HelpfulFriend

9 days out gang, updated pics.

As per usual nothing much to report. 

Scabs should be coming off in the next couple of days I've heard. 

I think it comes down to risk vs reward, and is very dependent on each person.

I asked Dr Konior about this, and we ended up shaving down about 1cm further in than my hairline was, as the hair was already beginning to miniaturise in this area.

He also explained that, as mentioned, you could shock grafts and quicken the pace in which they disappear. If the hair is dense, then it seems like it's better to transplant around it. And sometimes hairs can hang out for a very long time if they're undisturbed.

We also need to remember that when the hair is moved up to the front, a hole much bigger than a hair is placed as to fit the whole follicle. If you do this heavily into a dense area, you could feasibly impact it's appearance. 

6 minutes ago, stephcurry30 said:

 

Looking good. This will be a home run result. I was wondering if maybe you can provide a photo like before so i can see how konior designed the hairline with your facial shape/features?

 

Hey mate, yep, I'll see if I can find one. I might need to ask the clinic to send theirs 

Hello all, one week post op. Some more pics from today.

Nothing really changes, but I figure these may be useful for anyone wonder how their donor/recipient sights would look post op in case they needed to return to work, etc. 

2 hours ago, Jayson1361 said:

How extensive is balding in your family? Because, your native hair looks pretty solid🤷‍♂️ just saying. Like your dad was bald? Or your dad, your dads brothers, your grandfathers…etc. Or, was just your dad bald but his dad fine moms dad fine…I suppose I’m wondering how extensive and how Dr. K came to the understanding that long term planning was needed? I mean yeah anything can happen but I mean the rest of your hair looks solid. 

My family history is super bald, like, final boss level. Every male on my father's side is NW 6 at minimum, most are NW 7. My older brother was NW 6 by the time he was mid 30's. Mother's side, hard to say, not a lot of males around. 

Suffice to say, I don't have a male relative that isn't bald from my blood line 😂

I think Dr K would have been happy for me to go a little more aggressive, but he explained that he will never say no to a conservative approach. You can always add more, but removing transplanted hair is tricky.

I am probably ultra conservative, I even opted for FUE in case I lose all my hair and need to shave. 

My donor is very good, but I think this has a lot to do with meds. Being on Finasteride and oral monoxidil for half a decade has really thickener the back portion of my head

6 hours ago, Vann said:

I think you went to the best surgeon when it comes to hair transplants (in my opinion). Not only do you have a good donor I think in combination to future planning and angulation placement youll have an insane result on your 2nd transplant once you see how everything turns out. 

I know you said its a small procedure of 1200 but why not go with FUT? Wouldn't you prefer to maximize your hair greed and future hair loss since you said you have extensive hair loss given your family history? I am not saying 1200 fue was a bad choice but I am curious on your future approach. Also given that you went with Konior I have seen the FUT scars heal insanely insanely well for people who have a more invasive procedure. Of course not everyone heals the same way but given his and his teams technical skill I think it wouldve been a better choice for the future.

Nonetheless, I bet you will have a very nice result if everything goes 100% perfect. Nonetheless, I am sure that there will be some areas that may need more improvement, because in most cases the first procedure helps to provide a good amount of work and other procedures help to add more density. But if you were to lower the hairline I think you could probably do it minimally and go for more density along the corners (not that its bad) and do small procedures in small steps to solidify the natural look.

Would you mind sharing the graft counts/break downs? Like singles, doubles, etc. hairs per follicular unit.

 

Lastly, thanks for sharing, and I hope you keep us posted. 

Hey Vann,

I actually originally planned on doing an FUT, I was originally going to do 2000 grafts via strip.

I ended up changing this to FUE when I decided not to lower the hairline. 

Dr K explained that for an amount such as 1200, he can comfortably perform an FUE that will allow an unimpeded strip next time (if needed). So, I will still be able to maximise my grades if need be. I think if I have had gone higher, into the 1600-2000 range, it could impact a subsequent FUT. 

I still need to get the graft break down, I will tag you once I do

Cheers 

Can attest to Dr Konior, also.

I was going back and forth about the cost, but after going through it, I couldn't see myself going anywhere else.

His level of care is top notch.

He is so accessible. I annoyed the hell out of him with questions, and he'd fire back a return email extremely fast every time. You really get the sense that he cares about his patients. 

Plus, he is involved from the second you sit down to the very end, and is always in the room. He's extracting, planting, the whole lot.

