JohnnyDrama

After 1200 grafts he now looks like Cristiano Ronaldo s brother!

Great to hear that you had a top experience Nick. I don't think anyone would have expected to hear any differently when dealing with SMG though. I think the design looks great. In 9 months you'll look back and think what the hell was I worrying about. I'm definitely a fan of conservative designs, particularly in young lads with extensive loss. You're in for some transformation! Oh, also count yourself blessed that you live so close to a world class clinic! I'd say 90%+ of people have to get plains/trains/etc and travel for hours, sometimes days!

Here's hoping that time flies for us! If the last few months are anything to go by, then they will!

I reckon he'll tell you three things. Research, research and a bit more research. As Mickey said, I met Dr De Reys 2 months ago for a consultation. He collected myself and my gf from the Heist-Op-Dem-Berg train station and brought us to his house. His clinic was getting renovated at the time, and is actually an extension of the house. Because I could not enter it, I could not pass comment on the clinic itself. My consultation was held in his living room. Bare in mind this was also on a Saturday evening at around 5pm, so the doc had gone out of his way to meet me. Both he and his wife (qualified nurse) inspected my scalp. They work as a 2-person team for surgery. One thing that I noticed people have reservations about when learning this is the fatigue factor etc. I can tell you that to remedy this, they don't actually work 5 working days per week in the clinic. Say for example if they had a 3000 FUE case. This person would be down for a 2-day procedure, for example on a Monday/Tuesday. Dr De Reys would, from what I understand, not schedul anybody in for that Wednesday, but may have a one-day session with somebody on the Thursday, and may have the Friday free. He mentioned that this approach works best for them from a rest/recovery point of view, as opposed to firing through 5 consecutive days per week. He does appear to have a LOT of cases in his personal files. It's a pity more of them don't appear online. From what I understand, he is a relative conservative doc in terms of design. For my case he estimated 1500 grafts, whereas the other 3 docs I met suggested 2000, 1800-2250, and 2800 each. He is a very affordable alternative that's for sure. I do feel he should do himself a favour and that he should make his results more accessible to the public, particularly when the top FUE clinics in Turkey have so many results online and are also very cheap.

2 weeks should be fine with FUE.

Raymond, you are smack bang in the middle of the 'doldrums'......6 weeks post HT. What you are going through is perfectly normal, albeit probably very painful from a confidence point of view. The best thing you can try and do, from what I've read (I'm exactly 3 months away from my OP, and I'm getting a lot of midscalp done too so not too far off yourself) is try to forget about your HT for another 2-3 months. I know I am going to have the same fears as you. I have a relatively full head of hair and I'm getting 2k grafts into my midscalp so shockloss is very much a possibility for me and I dread it. You just have to keep the faith that in month 3-4 onwards things will look better.

Maybe start another topic on that Mickey? Definitely worth looking into and should be discussed more. Regarding Dr Mwamba.......great addition. I was lucky enough to meet Dr Mwamba recently for a consultation. Very thorough, lasted over an hour, wet/dry photos from MANY different angles and then a big long chat on all things HT. He has a very warm personality too, the kind of guy who you feel comfortable with almost immediately.

I believe James is going to Turkey.

Wow, looks like a completely different guy! Dr Bisanga said I have a very favourable amount of 2,3,4 hair groupings, and my donor density is higher than this lad at 80/85/80. Major difference between us however is that he has dark, course hair whereas as I have fair medium fine hair. His characteristics really do aid him, and his donor, visually, looks fantastic 8 months out. If I get close to this kind of result I'd be over the moon.

Your crown is the back of your head.

How many 18+ month results of ARTAS FUE have you come seen?

That's a very strange request by the clinic, and the first I've seen of it. I was under the impression that for optimal protection against HT trauma (resulting in shockloss), a prospective patient would be encouraged to get on the drug if not already.

I wouldn't normally recommend somebody to confine their choice of doc to just one city, but you're very lucky in that you're city has brilliant hair restoration clinics. Konior, Keller and Panine are recommended here and have plenty of great results. Research the 3 of them thoroughly and try to arrange an in-person consultation with them. For what it's worth, Konior is a big favourite of mine, which many on here will echo.

