jimcraig152

Donor pics please. Particularly soon after the procedure would be awesome. Otherwise, outstanding work. Congrats!

The scar looks well stitched up and is a tight seal. Could be some shaving or shock loss. Other FUT guys can chime in here for you.

Yeap, normal and more will fall out in the next 6 weeks. All normal. Check out my comparison shot photo. Notice how I shaved everything down in the 6th week? LoLoL. With the hair falling out and no more long hair to use to conceal my hairline, I decided to shave it down to feel, ironically enought, normal. We have different genetics and physiology, but the journey HT patients go through is largely the same. How's the FUT strip looking and how are you feeling otherwise?

End of Week 10 Update: MHTA finally set my first follow-up appointment, gave me the graft breakout, and a copy of the agreement signed on the day of the procedure. Took some initiative mostly on my part, a whole lot of back and forth with me reiterating what I was asking for, but hey, on the bright side, it is done! So here is the breakdown: 1's: 382 2's: 1096 3's: 591 4's: 268 Total: 2337 There was one term on the agreement for which I could not recollect the answer I provided and that was concerning the extra grafts that might be needed over the original 2250 estimate derived from the consultation. Dr. Diep did go over by 87 grafts, but they ended up waving that extra cost in the end. In any case, I remember leaving that section of the agreement unspecified until after I had the final consultation with Dr. Diep. Looks like I was convinced to allow for unlimited grafts before the procedure. I don't think I would normally allow for that. There were 3 options and interestingly enough, they were all fill in the blank. Even with that, the right side of my recipient area is certainly more sparse than my left side. We know that Dr. Diep starts on the left, then moves right. So was the man in a hurry by the time he got to the right side? We know his time in surgery with patients is divided in half already with a patient in the other room. Certainly isn't a stretch for his time to be stretched thin. When that happens, compromises have to be made and those compromises show up time and again in the work Dr. Diep performs. I'll check out what else is in the agreement. Particularly interested in the anesthesia regiment. I certainly was not told I would be going under. So I am curious as to what else I agreed to. I am getting lots of new hair in the areas of the upper corners. But that new growth is the result of my response to fin and/or min. Dr. Diep implants grafts in rows and newly transplanted hairs grow out straggly. This growth is straight and in natural patterns. I certainly should have started meds sooner. Maybe 20 years ago. I only started them in May. The grafts I do see fall into two categories. Holdovers that remain from original implantation that are as long and as strong as my natural hair Grafts that have pierced through the skin but remain as seedlings With the 3rd month and forward being when HT patients should be expecting growth, I'll be sure to document the slow recovery process as I go along. I am not as bald as this overhead shot shows! It's just the angle the hairs grow from, angle of the lense, and lighting shown right on top Donor sensation is now at about 75% of pre-op status. I get striking shards of pain or itchiness from time to time. But relaxed steady state sensation is almost unnoticeable. These side shots of the donor don't illustrate what I am seeing in the mirror. Just angles and lighting casting shadows. I am tempted to clip it down again, but nah. I'll just wait till Thanksgiving. And the cumulative comparison shot. There has been some progress, but that progress doesn't show up in photos yet.

Hey @Flash10, thanks for stopping by! Despite the tone of my thread, I am very positive about my outcomes. I am someone that has the ability to analyze critically and knows being critical does not equate to being negative, nor does it put me in a position where I am tiptoeing along a precipice. Advances in HT wouldn't be where they are today had it not been for critique. Others who've had work done with Dr. Diep call out the shortcomings, but then approach realities in a "The Emperor's New Clothes" type fashion. Even calling out the honesty that others express as idiocy. I don't know if that is done consciously or not. My writings on the experience is just honesty which is rare these days, but based upon responses received privately and around this forum are greatly appreciated. I am not alone among patients of Dr. Diep who are being honest. Just a bit more thorough. I do love and appreciate seeing great work in HT when I see it though. I put in a few words of support when I do. I leave the criticisms silent in other experience threads or isolated to only my thread where I know I can handle it (case in point). So once again, congrats on the work done on you. And thank you! My weekly update is coming shortly.

Melvin shows a case why you should wait; I've shown a case why you shouldn't. Validity on both sides of the argument. It is a relative thing. No one's suffering is the same. No one's candidacy is the same. Don't think you can define an age for it is all I am saying.

