Tony13

are you taking propecia?

I just read that you started shedding at 1.5 months. wow. how did that feel? at 6 weeks I would think the shed wouldn't happen.

Yea it was definitely late but expected. I didn't feel too bad about it because I actually retained a lot of hair that just continued to grow.

are you taking propecia?

I started taking propecia after the surgery. I also have been taking biotin & collagen as well.

Below is the update for my current status at month 3. Has been a lot of activity from last month until now and the hairline already looks better than preop. I included a side by side comparison from month2 - month3 as well where the difference really stands out. The 3 month pictures are also immediately following the sides being shaved down with a 0 blade as well. Again, the white dots appear to be noticeable in close up pictures, but are not as visible in person.

Below are the pictures from month 2. I didn't start shedding until about 1.5 months out, and you can see from the pictures below that I actually retained some of the transplanted hair. I also have my sides shaved down to a 0 blade. I find the scars to be very minimally noticeable if at all (pictures make it stand out more than the naked eye), unless you know about these types of procedures.

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.