His team is also wonderful, they called/emailed me each day after the surgery, and had me come in each day to clean and check over everything. I've seen some posts from top doc patients in which the person doesn't hear from the clinic for weeks post-surgery, this would have made me extremely unsettled.

And of course you have the results that are fantastic. 

Updated donor a few days after the procedure, in case anyone is interested.

1 hour ago, 5BetaReductase said:

Very clean, as expected. Konior achieves some of the best looking donors- yours is looking quite impressive.

 

Yes, it’s very reassuring to have the staff look out after your head every day. Everyone there is so caring. How many days are you staying?

Thank you mate, and yes, they are awesome.

I stayed for 6 nights, one night prior to surgery, then 5 after. I'm glad I ended up staying a bit longer, just to have him look over it all before I go 

2 hours ago, Chetman2112 said:

Looking great mate, I know what you mean about being paranoid of doing the cleaning yourself but it gets easier every day, I’ll be on day 7 tomorrow. 

Yours looks amazing mate, going to have an absolute stellar hair line

Hey all, day 3 - nothing to report of yet. 

Dr and the team are happy with how it's looking.

I have been going in each day for a wash, which is great. I'm pretty paranoid about this sort of stuff (am I doing it right, did I mess up the cleaning, etc) - so it's nice to have this completely out of my hands.

Pretty much one wash per day, then leave it be. And on the 3rd/4th day, I can start doing a very gentle shampoo. 

.

Looks amazing, mate. Congrats! I had my procedure there last week, and can echo everything you've said. They really are an amazing team.

Hey all, forgot to post this, but this was the donor the day after. Not much to see as I guess it wasn't a huge op, but I know some people like to see how it looks. I think the bottom is where the tape for the dressing was removed.

10 hours ago, Mike10 said:

Looks good. How old are you now? at which density per cm2 was implanted? thanks

Hey mate, almost 32. I'm not sure of the numbers, I will ask the clinic when I go back today for a clean and get all the specifics

7 hours ago, BurnieBurns said:

Looks like a perfect result in the hands of a master. So excited for you!

I'll just point out for anyone new reading this, just because I surgeon is friendly and personable doesn't mean they're an expert. The focus should be on their track record of excellence first and foremost.

In Dr Koniors case, he's the best of both worlds

Very good point friend, results are definitely king. It was just refreshing to see a surgeon so personable. Not saying they they're all jerks, but Dr K was especially warm and kind.

37 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

Why the heck what you want to lower your hairline in a few years? this would just look stupid in the long term. 

You are probably correct. I think this is just the 31 year old me that wouldn't mind it lowered. But I'm sure once I'm a bit older, I won't care. I think I just got a bit too excited and got some hair greed when I walked into the office 😂

1 hour ago, Chetman2112 said:

Looks awesome, I was actually there today for my cleaning, had my surgery with Dr Nadimi on Monday, will post very soon, just arrived home after a long drive, and yes everyone there is amazing, the techs are wonderful and very caring, I will definitely stop in to say hello to the entire team when I’m in Chicago. 

That's awesome, mate. Her work is also amazing, I'm sure you're in for a great result. Look forward to hearing your story.

On 11/16/2022 at 8:31 PM, HappyMan2021 said:

you undoubtedly will get a good result going to Konior. 

That being said, you look like a NW3 or even a NW4, and I would be surprised if this is "one-and-done". Even for a NW2, 1200 grafts is on the smaller side of things. So even considering Konior's skill, I would still be surprised if 1200 grafts is enough to provide good density. 

It might be too late or costly to reschedule your flight, but fyi 2-3 days is definitely enough time to rest before flying home. 

It's not a one and done in the sense of transplants down the road. As mentioned, I wanted to go conservative based on my family's history. If I'm still at this level in a few years, I will lower it again. Just playing it super safe. He said I'm bordering on NW 3, based on how dense everywhere else is other than the part filled in.

The way Dr Konior explained it, is that you want to fill the frontal portion with higher density, 2's and such, and then it's about blending behind it in a strategic manner that gives an illusion of density. I think that's why people often talk about his grafts going "a long way", he seems to really carefully plan out the placement and position of each follicle. 

And yeah, flights are a bit too pricey to change haha

28 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

Thanks for sharing your story and look forwards to your results. 

I think just looking at your before picture there at the end, you definitely made a smart choice and i think just the new framing the temporal areas being more closed off will make you feel significantly better about how it looks. 

In some ways, my hair was very much like yours but not having any temple points on mine probably made it look worse. They do definitely help frame the face and the fact yours still look solid should mean you get a great looking result sooner rather than later too with the temporal closure. 

