Parasol

Wow! You’ve got a full head of hair now! Excellent result, and still quite some months of maturing and thickening to go.

15 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Have you been in contact with the clinic/Dr ? Yes I can see why you would be concerned. Be good if they could give you some kind of reassurance. 

Thanks John. I just sent them to Doron (who I think replied here before he even got my pictures lol) and to the clinic directly as well. I’m hoping Dr. Maras can review them and let me know what he thinks. If there’s anything I should do, I’d like to start doing it ASAP.

I want to be in the best position possible for this transplant to succeed.

4 minutes ago, Doron Harati said:

@Parasolno worries, you on the right track of healing, you had a big session.

This is me few weeks after with redness before I recovered.

Thanks @Doron Harati but it’s not the redness that’s concerning me. I know that’s normal at this stage. It’s the bumpiness and the indents and the overall texture of my skin. Your head looks pretty “normal” there. 

I do appreciate the lighting quick reply. It feels good knowing HDC has my back.

4 Week Update

Who’s the ugliest duckling that ever lived???

^^^ This guy.

Over the last 10 days or so, I’ve shed virtually all of my transplanted hair. Though it’s pretty clear to me too that most of my previously transplanted and natural hair has been shocked out as well. Wow, I knew enough to expect these things but man, this is gonna be quite the journey!

As you can see, the scab has fallen off, but what concerns me is not only the indent in my scalp the scab left behind (which is pretty big!) but all the other pits and craters and indents. My whole scalp looks so much like scar tissue to me, it’s actually very difficult to take a clear picture because my scalp is now very shiny.

I’m a bit concerned about the condition of my skin. Do you guys see what I’m talking about? For instance, along my left temple, you can see a bunch of indent lines where some other smaller crusts had formed in the days just after my surgery. I’m a bit worried even if hair does eventually want to grow, it won’t be able to because in my entire transplant area, all the skin just looks and feels off.

Do I have anything to be worried about with the way I’m healing?

I guess on the upside, my current state has motivated me to begin using Rogaine foam again. I had up until today to decide and the choice wasn’t a hard one.

EDIT: I just want to clarify that I may have used the term “pitting” incorrectly. I didn’t realize this was a very technical term in regards to transplants, and looking at images of it, I don’t think this is what’s happening to me.

My concern is the bumpiness and indents and the overall skin texture of my transplanted area.

Your skin is looking better, so there is definitely some improvement. I agree, it looks like your native hair has shocked and hasn’t grown back yet.

You said you saw a neutral party HT doc recently. What was their overall opinion on where you stand now and what to expect going forward?

Hang in there man. It’s still early.

Excellent result here. And to accomplish this without surgery is the icing on the cake.

Nice work.

Would you feel comfortable posting a photo update? I mean, I get it if you don’t want to, but would love to see if you do.

Have you been keeping in contact with the clinic? I mean, I realize they’ll tell you you have to wait, but do they have any opinions on the growth as of yet, or any thoughts on the redness and pitting?

Growth aside, has you skin made any improvements?

Really pulling for you buddy. Hang in there.

@JovsGata Ok I see now that he was asked to post this. Thanks for the link.

Either way Adam I hope you recover well and stay in close contact with your clinic. 

49 minutes ago, JovsGata said:

And as request he told you to post this. 

He's a fraud and I really hope your end results turn out well, he over harvests.

I don’t get it. Why would the surgeon insist someone post this?

Looks to me like @Adam12088 isn’t healing too well and could use some community support. Adam, I had some deep scabs like you do too (in fact, I’m a little over 3 weeks out and one spot is still healing), and strongly advise you stay in close contact with your clinic and get their advice on how to clean and treat the area going forward.

Incredible. Just to think, you’re only in the beginning. This will undoubtedly be a home run.

30 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Definitely trust in the process. I don’t see anything to be alarmed about. I do see that scab. Hopefully, it wasn’t some dislodged grafts. Time will tell. But the area is small, so even when it all grows you wouldn’t see a difference.

Thanks Melvin. I guess it’s tough when I look at other similar frontal restorations (Maa, Rolandas, etc), at 2 weeks the work looks so even and clean. But then I have to remind myself that my (not virgin) scalp was getting washed with fingers 2 days post op (rather than 7-10 days like most other clinics), so of course it’s gonna look different. And everyone heals differently too.