Well, I think we can all agree that seeking medical treatment at the first hint of hair loss should be done. You've already done that which is good. We might also agree that seeking counsel from a highly ethical surgeon is also a requirement at any age. As for equating the maturity needed with decision making with age, maturity can be supplanted with greater economy through obsessional diligence. I don't know if you were old enough to remember the poker craze during the mid-late 2000's, but there were numerous 15 year-olds making millions and beating the stuffing out highly regarded scions in the world of poker when the game was widely played in the US online before it was made illegal. Young kids treated online poker as obsessionally as a video game and moved the game to new heights of difficulty. There are signs of obsessional genius being gained in many fields and walks of life. Bruce Lee is considered to be the greatest martial artist of all time, yet he lived only 32 years. Greta Thurnberg is an authority on climate change. Warren Buffet tracked and saved every dollar he has made and spent all throughout life and is the worlds foremost authority on investment. Stephen Curry is an NBA player of slight build, yet can hoist and fire a basketball from beyond the arc better than anyone has ever done it. Melvin is still a relatively young man, has no medical training and loaded with knowledge of the subject of hair loss. Find that one thing you have to do, that mission, and put everything you got into it. With the financial responsibility, you may not have reached your prime earning years in your early 20's, but you may also have less financial obligation than a 30 year-old. Maybe you have no kids. No mortgage and may still be living at home. No girlfriend/wife to support. No car payment. So the financial sacrifices you might have to make may be easier in your early 20's. There are mitigations for these factors. While there may not be for candidacy. But then again, there is the case of Tom Brady who was on the genetic path to being a NW7 very early in life. So how does the value for age become definitive in seeking hair restoration when MPD afflicts everyone differently and is relative? I just don't think you can. More Tom Brady pics from his college days and first year or two as a pro in case you need more convincing:

You guys are right. Candidacy is a factor and is the only plausible reason for waiting. Other factors have mitigations. But can you really set a definitive age for when you can seek hair restoration even with candidacy factored in? For instance, at age 19, my hair loss was already a NW3. But I remained an NW3 into my 40's all the way up until I got my HT two months ago. Never had medical treatment until 3 months before my surgery. I look at Melvin's journey and in his early 20's, he had wayyyyyyyy more hair than I did at the same age. But became an NW6 by his late twenties. Now look at a well known celebrity case like Tom Brady: Here he is at age 23 in the 2001 Super Bowl parade. Already a NW3 combing his hair forward and parting it in the middle to hide recession in the corners. He is approaching an NW4 with thinning in the crown and forelock. I also watched games during the regular season that year where Brady had his helmet off. Nary was a time when the camera panned on him when he wasn't wearing a hat. But from time to time that did happen and you could see he was already losing hair under his helmet, despite winning the Super Bowl. Here is another photo of him the day after the 2001 Super Bowl accepting the Super Bowl MVP trophy. Same comb forward and part in the middle to hide recession in the corners. However, recession and thinning is still noticeable. Here is his 2000 league photo. See the hair loss concealment comb job? And here is his 2001 league photo during the recovery process. See how the hair in his corners are shorter than the forelock? You think he had his hair cut that way? Or is it the hair grafts placed in the corners are growing back more slowly than the rest of his hair just like the hair of an HT patient recovering surgery would? Here he is just after winning his 2nd Super Bowl and after full recovery from hair restoration. Yeap, that is Adriana Lima in her prime making O-face right next to him. Does a similar pic exist where Adriana Lima is posing alongside a peer of Tom Brady in Matt Hasselbeck from that era? Here he is standing with his father. A legit NW7. The road to NW7 is/was definitely in Tom Brady's genes. And here is Tom Brady at close to present, now considered handsome the world over. Aesthetically pleasing enough to have been able to attract and wed the world's foremost model whom he met at age 30. Think Tom Brady should have waited until he was 28 or 30? Or was Tom Brady correct to have sought hair restoration between the ages of 23-24 despite the risks? Now you aren't ever going to be Tom Brady. But where do you want to plant that fork in the road of your life that branches between suffering from hair loss vs. reveling in life free from the bondage of hair loss? What are you wiling to suffer through at the expense of missing out on having hair to go along with your fleeting youth?

Good to know @pidds & @Guy73. The real value is of course the placement is done by the surgeon, not a tech. Paging @Tentpole91. Short list candidate?

