JohnnyDrama

Man a small detail - I saw you wrote "my girlfriend has no idea of my transplant". So I take it you cut out your old girlfriend who was willing to give up a week of her time to take care of you in Brussels post op for a new one? Damn I was thinking early in your thread how sweet she was to take an entire week of time to help you out. But in the U.S. we usually only get 2 weeks of vacation so that would be half our yearly vacation so I thought it to be a big sacrifice. I know you Europeans get 4-5 weeks on average - a much better life.

 

And now I read in your October post you upgraded girlfriends. Oh well with the new hair I am sure your field of girls opened up significantly but I was still rooting for her for loyalty and taking all those post op photos of you etc. :cool:

Ha, I thought someone might pick up on it, but maybe not point it out!

We just grew apart to be honest. Both very different people with different outlooks on life. She was great for me around that time no doubt, but it was for the best as things were going south for a while.

Thanks for the 'small detail'.

New member, just read through your thread.

 

Wondering how things are going 2+ years post-HT, especially since you are off of fin.

 

I'm in the early stages of research about HT and one of my concerns is how things go once you get further than a year out from surgery. People seem to vanish after the 12 month update to their threads (if they post updates even long), although obviously I get that many are just out enjoying their results and have moved on from these forums.

 

Thanks!

Hey, hope the thread was of use!

Yeah, sorry, I've been shocking for updates from 15+ months on. I'm at the 2.5 year mark in a week so I will definitely get some up this time.

Everything is going great. It's funny that you should ask for an update tonight. I've just come home from the gym and had a text from my girlfriend with the following message (this is not a joke )

"Hey, Mike (her brother, 26) wants to know what your hair regimen is. No joke......he thinks your hair is class. I apologise for this but he nags me a lot Like what shampoo etc"

Had to laugh when I read it, and that actually prompted me to log onto the site a few hours ago to check in on things.

I'm also 2 weeks away from making my first job switch in a decade! I'm joining one of the big IT companies in a software sales role. I can safely say I would not have built up the confidence in myself to have progressed in my career the way I have over the past 2 years. It genuinely has made an incredibly significant role in so many important aspects of life.

Pics to follow in a few days!

Enjoying life is right mate. Wow.....In my own head I thought it may have been only a couple of months since I've last posted.......well I'm now over a month past the 2 year mark!

I'll get pics on soon guys. Life has been pretty busy to say the least.It really is amazing to think of the amount of time I used to spend pre HT worrying about how my head looked and used to time the weather in terms of time spent outdoors. Now it's a case of realising that there is so much more to worry about once you've addressed your hair issues!

Things are looking great. You know things must have worked out ok when you have mates who are usually pretting cutting when it comes to remarks to each other about physical appearance, joke about your perfect hair. And have your girlfriend (who is currently unaware I have ever had any work done) comment about how lucky I am at 32 to have such hair, and that her 26 year old brothers ask her what products I use as they are worried about their loss!

Wow, I just got an email notification tonight about a posting on here and I've only just realised how long it's been since I've updated! I've just gone over the 18 month mark. I will DEFINITELY post pics this weekend. Steve to be fair had asked and I said I would a month or so ago but again I never got round to it.

Hi Johnny,

 

I only registered on here to message you after seeing this thread. How is your hair right now after those 2200 grafts? Im seriously contemplating fue with the same doctor. Not sure if I will need FUT now though. Hairline pretty weak. In need of some advice from you if you dont mind?

I'm in a great place mate. To give you an example......i'm at the age of 32, and I have a girlfriend who has told me out of the blue on several occasions that I have great hair. I don't actually recall ever being told that in my teens or twenties. I've had many other people complement over the past 6-9 months as well.

If you have any questions just ask away though......happy to help if I can.

Hello everyone. First, I just want to say that the reason I'm posting is because this forum has been unbelievably helpful to me in the course of making my decision to proceed with FUE surgery as well as in the weeks following. Particularly the posts and threads where people discuss not just their results, but everything else that goes along with the surgery, how it makes them feel, what their day-to-day experiences are, etc. Thank you so much. Guys like JohnnyDrama on this forum are incredibly helpful. Thank you.

!

You're welcome!

