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FUEgetaboutit

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  1. There are plenty of sources for when to expect what at each stage after your transplant. 1 - 3 months is the ugly duckling phase, 5 months is when results become really noticeable, etc. What I'd like to know is when you guys noticed the very first signs that your hair transplant was starting to come in. I'm curious, because I'm at the tail end now of the ugly duckling phase (I hope). Admittedly, I've been checking the transplanted area far too often (about daily for the last few months, against the advice of my surgeon). I'm now at 2 months and 3 weeks out from my surgery. A few stray hairs started coming in over a month ago and are now fairly thick and dark. Today, however, I was overjoyed to notice clusters of vellus hairs coming through all throughout the transplanted area. They still seem fairly patchy, but it's comforting to see this and feel the assurance that more concrete results will start coming through very soon. When was this moment for you? Were the results patchy or more or less uniform for you?
  2. Eh, it comes with the territory. I can tolerate it, for sure. It's not the worst thing in the world to deal with. Just a mild annoyance. Thanks for the support, in any case. My surgeon only seemed to mention the donor area in terms of how I should care for it and what to expect for shock loss, at least from what I can recall. His office has been good about responding to my various questions when I have them, though. I chose FUT because it should, at least according to prevailing medical opinion, yield 500 - 1,000 more grafts over my lifetime. I know that there is debate about this, but if there is a possibility that I'll get more out of FUT, I decided I would take the chance. The idea of a scar doesn't bother me much, as I don't like wearing my hair very short in the back anyway. I figure that if I'm going to go in with transplants, I should get as much out of them as I can. I want to have as natural-looking, dense and well-covered a head of hair as possible in the long term. (I did regret doing FUT during the week after the surgery, though. The tightness and overall weird feeling drove me freakin' crazy. lol)
  3. Update on this one, if anyone is curious. I followed Melvin's advice and did end up making the trip. It was an all day thing, but I feel it was definitely worth it. The surgeon himself didn't remove the stitches, but it was a tech who's had some tenure at the office. She provided some assurance about the scar and the state of the grafts, and she was able to answer all the questions I had with a good amount of confidence. Unless it's really going to put you out and you feel you can swing the trip, I highly recommend going with stitch removal with your surgeon.
  4. I'm 4 weeks out from my strip surgery. The one thing about my transplant which has annoyed me the most is the general discomfort of my scar. I'm not just talking the numbness above the scar, which is definitely the most aggravating. I'm also referring to the tenderness of the scar itself, the weird tight feeling, etc. I know that the numbness generally lasts for a few months. I'd like to know, however, how long it takes for the scar area itself to feel back to normal. That is, how long does it usually take to stop feeling vaguely sore and tender? When does the tightness usually go away? It doesn't feel noticeably tight when I'm resting, but it does feel freakin' weird and tight when I bend my neck just right. The slight soreness isn't bad, but it's ever-present, and it is annoying.
  5. Yessir, I've been waiting for that 10 day mark. I'm sick of sleeping with mittens on to prevent involuntary scratching in my sleep. lol. I think I'm healing just fine. There don't appear to be any persistent scabs or anything that seems particularly nasty. All but a handful of the hair shafts have remained in place, and I've experienced no bleeding anywhere post-op. Still, I figure it could be helpful to get a professional, trained eye to take a look at things. Is it worth a day of PTO, 60 bucks in gas and the overall headache, though? I think I'm leaning toward no.
  6. True, but would a local GP even have an eye for judging transplanted graft quality? I doubt it. I'm starting to question, though, what even the clinic would do if I had any screwed-up grafts. I assume it would be a big, fat nothing. Otherwise, what could they do? (I'm talking placement and whether or not grafts have taken. Of course, any old doctor could spot infections, etc.)
  7. If my doctor were within 100 miles, I'd go to him for suture removal, no questions asked. Unfortunately, my clinic is 250 miles away. It's not so much that I don't trust a local GP to remove the sutures. My big question is whether the clinic will likely have any useful insight for me regarding how my grafts are doing. I'm leaning towards going local. I mean, if some grafts got screwed up... what is there to be done other than to make me aware of it? It's nice to know, but I don't know if it's useful knowledge at all.
  8. Do you think your doctors gave you any good insight about how things were coming along when they saw you? Or did they not have that much to say about your results?
  9. I'm nearing the 10 day post-op mark since my strip surgery, so I'm about ready to get my sutures removed. However, I live about 4 hours by car from the clinic where I got my procedure. What's more, the weather this week isn't looking so great, so I'd prefer not to go on such a long trip. Not to mention the fact that I'd have to take time off from work or get a hotel for a night (if I did suture removal on Saturday). I've considered just going to urgent care locally to have the sutures removed. However, I'd somewhat prefer to have them remove the sutures at the clinic, just so they can give my grafts a quick look to check that they're doing okay. My HT doctor would not have time to take a look at my grafts, but his staff would still have some insight. I don't have any reason to believe that a large number of grafts failed or that anything else is off, but a quick verification that things are going well would give me some peace of mind. I've also considered suture removal at urgent care as well as a referral to a dermatologist to check my results. Thoughts? Should I make the trip, or is it really not worth it?
  10. Thanks for the confirmation! I figured. I just wanted validation that it was okay for shedding somewhat before the universally-cited 2 week mark for expected shedding.
  11. Thanks! My experience was pretty smooth. I'm waiting a bit before I post anything, but once I have some concrete results, I will be sure to share!
  12. I'm sure this is nothing and I'm expressing some typical post-op anxiety, but I'm 6 days out from a transplant, and I just noticed the first signs of shedding. All of the shafts from my transplanted hairs have stayed in place, from what I can tell, until today. I have a bath twice daily, patting my hair with shampoo, rinsing with a cup of water and applying Aquagel to the recipient area after patting my hair dry. I went a little deeper with the Aquagel than usual today, as there is some native hair covering my grafts, and I'm never sure I actually reach the grafts with the Aquagel. I noticed 2 or 3 hair shafts come out. How normal is it for noticeable shedding this early? I know 2 weeks post-op is the typical time for hairs to start shedding and that grafts aren't considered securely in place until about 10 days, so it worries me to see hair shafts coming out before a week has passed. Should I not bother going that deep with the Aquagel? I prodded just enough to reach my grafts through my native hairs. Again, I'm sure it's nothing. I'm sure you guys all understand my paranoia.
  13. I'm a terrible sleeper, and I need things to be just right to be able to get a decent night's sleep. The tying of the hands seems like it would just be too uncomfortable and disorienting for me. Instead, last night I put on some mittens that I tied nice and tightly. I think this more or less worked. When I tried to do anything in my half-awake stupor, the feeling of the mittens was just out of place enough to wake me up. As far as I know, I didn't even try to scratch my head, but I think the mittens would have been a nice buffer between my hand and the grafts. (I'm also lucky that I have a decent amount of hair covering my grafts, which provides for a little extra protection.) I think the mittens should work. I didn't see a bunch of dislodged grafts on my bed, so I'll stick with them for now. And I mean, as long as I'm still seeing the transplanted hair shafts staying in place, I'll have to assume that I'm good for now, right?
  14. Whoa, that's intense. lol. I'm 2 days post-op. That gives me an idea, though. Maybe I can wrap my hands up, or wear mittens when I go to bed? I think I may be good, so long as I don't actually scratch my grafts with my fingernails.
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