SugarHighs

More photos.

After haircut to a #1 guard (approx. 1/8 inch.) Note that there is no visible recipient area issue at this point.

6 week photos. Minoxidil seems to be working.

Before and after haircut.

Jacob, a strong piece of advice:

Pack a small amount of each medication and liquid in your carry-on bag when you return home. I did this by buying small 3oz bottles, and pouring the baby shampoo into one, and the saline solution into the other. This was crucial, because United (the suck) Airlines misplaced my luggage for 48 hours after I returned home. If I had not packed the liquid in my carry on, I would have had no saline and no baby shampoo for 2+ days.

Hey Jacob, great news really happy for you. I also flew internationally (Southern California to Ottawa) and back to see Dr. Rahal early last month. Let me know if you have any questions.

Also posted to my web site.

No matter how many times I log in to the blog administration site, it keeps telling me to "log in to edit your site." I must have opened 10 separate windows and logged in. This is a problem with both Firefox 8.01 and google chrome. It is pretty annoying.

Can anyone recommend a conditioner for 1-3 months post op? My clinic recommends Burts Bees natural conditioner, but a lot of the reviewers on Amazon complain that it is not very good.

Avalon Organics seems to have a highly rated B-complex conditioner, but not sure how good it is for HR patients.

So that's what Rahal Clinic looks like without a foot of snow on the ground. Your 4 months and 5 months results look great, man, congratulations. I am also a Dr. Rahal patient, 1 month post.

It's definitely a nice improvement. I don't think I would have considered myself to have had a hairloss problem if I were this patient, but to each his own!

I would take propecia for at least a few more months, before you decide. Take it at the same time every day - there are people who will argue that this makes no difference, but it made a difference for me.

Also, would use minoxidil liquid over the foam, but this is a personal inkling.

Looks fantastic Sean! What device are you using to take the videos, your phone?

Sean, regarding your question about shockloss, I do not see any visually evident shock loss on the sides, however the back looks a little patchier and thinner than it was before. I will have a better idea in a month or two, I guess.

Regarding the recipient area, I won't know for at least another month or so, because my hair was never kept this short on top, so I don't have a good point of reference, yet.

Sean,

Thanks, I appreciate the sentiments. Totally agree with your point about avoiding problems from a haircut too soon. The literature from Rahal's clinic states that you can get a haircut after one month, however I may actually wait another week or so, since the post op instructions are tailored to strip operations. I do think I will have the stylist use the plastic clipper guard #1, rather than the blade #1, so that no metal touches me. How long did you wait to get your first haircut with clippers?

Thanks,

Sugar

I am talking about general discomfort. I was not strictly speaking of pain, because I'd received the numbness shots, but I was aware of the sensation of the punch going into the back of my head and it made me psychologically uncomfortable.

Also, I felt some significant pain and discomfort in my face and sinus area from the pressure of laying down with my face in the pillow. This would probably not affect most guys as much, however I am heavily muscular in my upper body/shoulders, and the angle put an undue amount of stress on my face. The clinic moved the pillow and adjusted the angle as much a they could to accommodate for my comfort.

Thanks for the well-wishes!

Since you are located in the SF area I was wondering if you considered any HT doctors in the San Francisco/Bay area; ie Dr Rosanelli. What sold you on selecdting Dr Rahal?

I did not consider any doctors in the SF Bay Area because in following forums such as these and researching doctors for over 7 years, I did not hear of a local surgeon developing an outstanding reputation.

I was really only interested in doctors who have developed an outstanding reputation over a period of years, and I didn't really care where they were located.

This is not to suggest that Dr Rosanelli isn't an excellent surgeon, he well may be, but I have never heard of him until now. That said, it certainly would have been convenient - I could have walked/taken the bus to and from his clinic, or a $5 cab ride.

Rather than several hundred dollars for the flight and having the buffoons at United Airlines lose my bag for 48hours.

Since you did FUE, donor shots would be cool to see to keep a timeline on the healing there.

I got my photos from the clinic showing the immediate post op - donor area was photographed from both sides, but I am not sure if we have photos of the back. When I have time I will create a web site with pictures.

SugarHighs, how many days did it take for the whole procedure? Or were all the grafts implanted at once?

It took one looooong 12 hour day. Thanks.

Looking good so far. Your hair seems to grow at a good speed (it looks a lot longer since your two-week update) so hopefully that will mean a lot of growth by summer.

Thanks Matt, and thanks again for answering some of my questions leading up to this.

My hair does grow fast, but I am probably going to cut it all off this week, around day 33-34.

A couple of the guys at foxbar mentioned that I was pretty good looking with the "0" haircut that Mike gave me on the day of my procedure. I am decidedly *not* very good looking with my current growth, though, with a NW 3 hairline that is superimposed by my new currently red NW 1 hairline.

I am debating whether to cut the sides and back down to a #1 clipper and fade it into the top, or to just cut it all off to a #1 clipper guard.

Opinions welcome.

Ok gotcha, I think I had more scabs because I covered a smaller area with more hairs. I kept the recipient area wet too, using my Vit E oil, and spraying saline on every 2 hours or so, but it didn't make a difference, still had tons of scabs, crusts.

Sugarhighs

Ive noticed a ton of hairs on my fingers after rubbing in the rogaine!! Sad to see them go, but I know they will be back!!

Hey NewHair,

Did you notice more of the grafts fell during scab removal, or from the Minoxidil? I definitely noticed some hairs coming off from the minoxidil (I'm using 5% Kirkland) but I noticed that most of them (50%+) fell with the scabs.

looks awsome Sugar. Can't wait to see the final result. i must say i'm a little jealous, i only got 1871 grafts. I think you might be one of the lucky one's that doesn't shed. looks great keep posting.

Wings, I was hoping the same thing but I definitely shed. I will say that using Minoxidil for the last 10 days seems to have helped.

How long was the surgery? FUE not FUT? No shaving?

Yes, I had FUE. It took 12 hours and they buzzed my entire head pre op.

Thats great, you would have my hairline density which is around 55 FU/cm2. When I will post my 8 months post op, you would have an idea what is 55% density looks like. I asked for this density as its more natural and growth guaranteed. I didnt want 60% because i know i will end up one day in the future to a NW5 or NW6. So I didnt want to go up 55% in hairline as the rest areas of midscalp and bit of crown i will make sure to achieve 50%. All what I need is some hair that Nanogen fibres will stick into :-)...

Harari, actually at the hair line Dr. Rahal went to 60% or even higher. He mentioned the average was around 55 but he definitely made it thicker at the hairline, which I could see post-op. He originally planned for 60% with 2500 grafts, and since we got 2822, I imagine he went even a little bit higher.

I have 2822 FUE grafts over 51cm2 area.