Jump to content

7Shel

Regular Member
  • Posts

    32
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by 7Shel

  1. If you can’t reach the surgeon today, I’d consider going to an urgent care/emergency room. Or perhaps contact your normal physician. I’d then make sure you speak to the surgeon first thing tomorrow morning. Normal treatment would be a course of antibiotics, but you shouldn’t self-prescribe. You need to seek a medical opinion. 

    I’m very surprised the surgeon didn’t provide contact information for emergencies. At minimum, there needs to be a way for you to reach someone via email, text, etc., even if it’s a nurse at the clinic. 

  2. I’d agree. Second photo seems to indicate infection. Have you called your surgeon’s after hours emergency line? Every surgeon should provide you with one. 
     

    In terms of the forehead pain, that’s probably normal. Does it feel tight and hurt when you try to raise your eyebrows, for instance? That’s just the residual pain of the local injections.  Can take 5-7 days to wear off. 

  3. Well, coincidentally, I was expecting to share a review in the coming days, but I'll give a brief overview here. I had a FUE procedure with Dr. Wesley 10 days ago. As you can see from my history, I previously had five FUT sessions with another surgeon. Dr. Wesley was able to capture 1725 grafts via long-hair FUE. That brings my total graft count to approximately 10,000! I'm very hopeful that this procedure will address the remaining weaknesses I still had (thinning in mid-scalp, crown, and some pitting in the hairline). I have every expectation that it will be a great result, but it's also good to know that Dr. Wesley estimated I could easily get another ~1500-2000 FUE grafts if needed. Thank goodness for my donor supply.

    I can share more details and photos, but I'll say that the experience with Dr. Wesley was excellent. High marks all the way around for him, his team, the approach, and aftercare instructions/strategy. As I mentioned, I'm on day 10 and the whole experience has been a breeze. I had no swelling or pain, extremely minimal redness, and all crusts were gone as of day 8. Numbness was legitimately gone by day 2, which was a very nice surprise. Only minor annoyances were some slight itching (didn't require topical intervention), a few hours of hiccups the day after surgery (resolved with 1 tablet of Baclofen), and a case of messy hair. The last reference is obviously tongue in cheek, but it's amazing how much I rely on hair pomade to control my hair. I returned to work on Monday (day 6) and my co-workers knew I was getting a procedure, but they still laughed at my non-styled hair look. I will begin normal styling routine tomorrow, so back to normal and no further worries there. Before the procedure, I had some concern about how well the donor area would be covered with my existing hair because I wasn't sure it was quite long enough, but it really is barely noticeable, even with several small bands shaved down. By tomorrow, with some light combing and pomade, I doubt you'd be able to tell I had anything shaved. Regardless, it's growing back quickly and I'll probably get a haircut in about another two weeks to blend everything.  

    Anyway, I'm quite pleased with Dr. Wesley and my experience. I'd absolutely recommend speaking to him if you're considering either FUE or FUT, as I was very impressed by examples of all of his work. I think he's highly underrated and should receive more attention than he does. Feel free to ask any questions, but will probably end up starting a new thread if helpful.

     

    • Thanks 2
  4. Wanted to provide a check-in. I’ve decided it’s necessary to move forward with my first FUE procedure to address some weak areas. I’ve attached a few photos which show further loss behind previously transplanted areas (photos 3 and 4). This area in the mid-scalp has created sort of an island effect. It’s not noticeable when my hair is styled, so some may wonder why I feel like I need to address it, but I feel that it’s enough of a problem when my hair is wet, unstyled, etc. Additionally, I’ve attached photos (1 and 2) that show the gaps behind my hairline that I’m concerned about. My plan is to address the gaps and mid-scalp with ~800-1000 grafts. That should hopefully leave me with another ~1000 to fill in any further crown loss (or address any other weak spots that may develop). As mentioned previously, I also have beard grafts available for the crown. 

    I have a consult scheduled in August with Dr. Wesley and have discussed the situation with Dr. K. While all of my procedures have been performed by the same surgeon, I’m thinking I may need a “closer” for the remaining work. I’m at the stage where I need to ensure there are no more wasted grafts. Would welcome any other suggestions or thoughts. 

