TakingThePlunge

Coligion - Thanks! I'm glad to know that my blog is being watched after being a long time observer myself. I think it's important to contribute. I'm just sorry that my result so far has become one of the warnings rather than a fine example. I'm not sure at this point what my next step will be assuming the worst. I've already discussed my results with Dr. A and he mentioned that I may need a touchup but we need to wait and see. I wish I were in a financial position to be considering a second HT but I haven't paid off the first one yet. HairHope: For the past 6 years or so, when my hair really disappeared up top, I've been going to barbers and getting a tight buzz cut. Usually a 1/2 clip on the sides and a 1 on top. I always felt self-conscious because it always seemed like I was only one in the place out of all the barbers and customers combined that was balding. I was sure that the barbers were secretly snickering at me behind my back. Since my HT, I've been to the barber twice and now to the stylist. All three times, I went in the middle of the day and caught the places empty which made it easier to tell the person cutting my hair all about my procedure. I plan to keep going to the same stylist now. My goal was to become a regular with someone who knows what I've done and what my styling goals are over the long term. I know it's easier said than done, but give it a shot. Take a look at your local salons and buzz by them now and then. If you see a lull in business, jump in and take advantage of it. Best of luck!

Thanks for the input everyone! The range of experiences and opinions just go to show how unpredictable a HT can be even under the best of circumstances. As I've said many times, while the writing may be on the proverbial wall, I'm reserving judgement until at least the 12 month mark. That being said, I'm not an optimist by nature so I'm not holding my breath. I'm not happy with my progress and I'm not sure what my next move will be if my end result is subpar. However, I don't think it would be prudent of me to begin placing blame at this point. HT #2 is probably not going to be a reality for me for a long time due to finances so I'll be waiting to see where I end up and what Dr. Alexander's take on it is and what he is willing to do to correct it. I'll be posting pics again at the nine month mark even though I doubt there will be much change.

I'm closing in on the 9 month mark and my lack of density has been well documented on my blag. The right side is particularly sparse. Anyway, this morning I woke up with a pimple in that area. Could this be a sign of new activity so late in the game? I don't think I've heard of anyone getting pimples at this stage. Anyone else experience this?

I'm closing in on the 9 month mark and my lack of density has been well documented on my blag. The right side is particularly sparse. Anyway, this morning I woke up with a pimple in that area. Could this be a sign of new activity so late in the game? I don't think I've heard of anyone getting pimples at this stage. Anyone else experience this?

My discontent with my results thus far have been well documented here. I'm approaching the 35 week mark and still hoping for the best. Yesterday, I went to the local Supercuts to get a trim. This was my first experience at anything other than a barber in years. There were no customers in the place and only one stylist working so I took the opportunity to discuss my procedure with her and any styling concerns openly. This is a true testament to Dr. Alexander's skills. She could NOT believe I had had a transplant. She was unable to locate my scar without my help and after pointing out the location to her she said she could kind of see something but never would have spotted it. She just kept saying, "your guy is good." She told me about one customer she had who had been mangled and how bad she felt for him. I'm sure she's probably had lots of customers with good results who never told her. She's obviously only "seen" the bad ones but she was impressed. She also thought the hairline was natural and undetectable. I told her I wasn't happy with the density so far and was hoping for more but, it was nice to get such a positive reaction from an impartial observer! Just wanted to pass along something positive for a change!

My discontent with my results thus far have been well documented here. I'm approaching the 35 week mark and still hoping for the best. Yesterday, I went to the local Supercuts to get a trim. This was my first experience at anything other than a barber in years. There were no customers in the place and only one stylist working so I took the opportunity to discuss my procedure with her and any styling concerns openly. This is a true testament to Dr. Alexander's skills. She could NOT believe I had had a transplant. She was unable to locate my scar without my help and after pointing out the location to her she said she could kind of see something but never would have spotted it. She just kept saying, "your guy is good." She told me about one customer she had who had been mangled and how bad she felt for him. I'm sure she's probably had lots of customers with good results who never told her. She's obviously only "seen" the bad ones but she was impressed. She also thought the hairline was natural and undetectable. I told her I wasn't happy with the density so far and was hoping for more but, it was nice to get such a positive reaction from an impartial observer! Just wanted to pass along something positive for a change!

