Hi Everyone - I've been lurking this super helpful forum of ours for the past 1+ years and I thought it's about time I start contributing back.
Background
After extensive lurking I reached the conclusion that Dr. Konior had the most respect and was regularly being praised as the top doctor in this field so I decided to go with him. I had a few email exchanges with Dr. Konior and after looking at my pictures and hair loss he recommended I needed around 3,000 grafts in the frontal region but if I wanted a more conservative approach I should get 2,000. I liked Dr. Konior's email response time and he answered my questions really well so I went ahead and booked my appointment with his office in June of 2017 as he's booked out a year in advance. I think now it's more like 1.5 years.
Pre-Op Pictures
All pictures in the maroon shirt are a month before the surgery.
Day of Procedure
I flew into Chicago with my brother the day before the procedure and we were at Dr. K's office at 6:30AM the day after. I do believe it's super helpful to have someone that can help you during the first few days. All these people that say that it doesn't hurt, it's not a big deal, and you can be back to work within a few days are full of it. The reality from my standpoint is that yes, the procedure itself doesn't really hurt since you're drugged and numbed up but you know and can feel you had something serious done right after. So expect a certain level of pain and give yourselves a week or two for the initial recovery.
Anyhow, once I got to Dr. K's office I started getting a bit of cold feet because while I was waiting I was flipping through his published book and the pictures can be quite scary. And all those questions whether this is worth it started going through my mind. And when Dr. Konior came in I started asking him some basic questions again and I don't think he really liked that lol. In his mind all of that should've already been answered in our emails and today was not a consultation it was the day of the procedure, which I agree with him on. So after a little bit of light humor (he has a dry sense of humor which I really enjoy) and examples from Dr. K I was a bit more at ease and I said let's do this thing. After his main tech trimmed the front portion of my head and showed me my scalp in a mirror I was in complete shock. I had no idea how bald I truly was. Dr. K actually did say he was surprised how much volume I was getting with my hair. So this also made me feel better that I was making the right decision.
After this, Dr. K asked me where I would want my hairline and I sort of showed him and he said that it would be way too low and require too many grafts. He then drew a hairline which he said wasn't too aggressive and wasn't too conservative either. So I said you're the expert, I'm willing to do whatever you want. So I agreed to the hairline and then he spent around 15 mins or so perfecting the hairline and taking pictures.
Once that was done, I was given a valium and taken to the OR. By the time they started numbing my head I think I had already fallen asleep. I would wake up a few times for bathroom breaks and a granola bar but other than that I believe Dr. K and his tech knocked the procedure out. I do believe Dr. K does all the placement and hard work. I had asked him this before the procedure and he said he does all the placements and I have no reason to doubt that as every time I woke up I could hear him behind me.
Post Op
Dr. K placed 2,177 total grafts. He charged me the initially quoted price for 2,000 grafts so I appreciated that about him.
Graft numbers: 1's - 675 ; 2's - 1364; 3's - 138 = 2177
I'm gonna quit rambling and start posting some pictures. Let me know if you have any specific questions.