baldlivesmatter

Got a haircut today on the donor area only.

Given the interest in the donor area and the extraction pattern figured I'd post a pic.

This is exactly 2 months (to the day) at a 2 guard.

On 2/12/2019 at 9:13 AM, baldlivesmatter said:

Did Dr. Diep only extract from the right side?

On 2/13/2019 at 10:21 PM, FUEblonde1985 said:

By the time things were wrapping up, I was asking for the painkillers prescribed to try and get ahead of the pain that I could feel coming on. The painkillers they gave me did not seem to have any effect on me (Tramadol) so my girlfriend and I drove straight to the pharmacy, and wouldn't you know everything was closed by 10pm, and the one 24 hour pharmacy was out of percocet. Most people describe the post-op pain as being relatively minor but I was experiencing the worst head pressure/pain I had ever felt. I ended up quickly glancing through the post-op instructions and seeing something about how ibuprofen can be taken 4 days post-op and in my pain and dizzyness from the valium, believed that meant I could take ibuprofen and took 3 (turns out I wasn't supposed to do that because of the blood thinning effect). While his written instructions, if you actually parse out the language, say that you can take ibuprofen after the 4th day, it is very easy to misread the instructions if you are in a daze from the sedatives and in a lot of pain.  I was mildly annoyed because my girlfriend had been in the waiting room since 4 pm and could have picked up the prescriptions for me as I had asked (but they declined to let her because they said they already had painkillers for me).

 

On 2/21/2019 at 2:17 PM, FUEblonde1985 said:

Here are some current photos from the area you focused on that might help shed some light. Again I'm not saying your wrong, and maybe these photos from 9 days after support what you're saying. I'm just not so sure that anything can be said conclusively from the photos alone. I didn't have the benefit of my fiance taking photos so this was the best I could do with the iphone flash behind the head:

Odd timing on the proposal, but congratulations nonetheless! 

2 Month update

Ugly duckling phase is no joke.

I shaved my head weekly with a 0 guard for my first procedure so it wasn't as tough but this time I've just been letting it grow as I've read some claims of hair clippers damaging grafts. Even though Dr. Diep says it's fine after 2 weeks, i'm erring on the side of caution. Currently looks like shit though.

Caboki still looks a little powderey in the hair, due to lack of length and density. I wore it to the gym today and I think it was passable but not great. Probably give it another week or so before wearing it into the office.

Also added minoxidil around week 5 to help speed up the growth and have been taking biotin since about week 2 post-op. Seeing little sprouts but not sure if they're transplanted hair or just shock loss hair growing back.

Front

Overhead

Overhead 2

Donor

Hey Guys,

Noticed a few pimples, which I believe is a sign of hairs trying to push through to the surface. Does anyone know if this is what these pimples are?

No real growth yet.

Will post full update pics at 2 months.

Donor is looking great!

Looks like Raker's good luck wishes came to fruition

Just ordered some Caboki boyos!

Free offer through a youtube commercial, just have to pay shipping.

Will report back.

On 2/13/2019 at 10:21 PM, FUEblonde1985 said:

The FUE extractions came from the back and my right side, as seems to be common with Dr. Diep (and debated about in other threads). I think the jury is still out as to whether this should really be done, but I can say that the left side of my donor area is well preserved for any future need, though I am not sure I like how far near the right ear he went with the extractions. That said, I will generally not be buzzing my hair very short anyway (5 guard minimum) so I don't think this will be an issue for me - you can see from the photos how I generally wear my hear. He made sure to minimize any shaving of hair at my hairline since I plan to return to work after 3 weeks and I am hoping (though I am skeptical) to disguise the work with a mixture of clever styling, makeup, topik, etc.

Ha, I see you've read my thread!

TBH, it may still look rough at 3 weeks post-op returning to work but I'm about 6 weeks and the donor is not too noticeable.

I would imagine that if there were really issues with how Diep does extractions then enough people would've complained over his 14 year career and he would've changed his style.

As for the weed, maybe try vaping it instead of smoking? My understanding is that smoke of any kind reduces blood flow, which can hinder healing, but I think you'd avoid that issue with vaping. 

Hi Shera,

Appreciate the well thought out response. 