I can definitely attest to more hair being shed when it is long. I literally had to detassle my brush like corn after every shower. Then there was the hairs that needed to be scooped from from the shower drain after every shower. I started fin and min just before the HT. I must have had so much hair before despite being a NW3 for the 10+ years my hair was long. Wish I had started medical treatment sooner. Hairloss has stopped. Though right now if I am losing hair, it is much harder to see as each hair is about .25"-.5" long. My procedure was estimated for 2250 grafts. Ended up with 2337. Results at the early 2-month point are good, not great, certainly not elite. Surgical techniques used in my procedure leave a lot to be desired. I am definitely documenting my journey here though. Come stop by and comment. So if I may comment further regarding Nader's work on you, it is truly absolutely elite. 3 key things I take away from his work on you plus 1 key thing about DHI: I particularly am observant of the fact that he placed grafts randomly throughout your entire recipient area, mimicking nature. No comprises were made for a gain in time needed to be spent in the surgery room. I've seen some surgeons randomly place grafts near the hairline, then start punching in linear rows towards the crown. Then there are surgeons who only place in rows (sadly, that is how my surgeon does things). Secondly, we've all seen great transplants that have that "It's so good, it has to be fake feel." to it. Pretty much, it is the same reaction when we see a woman with a great breasts under a form fitting top, "They look so nice, they have to be fake." Your hairline has that nature made quality to it. No hint of artificial enhancement whatsoever. 8300 units were punched out of the sides and back of your head!!!???? It's almost like I can call you out for bullshit on that one. But I can't as I know it to be true. Unfugginbelievable. Lastly, DHI. Being that the placement in DHI pierces the skin and is therefore a surgical operation. Surgical procedures ethically and perhaps legally should only be done by a surgeon, then DHI pretty much guarantees that the doctor is doing both the extraction and placement. In-experienced/ill-equipped techs don't perform the work; they are only there to assist. It truly is a rarity to have find a surgeon that performs the actual placement in FUE or FUT. But safe to say, the real marketing advantage of DHI, provided you have work done by an ethical clinic is that the doctor is performing the placement? If so, I will add DHI clinics to my short list should I ever seek out additional work to be done on me. Thanks for sharing. Eye-opening stuff and congrats!

Jermaine Jackson thought of this before you did too. So it is not an original idea .

You mean like what Carlos Boozer did? Yeah, no.

Start medical treatment as soon as there is signs of hair loss. Get restoration once meds have stabilized hair loss for a period of a year. Restoration should be done after stabilization regardless of age. The only personal qualifier would be the financial responsibility one would have to absorb with restoration. If you are an otherwise good looking person, but hair loss is a strike to your aesthetic qualities, you'll want restoration as soon as possible. Nothing like youth and good looks. It is well known good looking people go further in life and have jobs that are higher paying. If you are not quite as good looking, you make up for it with hustle. Nothing like the confidence boost from having nice hair that will drive that hustle. You can get hair back these days. But you can't ever get time back. Think of what is irrevocably lost professionally because you want to be sheltered rather than exposed and seeking new and better things when dealing with hair loss professionally. Socially, plenty of times I've said no to things like pool parties, sky diving, and camping trips, or even mundane things like eating lunch on the outdoor patio with a cutie from work because such events would reveal or destroy my hair loss concealment efforts. Plenty of times after sleeping with women I've skipped out on an overnight stay and good ol' morning sex because I'd dread having to take showers with them in the morning which would also expose my MPD. Why let the misery of hair loss pervade life at any stage during adult life? And when is it the best time to have nice hair? When you are young of course. When good hair can be leveraged along with youthful energy to get the best out of life. Be liberated from the suffering once you have either of these two A) medically stabilized your hair loss, or 2) have the ability to accept the financial responsibility. But start medical treatment ASAP as it has much less financial constraints; don't wait for both conditions met. Either or is fine.

@Guy73, with so many units extracted, how does your donor feel? Any lingering effects or loss of sensation? As for the long hair thing, this was me prior to my procedure: I was NW3 in that photo and had to part my hair in the middle to cover up the receded corners. Locked in the hair around the corners with titanium-hold hairspray. But I pulled it off though! Always wanted long hair. Will keep my hair short during the recovery process (now 2 months in), but can't wait to grow it out again. This time I can allow it to be free-flowing as it should be!

