doctoroctopus

11 hours ago, Uncle drew said:

Any news my friend? I’m doing it with him in 3 months and I’m following u!!

Hey Drew,

Everything is going well. My recipient continues to get thicker. I will post more pictures at the 4, 5 and 6 month marks. 

On 4/30/2019 at 10:21 PM, CosmoKramer said:

A bit tricky to see from the distance in your latest photos but looks like some real nice growth progress for 3months and with the hair fibers it looks even better!

Thanks man. Here are some close-ups with somewhat less harsh lighting (no concealer). 

3 MONTH UPDATE

Hey guys, it's been a few days shy of 3 months so here's an update. I think I'm through the worst of the ugly duckling phase. The hair is beginning to get thicker and stronger. I have started using Toppik fibres when I go out at night, which make a huge difference. Below are the pics. The ones where I am wearing a shirt are using no concealer. The ones without a shirt are using Toppik. They are in full daylight, so the hair obviously looks better in dimmer lighting. 

17 hours ago, rickyrixon said:

Looking great mate! About 18 months ago I believe these were Dr Pekiner's prices:

Hair transplantation with full shave: 2,25 € / graft

Hair transplant without shave: 2,75 € / graft

Also gives a discount of € 0.25 per graft if you allow him to publish your photos

 Are they still the same at this now?

Cheers

Yes those were the prices for me, but Dr. Kaan told me he would be raising prices very soon. You would have to ask the clinic. 

6 Week Update:

Hi everyone, so it's been around 6 weeks since the surgery. I have shed most of the transplanted hair. I think this is what they call the "ugly ducking" phase. It's strange, even though my hair is super thin in front, I'm getting a lot of attention from the ladies, who almost unanimously think I look better now with my "new haircut" than I did before. As far as I can tell, nobody knows I've had anything done (except the people I've told of course). I wasn't expecting this at all. The best part is, it only gets better from here! I have attached a pic from a week and a half ago and a front-facing one from last night. 

All in all, extremely happy with my decision to get this done and I can't wait for what's to come!

4 hours ago, VicTNYC said:

Another question for ya...

With the surgeon doing all the work with just a short break was the Dr fatigued?...Did you have any concern about that?

I had some concerns before but it really wasn't a problem. The way they split the surgery up over multiple sessions/days seems to give the doctor enough rest. Keep in mind my surgery wasn't a very big one, so I'm not sure how things work for major cases(3K+ grafts). 

2 hours ago, VicTNYC said:

Looks good. I haven’t read or seen much about Dr Kaan so will be following your progress, happy growing!

By the way, how does the Dr implant the grafts?...forceps or an implanter pen?

 And , how long is the wait from completion of extraction that the Dr starts implanting?

 Thanks.

 

2

He uses forceps for implantation. Regarding the wait time between extraction and implantation, each day is usually divided into 2 "sessions". Each session is split up into two parts: the extraction (during which 400-750 grafts are extracted), followed by implantation after a 10-15 minute break. 

So a typical day looks like this:

Arrive at clinic 

Extraction Round 1

10-15 minute break 

Implantation Round 1

Lunch Break(1 Hour) 

Extraction Round 2  

10-15 minute break 

Implantation Round 2  

Home

14 hours ago, Mr S said:

Looking good ! your native hair looks thick should be a great result. I recently had a 1700 grafts with keser just the waiting game now!

2

Thank you. Yes, Dr. Kaan said I had an unusual number of triples as opposed to singles and doubles. This, I was told, is a good sign for a dense result. I am secretly hoping I don't experience the classic 1-month shed (very unlikely but who knows). 

12 hours ago, jj51702 said:

Looks great. Do u know what size punch was used? Kaan used to be with hlc right? Also, your donor looks very clean at 8 days. When did your crusts start coming off and when did they clear?

Thanks! I think he used an 0.8mm manual punch. Yes, he used to work at HLC and with Keser before that. In 2017, he decided to start his own clinic in Ankara. On the donor, the scabs started coming off around the 6th day. I left all the scabs on the recipient intact until the morning of the 8th day, at which time I gently massaged them using Sebamed shampoo until they all came off.  

After researching transplants for three years, I decided to choose a clinic where the doctor performs every step of the procedure, including extractions, incisions and implantation. I didn’t want to take any risks with my grafts. I was left with three choices: 1. HLC, 2. Keser & 3. Dr. Kaan. I read every single case report out of these three clinics, including on English, German and Italian forums. In the end, I decided on Dr Kaan because of his excellent results and relatively affordable prices. I am very happy I did!

ABOUT ME

Age: Turning 28 this month

NW3 with very gradual hereditary frontal recession (I have two brothers in their mid-40s who are still NW2 and NW3.5)

Medication: None currently. I tried various strengths of finasteride over the course of a year but had to stop due to side effects. Trust me, I tried. This is a decision I have made and I accept the risks. 

Total grafts transplanted: 2,200

THE SURGERY

If I had to use one word to describe Dr. Kaan it would be this: ethical. My feeling was that he really cares about preserving his patients’ grafts. After sending my pictures initially, Dr. Kaan estimated I would need around 2700-3000 grafts. During my in-person consultation on the first day, we discussed hairlines and transplants in general for almost an hour, talking back and forth about the best possible plan.  In the end, we decided on a more conservative approach, which I am happy we did. Dr. Kaan took the estimated number of grafts down to 2,500. This number would come down once again after the first day of surgery to around 2,200 after it was determined I had very thick donor hair and therefore would need fewer grafts for a good result. There is no incentive for him to do this other than to save your donor hair, as fewer grafts means less money for him. 

My surgery was split over two days, with around 1,100 grafts extracted and implanted on the first day and rest done on the second day. As extractions are done manually, this is the most time-consuming part of the process. I feel it is worth it however, as manual extraction generally processes fewer transections and dead follicles. Dr. Kaan performed every step of the procedure, including extractions, incisions and implantation. In fact the only times his assistants touched my head was when they shaved and washed it! also really appreciated the fact I could talk to Dr. Kaan during the surgery and ask him how everything was going. 

The clinic itself is very comfortable. I was served delicious breakfasts and lunches. I stayed at an AirBnB next to the clinic. Everything was perfect. 

PRE

PLANNING

POST-OP

8 DAYS POST-OP