BetterLate

I'm not able to get photos posted before having to leave Istanbul. Sevinc hooked me up with the tech department at the clinic. They agreed to post all of the applicable pre-op pictures taken here within this thread.. After the 10-day cooling off period or whenever there is sufficient progress of note, I'll take and post current photos with more details of the visit and address masato's and all other's questions which pop up in the meantime. My time will be short back in Los Angeles, which is one of the reasons why I'd thought a contemporaneous accounting of my experience made sense. But I do understand that if protocol dictates the photos should be posted before the story, I'll follow it. For now, I'm off back home...

busa, In deference to your status as a Senior Member (I’m assuming you help monitor the Forums), I was taken aback and not sure how to begin to respond to your phrase-message. Am I misreading the curtness of it, or was it a mistake for me to try to post a contemporaneous account of my experiences until I post photos taken by the clinic? I’d posted consultation photos from a few weeks ago that can be viewed by clicking the link at the bottom of my first entry. I was going to try to obtain the photos taken here at the clinic when I could, and then post them when able. But I’m nothing but a patient here--albeit, an exceedingly happy one so far--and, as I mentioned in my last posting, the clinic is basically closed on the weekend. Please understand that I’m pushing 60 years of age (which makes it hard to get over jet lag after flying half way around the world), in between the first two surgical procedures of my life, not the most tech-savvy guy, and making my first postings on the internet (for anything, not just hair transplantation) to try to give back to this forum since it was a tremendous help for me. I can and will wait, then, to recount any more of my experience until I’m able to post the clinic’s photos on the web site. I could say that I’ll do so on Monday, but Monday is also the second day of surgery, and 2500 grafts in a FUE procedure is pretty much an all-day affair when going the manual punch route. That’s already a lot for an old guy to fit into a day… I was exhausted after the first procedure. I guess I should probably wait until I return to Los Angeles if I am to continue posting anything. Before I close, I’ll just say that one the best decisions I’ve made in my life was coming here to Dr. Erdogan’s Asmed Clinic. It has been a completely positive experience, far exceeding my hopes and expectations. I’ll offer a few examples of why. I already mentioned the Frenchman I'd met the first morning who came here after seeing his cousin's results. I've met four other patients at various stages who were all extremely happy, one of them (a local physician) here for his 10th day after surgery final wash... and even though he knew his new hair would fall out in the coming weeks, we all saw what he was going to look like in the future, and it looked pretty darn good. I’d been very impressed with how professional Sevinc was (and has continued to be throughout my time here) in helping answer all my questions and then arranging my visit to the clinic. It finally made sense how she could be so competent when I found out that her course of study at the University was International Relations. During the first surgery, Sevninc sat down near me in case I had any problems or questions. When she had to leave to attend to other duties, another young woman came and sat down. When there was a short break and we chatted for a few minutes, I found out that this gal grew up in Germany and graduated there with a degree the equivalent of Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation… but she was just sitting down there to be on call for me and make sure I was doing all right. Earlier upon my arrival, when Sevinc told me that one of the first things I needed to do was give a little blood for them to run tests on, I was dreading it because every time I give blood back home in Los Angeles it takes numerous tries for them to find my vein and my arms (sometimes both) end up black and blue. Here, the nurse assured me I should relax and it would be no problem. She patted around on my right arm for 10-15 seconds, shook her head, then patted my left arm, gave an "Aha" as she decided where she would stick me, and then did so without incident... the only mark left being a small dot. When I was first in the cafeteria, a gentleman came down and sat next to me. He helped make sure that I had everything I wanted to eat and told me to let him know if I wanted any more of anything, then we chatted for a bit. He seemed quite intelligent, and I was curious about his background. Turns out he’s been a doctor for 10 years now--an anesthesiologist, as a matter of fact. No one is going under general anesthesia here, but he’s around as a troubleshooter just to make sure all of the patients are feeling comfortable. Every single staff member has been so overly competent (and, as a wonderful matter of course, overtly friendly) that this situation could only occur in a developing country. If this clinic were located in the United States with the same quality of personnel, it would be so prohibitively expensive that very few people would ever be able to afford to come here since even the most exclusive insurance will not pay for hair transplants. When I was a young man, I traveled around the world for many years. Occasionally, I’d run across what I would call a sweet spot—the perfect time to be somewhere due to the congruence of all factors… aka, the planets aligning. In my estimation (and that of many economists), Turkey is a sweet spot right now. When I was last here 36 years ago, you could not have paid me a million dollars to have any medical procedure done here. Turkey will cool off at some point, but right now it is running White Hot. What I read about before I came and now see in person is a mass of highly-skilled people whose compensation is not on par with the international marketplace. When you bring in an international clientele and charge them an amount which splits the difference between what would be in line with the First World and the Third World, you can have a very successful, high-end enterprise offering world-class service at bargain prices. And that is what I believe we have right now in Dr. Erdogan’s Asmed Clinic. My opinion is only one of many. Everyone should do their research until completely satisfied. But that is my opinion. Finally, in the category of Let The Buyer Beware, it's probably worth mentioning that for much longer than this old guy has been alive, in situations like what is going on in Turkey right now, everybody and his brother will come out of the woodwork and try to jump on the bandwagon. Heck--if I were any kind of a doctor here, I'd probably open up a hair transplant business right now so I could piggy-back off of what Dr. Erdogan has going on. I would hesitate to go to any Turkish doctor just because there is a good FUE scene happening here. I'm sure that there are other doctors here who are or will become good after awhile. All I can tell you is that in the language of my older generation: Dr. Erdogan's Asmed Clinic is The Real McCoy.

