lisco

Hey guys, looooong time, no see, so here I am six months later with fresh pics, eagerly awaiting your comments. As you may guess by the tone, I am quite pleased with results thus far hoping more will grow in the next six months. Apart from my satisfaction with results, I am sorry Transmed withdrew from the list of recommended clinics on this forum and I hope the discussion re: my transplant had nothing to do with their decision to refrain from further dialogue. I only think of them best. Best of luck to you all, Lisco

Hi everyone, I have been away for some time and just came back to upload some recent photos but before I add any comments, I'd like to thank some of you, first of all Bill for his clarifications and contact with the clinic, as well as Jeremiah, Skinuppinup, Hairthere, Jessie1, Hairtoday72 and Sparky for your support and helpful insights. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder what's wrong with Bonkerstonker having read his comments. I do understand the benefits of a realistic approach but I find his comments crappy. If we bear in mind that I am no skipster that has deals with the clinic, I'd like to share my experience over the past twenty days or so. It seems to me that this is the worst stage as all the transplants have fallen out with the rest of the hair being in a state of shock making me feel like I took a step back, but still hoping that big leaps forward lie ahead. 23 days post op I started using minox foam while I've started using propecia 3days post op on a regular basis. Also, in the meantime I heard from other patients who have had their tranplants in Transmed and have come out more than satisfied, e.g. Difuser and others. What's more a few days ago I received a phone call from Transmed as a part of the regular postop patient care program, and encouraged me inspite of the bad comments on the forum so that I remain firm in my belief to wait for a few more months before we can make any serious prognosis on the success of my surgery. Skipster - at this point I cannot recommend whether to go with Transmed or not, but in case you have second thoughts, it might be good to wait till I can come up with results on regrowth in a couple of months, contact additional patients that wen through Transmed and then make your own decision. As for me, my rating of Transmed (bearing in mind this is my first HT) is very high in terms of comfort, expertise of Dr Ilker and the entire treatment. As I said above, I rest assured that my yield rate will be high and pending these results, we will be able to provide argumented comments on graft placement in my case. I wish you all lots of luck in your treatments and look forward to hearing from you soon. Cheers!

Hey everyone, 8days and many comments later, I believe the outcome is much more obvious - the key in my case seems to have been heavy bleeding wwhich caused large scabs especially in vertex area. As for placement in the forehead area, it also looks much different without straight lines and follows the hair pattern in the front. True is also the fact that the transplanted hairs are much thicker than my remaining hair on the frontal area, which makes the transplants stand out being not only thicker but also darker. Therefore I bought propecia which I started taking the first day following the op, and rogaine foam that I'll begin using a month after the op. I hope propecia and rogaine will do the job and improve the overall results of my first HT (once you go there, you keep going back)., What's more, the manager of the clinic called me as a part of their patient post-op care and I mentioned to him that I posted a thread on the forum which invited many comments and he promised to respond to Bill's email and explain the rationale behind the transplant technique applied in my case. What's more, he reassured me about results, explaining that I bled alot which produced large scabs and convinced me that the final outcome will be more than satisfactory (easy to believe for a HT patient). Frankly, I am happy with the way things are going - I keep monitoring progress and I follow instructions in terms of hair washing, taking medicine etc. Today is my 10th day following the op and I posted new pics two days ago, hope I'll get better reviews for those. Many thanks to you all who took the time to post re: my HT and I look fwd to staying in touch

