HisHairness

On 7/8/2020 at 9:28 PM, giegnosiganoe said:

Hope you start seeing results soon. Did Dr Hasson have anything to say about the delay?

I guess patient physiology will always play a factor even if the surgery is done perfectly, and can reduce the number of grafts that end up surviving? This worries me and makes me want to do an even smaller procedure than the 1800 I was considering.

How's the donor looking btw?

Thanks for the kind words @giegnosiganoe. I haven't checked in with the doctors but will likely be checking in soon. i just took some pics this evening and will post this weekend.

FWIW the donor looks / feels great. No issues there. I'll post in next 48 hours with a thorough summary. Apologies for the delays but I was hoping for some better updates...

@hairgod22 thanks for checking in. Still not much growth to be frank. My crown might be coming in (I continue to feel stubble), but visually it's very difficult to tell. My hairline is actually much worse than started as of now, which isn't great.

I'm sorry for not providing pictures, I've been moving and given the pandemic, don't have access to same bathroom lighting so am waiting to do a solid line up of pictures. Hopefully can do so within a week when I'm at the 6 month mark.

On 6/14/2020 at 1:13 AM, KM90 said:

@HisHairness any update? 🙂

@KM90 Thanks for checking in buddy. Not a ton of positive momentum to be honest. I'll post a pic shortly from month 5 & 1 week. My existing hair (and donor) has grown and is looking great / back to normal, but the recipient area (particularly in the front) has seen next to nil. I've been busy at work recently but will catch this post up in the coming days.

5 hours ago, TrixGlendevon said:

@HisHairnessI would not worry. Do not judge your case by other people and their progress. Everybody's physiology is different.

 

 

@TrixGlendevon wow- thanks so much for sharing. Your words ring true. Everyone is different and it's not realistic to judge someone's X-month progress with my own. It sure is hard not to though haha!

Given your great results at 9-months, this pic at ~4.75 months gives me great hope for where I can be in a couple months. Thanks again!

@TrixGlendevon if you are willing to share it that'd be great! I'm at 4months 1 week right now and feeling like a bit of a slow grower compared to some, so any data point is helpful.

@83mjs I have considered the exact same thing. It's honestly a daily battle on whether i cut things short to track progress / have better visibility, or whether i just hold steady.

I'm feeling more and more stubbles each day (moreso in my crown then up front oddly). At the 4 month 1 week mark now. Will post another update a the 5-month mark or if things materially change before then.

Thanks for this review. It's also great to hear that you were a "slow grower" but clearly have excellent results at the 9-month mark. As a reference to your "slow-grower" comment - do you have any pics at the 3/4/5 or 6 month marks? 

I haven't seen that many posters who have great 9-month results who didn't also look great at the 5 or 6 month mark, so I'd love to see where you stood to compare!

Thanks

Hi Gatsby.

Great detailed write-up here. 

I tend to agree with the others before me on their suggestions. 

1 - the SMP job looks really great. I think 99% of normal folks would think you're just a guy with a good head of hair that chooses to shave it down. It's a good look for you.

2 - if you do want to go the HT route - I have definitely seen good things from Eugenix for NW7's on this forum. Best advice would be to talk to those members who have experienced results there, as  others have suggested. 

Either way, keep us up to speed on your decision!

Hi @KM90 - looks like you and I had our procedures on roughly the same day and have very similar profiles (similar grafts / similar locations).

Looking forward to following your progress and comparing. 

Hi Rolandas. Thanks for these vids. Your hair and mine are similarly fine and I also had redness through the 3.5 month mark. I'm at month 4 now and still have a bit but it is fading slowly but surely. Looking forward to tracking your progress.

Looking really good @83mjs! 

Similar to me, the crown has existing hair so it's difficult to really parse out the growth but I think I can see some already. 

And the work done on your temples already seems to be filling in. You;re looking great for 3 months in my opinion (better than I did about a month ago, that's for sure).

Looking forward to following along.

23 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

We are truly our own worst enemies when it comes to MPB and a mirror. Multiply that by 100 if you have just had a hair transplant. All I can say is WOW HisHairness. Still really early for growth and it's looking great. Imagine when aanother four months passes and another,... Looking forward to keeping us all posted!

@Gatsby very well said. Looking forward to the next few months of growth!

Hi all -

Sorry for not including follow up pics in my original post, but here are some pics from the 4 month mark. I also have a personal folder of pics that include some key milestone dates (the first week, month 1, month 2, etc) and can add those if others are curious.

I feel a ton of stubble when i run my hand through my hairline / crown, and can see tiny little black hairs just beginning to sprout, but I definitely haven't had an insane early-grower response like some others have had. At this point, I feel like I'm back to baseline.

One thing that's tough in my case, is the fact that most of my transplanted hair is going into an area that already has hair. So, while the existing hair has laregely grown back, I find myself trying to look through existing hairs for small stubble and it's tough to see (versus in some HT's when an entirely new hairline is created or a fully bald spot is filled, it's very easy to notice progress no matter how minimal...).

I'm still quite hopeful that the forthcoming months can bring some drastic changes. Anyone who's been here before can likely relate to the daily checking of your hairline / crown and it's tough to really notice progress in 24 hour increments...

Pics are taken showing the front / crown under strong vs. normal light while wet / dry. Please note that the "strong light" pics are literally taken directly under a really bright light - in other words these pics are taken in light that is stronger than the pre-op pics i posted before but I feel it's helpful to show the extent of my loss.