All looks good buzzcut. That's a significant amount of grafts you've had so I'd expect a dramatic change for the positive for you. I'll be posting my 17 month update soon but needless to say i'm in a good place.

excellent thread Johnny, how are your final results looking? any plans to go back again?

Thanks Yonex. I've just hit 17 months and I'm absolutely delighted with the results. Any visit to the clinic this year / next will likely just be for consultation / additional PRP treatment, but as of right now i've a full head of hair so fingers crossed it stays that way for years to come! I'll be updating my actual results thread shortly.

Glad it helped! There was no charge for any of the consultations I attended.

Stinger mate.......thrilled to see you're out the other side of this! I've had a crazy few months offline so haven't been on at all really......but everything looks great mate! This is the start of a new chapter for you.

Like you said, the next 2 months will be non-events. You timed it brilliantly though, who cares about Jan/Feb/March anyway? You'll be in for a fun summer! I'll be updating my own thread shortly with my 17 month progress, but all I'll say for now is that this whole thing has been the single best decision I've ever made and have been thrilled with results. You seemed to have been in a very positive frame of mind since the day you landed in Brussels which is great because it only gets better from here on. If you're already getting compliments you'll be laughing in 2016!

I would say 2000 for the front. However, I would not touch the crown. The loss is so minimal. I would treat it with meds and see how it progresses.

Fully agree with this suggestion.

Thanks guys. Yeah I'd highly recommend BHR FC......and they have a particularly good track record for repair cases too.

Hard to believe i'm a little over a week away from my 12 month mark. Continues to get better too......i'll be updating with pics when I hit it.

I've just returned from Ibiza and for the first time in 6-7 years......I spent my entire time NOT thinking about how my hair looked at all. I've always used sun holidays as a barometer of where I was at.......and from mid twenties on it you could see the slight drop in quality of my hair from pics. It's hard to put into words how much of a relief it is to not care about how your hair looks in the water/wind etc anymore!

Thanks guys. Yeah I'd highly recommend BHR FC......and they have a particularly good track record for repair cases too.

Hard to believe i'm a little over a week away from my 12 month mark. Continues to get better too......i'll be updating with pics when I hit it.

I've just returned from Ibiza and for the first time in 6-7 years......I spent my entire time NOT thinking about how my hair looked at all. I've always used sun holidays as a barometer of where I was at.......and from mid twenties on it you could see the slight drop in quality of my hair from pics. It's hard to put into words how much of a relief it is to not care about how your hair looks in the water/wind etc anymore!

looking very good man

are you still off of propecia and using nettle root only (DHT blocker)? that come with any sides or shedding?

Thanks hsrp. Ya I'm still on the regimen that's in my signature below......haven't really noticed any sides or shedding to be honest!

Wow what a difference, great result . Congrats

Cheers Stinger. 6 months away from your own Op......that's the long part! It will be all uphill from there though!

As you probably know if you've looked at my sig.....I've been to one of them and have had a very positive experience, and I've also visited other docs for consultations in Belgium and was highly impressed.

The customer service I had from my own clinic was also exceptionally good, I'd struggle to see how they could improve it such is the system they have in place.

Yeah I'm now resigned to going to the States if anyone there will agree to help me. Pretty annoying that I now have to effectively put my life on hold again, fork out more money and travel further afield to get this sorted. Bit of a personal disaster really. Can't quite believe I'm worse off than when I started!

 

Good luck to you too and hope you get sorted.

Sorry to hear that Treaduk. I'm 10 months post op myself and can only imagine how going backwards must feel after such a long journey.

Have you consulted with other Belgian clinics or even the Turkish ones? Just curious as to why you think stateside seems to be your only option.

10 Month Update

So I finally go about updating my thread and Saturday, and the server ends up taking a hit and it vanishes into thin air!

Sorry again for the delay.....but here's a few pics just after a wash/dry and with it just all pointing upwards, and a few with some gel in it which would be more like what it looks like on a daily basis.

There is no comparison in my confidence from now to 12 months ago. Absolutely the best decision I've made to date I reckon as I now feel back to myself with no more worrying about weather conditions / lighting etc.

Great news Johnny and glad to see it's going well. Sadly mine with HDC has been poor a second time round, I'm 7 months in and have noticed minimal difference. Current in Turkey and when I went for a Turkish shave the barber there knew and asked if I had had a hair transplant done! Not great for the confidence and obviously it was noticeable. Time to hunt for a different surgeon for the future. Keep growing matey! Greg.