I think you made some good points but noted a few points that need to be clarified.

On 2/12/2019 at 12:59 PM, Shera said:

Hi Baldlives,

There are many surgeries that do not produce the desired result, many life determining ones too that are carried out at great expense, especially in your native US.

I wonder if these patients get full refunds if things don't work out as planned?

With other goods and services we consumers purchase and feel are not quite up to our expectations, do we ever get full refunds?

Yes, all the time. Not sure if this is unique to the U.S., though I suspect you're feigning ignorance to prove a point, but yes 100% refunds are a customary thing--especially in the case a good or service doesn't perform how you expected. As an example, I returned a laptop charger last week for the simple fact that I changed my mind about wanting it. Full refund. A more similar comparison would be buying a new car--which comes with an explicit multi-year warranty and often buyback provisions that guarantee the resale price. An exact comparable situation would be the dozens of ethical doctors (especially the ones recommended on this site) who stand by their work and offer 100% refunds in the case of poor growth. Check out Legend's recent HT with Dr. Hasson where Dr. Hasson put it in writing that Legend could get a refund if growth didn't meet or exceed 90%. A bold move by the doc, but he's an awesome doctor so why would he need to be a pussy when it comes to the likelihood of a successful result?

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/52968-legends-ht-with-h-n-w-2500-fue/

Also,  the use of the word "quite" in "not quite up to our expectations" is disingenuous when referring to the dog shit result this patient got.

On 2/12/2019 at 12:59 PM, Shera said:

I'm sure you are aware being an ex and current patient yourself that many factors besides the surgery itself can determine an end result.  Amongst other factors, a patient's own physiology comes into play and a patient's own state of mind in my opinion. In this case, the patient does highlight that he was pretty stressed with work. Hair transplant surgery besides, is this the right frame of mind to recover from any surgery?

Should a surgeon that has performed a near perfect surgery be penalised for factors out of his/her own control?

Should a patient be penalized for factors out of his/her control? If the patient doesn't follow post-op instructions that's one thing, but to just generally blame the patient's physiology seems like a lazy way to avoid taking responsibility. If the doctor decided the patient was physiologically fit to undergo the procedure then the doctor should also take some responsibility if that turns out to be an error of judgment.

I've never seen post-op instructions that say "avoid stress for the next year". Obviously avoiding stress during recovery is a good thing, but the idea that it materially affects a patient's results should be backed by some kind of evidence if it's going to be used as a valid argument. 

On 2/12/2019 at 12:59 PM, Shera said:

Is the offer for free repeat surgery not already a generous gesture?

Ultimately if a patient declines a free surgery with the Dr who gave him a bad result and decides to go with another surgeon who has in all likelihood given other patients bad results then that's really their prerogative.

Unless of course that particular surgeon has a 100% success record!

Again, I think you're feigning ignorance on this. Is it really that confusing why a patient would not want to undergo a procedure with a doctor that already produced a bad result on them? Even if it's the best doctor in the world, something about that procedure by that doctor did not work for that specific patient. Maybe it was the punch size, use or lack of use of PRP/Amniofill/A-Cell, or something completely different. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Not sure why this is a hard concept for you to grasp.  

Ultimately--I'm not saying that the clinic should necessarily give the patient a full refund (though I think that would be a good gesture), but the idea that the patient should assume all of the risk for a procedure turning out poorly is ridiculous. There should be some shared accountability.

On 2/13/2019 at 7:21 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

I used it for all of my procedures, but I used it regularly before. If you don't use minoxidil I wouldn't start, you can have a bad shed.

Decided to add it just on the transplant area.

It looks pretty bad at this point so figured even if there was a shed, which doesn't seem to be the case yet, it wouldn't look much worse than it currently does and will likely speed up the ugly duckling phase.

On 2/13/2019 at 9:19 PM, yesplease said:

Are you kidding?? She makes twice as much money as he does. She’s definitely the sugar momma of that pairing. 

Yeah, according to this article she has a net worth of $360M, twice Brady's of $180M.

Hopefully he never goes bald...

https://www.elitedaily.com/p/what-is-gisele-bundchens-net-worth-she-makes-more-than-tom-brady-its-amazing-8011400

Anyone here use minoxidil post-transplant to speed up results?