    9C6ACC34-10D4-4BF8-81A1-F16CDFC8380C.jpeg

    E6A5046C-B211-46DE-872F-DE606D436451.jpeg

    E9B9F8B2-911B-430F-BFDE-D84AA4274248.jpeg

    BC43CCCC-B1BA-45D4-BAD9-48EE478110CE.jpeg

  5. Totally understand what you’re feeling. My take is that it’s a very good result, but you’re going to need an additional 1000 grafts or so to feel content. I would be unhappy about the area you highlighted too. Luckily, seems like a very solvable situation. Hey, I’m about 8500 grafts in and I still have some thin areas that bother me. It’s a long-term game, and reinforces my feeling that one session rarely gets people to where they’re totally happy. 

  6. I’ve not been a huge fan of hair fibers. Used them from time to time, but I always found the application to be messy. 

     I went in for what was effectively my 12 month check, and the doc agreed that it was reasonable to add 600-800 FUE grafts to the thin spots behind my hairline and I’m the mid-scalp. He estimates I can get 2000 FUE scalp FUE total without really depleting the donor area. I’d like to proceed with adding 600-800 to the areas mentioned, but also additional grafts to the temple points. This would potentially be risky. If my crown loss became very significant, I’d have to rely on maybe 500 or so FUE grafts from the scalp and the remaining from beard hair. Not the worst scenario, but I’m conscious of getting to a point of diminishing returns. I’ve obviously spent a lot of time and money on procedures, and you’re right that the results are overall very good, especially considering my starting point. 

    I had email conversations with two other well-known docs, and there were differences of opinion. One suggested 1000 grafts in the crown and then 500 as a spot treatment to the thin areas. The other doctor’s recommendation was very surprising: 1000 grafts to the hairline and immediately behind it and then assess the crown later on. Both indicated they’d want to do a full shave FUE, which is potentially a problem for me because I have a very forward facing job and can’t realistically return to work after a 2 week vacation with a buzz cut, redness, residual scabs, etc. I’d be looking at no shave FUE, but I know that’s less than optimal. I do wonder if a stick and place approach could work?

  7. Wanted to post a few 10 month photos (hit the 10 month mark about a week ago). Not a huge amount of change, but wasn’t really expecting it. However, I’m curious to see if the hairline continues to mature through month 12 and a little past that. I find it tough to see a difference between pre-op and today, but it was such a subtle amount of work that it’s probably difficult for me to see. Crown has filled in slightly more. No photos of the donor scar, but this is what my donor region looks like after a haircut a few days ago. 

    I am a little concerned about shedding. Whether it was a seasonal thing or something stress related (I’ve been working a ton of hours in a very high stress environment), I felt like there was an increase in shedding over the last month or so. I’m probably going to head in for a check in the next few weeks to see if anything else is going on. I also think I’m at the point where my native hair may be thinning in the mid-scalp. There’s a small spot between the frontal and crown work that has no transplanted hairs, so I’m guessing the native hairs are miniaturizing. I know the subject of hair greed has come up, but these small areas of concern still impact me. I think most of us who have experienced hair loss and then had successful transplants can relate to still having some degree of insecurity. 

     

     

    C8EF8D00-A40D-48DC-B819-1DFF6BF5D430.jpeg

    62E70FA8-3069-4F08-8B0A-8C46900C9435.jpeg

    17C62964-38B4-4262-BFB8-52576D8E9F70.jpeg

    17A6234C-4350-42A9-913E-47D4C7CE7B07.jpeg

    E7FC338D-56EA-4506-BE13-FE90B17DFEC4.jpeg

    B52C86B9-E514-4057-BDE4-78430878DFEF.jpeg

  8. Good topic and presentation! He looks great and I’m sure he’s quite happy. My general approach is similar. I have yet to undergo FUE, but completed my fifth FUT procedure last June. I started in a worse place than this patient and also had more hair loss after quitting Propecia in 2015. I’m now about 8300 grafts in and feel fortunate to have transformed my appearance dramatically. I feel more fortunate that FUE is still available to me, even if it’s not certain I’ll have another procedure. Definitely think this case illustrates the importance of careful planning and having a vision of what you want your end result to be. Good work!

  9. 22 hours ago, Steeeve said:

    Your journey is really inspiring. Dr. Dorin has done an amazing job. 

    How short are you able to cut your hair around your donor scar? It looks pretty incredible after 5 surgeries!

