AdamvsMaximvs

During the consult he had discussed them, but I've had a very high temple hairline since my teens. It's like that for my whole family, never really had hair in those areas before. The angle of the pics and my terrible post-op haircut make it look a bit worse than it probably is. I can't remember what he said regarding the area way back in my consultation, but he did mention the area and why he didn't want to transplant there. Really my only concern that I'm unsure on is the level/straightness of my front. I had a very zig-zag hairline and I'm not sure how it'll look once the transplants take. I guess I'll find out in another 4-6months or so. I'll post with updates once there's actually some hair growth acheived. Redness is almost gone 2 months post-op, but I still prefer to wear a hat most of the time.

A couple of 1-week post op photos. Overall I didn't experience a lot of pain or issues from the surgery. While the area was tender, I didn't spend a lot of time poking and proding the donor or recipient site so ~80% of the time it was a non-issue. Had one or two small bleeds in the recipient are, but all pretty minor. Really the worst part was trying to sleep propped up and with staples in the back of your head. I definitely didn't sleep great that week as everytime I moved or adjusted in bed it seemed like the staples were tugged or strained. I wasn't working the week after the surgery and was glad I decided not to take more contract work right after. Besides looking slightly Frankenstein-ish, I was pretty beat from sleep issues. For anyone considering I highly recommend taking the week off. Fortunately I planned on doing the surgery over the holidays where I didn't have to go anywhere (and wouldn't want to so I could avoid the holiday traffic). Pics are either a week or two post surgery. I can't remember 100% for certain. Staples came out on the 27th and it was a big relief. Felt much more comfortable and slept better aftewards. Removing the staples was only minimally painful, you definitely feel it, but unless you're particularly pain sensitive (or a big weeny) it's nothing to worry about. About 4 weeks after the surgery I had injections to the donor site and a quick check-up and everything looked like had healed nicely. I had done a lot of reading on PubMed about Finasteride and Minoxidil and only had a couple quick questions for the doc, so decided to start an Rx of to try both. And for any Edmontonians who happen across this, the Pharmacy below Groot Dermasurgery, Crestwood Apothecary, sells Finasteride extremely well-priced which was a nice surprise. I can't remeber the exact cost, but it was something like 50 cents a pill.

A couple post-surgery pics;

Actual Surgery review/notes; So on the 20th I went for the surgery at Groot Dermasurgery in Edmonton. You show up fairly early, around 730AM if I remember correctly. I didn't realize I'd be in the clinic for around 12 hours. The staff lets you know that they've got a locked room that's 'your' clinic room for the day where you can leave your coat, phone, etc. The staff was pleasant and helpful. Dr. Nakatsui's main nurse/assistant/tech (I'm not quite sure what he is), was a real pleasure and very informative and willing to go over any last minute questions. Dr. Nakatsui comes in shortly after for photos and to give you a quick overview of what's going to happen and see if you had any questions. The initial excision and stapling of the donor site is done by Dr. Nakatsui and was pretty swift and painless. You do feel the initial freezing injections, but I'm lucky enough that needles never seem to 'hurt', so I'd say it wasn't bad at all. I did seem to need quite a bit of freezing, but it's no big deal on the back of the head. After the removal of the donor tissue the Dr. starts putting the incisions on the recipient site for the next couple of hours. I never looked into the actual time and manual labour aspect of a transplant before the surgery, and you start to realize why 'you get what you pay for' is probably a good mantra for hair transplants. There's a tremendous amount of slicing going on up there. Once again, there's really no pain beyond the initial freezing which starts at the top of the bridge of your nose and eyebrows. I can't say if everyone experiences it, but it definitely felt like I was developing some massive Neandertal superobital torus from all the freezing haha (fortunately it doesn't LOOK like it). After the Doc's done with the recipient cuts and the techs have prepped some transplants, there's about a half hour break for lunch. They get lunch from 'Dlux Burger Bar' which is a fancy-ish burger place in the same shopping complex. Fortunately, Dlux is usually really good (I had been there a couple times in the past) and it's nice to get a decent lunch while you're there. After lunch two of the techs there start the long (and boring) part of the procedure; putting in the transplants into the thousand-some cuts in your forehead. The clinic does have an Ipad setup so you can watch movies or listen to music to alleviate some of the boredom. I spent the first couple hours just sitting there, but after that watched a couple movies (although the ipad's battery died about 2-3 hours later). Overall really the worst part of the procedure was just how long you're stuck sitting on your butt. I did take a couple 5 minute breaks to stretch my legs, but it's a really long time to be sitting there. The only other point of note I learned was that if the anasthetic starts to wear off they want you to tell them right away. Retaining a little of my 'tough construction worker' past, I just ignored it for a while as it just felt like little pin-stabs/pricks. But apparently there's less bleeding and concerns if you don't feel anything so letting the techs know is a good idea. I took quite a bit more freezing (the Doc even made a 'wow we've put quite a bit of this in' comment). Eyebrows begin to feel less like a Neandertal and more like a robust Australopithecene. After the transpants are completed and the Doc double checks everything, you go back to 'your' clinic room and some antibiotic gel and such is applied. You're given a little home 'care' kit and on your way. Overall the transplant was a much more pleasant experience that what it could be and other that the very long duration, I didn't have any real complaints.

I'm a bit behind getting to this, but better late than never! To start off here's some before pics. I was grossly overdue for a trim before the surgery, but I wanted to make sure it was long enough. Normally I would wear it cut pretty short before the surgery. You can see I had some definite thinning and receding hairline. The thinning went a little further back in the center, but it doesn't look like I was definitely going to get the horseshoe pattern. No one in my family has gone bald, but quite a few of the men receded a ways back or had irregular thinness in the front.

Hey Everyone, Just joined the forum and site, though I had snooped around it once or twice in the past. I'm going to get a transplant with Dr. Nakatsui in Edmonton, AB on the 20th so I though I'd make a thread where I'll shortly add some before and after pics and results over time since I noticed there wasn't a ton of them online. Hopefully it gives some more Albertans an idea of what to expect and I can let them know how my experience went.