peeling shirts on and off after a HT isn't a good idea.

looking good so far, keep the updates coming. We've seen some good works from this doc but every experience helps and yours includes crown which if im remembering correctly has only been shown in small part once so it'd be nice to see how he can do on the crown.

Will do, I was all about the swirl! His story is his incision angles and placement make it work, proof will be in the pudding

I was there a week ago for my HT, and yes I felt safe.

His office is near the border and that area is safe as far as I could see.

Check out my thread under FUE, the level of care was something I'd never experienced before.

He did 3300 grafts for me at under 1/2 that price.

About a week down, and everything has been smooth.

One thing that happened was pain in the donor area starting about Day 5 (after my med regime had been finished from the procedure) and continuing to today. Doc advised me to hit it with Ibuprofen/aspirin and I've been doing that, two Ibuprofen pills every 4-6 hours.

This has been low grade pain, maybe 3 on a scale of 10, kind of comes and goes. This has been described by others on forums as being the nerves coming back to life after the violence of 3300 holes being poked.

And I've started to get a little more aggressive with the shampoo (but not articulating the scalp, just finger tip rubbing). Dr. Nader likes to see the scabs gone by day 10 or so, I think I'm on track. Also using pure Aloe gel on recipient area too to help.

Dr Nader keeps in touch via texting, and he is happy with the results so far.

I'm red, but not violently so. Looking forward to giving you guys the two week update next Friday.

congrats on your procedure, I had 2 FUE procedures spaced out a year apart to do the frontal restoration and then the midscalp to crown - must be nice to get it out of the way in one procedure albeit over 2 days! work looks good and I really like the attention to the hairline design. best wishes healing and post updates of your progress when you see fit!

Thanks much, and I will be providing updates!

congrats on getting the surgery done Wilkinte!

 

did he give you any idea as to what kind of density you should hope for and how many grafts you'd have remaining?

Thanks, he estimated my total donor area at 7-8K, and used about 1/2 of that. His original estimate was 4K and he ended up using 3300.

And no, we really didn't talk specifics about density. I described how I wanted it to look and I relied upon his experience and artistry to make it happen.

Day 2 went well. I had a fish dish for lunch that was nearly gourmet, and of course the tacos for day one.

The only discomfort I experienced was in the donor area, the dried blood on the gauze felt scratchy and sore, and I removed it with warm water the morning of day 3 (Friday).

Slept a little better that night, but still a little anxious and unsettled.

After finishing up the crown and a detailed chat about aftercare he loaded me up with my meds and a spray bottle of saline solution and we said adios. He provides you an after care cell number to contact him directly, and he reached out for pics on the morning of day 3 (before his Friday patient arrived). A doctor texting you, can you imagine?

We finished at 5 ish day 2 and I had one more night in McAllen, departing in the morning. It was nice having the clinic pick up the hotel for 3 nights, versus trying to save a buck.

So Friday morning I put on the ball cap he sanitized for me and it was off for home.

It'll be interesting seeing how my recovery goes, my first wash is today. He wants to see the scabs gone in a week, and he encouraged me to not be afraid to rub the shampoo (within reason of course).

And this was a good tip, I see lots of posters sweating seeing hairs on the scabs as they come off. Dr Nader said that if you actually pull a graft out you'll know by the blood running down your face.

Another good tip from him from the beginning was to wear button down shirts. That was gold I can't imagine peeling a t shirt/polo shirt over my head days 1-3.

First things first, what an amazing experience. Dr. Nader and his girls are pros, and the level of care I experienced was unmatched. Day One was Wed May 2nd.

He puts you up in the border town of McAllen TX (hotel is paid for) and his driver carries you back and forth. About 20 minutes each way, and for us the border was no issue.

For greater than 2000 grafts you are with him for two days, for me he did the front day one and crown day two.

We started with chatting for about an hour or two about my hair loss, expectations, his experience, etc. I didn't know he's been in practice for 17 years and his staff members are all in the 7-10 year range working with him. They are really a team and it's all hands on deck with the patient from 8 till 5.

Interestingly enough, the front design took a while. Based on measurements and a laser tool he has my front had a distinct slant that was unappealing. You can see the smearing as he wiped off the marker and we kept experimenting until it looked right. That's where I appreciated his experience and his level of care. His hands turned purple as we kept dinking with it. And to honor forum member widows peak, I asked him to give me a subtle widows peak!

Both days were the same, extraction in the AM, lunch, then implantation. He has speakers for your phone to play your music for the extraction, but as everyone says laying on your side/ stomach for extraction for 2-3 hours is a challenge.

The implantation is easier, you're sitting while they work behind you and he has a big screen with a large movie collection.

I went back to the hotel with a surgical cap on, he advised sleeping would be tricky and he was right. I'm a side sleeper, so I brought an airplane neck pillow and elevated myself. My smart watch logged one hour of sleep Adrenaline, excitement, fear of tearing out the front in a sleep induced scratching session all contributed to the disaster.

Second and final day next...

Leave tomorrow for Texas and the chauffeured rides across the border. I'll update with pics and my thoughts.

Thanks for the kind word, and thanks for documenting your journey.

I hope my results are as good as yours, just hope I don't need as much narcotics as you did post surgery!

I just used info@nadermedical.com ( on website).

Key thing is in the subject line I communicated I was ready to go, and included pictures for the Dr's assessment.

I was then successful getting through on the phone to make sure the receptionist knew I was ready to go. I used Skype, and didn't ask a bunch of questions, etc.

I might have gotten lucky, but I think my attitude of "I did my research, picked you guys, now get me on the schedule" worked. And keep in mind earliest available was 3 months out.

The next day after the call I received a document with pricing, appointment confirmation and what the Dr recommended. Easy Peasy.

I will not post prices on the forum but as everyone else has noted he is quite reasonable.

After 15 or more years of thinking about it, and lots of time on this forum I'm taking the plunge. I'm 50, been on propecia (finesteride cut up) for about 20 years, and finally my genes have won. Time to fight back.

Interestingly enough, I got on propecia before they listed gynecomastia as a side effect, and have a nice scar and dead nipple because of that. Maybe I should be thankful it only affected one side..:mad:

And yes, with Dr. Nader. I got my appointment booked 2 days after my first email. Just like folks on the forum say, you have to be serious and communicate your seriousness. He has no time for lookie loos. I got through in early Feb and first available was 1 May. 1 patient per day is how he rolls.

His assessment is 4000 or so FUE grafts, and this will be done over two days.

Here are some before shots. Could be a zit or a dry spot in shot one. Both pre and post haircut. God, old age spots on my skull! F*ck me.

Plan is to keep it real short from here on out.

I'm two months away but excited, and I wanted to kick it off today with this post, wish me luck!