    Thanks, I appreciate it! I generally keep the hair at maybe the equivalent of a 3 guard and the scar isn't visible. My barber usually trims with scissors (just preference), so the 3 guard length seems about right. My guess is I could pull off a 2 guard without drawing attention to it. Full transparency, I wouldn't be able to go any shorter than that and the scar is wider than many people might be willing to deal with, but that was inevitable. Five surgeries is five surgeries. I was comfortable taking the chance and wanted to get as many grafts as I could via FUT. Even though I don't necessarily know if I would want to wear my hair shorter, I may still fill in the scar with some FUE grafts just to give myself the option.  

    • Like 1
  10. Posted a few more photos. These were taken under overhead bathroom light, but I think you can see what I meant about being able to cover my crown fairly easily. I also tried to get a few shots of my temple points. Aside from my initial procedure, temple points have been untouched while we focused on front and mid-scalp. I really think I'm going to go for it over the summer and add some grafts there.

     

    AB: I would definitely consider using beard donor to fill in the crown. 

    PlzRespond: I believe about 500 grafts and I'm 36.IMG_6487.thumb.JPG.44d408897ce60e081fbb77c48d183a32.JPG

    IMG_6472.JPG

    IMG_6483.JPG

    IMG_6484.JPG

  11. Thanks, guys. You’re definitely right about combing over the crown, Melvin. The photos I posted from my last visit purposefully exposed the crown because we wanted to get a better idea of how things were progressing. Normally, I comb it over and you really can’t see the hair loss. I’ll take some photos in the next few days with my normal style, which will give you a better idea of the coverage I can get.

    Spanker, would you leave the crown alone because future loss is to be expected? I’m kind of torn right now. I want to wait a full year or more to see where I’m at and then add more grafts if I’m not happy, but I also know that it’s a moving target and I don’t want to chase loss in that area when, as I just mentioned, I can cover it for now.

    Curious what your thoughts are on temple points too. I don’t want to get too greedy, but I do think a little more framing would be nice. 

  12. Just checking in with an 8 month update. I saw Dr. Dorin last week and have some new photos to share. Still seeing some thickening in the hairline and there's been more growth in the crown. The crown is coming along at a slower pace, but that was to be expected. Biggest takeaway from the visit was that we'll reassess where I'm at in 4-5 months and then probably devise a plan to get started with FUE. We talked about a few areas to address: I assume I'm going to want more crown work, so the majority of FUE grafts would be dedicated to that. However, I also mentioned I'd love to add some grafts to my temple points, which were previously not a focal point during my initial procedures. Now that I've come this far, though, I'd really like to enhance them and frame my face. Lastly, we discussed the possibility of throwing some grafts into my linear scar. That's probably lowest on my priority list, but could be something to consider. Dr. Dorin mentioned that he thinks I have another ~2000 grafts to use via FUE. We'd probably be looking at a few small procedures if I address all three areas. He also mentioned the possibility of using beard hair for the FUT scar. Curious to see how the next few months turn out, but would love to hear any feedback/thoughts.

     

     

    IMG_6430.jpg

    IMG_6429.jpg

    IMG_6431.jpg

    IMG_6433.jpg

    IMG_6434.jpg

    IMG_6428.jpg

    IMG_6435.jpg

  13. 5 hours ago, yesplease said:

    Wow, what a journey. Your hair looks fantastic. You’re in your early 30s? 

     

    I can see the thinning in your crown, but it appears pretty mild. That said, I couldn’t really appreciate any hairline weaknesses in your preop photos, looked very natural. 

     

    In retrospect, do you think you would have initiated this HT journey had you known ahead of time that wouldn’t tolerate the finasteride? 

     

     

    Thanks. I just turned 36. I think I would have done the same thing even if I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t be able to stay on finasteride. I knew going in that I had good donor supply. That made the decision somewhat easier. Having said that, ideally I would have stopped after the third procedure, but I’m very happy with the decision to keep going. It’s the right call for me. 

