Prior to my procedure I did plenty of research regarding the type of procedure I wanted to pursue, and this site was tremendously helpful in making that decision to go through with the procedure. So I decided to document my journey in return...
I began thinning in my early 20s and even went to Bosley for a consultation about 8 years ago, around the age of 25 (thank god I didn't proceed with them!). The years kept passing and my hairline began to recede further and further to a point to where I was ready to pursue my options. A couple years ago I began to research and had my consultation with Dr. Diep in June 2015. I was very pleased with the professionalism of the staff, and the amount of time Dr. Diep spent with me reviewing my options. Since I like my hair fairly short on the sides I decided to proceed with the FUE method of 2500 grafts (max offered by Dr. Diep during a session) to reconstruct the hairline for now. I am a norwood 4-5, so an additional procedure would obviously be needed to complete it. Dr. Diep was booked for 5 months out so I booked my appointment for 11/18/15.
I arrived around 8:30am, and met with Dr. Diep to finalize the hairline and off to the room we went. I have to say the procedure was almost completely painless, and actually the most uncomfortable part was having to sit still for that long (finished around 7pm). I began to get a headache half way through but received some more medication and felt perfectly fine. Dr. Diep was also able to complete a total of 2874 grafts.
While it felt a bit weird, I actually slept perfectly fine that night. I didn't use the pain medication that was prescribed, and actually never had to use it at all. I returned to Dr. Diep's office on Day1 and Day2 to have my head washed, and again was happy with the experience I received from the staff. Dr. Diep also took some time during my visit to make sure everything was looking good.
Sleeping was a bit sensitive as the donor area remained a bit tender for the first couple of weeks, and I kept worrying about rolling on my side. My face blew up on day 3 (could barely recognize myself) but the swelling began to subside around day 5-6, and was back to normal 1 week out.
I've attached PreOp, Day1, and Day10 pictures, and will add my updates from month 2 & 3 to follow. I have to admit --- Day1 I had a bit of buyer's remorse because the hairline looked off due to how bad my head was swollen, but by Day10 I was beginning to see things come together.