I appreciate the reassurances, everyone. It means a lot.

I’m 15 days post-op now. I figure it would be good to post an update on my scab, in the event this happens to someone in the future and they come here to see if it’s happened before.

It fell off a few days ago, and took a bunch of hairs with it! They didn’t seem to have any roots attached (it looked just like normal shedding), so I’m hopeful the grafts are still anchored and will grow there again eventually. Time will tell.

I do still feel like I look different than most people do at this stage of recovery. From the scab, to the hairline density, to the odd rows of course clumped multi-grafts throughout, but I do believe in HDC and Dr. Maras so all I can do now is wait and trust in the process.

Shedding seems to have started as well. When I touch my head I see hairs in my fingers. This is gonna be quite the journey.

1 minute ago, notsosure said:

Thanks! That's awesome (re the day of surgery). How are you feeling post procedure, and did you do FUT or FUE? I did FUE, so I'm wondering if maybe that's why Dr. Konior is saying on day 14 I can get back to 100% normal exercise? I emailed him this morning and he replied and said it was totally fine. Yeah, I'm totally ready to get back to working out. I definitely feel like a slob.

I did FUE as well. 

I’m feeling pretty good right now physically. Big difference from where I was a week ago. 

The healing process for me has been a bit of a roller coaster though. I had a pretty nasty wound that scabbed, and for some reason, although I haven’t shed much yet, my very frontal hairline seems like it did just a few days out of surgery, so all in all I guess I’m just hoping that in the end everything turns out ok. Fingers crossed.

Everything for you is looking phenomenal. Hopefully our upcoming sheds aren’t too bad.

Looks like you and I had our procedures on the same day! The work looks incredible and you seem to be healing really well. Congratulations, I bet this is gonna turn out great.

I did just want to chime in regarding working out again. Just be sure to get Dr. Konior’s blessing. My clinic is advising absolutely no aerobics or weight lifting for 30 days post op. I know some clinics do allow for work out restrictions to be lifted at 2 weeks though. I’d recommend checking in with your doc if you haven’t (if you have, have fun! Wish I could join you. I put on one of my favorite t-shirts yesterday and I can already tell my chest and arms have gotten smaller  ).

@Helios Thanks for the reassurance on the hairline density stuff. It’s good to know this is normal and all part of the process. 

Having done no-shave with my last two surgeries this is the first time I’ve gotten to see the progress up close and had the chance to over analyze it.

1 hour ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Have you tried to conditioner? Is it still bleeding? Or is it that you haven’t cleaned it?

This area was bothering me even back when I was in Cyprus under HDC’s direct care. Above I posted a photo when I was 5 days post op, still in Cyprus, and it was yellow, bruised and slightly scabbed.

I think when I got home and took over washing myself, it just wasn’t ready to be washed like the rest of my scalp and got worse.

Fairly certain if the scab was to come off right this moment, it would take a chunk of my scalp with it (gross).

So, regarding washes, this area has been washed twice every day since two days after surgery. It’s just in hindsight I think both the clinic and myself were just too rough with it too early. Yesterday it started bleeding again after my morning wash, so the clinic asked me to stop washing it with my fingers in a circular motion and to just pat it down with shampoo for now.

I haven’t asked if soaking it with conditioner is ok but I will if they ask me to start trying to remove it.

25 minutes ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

You can attempt to keep the scab moist. This is now acting like a natural dressing. Once skin under it heals it will just peel off. Keep the doctor informed with the progress as his input is important ofcourse. Best of luck with your continued recovery. 

The clinic just messaged me saying they want me to start spraying it often throughout the day to keep it most between washes. Sounds like you and them are on the same page.

I appreciate the feedback, guys. It helps put me at ease.

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post a quick 10 day update.

I’m feeling quite a bit anxious about this wound/scab/whatever you want to call it. As the hair is starting to grow, I can see now this area has virtually no hair at all. Maybe 25% compared to the areas around it.

I’m sort of concerned even if I do get good yield, this area will end up being bald.

The clinic and I have been in constant contact. I’m a few days into some prescribed antibiotics, and sending photos over for review daily.

At some point I’m guessing we’re going to have to get this thing off. They haven’t said anything about that yet though (the instructions are to just gently pat the area when I wash for now).