I spent yesterday going through the first of two procedures, with the second to follow Monday. Before I continue the general story, I’ll isolate this short post to just touch on a couple peripheral things that might be helpful for anyone ultimately deciding to see Dr. Erdogan at the Asmed Clinic. In order to save time upon arrival, you should get an e-Visa online. https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ With it, you can quickly pass through the “Other Nationalities” Immigration kiosk and continue on to baggage claim. When I arrived on Wednesday night, Customs was not staffed and I walked right out of the airport once I grabbed my bag. It was the quickest and most painless entry into a foreign country I’ve ever experienced. Dr. Erdogan gets a rate at the Radisson Blu Hotel which includes their breakfast buffet. The buffet is one of the best I’ve ever experienced, the disclaimer being that I’m not usually staying in high-end hotels whenever I travel. The buffet could easily be your main meal for the day if you're a morning eater. The Radisson is conveniently located near the clinic and gives you a chance to chat with other patients (whom you can easily identify) at breakfast. The rooms are not huge suites, but they are more than adequate in size with fantastic views and as clean and high-tech as you might need. The clinic will also shuttle you back and forth from the hotel for every trip needed for a low flat rate. Because of the problems I’d had with my flight from Los Angeles, Sevinc arranged for me to stay a few nights in the clinic after my first night at the Radisson. For an older guy, that convenience factor is fantastic. You don’t get the 5-star buffet and you aren’t going to make as many international friends as you would at the Radisson, but I’m okay with more basic, decent food and being able to walk a few steps to lie down after the day’s procedures and to be able to get out of bed at the last minute while still recovering from jet lag. I only came here for the specific purpose of a hair transplant and the clinic’s room is perfect for that. If you would decide to stay at the clinic, you probably want to change a minimal amount of money into Turkish Lira. While the Radisson lives on Euros and Dollars, the local haunts around the clinic are not so equipped. The clinic is barely open Saturday and will shut down completely on Sunday (just me and security), so you’ll be fending for yourself on those days. But, as a practical matter, you probably want to arrange your trip so that you won’t be here throughout the weekend. (My trip had originally been planned for Th/Fri procedures, Sat first washing/final instructions, Sunday departure which I found ideal… before for the flight cancellation.) Though most people you’ll run across in the tourism industry will speak fluent English, don’t assume that every on the street in Istanbul will. I’ve actually found my resurrected German to be of more help than English the few times I’ve ventured off. It’s not a problem by any means, just a heads up. [i'm going to see if it's possible to get any of the pre-op photos that the clinic took so I can include them as I continue the general story.]

I had planned on posting more last night after a short nap, but jet lag and a lost night of sleep caught up and laid me down for the count after I edited out a couple extraneous sentences from my previous posting. I need to prep for the operation in a few minutes, but one thing I'd wanted to mention was that the most important part of yesterday's breakfast was when I noticed a young Frenchman with the tell-tale signs of recent FUE surgery sitting alone at a table when I arrived. Indeed, he was a patient of Dr. Erdogan and on his last day in the country, ready to go back home. I sat with him for about 20 minutes. He was very inspirational with the story of his experience that he was able to communicate to me. (He only knew English from school and I hadn't spoken French for 30 years, so most was through a translation app on his phone.) The best part of his story was when he told me that he decided to come here after seeing the results of his cousin who had been here 7 months ago. His cousin had posted some before and after pictures on the internet that he showed me. They were the typical ones that almost seemed too good to be true. He assured me that they were exactly what his cousin had looked like before and now, without anything exaggerated... and that's why he had come here. That probably made me feel better than anything yet, until I actually arrived at the clinic where it all just seemed to get even better. I know that being a lot older, I'm likely to take longer to heal and show results than the younger Frenchman (in his ~30s), but it sure made me happy and feel even more like I had made a good decision after that experience. Depending on how the day goes I may add more later, but for now it's off to the races.

