Hello Everyone!
This site has been so informative and helpful to me in researching and deciding to move forward with a HT procedure. I had my 1st HT yesterday, 4/6/16, and wanted to share my journey to help others out there who were in the same position as me.
A little background about my history. The men in my family all have that 'M' hairline, or a NW3. I remember as a young kid, my relatives telling me I had the family hairline. Fortunately back then I had pretty great hair, but I knew it wouldn't last. By the time I was 16 or 17, my hairline was high, but I wouldn't say I was balding. I kept my hair fairly long until I was about 21, partially for style and partially to disguise my hairline. When I cut it, I knew it was high, but as long as I could style it, I wasn't overly bothered. Fast-forward to when I was about 24 and I knew I was losing my hair. It slowly got worse, but none of my close friends or family made mention. Then one day, my girlfriend (now fiancee') and I were talking and she said, "you know what it is a bit higher than when we met". It was then that I knew I would make the jump for surgery.
Between then and now, I was moved to the Bay Area for work, and I found this website and the work of Dr. John Diep. After seeing some of this results and meeting with him, I decided that he was the guy for me. A lot of people have made mention about him being cocky, or not having great bedside manner; I think he is a proud man, and is just being honest. It may rub some the wrong way, but he certainly means well.
So, after having my initial consultation with the Dr. I decided that I wanted to get the FUT procedure. I keep my hair a bit longer, and I've never had issues scarring (after other surgeries and a life of playing hockey). When he told me the yield was typically a bit better I was sold, and made the arrangements to set it up. A few weeks later, I got a call to see if I was able to move the procedure up, which made me very happy.
The procedure: Dr. Diep typically does 1 FUT and 1 FUE per day. Being the FUT patient, I arrived bright and early at 5:30am, filled out some paperwork and was led to the back for prep. Shortly thereafter, Dr. D and I sat down, he drew my hairline, gave me some meds and off we went. To be honest I vaguely remember him removing the donor area, and I woke up a bit confused. I can't recall if he was making the transplant incisions or stitching my donor up. I blame this on the drugs.
I dozed off again, and woke up around 10:30am. At this point, his team of technicians were implanting the grafts. I watched some Netflix, talked a little to the techs, and then it was time for lunch. After a brief lunch break, two new techs came in to finish up the procedure. Dr. D came in gave me some more local anesthesia and on we went. It was pretty uneventful from there. The two afternoon techs were very friendly and made the procedure easy for me.
From there I was given some post-op instructions, and since I'm local told to come back for the next three days for washes. The Dr. gave me propecia, an antibiotic and some other drugs to help with sleep and pain. I am not typically a back-sleeper, so the first night was tough, but I took some naps on day 1.
My head is somewhat swollen in the forehead and temples, with minor discomfort, but nothing bad. The donor area is lacking full sensation still, so it's not bothering me too much at this point.
Attached are some photos. I apologize in advance for the lighting. Also, Dr. D cut some of my "baby" hairs out of my hairline, so it actually looks a bit worse than it did pre surgery.
I'll try to update consistently. Enjoy!