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jsnw

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Everything posted by jsnw

  1. ersko72, glad to hear things are well, the growth in the coming months will be a lot of fun for you
  2. Thanks for the comments guys! JohnCasper - I'll probably be going to Dr. Vories for the crown work later this year. Not sure if it's worth the trip to go to Turkey again for 1500 grafts or so. I'm in Atlanta so just a short drive away. ersko72 - How are things progressing? 3 months is about when I started to forget about the surgery. You're about to get into those magical months when all the growth happens. Enjoy the ride! HTsoon - A few reasons. 1. I didn't think I needed it anymore after my new hair grew in. I figured I had enough hair that if I lost some after quitting it wouldn't be noticeable. So far that's been the case. 2. One of the big reasons I had the surgery was in hopes of one day being able to quit the drugs and all the other products I was always trying to keep my hair. Just wanted to live a normal life again. 3. I was curious what would happen. I've read much about the side effects but never experienced them. I wondered if they just happened slowly over time & I didn't notice. Unfortunately, 8 months after quitting, I can't tell you that I suddenly see the world more clearly and have a libido that's through the roof.
  3. Thanks for the comments guys. un13 - I don't think the drug ever really caused me side effects. Sometimes I wondered if I didn't notice the side effects because they happened slowly over time. I was curious about that when I stopped, but, 8 months later, I don't feel anything different. No mood changes, no increase in libido, no noticeable hair loss which was surprising. I've got a blood test coming up & I'll get my DHT levels checked again. I'll be curious to see if they are still at 0 after stopping the drug for 8 months.
  4. It's been 2 years and a few days since I had my surgery with Dr. Koray. 5013 fue grafts over 2 days. I couldn't be happier with the results. I only wish I would have done it sooner. Most of my growth was in the first 5-11 months, but the crown took around 15 months to mature. Not sure that much has changed in the last 6 months or so other than my hair getting a little thicker. One of the best things about having the surgery done was being able to quit Propecia and all the other crap I was trying to keep my hair from disappearing. I was on Propecia for about 18 years and quit about 8 months ago. I was paranoid about stopping but if I've lost any hair I can't tell. I had a small number of grafts put in the crown area during my procedure with Dr. Koray and I think it helped a lot. I still want to go back and do another 1500 or so grafts in the crown then I'll be done. Here are my before and after pictures. Some better than others. I wish I would have documented the whole thing better but I think after the hair comes back you kind of move on and don't really think about it. Thanks again to this forum. I researched for a long time before making a decision and thankfully I made the right one with everyone's help.
  5. Congrats Alessio! You were my translator from start to finish during my two day procedure. It will be 2 years ago in March and I always remember how friendly you & everyone else were at the clinic. Looks like your going to have a great result!
  6. Bengu Celebi was her name. Try reaching out by email for info.
  7. I found the same thing when I was doing my research a couple of years ago. Here is the person that I worked with to have questions answered & schedule everything. She was at the airport to pick me up as well. Great to work with and always responsive. Beng? ?elebi Englisch speaking support Haartransplantation-Zentrum Dr. Erdogan Koray K?c?kbakkalk?y Mah. Atilla Ilhan Cad.No. 29 Atasehir - ISTANBUL / TURKEY Telefon: 0090 - 546 812 0812 Mail: info@hairtransplant-center.com
  8. Dr. Blake - If this has been answered previously I apologize. I'm just curious, if FUE is so flawed, why name your new procedure "MFUE" after it? I've had FUE previously, but believe both strip and fue has it's place. Not looking to argue about the two, just curious about the "MFUE" name. Thanks
  9. I had 5013 fue's with Dr. Koray 18 or 19 months ago and have been loving life since. Sit back and enjoy the ride. It will be life changing!
  10. I don't think it makes a difference. I've had blood work done several times while on Propecia or Fin. It didn't matter if I was taking .5 mg per day, 1mg per day, or every other day, my DHT levels always stayed the same. The only time it changed was when I tried to get away with 1mg twice a week. Had my ht with Dr. Koray about 18 months ago and love it. Stopped taking Propecia/Fin about 4 months ago and have not noticed any changes. Good luck with your results.
  11. Hey acegik, I had a little more than 5000 grafts with Dr. Erdogan last March and have about as many remaining grafts as you. I was planning on going back for another round. Was there any difference in the second procedure that you could tell? Thanks for your help. Looking forward to your progress!