Dr. Diep said it was recommended and fine to use now at 5 weeks post-op.

Anyone with experience on this?

Hesitant in case it irritates the scalp...

25 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Plus it’s easier to clean up. 

LOL.

So sick of cleaning fibers off of my WHITE counter tops!

On 2/9/2019 at 8:10 AM, Shera said:

Dr Bhatti stood by the result, accepted full responsibility and offered to fix it for free but the patient was working in South East Asia and decided to visit a local surgeon instead.

And that's the last we heard from him.

"Accepting full responsibility" should include an offer of a refund.

Why would the patient be required to trust the doc who gave him a bad result to fix it?

Not throwing shade at Dr. Bhatti specifically, more of a general comment.

On 10/21/2018 at 12:23 PM, fatbastard12345 said:

 

Did Dr. Diep only extract from the right side?

I'm on that dermatch toppik combo. 

Never tried Caboki but given poll results might have to give it a try. Is it much different than toppik?

2 hours ago, Raker said:

Man up

That's probably gonna fall on deaf ears considering pretty much everyone here has heard some variation of: "Man up and just shave your head".

For me, I returned to work approximately 3 weeks after an FUE and it was very noticeable, mainly the redness in the donor. Tried toppik and dermmatch but couldn't get it to look natural and I didn't like the idea of putting products on my head when it was obviously still healing.

People stared but no one said anything. I talked with a co-worker about it and he just shrugged and said "yeah I was wondering what that was" and then went back to doing what he was doing.

I'd guess 2K-2500 grafts in the front for a solid result. 

As JJ alluded to, should get on Fin to prevent/slow future loss.

2 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Actually HIMS hooks you up with finasteride and viagra so number 1 can be resolved. Coincidence 🤷🏻‍♂️

LOL!

I know you're making a joke, but it's got me thinking--for those norwoods who do have sides on finasteride, why not just take viagra?

Obviously not ideal, but keeping your hair and sex life seems like the optimal solution. If that requires 2 pills rather than just 1 does it matter a whole lot?

Easy for me to say with a fully working crank (knock on wood), but doesn't seem like a bad situation considering the alternative is looking like this fucker:

4 hours ago, vermaj said:

In Chandigarh meeting Dr.Bhatti for a followup.

Any specific points you think I should raise with the doctor ?

Lol we got our first HT about a week apart and now number 2 seems to be close together as well.

We're kindred spirits in this journey Vermaj.

All the best 

On 1/3/2019 at 2:14 PM, Legend007 said:

my donor hair might be thick ,, but I don’t have a lot of it .. i might be able to get another 2500 grafts from the same Area. N also another 1000-1500 from the top back n side that has been untouched .. so I  can’t afford to have a failed transplant .. 

Hey Legend,

Would you mind clarifying this point?

Seems as though they took the grafts only from one side? Or perhaps more grafts from one side than the other?

So the choices are:

1. Take Fin = Get the girl, unable to perform, girl leaves, die alone

2. Don't take Fin = Lose hair, be ignored by the opposite sex, die alone

A real Sophie's choice...

Another common mistake I've noticed is the idea that "balding is natural and there's nothing you can do to stop it".

This is likely going to be less of an issue going forward, with DTC advertising (e.g., HIMS, keeps, etc.), but I know when I started losing my hair there was a long time where I thought there was no treatment before stumbling on these forums.

I've talked to lots of guys IRL who think the same thing until I proselytize to them regarding the benefits of propecia.

18 hours ago, gillenator said:

IMHO, it's better to do the 5,000 in 2 separate sessions but with at least 6 months or more apart...it's less trauma on the scalp and from my observations, produces a better overall yield in the end.

Agree with Gill.

Imo more frequent, smaller procedures are better for recovery time and to also mitigate risk of poor yield from any one procedure.

On 1/31/2019 at 6:41 AM, clerksband said:

If in a few years I new another HT, so be it.

I'm not sure it's the "pain in the ass" aspect of getting another HT down the road that is the issue; rather, I think it's more the possibility of running out of donor area if you're full blown NW 6/7.

I think fin is good for buying time while waiting for a potential cure or better treatment.

P.S. glad to hear your crank is back to working at full capacity