NewLook, Thanks for reply. I saw there's a thread relating to the topic of how anyone posting here must wonder at certain points whether it's worthwhile, asking themselves if people are even really reading it... which is a huge question when the effort put forth is, in theory, done to help others in their process of making as informed a decision as possible. But since I was once a lurker here and as long as I know for sure that you are interested for practical reasons, that will make it even easier for me to continue. Things went South for me after my last post. (It had nothing to do with Dr. Erdogan.) Turkish Airlines cancelled my outbound flight to Istanbul from Los Angeles, which was highly unusual for them and, therefore, highly unlikely that it is something anyone else will face. Nevertheless, my Thursday/Friday procedures were going to be impossible due to the new timing of my arrival. I think it speaks well of Dr. Erdogan that he did not want to rush through a late-night consultation and planning meeting with me on Wednesday for a Thursday-morning procedure. The fact that he is motivated to exercise such care with the patients more than just having an inflow of money into the clinic is a very positive thing from my perspective. Nevertheless, this meant having procedures on Friday and then Monday... which also meant that I was going to miss a total of seven days of work instead of four due to the timing of flights between Istanbul and Los Angeles. Sevinc at Dr. Erdogan's office told me that they were definitely willing to work with me to make it happen if I was still motivated, and were even willing to make a few concessions to soften the blow that the flight cancellation had caused me if I was still willing to make the trip. Despite what seemed like might be a bad omen from the flight cancellation, I decided to proceed to Istanbul. I'd already made the final decision that this really was something I wanted to do, and I'd had nothing but a positive experience working with all aspects of arranging the trip and procedure with Sevinc who had not once failed to respond to any request for help or assistance... and boy were there ever numerous such requests the night my flight was cancelled! Then things started looking up. Turkish Airlines offered me an upgrade from economy to their "Comfort" class as a further concession (they paid for night in hotel at LAX), which I would not have paid for but actually made the flight very pleasant... and then I was met right outside just as I exited the airport's Customs station by Asmed's driver who who just dropped me off at the hotel just before I wrote the above. More to come... [Posted above comments from last night onto web site this AM. I will add info regarding visa, luggage anamoly, hotel deal, etc. later today. For a time, I was fairly depressed about how things were going--again, not at all due to Dr. Erdogan's clinic--but they seem to be looking up. Just had breakfast at the hotel, which is worthy of including in an update. Need to get ready to be picked up to visit the clinic.]

NewLook, thanks for letting me know that my posting was helpful as a reminder for you. As a serial lurker in the past, I'm hoping that our messages will help the current lurkers, who may in turn become members and help future lurkers, ad infinitum. In my particular case, I'll be splitting up into 2 sessions of ~2,500 each on two successive days. The following is what I had understood after researching: Mega-sessions are safe and yield good results. They are easier to accomplish with FUT procedures because of the strip method of harvesting the grafts. The problem with FUE mega-sessions is that the process of harvesting is much more time-intensive, and, if done manually as Dr. Erdogan does it, it is just not practical due to time constraints to attempt much more than 2,500 in a single day. So, in essence, what I am looking at is a two-day mega-session. Is that a bad idea? On the one hand, I'd have to say I'm the last guy you should ask for advice on an optimum period of time between two procedures since I just agreed to what was proposed. But... ... at some point, it just became necessary for me to make a leap of faith. I read everything I could about Dr. Erdogan. I viewed all the results of his work I found. Sevinc at his clinic has been nothing but positive and professional as she addressed every last single one of my (many!) concerns, from first contact to her final email message before I now leave for Istanbul. She was never out of contact. I'm into sales and am extra-skeptical whenever arranging for paid services... and I feel very good and comfortable and confident putting my trust in them. I didn't say I could only make one trip there--they suggested doing the procedures on two successive days, so I have to believe that they know it will work from experience or they would not have made the plan. All I can tell you for sure is that I will figure out very soon if it was a good idea or not... story to follow. NewLook, thank you very much for adding to this post. Perhaps in the coming weeks I will have much more useful information for you about my experience in general. I do hope to impart good information (or at least an opportunity for others to correct me--and thereby impart good information) to be of some assistance to those looking at having a procedure in the future.

I'll do so, johntra. I think we've both made a wise decision. Not sure about logging on from there, but I'll try to post anything I think might be useful/helpful when able so that I can to give back a little to this Forum... Lord knows I've gotten a lot from it.