  12. I’ve been taking Propecia, Dut, or Proscar for the last 17 plus years. A few years back when I was taking the drug regularly I tried experimenting with lowering my dosage to save money. Eventually I got down to a couple of pills a week. I looked at the back of my head one day and my crown basically disappeared. I started taking the pills again every day but the crown never came back. The drug always helped with the crown but I was always steadily losing hair in the front. I decided to throw in the towel and in March of 2014 I had a large FUE procedure and it turned out amazing. About a month ago I stopped taking the drug all together. Hoping I didn’t make a mistake but I believe I had enough hairs moved around to keep me happy. One of the reasons for doing the surgery was so I wouldn’t have to worry about taking drugs, Rogaine, specialty shampoos, and all the other crap I’ve ever tried. I still need to have another small procedure in my crown area but I’m happy where I am now. So far I have not noticed hairs falling out. Weird thing is that I’ve been getting more compliments on my hair since I quit. I don’t believe I ever experienced any major side effects from the drugs like I hear some people talking about. I did notice small things like not having morning erections but within a couple weeks of stopping those have come back, even at my age of 44. I’ll be curious to see what happens. Sometimes I wonder if the changes from the drugs were so subtle over time that I didn’t notice. I don’t think so but we’ll see what happens..
  13. I can't remember what the exchange rate was last March but I know it's a lot better now. I paid 2.5 euro per graft. I can't remember the exact cost of surgery, but it seems like the total I spent on everything was around $17,000, which included the 2 day surgery, prp treatment, after care products, 1 yr. supply of Proscar, plane ticket ($1400), hotel, food, and airport parking. The few places I looked at in the southeast (USA) were more than double that. It was well worth the trip to go over there I thought.
  14. Thanks positivevibes - Everything was fine when I was there, but things have changed quite a bit in the last year. Everyone I ran into was friendly. I want to go back this year for another pass but I've got the same concerns too. Are you asking about the cost of the procedure?
  15. appstatefan247 - I was nervous as well, as I'm sure everyone is, but it wasn't near as hard as I thought. It's definitely a journey, but it's life changing, and worth every second. Feel free to ask anything you want, I'd be glad to help.
  16. Thanks richardposey01. Sounds like we're neighbors, I'm in Atlanta. The travel wasn't so bad going there. Coming home was a little longer and stressful just due to the shaved head and swollen face. Took about 10 hours to fly to Germany, 3 hour layover there, then another 2 hours to Istanbul. Same thing coming home. I want to go back to Dr. Erdogan this year to have one last procedure done (for crown area) but like you what I'm seeing in the news is a little concerning. I'll probably still do it though. Their office makes things really easy. I was never out on the streets unless I wanted to walk around. They always picked me up and dropped me off and were never late. If I go back again this year I'll fly home the same day of surgery or the morning after. Last time I waited a couple days. I'll send you a PM with my email and cell number if you want to discuss more.
  17. Thanks for the comments guys. GraveD11gger - The second session will be just for the crown. I was pretty much bald there before and during my procedure with Dr. Erdogan, they only put 1000 or so grafts in the crown area. It was a large area to cover. While I have a little hair there for some coverage now, another 2000 grafts or so should complete my journey.
  18. Here are my 11 month results after getting 5013 FUE with Dr. Erdogan last March. Surgery was over 2 days. Really happy with the results. I need to go back this year to do one more pass on the crown and mid scalp then I'll call it a wrap. I think the growth is pretty much done at this point and the new hairs have matured and thickened quite a bit since the 6 month mark. It took me a long time to bite the bullet and take a chance on this surgery but I'm so glad that I did. It's nice to get those good comments from strangers about my hair or that I don't look my age. It's nice that nobody has a clue that I had a transplant. I knew my self confidence would get better but had no idea it would be so much. Life changing experience. Can't wait to get done with another procedure and see what it looks like then! Thanks again to everyone posting on here. This forum has been a great help. My original post/link is below. I've included some before/after shots, as well as a few outdoor shots on recent trips with different lighting. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/176826-5013-fue-two-days-6-month-results-dr-koray-erdogan.html
  19. They let me pay in US dollars. I kept it in a money pouch in the bottom of my laptop bag. Customs in Germany and Turkey never batted an eye at it. I just made sure my laptop bag never went out of sight. I only had to keep it in the hotel room the night I got there then paid the full amount the next morning. It was a relief to get rid of it though. Are you staying in a hotel by their office? Maybe you can request that they pick you up and drop you off each day at the hotel so you don't have to walk the streets as much. I would think they would pay a little extra attention to overseas clients with everything that is going on over there. Just pay extra attention to your surroundings and play it safe while you're there.