Dude, I'm sure no one wants to dismiss your feelings. It's never fun when any aspect of your appearance bothers you. We all know that. But, I have to agree with what everyone else has said, your hair looks great! I hope that the thinning you are experiencing does not continue but, at this point, I would be a happy camper with your results. Cheers

M1A1, Thanks for your input and I hope you are right! To answer your question, I think it looks ok from the front. Even outside in sunlight. Especially if I use a thickening shampoo and molding wax. I really have not noticed any drifting eyes looking at my head like I used to.

I saw Dr. Alexander today. As expected, there's not much he could say at this point other than we need to wait for the one year mark and see what emerges. He did say that there is a lot of finer, light hairs that are difficult to see and may or may not thicken and darken over time. He also said that it is probable that I'll have to get some extra grafts placed in the right side where it is noticeably thinner but, again, we need to wait and see what happens. He also hooked me up with a couple of Toppik samples and applied some to the front and crown. I've always been curious about concealers and it made a marked improvement in appearance but it's not something that I would want to do every day. He asked me to come back again in two months. That's all there is to report. I'll keep posting pics every four weeks. Thanks guys!

I just want to thank everyone again who has posted here, emailed me and commented on my blog. It's this collective knowledge and support that makes this place so valuable! Dr. Alexander's office contacted me today and I made an appointment for Wednesday at 3:30. I'm not sure what can come of it at this point since not even he knows what's in store for me over the next 4 months but it was good of him to contact me. I'll post a follow up here after I speak with him. Cheers!

I'd like to thank everyone for their input. I'm not placing blame on Dr. A. I believe that he is as skilled as any of the top docs here. Unfortunately, he did plant it in my head that I could expect good results by month 6 based on my great hair and scalp quality. As you can all see, that has not happened. Yes, I understood, as do most of us on this board that have done our research, that getting a HT is a crap shoot and the best you can do is try to hedge your bet by choosing your doc wisely. I made a decision to do this because I knew that, whatever the result, I couldn't possibly be less happy with my appearance than I already was. That doesn't ease the pain of being down $10,000 and not being able to afford another procedure for a looooonnnnng time. I was hoping for the best and, at this point, it doesn't look like that'll happen but I'm hanging in there till the 12 month mark before totally giving up hope. I'm not trying to come off like a whiner. I'm only trying to stay consistent with my blog and be honest about how I'm feeling about my results each month. To answer specific questions, aska: I'm sorry, I don't recall how early my grafts shed. I seem to remember that they hung on for a while. Bill: I was in touch with Dr. Alexander about five weeks ago for my 6 month follow up. He suggested that growing my hair longer would enhance its appearance and I've been trying to do that. He told me to come back in two months so I've been expecting to hear from his office soon. Thanks for your imput!

Hey guys, I hit 32 weeks yesterday. It's been 5 weeks since I posted pics and I don't think I've seen any improvement during that time. I'd say it looks ok in person. I just look like a slightly less balding version on my old self. The pics, on the other hand, demonstrate how bad it really is! It looks natural, just not good. I know, I've got four more months and should reserve judgement. The game's not over yet but I'm beginning to lose faith that I will get an acceptable result from this procedure.

I'm at around 30 weeks post op and have been experiencing the same thing. At my 6 month check up, my doctor advised me that growing my hair longer would make it look better but I just can't let it get too long. As soon as it does, it is obvious that the transplanted hair is not nearly as long as the rest. The transplanted hair also gets a "birds nest" appearance because it curls up and back and does not blend with my naturally straight hair. I hope it all evens out in time. By the way dude, your hair looks freakin' awesome!

Not taking Propecia will not have any affect on the tranplanted hairs because they are permanent. But, hair loss is progessive and you are likely to lose more of your preexisting hair on top which could necesitate another procudure sooner than later. I did not want to take meds either but after my HT I figured that I may as well use every weapon in the arsenal to protect my investment and hopefully prolong the need for another procedure. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice but most docs will recommend Propecia and Rogaine as part of you daily routine.

Good luck bro, I had 2500 with Dr. A on Jan 2nd. I think I'm a slow grower but so far, so good. Start a blog and show us some pics.

This thought has also ocurred to me but one thing that concerms me is, if you get brown dots on your head, what happens when you get older and your hair turns gray or white and you've got all these dark dots on your head? Yeah, you can dye your hair for a while but it's just gonna look odd when you're 65-70 years old, don't you think? Just something to think about.