1 hour ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Thank you for posting this excellent review, you sort of remind me of a legendary patient @Aftermath he also went to Dr. Hasson, I think you will be very satisfied in 12 months time. Please keep us updated on your progress.

thanks @Melvin-Moderator 

I'm aware of @Aftermath's progress and have viewed his thread as well. Anything close to his success would be thrilling.

42 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

I'm not sure what it is but the extractions look quite different in these two pics? In the first pic, they seem to go a lot higher and I can't really see the separation between crown, but in the second pic I can clearly see it.

@giegnosiganoe the first pic is just my left side after day 1. The 2nd pic is a different angle and includes the extractions from the right side. I think it's just a bit of an optical angle issue and unfortunately I don't have too many pictures of the donor area post-op but I think that first pic is pretty indicative of how the other side looked as well.

1 hour ago, HTHope said:

@HisHairness you have a lot of native hair. Did hasson mention any possibility of shock loss?

@HTHope I don't recall if Hasson explicitly mentioned shock loss. We spoke a bit about the importance of fin in maintaining future hair, but I dont remember shock loss being a big discussion.

FWIW - you'll see in my 4 month pics (I'm gathering them now and will be posting today) that most of my native hair seems to have returned fine (but might have experienced some shock loss in the front a bit).

12 hours ago, 83mjs said:

Thanks for sharing. I had basically the same amount of grafts as you did in early Feb.  I have/had a pretty similar pattern of hairloss too (2.8k in front third and 2.1k in crown). Will be following your progress with great interest.

How's it looking now?

Awesome. I'll definitely follow your journey as well then. 

I'll be posting current pics today (got tied up last night when I did the original post).

13 hours ago, Gatsby said:

That's a fantastic result and one H+W are well renowned for churning out on a consistent basis. You have a very strong donor area and a strong mid section. I think you've really nailed this at the sweet spot for a totally undetectable result. Are you taking finasteride and/or minoxidil?

Thanks Gatsby. 

I took Minoxidil for ~ 3 years nearly every day. I'd actually use the foam to style my hair a bit. In speaking with Dr. Hasson, his office actually suggests you stop Min before surgery and it seemed like they are generally averse towards using Min longterm. So, for now I've stopped entirely.

I've gone back and forth with fin (did experience sides when I was using proscar cut into 1/4ths), but seem to have a good thing going right now where I'm using a slightly lesser dose (0.5mg) a few times a week and am seemingly stabilizing what I have left. I'd personally love to try the topical fin but it's not available in the US to my knowledge.

Adding a few more pre-op pics below. All were taken in the hotel room the night before the HT.

Wet out of Shower & Styled:

Dry & Styled (no toppik here but not I typically add some to crown - that's really all I've ever done though)

Wet & positioned to show extent of hairloss:

Thanks HTHope.

Yes, I was pleased to go the FUE route. I had spoke with H&W Doug a few times over the phone and we thought ~4-5k total would make sense. Then meeting with Dr. Hasson we determined ~2500 up front was needed and then another 2-2500 in the crown.

I don't recall ever getting a total # of donor supply grafts available to be honest, but the comments were that I have a good amount. Dr. Hasson may have mentioned a number but I really can't recall. I'll try to email them to see if I can find out.

FWIW, I'm at the 4 month mark now (posting pics soon) and my donor looks / feels totally fine - literally no signs that any hair was taken out and it's still really full. 

Re: cost...yep. Hoping that the results are worth it. Based on the work H&W has churned out in the profiles I've seen on this forum, I felt comfortable paying what I did. 

Here are some donor pics post-surgery:

Hi all,

Just joined the forum to share my experience, but would also like to extend a special thanks to all those who have posted their experiences before me. As we all can relate, this process is brutally daunting and stressful, and I'm not sure I would have been able to pull the trigger without reading about and following along with some of the success stories on this site.

Also a real shoutout to Melvin - you're a legend for maintaining the forum as you do. Seriously thanks for your effort.

Personal Details:

• Age: Early 30's
• Location: US west coast
• Losing Hair since ~25 (diffuse thinning in crown / in front, but hoping to keep patch in middle to not go full NW6/7) - see pics below for pre-op pics
• Father experienced hairloss early and is NW6, but rest of old males in family have generally kept hair till late in life
• I have fine hair, but my donor area is solid. When Dr. Hasson met me his first words when combing through my donor area were "wow you must have had one hell of a head of hair when you were younger". I'm hoping this means I have plenty of donor for future sessions if needed, but am also hopeful this session allows me the "appearance of a full head of hair" for the foreseeable future.

After extensive research and speaking with a few options, I decided H&W made the most sense for me. H&W Doug is a great steward of the office, and I really appreciated my talks with him throughout the process.

HT Details:

• 2-day FUE Jan 8th, 9th 2020
• 4899 grafts (~9623 hairs), split:
• 2544 grafts (~4847 hairs) into front third Day 1
• 2355 grafts (~4776 hairs) into crown Day 2

I feel that there are enough reports of the office conditions and what the surgery days are like, but I'll re-iterate that I was at the office for 2 days for 12-14 hours each day, with breaks for lunch and dinner. 

My pics from pre and post-op are attached here. I have a solid album of pics since then, and will be compiling them and posting in this thread shortly. This week I hit Month 4 and while progress has been minimal, I'm feeling some decent stubble and am hopeful that the next few months will be positive. At the very least, I'm thankful the ugly-duckling phase is over. 

Any feedback / thoughts / questions are encouraged. Thanks!