Out of interest, what meds are you on Taco?

Telling them you got a HT is certainly going to be something they are going to talk about!

My next question should really be the topic of your next FUE thread! If I was getting a HT with Lorenzo tomorrow......who should I expect to be performing the different parts of the procedure? I'm serious on the thread by the way!! You could have a post on each clinic, and who does each stage. Stage 1: Donor anesthetic. 2: Punching of donor region grafts 3. Extraction of grafts 4. Recipient anesthetic. 5: Punching of the recipient sites 6. Placement of grafts. It would give great transparency into how each clinic operates. It still amazes me how people post up their procedure, and express surprise at certain parts.

Any idea what the business plan is? And if Lorenzo had patients booked up in the Mardrid clinic from September onwards, what happens there? I heard he used to perform on 3 patients per day. Any idea if this will remain?

It introduces a great option for UK patients alright. Don't forget though, it take pretty much the same time to get Brussels from London in a plane or train as it does getting to Manchester

He's moving to Manchester? Wow, the Spanish had it bad enough with record high unemployment and the Germans taking over in soccer..... And now this? Can't imagine they're happy!

I'm pretty sure I've seen a few Bhatti FUE cases of 3800+. Umar may be another, and a few of the Turkish docs have a few larger ones. A key factor is that you have to appreciate the amount of 'safe' FUE grafts one has. I think the reason we don't see too many 4k+ sessions is that it would almost deplete someones entire FUE 'safe bank' in one session. Another factor (I've noted one or two of the top Belgian docs mention this) is that some docs say that the scalp endures quite a bit of trauma in big FUE sessions. If it was deemed somebody needed, for example, 4500 grafts for their desired long term goal, in very many cases this will be done in 2 passes. So you'd get something like 2500 in the first FUE session, and 2000 maybe a year or so later.

Looks fantastic. And 42? Looks closer to 22!

If I'm being honest, I think you are doing things MUCH too soon! 7 days after strip surgery and you are back doing weights in the gym close to full capacity is asking for trouble. I have never had strip, but I'm only going from the vast amount of stories I have read while researching FUT. If I were in your shoes right now, I'd be doing everything in my power to make sure that this HT turns out to be as good as it possibly can, both in the recipient and in the donor. I'm a big gym goer as well but if I had strip surgery, I wouldn't be touching weights until the 2-3 month mark. Your body may feel good right now, but you could easily contribute to a stretched scar if you're not careful. Most people who return to the gym 2 weeks after their HT would have had FUE performed. Have you informed your doc that you returned to heavy weights so soon?

Haha. Expect a call from the company who produce Rogaine to use you in their new "libido of a rabbit" marketing campaign! Unfortunately I have not had the same results! Your regimen looks good by the way. It's actually quite similar to my own. One adjustment I will be making in the coming months (when I get my hands on the 1mg tabs instead of the 5mg tabs), is going to 0.5mg every day, as opposed to 1.25mg every other day. Having researched this, and spoken to some of the top Euro docs in person about this, I feel that it will give my body a better chance to deal with the drug.

Hopefully you get the outcome you're looking for this time Slickers. I'm sure you will! Coming from someone who is going to Bisanga for 2,000 FUE soon (on a virgin scalp) and with the research I've done, I'm not surprised at all that he suggested going strip for your case. In fact, I would have almost expected it from him. He looks at each individual from a long-term strategic point of view. If you had gone another 2,000 FUE, you would have been tapped out from a safe FUE point of view, or very close to tapped out. If you had further loss down the line, it would be difficult to go the strip route then because of your thinner donor region, which would likely leave a relatively exposed scar. You'd then be in a bit of a difficult situation. With the route you are going now, the strip should (hopefully )be well concealed with your current donor density. It then gives you the option to go with more strips in the future if needed, again, with a view that they are concealed quite well. Fair play to you for doing your research though (I know what you mean by an unhealthy knowledge of cases by the way - and my missus had made similar comments )......many in your position would have wanted to stick solely with FUE.

By 7 days the grafts should be well locked in. Find a nice loose fitting cap and you're sorted.