I'm in the same boat as you are. Tomorrow I will be at the 29 week mark and can't say that I've had the result I was expecting thus far. It's also hard for me to believe that there will be more hairs sprouting at this point since I had lots of pimple action the first couple of months but none since then.I guess time will tell. I'm really trying hard to reserve judgement until the one year mark. The biggest issue for me is that the right side is obviously very thin compared to the left side. Last week I went for my 6mo follow up and when I asked my doctor, his reply was, "let me put it this way, this is not the density that it was transplanted at." Then he reminded me that the hair quality will continue to improve but was a little vague regarding wheater or not I should expect more hairs to grow. He also told me that I was wearing my hair very short on top and that growing it out would belp it look better because it would layer over itself. This was a little surprising to me since I was assured before my HT that I would be able to wear any hair style I liked as long as the scar was concealed. I've been keeping it short because the density is so low that it doesn't match the hair behind it very well when it gets longer and the transplanted hairs grow slower and therefore it looks odd when it gets too long.. That being said, I have received lots or positive feedback from members here who have told me they had a similar experience and that they saw dramatic changes as late as nine months. I know it's not very comforting at this point but hang in there bro and wait for that 12 month mark before evaluaing your results.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yes, I'm very happy with the scar so far but, I agree with what Speegs said about the density. I was expecting more at this point. I'm not going to panic until the one year mark though. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Hey guys. I got my hair cut today so thought I'd post some pics to my blog. Had the barber use a 2 clip because I was curious what the scar would look like at this length. I think it looks pretty good but I'd like to get some feedback. The top is still slow going but I think I've noticed some thickening over the past three weeks. It also seems to me that it's growing in odd directions compared to my natural hair but I understand that this tends to get better as the hairs mature. Believe it or not, I've dyed my hair a couple of times recently. Every time I get a haircut, most of the colored hair gets cut off so I'll be doing it again soon. I'll post again next week with my hair dyed for comparison and feedback. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Happy growing!

Hey guys. I got my hair cut today so thought I'd post some pics to my blog. Had the barber use a 2 clip because I was curious what the scar would look like at this length. I think it looks pretty good but I'd like to get some feedback. The top is still slow going but I think I've noticed some thickening over the past three weeks. It also seems to me that it's growing in odd directions compared to my natural hair but I understand that this tends to get better as the hairs mature. Believe it or not, I've dyed my hair a couple of times recently. Every time I get a haircut, most of the colored hair gets cut off so I'll be doing it again soon. I'll post again next week with my hair dyed for comparison and feedback. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Happy growing!

Thanks again for all the support and valuable feedback gentlemen! You've all managed to put my mind at ease. hdude46 Funny thing about dying my hair. I DID dye it only about two weeks ago with a supposedly permanent color. Clairol I think. I've got a fair amount of experience with this stuff since I used to dye and bleach my hair a lot in the old days. I got pretty good coverage and it looked good for a few days and then faded quickly. I guess once I got the haircut it pretty much got rid of what was left. I was surprised when I took my pics that it didn't even look like I'd dyed it at all. Got a suggestion from Atticus for Robert Craig hair color and I'll give that a try when I get a chance. On Monday I'm heading out on the first leg of a trip that'll take me to NY, London and Barcelona so I won't have a chance to do much about it till I get back. I really would have liked my hairline to be a little lower. I'm not sure I'm going to be happy with it as it is but I'm happy to let it mature and evaluate it after that. I asked Dr. A about it during my initial consultation but he would not entertain any thoughts of lowering it beyond his initial suggestion. He said that this is where it needed to be and I decided to go with his instincts. Thanks guys!

Hi Bill, Thanks for your comments. I have the utmost confidence in Dr. A but also know that there are many factors involved and there are no guarantees. We can only try to sway the odds in our favor by our choice of doctor and following post-op instructions, etc. During my consult, Dr. Alexander had told me that I had excellent hair and scalp quality and that I could expect to see good things around six months so I was hoping for the best case scenario. I'm aware that the best anyone can probably tell me at this point is "wait" but I do appreciate the collective knowledge that our community has to offer and welcome any discussions and input.

So would I cause I was really expecting a better result at this point.

Hey guys! I've been counting the weeks and number 24 hit today. I just posted some pics. So far, so good. I feel like it looks a little better in real life than what the pics display.

Hey guys! I've been counting the weeks and number 24 hit today. I just posted some pics. So far, so good. I feel like it looks a little better in real life than what the pics display.