Hey guys, I was back on the forum only a few days after the op, after I came home and was quite taken aback with your reactions to post op pics as it doesn't seem to be very promising. Let me share my impressions abt the surgery with you and potentially get additional feedback and advice from you all. Before and during the operation, all Transmed staff was most kind and professional, on top of the assistance for transfer to and from the airport, hotel arrangments etc. What also may be of interest is the announcement by the Transmed manager (I'll fwd the email exchange to Bill) that the planning and supervision during the surgery will be done by Dr Kulahci, however she was not present in the planning at all but only came in twice during the surgery for about 5 minutes each time, while the surgery was done by Dr Apayidin Ilker, second most experienced surgeon in Transmed. Dr Kulahci came after the surgery was over and told me that the results will be excellent. Anyhow, Dr Ilker was fully professional and committeed during the surgery and explained. As noted in my first post on the forum, I asked him a few questions prior to surgery (what is survival rate for grafts in mega sessions, what will be the punch size, is medical tratment/regime needed after surgery to improve and boost results and of course, if it would look natural once it's grown). I was told that punch size would be 0.8mm, that the donor area is exellent and that Dr Ilker will take out ca. 3.000 grafts. Also, the expected results are going to be 100% nautral as Transmed applies state of the art techniques and that it would be helpful if after the operation I would take Propecia and Rogaine foam, especially if I am concerned about any side effects. Frankly, I was quite satisfied and reassured after the operation that all went well and that effects will be as desired, until I saw your comments and concerns which I greatly appreciate but find really upseting and would invite your advice on anything that can be done to make this endeavor worthwhile. To go back to the surgery - after I was given answers to the initial questions, we started the surgery with a very dedicated team that paid attention to me feeling comfortable and going through the extraction process in a releaxed atmoshpere. Three hours later, I was told that they extracted 3.200grafts, most of them (2.250) with three and four hairs, 650grafts with two hairs and 300grafts with one hair. Following the extraction came the planning phase although Dr Kulahciwas not present but I had trust in Dr Ilker and remained confident that the surgery will go well even without her present in the planning. It was explained to me that 2.300grafts will be placed in the frontal area and 900grafts in vertex and should I wish for better results in the vertex, I am welcome to be back in a year for evaluation and adding grafts to the vertex area. According to this distribution, Dr Ilker made channels asking me kindly not to pose questions during cahnnel-making as he has to do the counting. Technicians who performed graft selection were most pleasant and told me that graft quality is excellent which only added to my confidence in final reuslts. In the afternoon 3-5 technicians were engaged in placing grafts into channels (technicians were changing every half an hour). My personal impression is that this segment of the surgery was done very carefully, whereby at the end of that stage Dr Kulahci came to supervise and seeing my situation, claimed that results will be outstanding and Dr Ilker fully agreed with her statement. After the surgery was done, I had a short conversation with Transmed Manager Taner and Dr Ilker who provided me with a list of medications to use five days following the surgery and while in the pharmacy I also bought propecia supplies for the next six months. I left the clinic feeling most positive about the surgery and hopeful of its outcome. I don't know if I beld and scabbed alot although I didn't feel I did. However, since they used punch size 0.8 I'd expect that there was some bleeding as it would be the only explanation for graft size you saw on the post op pics. After I came to the hotel, I posted the pics on my profile and when I saw them, it appeared to me that in the frontal area grafts are placed like in a stadium row (as you noted) but bearing in mind that I have some of "my own hair" in the frontal line, I still believe that the applied placement method might be appropriate. At the same time, vertex distribution was a bit of a surprise to me although I was told that I would need to refill the area in one-year's time and after seeing the results of the surgery aided by taking propecia. Still I was very happy because I passed the surgery and made the significant step from my perspective (Toppik is an amazing aid, but not good for gym and sports as you may know). I really read alot over the past years and tried to bring myself up to date with modern trends in hair transplant techniques, but now it seems to me that I remained ignorant in spite of all my efforts to prepare well and make the right choice of the clinic/surgeons, should any such thing exist in transplant terms. Please don't get me wrong, but I have to admit that my enthusiasm about the surgery, clinic and positive outcomes was deeply shaken by the comments to my post op pics on the forum - while I'd like to maintain my belief that the results will be as expected, I look fwd to your continuing comments and constructive input to make my prospects better if possible. I do appreciate all your comments and input and would be thankful for advice on anything I can do at this point to improve the effects and results. Also, you may rest assured that I am a real patient and that my case is truthful as my only motive for joining the forum and spending time to read and post is exactly to share my experience and concerns with all of you and learn from your experiences which I find helpful and informative. Today is my fourth day after the surgery (a new ear has begun and I am taking the new count) and I will post fresh pics during the day today Many thanks again! Lisco

thanks you guys for the honesty and support - I guess I am just going through the usual hesitation prior to surgery asking myself whether I;ve done everything to prepare this well. I failed to say I've gone through extensive research over the past years and having studied many websites, forums and experiences, and came to the point where I need to take action in order to make my daily functioning easier. I am confident that Transmed is the best choice for me at this point and remain hopeful that the surgery will be successful. The thing I'd greatly appreciate is a piece of advice on the questions I should ask immediately before surgery and thus ensure better results. flying in the morning, talk to you soon

in preparing for a surgery at Transmed, I'd like to invite your comments and advice to make it if possible, a successful effort on my part. I went to Transmed for an informal introduction in May and experienced a highly professional check up by a staff member called Taner who told me that I should get 2900 grafts using FUE. Also, I was acquainted with all the steps of the surgery, including a visit to the surgery room which made me feel comfortable and confident in Transmed (perhaps naively) and I shortly decided to do my surgery there. The only negative answer I was given related to availability of Dr Kulahci to attend the check-up and surgery due to a packed schedule, and will only be available at times during the surgery as a supervisor. Having read the posts on the forum, primarily by Woody and Albion, I'd be keen to learn whether there is a way to secure the adequate punch size and would appreciate any other input or suggestions that may be of assistance. Likewise, do you think it's possible to extract 2900grafts in only one day and do it successfully, as Transmed claims to be routinely done in their daily practice. many thanks! P.S. I'll post my pre and post-op.photos when I get home on Aug 18. Wish me luck!