  14. Hi all,

    I visited Dr. Dorin last week for my 4 month visit. I’ve attached some photos that were taken at the visit. Overall, starting to see growth at the hairline and behind it and think I’m right on schedule with that. The crown probably looks about the same. I can feel some fine hairs sprouting, but I knew going into this that the crown would obviously take more time before we saw significant growth. I also had some shock loss behind my hairline, but that was expected too. Dr. Dorin said my scar was a tad wider than he’d normally achieve, but I can’t expect a miracle after 5 strips. Honestly, it looks more than fine to me and he did a great job getting as many grafts as he did and still having the scar look decent. As we mutually agreed, he won’t perform another FUT on me. We’ve reached the end of the line with that and I wouldn’t press my luck and risk a wide scar.  Pending my results, any future work will be via FUE. Looking forward to the next few months!601CBFE9-2562-40C2-94B6-84BDFF2DFF2C.jpeg.cf8d99c1f93d5a1312a9095d5ad8011a.jpeg

    AA6BA239-C8F5-42CC-BFC0-2CE4845AB1F7.jpeg

    C32505B0-1108-4FB5-8CFD-9963917B1D46.jpeg

    7987E982-3476-4A21-AD72-351DED772674.jpeg

    554FEC77-05D8-4E7D-8E5D-E7C014A576CA.jpeg

  15. Here are a few photos that I took this morning before heading to the gym. No product in my hair and a bit of bed head, but you can get an idea of how things look (took a few of the scar too). As I mentioned, my hair certainly looks thinner in areas, which I’ve grown accustomed to post-procedure. It’s my version of the ugly duckling phase. Curious to see how much native hair shocks out in the crown. I think it’s growing back, but still too early to tell. 

    Very pleased that there’s no shock loss in my donor area. After all five procedures, I’ve yet to experience any. I got a trim about 3 weeks ago, so this is a bit longer than I would usually keep the back, but you can get a sense of the donor characteristics.

    405657D7-52A1-4F57-8A4D-6B3A76FFF0C6.jpeg

    AA0EF068-F04D-4316-B8E6-8DF5A59D2973.jpeg

    BA749C8A-A0D7-49F3-AE41-CBC61A0FFBD0.jpeg

    B4A423A8-7250-4308-B724-C1C6C5368AA3.jpeg

    B2794BB9-FECE-4773-B2EB-9C381C7C70C2.jpeg

    2D978263-5231-4900-8F7E-F5881C9C58C7.jpeg

    6B1E04EA-D913-4F44-B66A-0BFC041F32A7.jpeg

    B9150D7B-11D5-4CC1-8CE3-518108F511EE.jpeg

    0E301569-85E5-471E-85DA-C1E539F45C6A.jpeg

  16. 19 minutes ago, PeloDinero said:

    Have your side effects subsided after discontinuing fin?

    Yeah, I’d say they have. The first few months were rough, but I don’t notice much of anything now. I guess it’s tough to say if there are any subtle residual effects. Overall, I feel lucky to say worrying about it is not on my mind these days. 

  17. 29 minutes ago, hairlossPA said:

    8300 grafts with that initial picture of your hair loss journey..? seems like sooooo many to still have crown showing. Seems like a solid 3500 could’ve taken care of it in one procedure. Did some not yield as expected? Do you only have 1 linear scar across your head?

    8300 is the new total after this last procedure. When I had my first procedure in 2012, I had been taking Fin for a few years and hair loss had yet to extend to my crown at all. I stopped taking Fin in 2015, shortly after my fourth procedure. The prior four procedures only addressed the frontal and mid scalp. 3500 would have given me okay density, but nowhere near what I wanted. Instead, we chose to build a foundation with the first two procedures and then do some tweaking with the third and fourth. If I had stayed on Fin, my crown may have been fine and I could have been done (minus hairline tweak or temple points). I understood the risk, but couldn’t tolerate Fin anymore. 

    So, here we are. This is my first crown work. I know I’ll need more, but I’m committed to getting the best result I can without resorting to medication again. Realistically, I could have avoided the bit of hairline work we did this time in addition to the crown, but it’s been nagging me. To answer your question, I only have one scar and, through my first four procedures, it’s always healed well. I’ve never experienced shock loss. It’s probably slightly wider than the finest line that someone might achieve, but not by much. I also keep my hair long enough to conceal anything. Even so, no one has ever noticed it, including girlfriends. No complaints with the result.

     

    • Thanks 1
  18. 6 hours ago, Bill - Managing Publisher said:

     7shel,

     welcome to our hair restoration forum community. Thank you also for sharing a detailed account of your experience with Dr. Dorin.  Looks like you were blessed with a significant amount of natural hair so clearly you didn’t need a large number of grafts to get the desired result. I’m sure your hairline will look much more refined when the results grow in. I couldn’t tell from the pictures but are any of the grafts put in there crown area?  

    i look forward to following your progress. 

    Best wishes,

    Bill

    Hi Bill,

    Yes, the seventh photo shows the crown placement. It looks like a few of the pictures are out of order. I was attaching them on my phone and had an issue for some reason. 

