ecarlino

Thanks for the info re: slower growth the 2nd time around! I started finasteride about 8 months ago - it will be interesting to see how my growth compares this time. I also took biotin for 6 months last time and just started that again - not sure if that's snake oil or not.... One thing i noticed, for anyone curious about FUE scarring - given this is my 2nd 'shaved head' - i can tell you that i don't see any sign of the first procedure in the donor area. Here's the 1 week update - left is evening of Day 6 and right is morning of Day 7, just after first washing of recipient area.

I had pretty significant hair loss to start with, so 3000 grafts (July 2017) can only accomplish so much. So, I just did another 1200 to get the hairline where I really wanted it..... For anyone considering FUE, all I can say is that my experience with Dr. Katona has been beyond my expectations and I just kick myself for waiting so long (I just turned 46). This is before the first: These are immediately after the first: and a few days after first: This was me 13 months after first and 2 days before second: morning of 2nd surgery, having established the plan with Dr. Katona: Evening of 2nd surgery:

perhaps i should have showered and combed my hair first, but i had a haircut last night and it's now been 9 months - so here's a quick set of selfies

just a quick update - from this weekend, 204 days = 29 weeks ~ 6.8 months since surgery THANK YOU DR. KATONA!!

i couldn't answer that question for you. i can only tell you that my experience with FUE was great and if one of the claims of it being "better" is quicker recovery with little noticeable afterwards from the donor area, i can confirm that was my experience.

i have to say that with the exception of the first 2 or 3 days, i have felt 100%. and in those first couple of days, it was just mild discomfort, mostly from having to sleep on my back in an elevated position (i am normally a side-sleeper). that was really the worst of it for me. i turned 45 in July and this procedure was part of an overall just getting myself put back together. i lost 50 pounds this year (last Christmas i weighed in at 230 and today am 180 - went from a 39+ inch waist to a 33- waist), had fillers to deal with the bags under my eyes, kybella for the fat under my chin/neck and finally took care of my acne/facial blemishes. here are 3 candids from the ~3 wks ago (rather than 'in the mirror', although they are still rather low quality smart phone photos - so to my eye, there seems to be some 'smoothing' in the 2 close-ups resulting from the low resolution - but you get the general impression of how my hair has improved - i pretty much had nearly nothing up front in July) . one thing i discussed with Dr Katona was hairline location and of course i had wanted to go lower. he convinced me that where he set it was right b/c i was already getting 3000 and to lower it would be a compromise between doing more grafts (which probably wasn't going to happen this time around) or thinning out donating to other areas that needed it; and, given i'm already 45, a higher hairline is natural -- but i think in a year or two i'll still go back for more given how easy this was, i'd love to lower the hairline 3/4 of an inch.....we shall see

John, I've attached 2 screenshots from my ipad that show the dates of the photos at top: the first is July 14 (my procedure was July 13 & 14) the second is Aug 7. aprox 3 wks apart (the photo of me from Austria without a hat was 2 wks post-op). I'd say both photos (2 wks and 3 wks post op) show zero sign of any "work" having been done on my scalp. as far as Austria (not sure where the confusion came from) - my procedure was done by Dr. Katona in the suburbs of Chicago, where i live. After the procedure, I stayed at home for a week and then traveled in Austria/Germany for 2 weeks wearing a hat (in fact, i was comfortable enough at certain times to go without the hat). attached 2 photos from trip. upon returning home, i felt comfortable enough not even wearing a hat (except when i was going to be in the sun for an extended period) and continuing my daily routines.

Dr. Katona (Illinois, USA) and his staff were extremely professional and I was comfortable and at ease over the 2 day procedure. After the procedure, I hid out in my house for a week then flew to Austria to hang out in the Alps with a hat for 2 more weeks. By the time I returned, my donor area had grown back enough that it just looked like a very close cut and my recipient area looked like it did before the procedure. It's insane that I waited this long to get this done! Not even 6 months yet and I'm already very happy. My understanding is that the 'big' growth will occur in months 6-10. Here are 5 before photos and 5 taken today, 148 days post-op.

here are some before / after - the before shots (top row) were taken from 1 to 4 wks before the procedure; the after shots (bottom row) were taken 4-5 days after the procedure

After several years of meeting with various doctors (FUT, FUE, ARTAS), this year I met Dr. Katona for a consultation to go over options and strategies, etc and really felt good after meeting him. Dr. Katona and his staff were first class all the way. The plan was for 3000 grafts, spread over two 10 hour days. In the morning of both days, we met to discuss the plan and he drew it on my scalp. His techs did the 'harvesting'. He did the incisions and other techs did the 'planting'. At times there were 3 people in the room making sure that everything was running smoothly. One person was cleaning/counting the grafts; only one person was working on me at a time, but they were 'relieved' regularly so nobody was tired and whomever was working on me was 'fresh'. Dr. Katona was in the room throughout the day overseeing everything. He also had 'senior' staff and nurses checking in as well. I know some prefer when the doctor themself handles everything personally - i didn't consider that necessary. The first day, the primary "planter" had been with Dr. Katona for 18yrs and on the 2nd day, the "planter" had 20yrs of experience. Really a well run office and the nicest group of people I've had the pleasure of being around in any sort of medical setting. I did not take the Valium they offered, only regular Tylenol every 4hrs. Had the procedure Thurs & Fri, it's now Sat and i've had zero pain nor swelling. I've been using cold compresses on my forehead and continue Tylenol. Also, spraying w/ saline solution. Really surprised at how well i felt and am feeling. I'll attach photos as results appear....

thanks for the feedback, this is what i needed to hear.

sorry, housecleaning

cleaning up thread

removed orig post, sorry