  20. ZYZZ - I flew from Atlanta to Germany to Istanbul with about $18K in US dollars. I was paranoid about doing it but it actually was not a big deal. I'd do it again. Just kept it in my laptop bag with me at all times. Never had an issue with customs or anything else. Hotel had a safe in the room. I used that same website for my Visa as well. Very simple to do. I had planned on going back to have my second procedure done at the beginning of next year but with all that is going on over there I'm not sure that I would. It's only getting worse now. It's disappointing because I thought the people were great over there but I don't want to lose my head anytime soon.
  21. Thanks Stinger99. I was lucky and had 9600 available grafts before surgery. After the procedure I have around 4600 grafts left (give or take) for future transplants. I'm blonde and when I was younger I had a ton of hair, of course that changed as I got older but fortunately over time I kept what was in back. I can't really tell that 5000 grafts are missing now even when my hair is cut short. The lady that cuts my hair says the same thing.
  22. I’ll try to keep this short. Thanks to the guys that run this forum. I’ve been reading it for many years now, don’t post much, but enjoy seeing the transformations of other guys. I’ve learned tons from others experiences and thought I needed to share mine. Background – I’ve been on Propecia, Avodart, or Finasteride for the last 16 years or so. It’s helped a great deal but I think over time it’s not as effective that’s why I keep switching up. My dad and grandfather were pretty much bald by the time they were 35 so I’m doing well. I’m 43 now and a diffuse thinner, or, I was until my procedure with Dr. Koray. I had a 500 graft fue procedure done with another doc about 8 yrs. ago just to see if it worked and had poor results. Decision – After doing a lot of research (years) I decided it was time for me to do something and I decided to go with Dr. Koray Erdogan. I corresponded with 4 or 5 other top fue docs in Europe. They all basically told me I needed the same amount of grafts so I felt comfortable with what I was getting into. I choose Dr. Koray mostly because he had tons of results online and his price was good. I contacted his office last year and they responded back quickly and off I went to Turkey four or five months later. Dr. Koray and staff – Arrived the first day at Dr. Koray’s office. It’s very nice. I was surprised that it was nicer than just about any doctors office I had been in the US. Everyone was very friendly, spoke great English, and made the process very comfortable. I wish I could remember everyone’s name there. Delek was the tech removing the grafts each day. She was all business and I felt very comfortable with her. I was glad to see her when she came in the second morning to remove the grafts. Dr. Koray even got in on the action removing grafts on the second day. Everyone there was great. From the neck massages by the techs to keep me comfortable to the driver that was always on time whether picking me up at the airport or dropping me back off at 3am when it was time to fly home. It was a great experience and I left feeling like I had made some friends. Surgery – I had a total of 5013 grafts done over a two day period. Originally I was booked to do 4500 grafts over two days. Dr. Koray told me I had about 9600 available. He was going to put 3000 grafts on the front half and 1500 on the back half of my head. I asked if we could add another 500 or so to the back since my crown really bothered me and I wanted to accomplish as much as I could in one trip. He surprised me when he said let’s wait and see how you handle surgery on the first day then we’ll decide. It was at that moment I became very comfortable with Dr. Koray. I was standing there with a wad of cash in my hand and I had just offered it to him and he wouldn’t take it. The shots are a bitch but the rest of the procedure is pretty painless. Both days the grafts were out by noon and back in by 4 or 5pm. Breaks were very short, I could tell they wanted the grafts back in as quickly as possible. I also had the PRP treatment done which seemed to help things heal a bit quicker compared to my past fue experience. After surgery – The flight home was the hardest part. I waited a day after surgery to travel which was a mistake because my face started to swell up pretty good. Ice helped but didn’t control it at the time. Their office provided some good products for after-care and in a couple weeks I was back to normal activity. Swelling went down after a few days. My skin is still a little pink on top but for me that’s probably normal as I’m fair skinned. When I had my previous 500 fue surgery the temples stayed pink for the better part of a year. Photos/Results I’m happy with where I am and its only been 6 months and a week. It’s nice to have more hair and that’s all I wanted. Starting to get those welcomed comments from people I haven’t seen in a while. I’ll still do another procedure to fill in areas in another year or so and hopefully be done with it. I’ve done the best I could with the photos I added in my blog. One entry is dry photos before and after, the next is wet before and after, the last is surgery photos. The photos with the grey background were taken at Dr. Koray’s office, the rest are with my IPhone at home. Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss Patient Blogs Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss Patient Blogs Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss Patient Blogs
  23. Here are pics with dry hair taken by me
  24. Here are the pics just after the second day of surgery
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