Thank you Future Doc and David. I appreciate all of the insight from your previous posts. Hairweare, I really appreciate all of your input. I am now even more optimistic than before. Sevinc from Dr. Erdogan's clinic did set me up for two separate smaller sessions to do the 5,000 grafts. Their rationale/analysis exactly agrees with yours. It is also good to know about Dr. Lorenzo having that mutual respect with Dr. Erdogan, since he also has an excellent reputation which I knew about even before I'd ever heard of Dr. Erdogan. Hairweare, you are the reason why I have such respect for this web site/there forums. You have really helped set my mind at ease. I kind of hate to admit it, but I'm an old guy at this point in life, and sometimes the anxiety seems like it can take over at the last minute. Thank you again so much for your input!

Thank you, Number 47. I think (hope?) the link at the bottom of the post goes to my photos if you are logged in. I'm trying to figure out the better way to make them available. I met a couple patients who achieved good results after a procedure, but none similar to my pattern of loss. My case seems more advanced than theirs, so I'm tempering my expectations while at the same time keeping my hopes up. It sounds like maybe I'll need to start propecia afterwards just to try to keep all of what I still have naturally in the best shape. I haven't wanted to take it because of the potential side effects, but it seems like I need to re-think that. Minoxidil didn't seem to work well for me when I tried it some years ago. Thank you very much again for your reply!

Having decided not to proceed with a procedure after spending numerous weeks perusing this web site back in 2011, a couple months ago I decided that since I’m in my 50s, if I ever were to go forward, it’s really become a case that I need to do so now. My initial idea both times I began to consider having a transplant was that it would help my business. I’m in sales and, theoretically, potential clients decide within seconds of first setting eyes on me whether or not they want to work together, so I need every edge I can get. However, the deciding factor has ended up being personal--that having a more youthful and attractive appearance as I’m aging will probably make me feel better enough over time so that if I can afford it, having decent quality work done now will probably be one of the best investments I can make in myself for the long run. This web site and these forums were crucial in the evolution of my making an ultimate decision. If someone has just started to consider having a procedure and will do so in the near future, I think the “FUT vs. FUE” postings are most crucial to read. There will be further advancements in the coming years which will make both of these procedures obsolete, I’m sure, but at this time they are both still state-of-the-art so the decision is between the two--and a major decision it is. When I finally decided to take the plunge, I first met Dr. Mohebi in Los Angeles. He was absolutely professional, and I felt completely confident going forward with him for a FUT procedure. (He also does do FUE.) However, after continuing to check out the forums here, I decided that I really needed to consult with a FUE-only surgeon just to get another perspective. So I then met with Dr. Umar in Redondo Beach. My experience with him was very good, also. His approach was completely "no pressure", though the convincing arguments he made regarding FUT vs. FUE flipped me once and for all into becoming a proponent of FUE. On top of everything else, his staff was absolutely top-notch in extending themselves to make me comfortable during my visit. I would definitely have been completely confident proceeding with Dr. Umar for a FUE procedure. However, even though I’m allocating a fair deal of money to have this done, it was just going to be a bit too expensive for what I can afford. It was back to the forums here where the best advice I probably re-read was that it’s worth the time and a trip on an airplane to get the quality of work that you really want done. I had a not-so-good experience with the rep of one highly-respected surgical group, and then after re-reading a lot of the postings and again checking out the work of Dr. Erdogan, I decided to try to contact his clinic in Turkey and see if it seemed feasible to make the long trek there. I e-mailed Denny who frequents this web site and is a rep for Dr. Erdogan. Unfortunately, Denny let me know he was on a business trip and unable to help me, but told me that he would forward my inquiry to someone else at the clinic. A week later, Sevinc from Dr. Erdogan’s office contacted me and began a long series of e-mail correspondence back and forth in which she has been 100% responsive to all of my many questions and very understanding of and patient with my apprehension at traveling so far away from home for the surgery. Sevinc’s consummate professionalism while assisting me in all aspects and logistics of setting up my appointment, along with the results I have seen and the positive feedback I’ve read on this forum regarding Dr. Erdogan, has me feeling assured that the decisions I finally made to follow through on getting a transplant and the surgeon I have chosen have been the right ones to make. I intend to make postings of photographs and any other applicable information after my procedure. In some of the postings I’d previously read, there were questions that some people had regarding the fine points of Dr. Erdogan’s techniques. If anyone would like to post such questions here, I will ask those questions during my time in Istanbul and post the responses. Thank you very much to everyone here for making these forums so important to anybody who's interested in hair transplantation! [initial consultation photos uploaded: Photos are here, but need to be logged in to view]