Sorry to hear Greg! I've been a fan of HDC so a little surprised to hear. Obviously you are still somewhat early in 7 months, but ya you would still like to see some kind of difference by now. There are lots of great docs like you know though, so keep the head up!

Sorry for the lack of recent activity guys......have had a full-on two months but hope to get pics up over the next day or so. Have just gone past the 9 month mark and it's still coming along great!

Congratulations Octamus! That is amazing for such a short period of time! I am three and a half months post-op myself and can't hide my results either, except not in a good way. Massive shockloss has left me with little left in front except bigger grafts and visible pitting from a couple of HT's in the 90's. Hopefully I'm just a late bloomer and can post up some exciting news myself in the coming months. Who was your surgeon?

I really wouldn't worry about growth at 3.5 months mate......it's not worth it.

I was regarded as an earlier grower, but at 3.5 months I still looked pretty raw. By month 5-6 it was a completely different story. You're only just getting started now, with the fun part kicking in!

Thanks for the kind words Denny, much appreciated. Hope yours is coming along nicely........your thread is due an update btw!

Welcome to the site!

Are you on any meds?

I'm not sure you should touch your crown just yet. You still have quite a lot of hair there.

As for the corners/hairline, it obviously depends on how aggressive you want to be in terms of lowering them, but I would have thought in the region of 1800-2200.

Obviously if crown grafts are getting added to this, the figure will jump quite a bit.

Looking really good ~! by 12 months its going to be superb. You must be very happy with it.

Very happy indeed Johnboy. Like you say, I'm not even at 8 months, so probably 70% there.....but already it has had a huge impact on my confidence. In the past two months I've attended so many daytime events that previously I just did not like the idea of due to sunlight/wind/rain etc. Now I simply just get up and go with no fear of feeling exposed and that feeling is priceless to be honest.

A few weeks back I was on a stag party in another city with around 20 mates and we were in a night club where lets just say the talent was quite high. This random girl comes over chatting and after about 20 seconds actually changed the subject by saying that I have great hair. She caught me offguard a little as the only previous comments over the last 7-8 years have been of a negative nature......so it blew me away. I asked if she was joking abd she said no, she was dead serious.

I could get used to this!

Thanks Since, it seems to be getting better on a weekly basis too which is fantastic. I'm now actually waking up in the morning with that 'out of bed' look, and I actually like how it looks and sometimes consider just going with that look on a non working day. I NEVER had that luxery. It's a joy to style now too and usually takes about 90 seconds to do so.......as opposed to 10-20 mins spent on it in the last few years as it was all so light and unconvincing.

On a seperate note entirely......was out for beers last weekend and one of my mates arrived in to the pub with a hat on (not uncommon for him). What caught me by surprise was when he took it off, he had quite obviously gotten a HT withing the past week or so, as his frontal half was quite red.

I'll certainly bring it up in conversation with him soon when we are next in private.......but my first thoughts were 'I really hope he went to someone good'!

Hey Quiff......my clinic encouraged me to try to avoid concealor for up to 6 months after surgery. They said they had seen people go back on it early in the past and they felt it definitely seemed to affect results. Thankfully I've managed to not put the stuff near my scalp since the HT.

Concealor can kind of 'cake' itself onto the scalp, clogging up pores, therefore not allowing the scalp to breath as well compared to it having no concealor.

Just a quick update, I started to shed a few hairs yesterday. I can't see any shock loss in the donor area up to now. It is horrible to see them fall out but I just keep thinking ahead to when then return.

Like you mentioned in one of your earlier posts, just keep thinking of 6, 12, 18 months down the line........there really is no point whatsoever thinking and over analysing things now. I used this approach, and as well as it coinciding with me being very busy with my job, the first couple of months went by pretty quickly.

I would highly recommend you keep your hair at a short length too. I just kept telling people that I shaved it initially because it was something I always wanted to do, and then I kept buzzing it every 2 weeks, for maybe the first 3-4 months and just told people I actually was fond of my shaved head. It helped so much from the point of view that 1. it was easier to wash/clean and more importantly to regularly apply Minoxidil to my scalp 2.the shedded areas looked far less questionable compared to if I left everything grow out.