Good luck with your post-op healing and stick indoors and heal up for as long as you can before you travel. You always want to minimise any potential risk till the grafts anchor within the first 10 days. 

Thanks Narmak, that was my thought more or less. See if I can get an aesthetic change whilst remaining conservative.

I'm not flying out for another 6 days, so hopefully I can remain accident free between then and when I'm home. Pretty paranoid about knocking the old noggin.

1 minute ago, Gatsby said:

You have gone to arguably one of the best @HelpfulFriend. The work looks excellent. I hope you update your journey here. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, Gatsby, I definitely will.

Thank you for your advice over the years, too, you have helped me navigate this space on more than on occasion.

Hello everyone,

As of today, I have now finally completed my first HT.

Firstly, I just wanted to thank this forum. It was through this forum that I found Dr Konior, and let me just say, he lives up to his reputation.

I have been corresponding with him since 2020, and we've had a couple of reschedules due to covid. I have pretty much drained his life with the amount of questions, worries, and just hair-fretting in general. Yet, he replies personally to each concern, and at length, and ultimately just takes the times out of his day to make sure his patients are of piece of mind. He is the most accessable and approachable surgeon I have ever interacted with, and it's not even close.

I travelled from Australia (big hike), and arrived yesterday afternoon. 

Day of the surgery:

I arrived at the office at 6:30, and was met by the lovely Karen (who also helped me a TONNE during the pre-surger comms). All of his staff are welcoming, funny, and just make you feel at home. It's relaxed, but extremely professional. People always talk about what a great team they all are, and that's the absolutely truth. 

Dr K spent the first portion of the day discussing my goals, his philosophy, and we just had a general chat about life. To put it bluntly for fellow Aussies, he's just an awesome bloke. 

I am 31, and my family has EXTENSIVE balding in the family. As such, I suggested a very conservative approach, with the temples and sides filled in, but no lowering of the hairline. I have also been on fin and oral minoxidil for 6 years, and this has held me at baseline. Dr K and I agreed, that if I am still at baseline in a few years, I will return to lower the hairline.

The reason he preaches conservative approaches, is ultimately because he is all about future-proofing your loss. And his utilisation of grafts is a testament to this.

The surgery itself was fine, the only painful part was the donor numbing. I have both of my legs and chest tattood, and this was even painful for me. It doesn't last very long, though, so it was fine.

You are given Valiums to relax, and due to jet lag, I slept for a great deal. Before I knew it, it was 4pm and I was finished.

Concerning Dr involvement: Dr K is there for the entire procedure, and extracts all the grafts on his own, with an assistant removing them and for insertion. He then does the insertion also.

The thing that drew me to Dr K, was not only his amazing results, but his bedside manner, how personable he is, and how much he seems to care. And he really does, it's very comforting to have a surgeon that truly instills trust in you prior to an operation.

I know my procedure was relatively small, but the recessed corners had been bothering me for a long time. Every single day, always wearing my hair super long, etc. One plus, is that he said my donor is excellent, so I think the meds are doing their trick (at least for now).

I've attaches some pics, and will upload some donor photos once the dressing comes off. There's also a pic prior to surgery, which shows in full view how far back my hair was getting. Feel free to shoot me a message or comment with any questions. I also haven't got the breakdown of grafts, but I think if was approx 1200, as that's what we agreed upon.

Hey gang,

Seeing Dr Konior this month, and I've never been to the US.

Any of the Aussies that have done this trek, have any advice? Or anyone for that matter? Weather, paying for things, getting around, are ubers from the airport a scam, etc.

I'm staying in an Airbnb, close to the clinic, so that's no issue.

I'll be there for about 6 days. Appreciate any advice you can offer - just want to make sure I'm not forgetting/overlooking anything.

Looks awesome, mate. You're going to have an amazing hairline.

Seeing Dr K next week, very excited 

2 hours ago, Gatsby said:

Good question @HelpfulFriend. Before I left Australia to have surgery at Eugenix I was very dubious that I was really a candidate for surgery. I was prepared to cancel the surgery then and there in person if they believed I didn't have enough scalp grafts. And I would have. This surgery is forever and no one should ever feel pressured into going ahead with it once you have traveled from overseas. I read this time and time again with patients who wish they had cancelled their surgery after being told a different story once in the chair.

This is a great point. I was wondering about this, and hope I'd have the strength to do this. E.g. if the grafts I've paid for aren't enough to cover the area, then it would be a bad idea to proceed and do only a portion.

Good on you for having the presence of mind to consider this going in, it's a difficult concept to grapple with