Jron

Updating at 1 year post op. I'm happy with it, though I do wish it was a bit more dense sometimes. I've been using toppik to cover the scalp a bit and am hoping that didn't hinder any growth. Regardless, from where I started out this is a huge change. 

Interested to hear others' opinions on the growth. 

4 hours ago, Danny1671 said:

Looking great Jron! 6 months is still early days but looks to be ahead of the game.  How’s the scar doing?  Have you experimented with shorter back and sides to see if it’s noticeable?

Happy for you mate 👍🏼

Thanks! The last haircut - about a 2 months ago - the barber gave me a fade (which I didn't realize was the new equivalent of 'just a trim'). I couldn't see the scar though the sides and back were very short and high. 

Update from 6 months in - before and after for comparison. Very happy so far. Looking forward to it filling in a bit more. 

Sure, here's the 5 month mark. Starting to get more volume now and feel comfortable leaving the house without a hat (though I do need to use hair fibers). It has been a weight off my shoulders to not carry a hat around. Think it's coming in well so far, though there's a spot behind the hairline that is still pretty thin - hoping that fills in more over the coming months (last pic). 

Front view. Hair is damp after a washing and towel dry. 

Top view, damp hair. 

Front view, dry hair. 

Top view under direct lighting. A little worried that the hair in behind the hairline hasn't grown in much yet. It usually looks passable with some hair fibers (which is what that dark spot on the scalp is). 

Just ended my 4th month - starting month 5 today. 

Here are a few pictures of progress so far (these are after a hair wash and blow dry, no product in hair). 

1. It doesn't look the greatest in direct light, but there is a base there that wasn't there before.

2.From the frontal view I've been comfortable not wearing a hat (as long as I have some toppik) and it looks relatively passable.

3. Another view of the top with the light not directly on the hair. The thinness isn't so dramatic even though it's a similar angle. 

4. Final view of the hair where the incision was. My head has probably 95% feeling back at this point. 

8 hours ago, pkipling said:

You're making really great process in a short amount of time. Lots of early growth - and the undetectability of that strip scar in the last photo is amazing!

I went to the barber a couple weeks ago and told him to keep the hair long enough to hide the scar. He lifted up my hair looking around and said he wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't mentioned anything. 

8 hours ago, Danny1671 said:

Thanks for the info! That price per graft is actually cheaper than I imagined.  I’ll wait till the 12th to find out a bit more and hopefully decide finally between Rahal and Bisanga.  Both great Doctors in my opinion and give natural results. But is the Rahal hairline slightly better? 🤔

Depends on the extent of your loss. If you were similar to mine (pushing nw5) just getting enough density might be more of a concern than a low hairline,  at least for the first op. I was honestly a bit worried after I had made the decision to go to Rahal as the majority of his case studies online show nw2-3 level loss. Could only find a few with nw4-5 level. Either way, I'm hopeful for the coming months. Good luck with the consult, let me know how it goes!

Here is the back currently. Not the best quality but hopefully it gives you an idea.

They should be able to tell you. I had FUT so it was a bit less expensive than FUE will be. Either way you'll be able to calculate the exchange rate in your favor as the GPB is much stronger than the Canadian dollar right now (think around 3-5 Canadian per graft, in that range probably).

I'm from the US - flew up to Vancouver and took a Canadian airline (Jetwest I think) across most of the landmass of Canada to Ottawa. I got the cheapest flight I could get on the way there so it wasn't great. The way back had in flight entertainment and bigger seats, but we flew directly into the US from Toronto so I think it was a different airline. Wasn't too uncomfortable on the way home, more worried about keeping my headphones from resting on the top of my grafts and hiding my sutures. 

I've only flown over to Europe twice so far but the planes always had decent sized seats and in flight entertainment. You shouldn't have to worry about getting a janky plane flying across the ocean as I assume they need a lot of fuel, more than a small plane could hold. Usually smaller planes = older, no in flight entertainment, smaller seats and typically reserved for shorter flights transporting between cities within a country, not international. 

vi$h:

Thanks for the kind words! Thought I was seeing some growth too but assumed that was just a delusion - everyone wants to feel like they're making fast progress. I'll snap a pic of the back for you tonight. Sorry I had forgotten about it. 

Danny:

Thanks for the positivity! I was pleased with the graft placement too as my hair seemed to look like it had natural growth patterns the day I took the protective hat off. Had to travel over 2000 miles to get to Ottawa - a total of about 10 hours in transit each way. 

Rahal did the incision, suture, and punching. Two techs spent about 6-7 hours working tirelessly on placing the grafts. I was getting cold feet and didn't sleep the night before but the tech was the one who put me at ease and made sure I was comfortable throughout the process.  All in all, I was in the chair around 8 hours and was asleep maybe 4 of them. Everyone was courteous and professional.

I do wish I would have gotten an airbnb or hotel room though. I stayed at the guest house and though the common areas were nice, found my room cramped and uncomfortably warm. You might fare better if you're a more sociable person, though.  

If your hair pattern is similar to mine I recommend giving fin a shot if you're not yet. I went from having 30+ hairs on my pillow or in the shower to almost nothing falling out anymore. 

Just hit the three month mark last week. Here are a couple of top shots. Went to the barber last week for a trim (was still worried about exposing any remnants of a scar). He told me he couldn't see much of anything regarding a suture line. I'll post a pic or two of the back when I get home later. 

Nice to see good results still coming from Rahal. Just went to him a couple months ago for a 4300 graft procedure. Still much too early to tell of any growth, but this leaves me hopeful. 

Hey everyone, after visiting these forums on and off for a couple of years I finally decided to go through with a transplant. I'll spare any drawn out backstory as my experience with hair loss is probably not much different than most people with MPB. Will just say my hairline has been receding steadily for at least 10 years now resulting in a NW5(a)? Currently on Fin, which has all but stopped the previous heavy shedding about 4 months in. 

I'm only a bit over 2 weeks at this point but wanted to start this thread to keep tabs on the progress. Due to the amount of space they had to fill I'm excited but nervous to see what the result will be. 

Here's the breakdown:

FUT (went this route due to needing a lot of grafts this time around)

Single hairs - 435

Two Hairs - 2322

Three Hairs - 1266

Four Hairs - 325

Total grafts - 4348

Total Hairs - 9852

45 grafts per cm2