I’m also unsure what’s going on with the very frontal hairline, and why the front right just below the scab is so thin (seemed pretty densely packed in the post-op photos to me. Maybe those hairs already washed away?). 

On the plus side, I’m feeling a lot better. Most of the pain has subsided and last night I finally slept in a bed again, with an actual pillow. Laying down and everything. It was awesome.  

The donor seems to be healing pretty well too. At least to me. I can already tell getting these grafts put into my scar was a good decision. The clinic did say that anything around an 80% yield should be considered a success due to graft survival rates in scar tissue, so hopefully we can get that and down the road I can have a slightly shorter haircut than I used to have (couldn’t really go below a 6-7 guard due to the scar being visible).

Looking great man. I’m absolutely thrilled for you.

20 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Excellent choice of clinic/Dr ! Really nice clean and refined work as we have come to expect 👌look forward to following your latest journey 🙏

Thanks, John! After lurking here for so long, and reading tons and tons of threads, I just want to say you are a big help and a positive force around these parts.

I look forward to getting your opinion on my progress as the months pass.

21 minutes ago, Helios said:

Great write up Parasol and well done choosing HDC. I strongly believe you made the best possible choice. Wish you the best of luck with your results and keep us updated.  

Thanks @Helios ! Your result was one of the several that put HDC in my top-tier choices. If mine can come out even close to what you have, I’d be so happy.

Congratulations on yours. Your hair looks incredible.

17 minutes ago, follically challenged said:

Fascinating. I would have thought he'd be in the same boat with you as to trying to do something about it...

So I'm really curious as to why he never bothered with the battle... Are you both quite different in personality? I presume he obviously knows about your surgeries and regime right?

Another reason i thought he'd join you in procedures etc, aside from the near-identical genetics, is the fact that....surely it must annoy him somewhat often hearing 'So...why do you look older than your twin brother?' 😅

Haha yes we are very different. He’s much more shy. Though he’s also married to a beautiful woman inside and out and he has a great job and big-ass house and an awesome baby, so I guess he’s found fulfillment in other, more important ways.

He’s one of the few people that know about my surgeries actually. This is one of the reasons why I’m sheltering in place right now, taking a month off work, because I don’t want to have to tell the whole world about my shaved strip scar.

Right after my full result from my last surgery, my brother did say that it was becoming really obvious I had much more hair than him and that someday he would consider it. But that was a long time ago and short lived really. Within a couple years I had lost a lot of the ground I covered, so I think it’s hard for someone to want something when the result at the moment isn’t exactly great.

48 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Congratulations on your third procedure. The work looks clean, and I have seen some nice work coming from your chosen clinic. 
 

I will reiterate @asterix0’s impression, it does look as though some transplanted hair was either lost, or the original yield wasn’t quite as high as the impression the 2011 post op photos gave - perhaps due to the higher amount of native hairs you still had. 
 

Did they provide you with any estimates of remaining graft count, after totalling around 7.5k grafts used up now, and where they projected your final pattern to end up?     

I think it’s definitely possible I lost transplanted hair too. Although I wish I had come to the realization sooner, this is why I want to do whatever it takes to treat my hair loss and ensure this procedure turns out well.

I even quit drinking and smoking cigarettes for this (I do use an e-cig occasionally but not nearly as much as I did when I smoked).

I’m not sure on my final norwood or the exact number of grafts left in reserve. All I can say is, they said my donor is “amazing” and other than the scar, my donor is “like a virgin scalp” and there’s no limitations to having at least one more surgery if needed.

27 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Thank you for this amazing write-up. I look forward to seeing your progress, happy growing🙌🏼

Thanks, Melvin! And thanks to you and @DrTBarghouthi for all the help behind the scenes too!

When I said above that I didn’t think I was healing all that well, here’s what I was talking about.

Below are some photos from day 5, where you can see some scabbing along the temples and a bruised area in the center.

That bruised area became this, today which is day 8, which I’m now on antibiotics for.

I’m guess I’m also a bit worried about the front center hairline density (the first few rows right where and above the zig-zags are). I know this is a long process so I’m not trying to be paranoid. It’s just, in my immediate post op pics, the hairline looks super densely packed. But looking at it now, and even 3 days or 5 days post-op like I posted above, it looks like most of that hair is gone.

HDC does begin washing the scabs with their fingers two days post-op, so maybe it washed away and the grafts are still secure and it will grow back?