I don't have an answer for FUT. I think its the doctor's call on that one though. Has FUT scar healed enough to do all the craning forward of your head, stretching of the nape of your neck required when you get a high quality fade? Dr's call. You want a scar like this and not want to risk it stretching or more scar tissue building up. Maybe at @Melvin-Moderator has a better answer for you. You wouldn't be out of pocket with those statements either. But let's move that discussion elsewhere. Keep Micky's thread about his journey. You'll have no shortage of people joining into an ethics discussion when it comes to Dr. Diep. He sure did. At 26, it is a good plan to go with FUT. As for Dr. Diep's FUE techniques, that is stuff for another thread too.

Diep is located in the most affluent area in the world. Check out this house in Los Gatos and it's listing price for only 1600 sqft. If you want affordable, you'll have to look elsewhere. As for FUE, he is $10/unit. He gave me a discount at $8/unit. Still came out to $19k for 2337 grafts.

Oh yeah. Totally. I am happy now despite the drab tone in my posts :). I am over the shock from the actual procedure and am totally optimistic that I'll have good results. But, I am a highly critical thinker; always pushing for better. My statements aren't second guesses at all. My only true regret is that I didn't save that long hair for donation. I am able to maintain a cool head while still being critical. It may not seem that way from my posts though I have to admit. My results now at just two months are good even though that is the bottom depths of the ugly duckling stage. Repair isn't in my mind at all now. I am just trying to be very thorough in hopes it will help others. Just seeing the outstanding work that has been done by other doctors amazes me. Nandimi I would put among the elites. But she is seldom talked about in that regard and with the same frequency. That she does all the work herself should be a sought after rarity. Congrats on picking her!

Pics are fixed now. Nice work. One of the biggest factors that keeps hair loss sufferers on the fence about HT is the price. Can you outline the cost of your procedure for others to gauge? Dr. Diep has a well known reputation for results. No doubt about that. He also has well earned reputation for other stuff. But I am not going to get into that and rain on your parade. Want your progress to be magical. Everything is looking good so far man. FYI, I gently buzzed what was left of my shoulder length hair after the procedure on the 4th day. Helped a ton making me feel somewhat normal during the early days. With you being in the 10th day, your grafts should be rooted now. If you do buzz it, I'd say do it after the stitches and staples are out so you don't accidentally snag the clippers on them. I'd say, don't buzz it yet though. Let those grafts start falling out after the 2nd week, ten evaluate from there. You might have to comb things forward.

Looking really good Micky! Really, one of Dr. Diep's better works as of late. What's the FUT stitching looking like at this time? Also, check out GIMP which is a professional level picture editing tool. Open source and free! Helps you share more as you can leverage the editing functions to be more incognito. Real patient journeys help other hair loss sufferers a ton!

Holy mother! I am trying to find something to nitpick and can only come up with, "He obviously used a ball point pen to graph out the sites." Wow! Just wow!

Yeah, I can't see your pics either. I am a Dr. Diep patient as well (7/24/20 surgery date). I'm Asian though, so our hair characteristics are completely different. Dr. Diep was only in the room with me during anesthesia and extraction as far as I could tell. Last time I heard his voice before seeing him at the end of the procedure was when I woke from pain during FUE donor extraction with him saying, "You have to let me know if you are feeling any pain." Do you know if there was another patient being worked on that day? Because your work is one of the more better jobs he has done as of late. Seems he was able to spend more time with you. Perhaps because the other patient canceled? Or perhaps he was able to extract more units from FUT. I still see rows which is a signature of Dr Diep, but they are so closely packed together and that you have curly hair, you'll have a better chance of not having any aesthetic issues. Wishing you all the best man. Will follow your progress closely.

Maybe. But his wife is a hot Brazilian model and he has an Academy award. He wins :).

Update that link I posted with the latest changes to your regiment. Add a link to the updated regiment to the OP. And add it to your signature so folks can easily find it. I had to read through all 16 pages to ensure I had the latest regiment :).

My HT is not a disaster along these lines or anything like that, but the techniques applied are compromised so that my surgeon could maximize his revenue (2 procedures per day + plus numerous consultations) . I will wait to see how things are at the 12-month mark. Too early to think about repair. But it is great familiarizing myself with the works of other great surgeons. Looking forward to your next update!