    I’m going to take a few photos today that show how everything currently looks. Obviously, I still have a lot of hair so I wouldn’t quite call it the ugly ducking stage, but definitely looking forward to the next few months when growth starts. I don’t think anyone would be able to tell that I just had another procedure except for the difference between the front and crown. I had a lot of miniaturized hair in the crown so I’m sure some of that shocked out. I was ultimately okay with that. Dr. Dorin explained the risk of transplanting around that area, but we both decided that the hair there was going to continue to deteriorate and probably be gone anyway. I’m no longer on Fin and have no plans to resume because the side effects became too concerning for me. I am going to rely on my good donor supply and move forward as necessary. As I mentioned, I should at least have another few thousand grafts in the bank via FUE and would absolutely consider using beard hair to fill in part of the crown if need be. 

  19. For concise background, you can check out my profile for a link to my transplant journey. I’m 6 weeks out from my latest FUT procedure with Dr. Dorin, which was my fifth with him. I’ve consistently had excellent experiences with Dr. Dorin and his staff. He’s honest, personable, and absolutely cares about his patients and providing good results. 

    On 6/21/18, he transplanted 1660 grafts, the majority of them to my crown. He also added grafts to my hairline and a few areas behind the hairline that needed reinforcement. After this latest procedure, I’ve received about 8300 grafts total. My hope is that I get nice improvement in the crown and get the last bit of density and softness in my hairline that I wanted. 

    Beyond that, I will wait and see what my situation is after 12 months. I’m fully aware that more crown loss will almost certainly occur, but I feel very good about my prospects to counteract that. I’m extremely fortunate to have excellent donor characteristics and I can get at least a few thousand more grafts via FUE, and there’s always beard hair to tap if things get really bad. Honestly, Dr. Dorin didn’t explicitly rule out getting more grafts via strip, but we’ll have to see. If I get very greedy, I’d probably like to save a few hundred grafts for temple points, but that’s my lowest priority.

    My hair obviously looks thinner now, as some native and transplanted hair was sacrificed during the procedure, but that seems to already be growing back. I’ll post some photos of that and my crown in the next few days. Otherwise, scar is healing nicely and my recipient area redness is minimal.

    For now, I’ve attached some morning of and immediate post op pics (a few may be out of order, but pretty obvious which is which).

     

    Fire away with questions or thoughts. 

    3F8F2558-FD4D-4028-A147-39417BDE703C.jpeg

    F33E214A-244B-4332-8D83-4716E8BEEB6A.jpeg

    CB340062-ECF3-43B5-843C-C1C9FAE42703.jpeg

    88FB4528-239A-47BC-ACF0-11B677B85528.jpeg

    72685465-FC8E-4831-BEAA-C421460B160B.jpeg

     

    0CA08DC1-D249-462E-9DE4-47BDB4285C16.jpeg

    DFDFC3CB-1E03-4481-8B60-6D439C65FB86.jpeg

    64F4C1AC-02F5-454D-8EBB-FAED413B36C6.jpeg

    750D242C-51F9-4C12-9688-19DA60BF5CCF.jpeg

  20. I also think your hair looks great, especially the frontal third. And considering you have a wide color contrast, that's a nice overall result.

     

    Because your crown is diffusing and slightly thin, the risk you run is shock loss to the crown and having more loss than if you treated it non-surgically.

     

    Have you ever tried minoxidil in your crown? That alone might help thicken it up.

     

    You're still young so you definitely want to manage what donor reserves you have left for the future.

     

    But again, I would wait on doing any more surgery if it were me.

     

    I did try minoxidil. Gave it a few weeks and unfortunately experienced heart palpitations. Didn't want to continue after that.

     

    Just want to make sure I understand shock loss. I definitely do with respect to the donor area, but is the risk in my crown simply that transplanting around hair that's already miniaturizing would shock that hair out permanently and the grafts that were placed around it would thus not cover enough area? In effect, I would be left with an island of transplanted hair and nothing around it. If I then didn't have adequate donor supply left, I'd be out of luck (barring something like FUE or beard hair)? Otherwise, I would wait and see what happens. If the hair loss looks stable after several more years or only gets slightly worse, I can either choose to leave things alone indefinitely or safely proceed with more work and not risk shock loss? Am I interpreting my options correctly?

×
×
  • Create New...