WS2020

It is time for the month 8 review. Just got my hair cut with a 2 on the side. Donor is continue healing well. My hair looks ok in certain angle but I would like to hear your opinion here about my transplant. My wife made a comment yesterday that even I look better than before, I still look like someone is experiencing serious thinning in the front. I understand my hair density will never back to pre-hair loss and my expectation is always low. However, I went with Diep because he is known to give good density. I feel the hair is making only small progress since month 6. I know I should wait for a year but should I be concerned? Please feel free to chime in. Btw, I am using Minoxidil 5% once a day and I am also back on 1mg Fin twice a week. Thanks! Photo from pre-surgery

Month 7 update: Time flies. It is summer and time to do my monthly update. The progress is definitely slowing down after last month and the density is not much different. I am still using Min daily and Fin once a week. I did go back to the office this week after more than a year and my co-worker thinks my new hair looks very nature. My wife also thinks the hair looks pretty decent but I truly hope it will fill up more. My expectation is not very high but do worry me a little. Pic time and there is very little discomfort any more:

I continue think Jim's hair is looking really good and he is looking 10x better now than before. When I compared my 6 month progress now with his photos after six months, I feel he was looking so much better. Maybe my expectation is low but good enough is what I have been shooting for. I also think most of everything in life can easily pick apart with extreme close up photos. I don't think any normal person will look at another human being hair this closely and try to figure out why there are multi-grafts on the hairline. Anyway, I may change my mind down the road but I am quite satisfy with my results with Diep so far after 6 months. I have done my research on many surgeons including the "popular" one being mentioned in this thread here. I see both good and not so good results in all. No matter how much money or what med we take. The father time + genetic have already won the hair battle. We are just playing catch up to create some the illusion of having hair up top.

Yes, I got both. I was using a 2 guard on the sides for exactly a month ago. Trying to grow the hair out. I think I start look good enough to trick people at the 5th month and the most growth so far is definitely during the last thirty days.

Month 6 update: I think I am at the turning point after six months. The nerve pain at the donor zone is definitely getting better and it looks good with longer hair in certain light condition. You can see from the pic that there are still some little pink areas. The front looks overall pretty decent also. With the flash light, you can see some spots still not totally filled out but it does look good enough on zoom for sure. I am still using Minoxidil once a day but do cut down on Fin from three to only once a week. Just feeling some side effect. Here are some new photos. Please excuse my haircut. Have not cut my hair since the month 5 photos and want to grow it out.

My fifth month update. Things are definitely looking up. Depends on the angle and lighting, the front view looks like I have a full head of hair until I tile my head. The donor areas go back to looking normal and my wife cannot even tell where is my FUT scar is. On the other hand, the pimples are a little bit out of control but it is pretty normal based on what I read. I am still taking the Fin 3 times a week + Minoxidil mousse once a day. The side effect has been ok I believe. Anyway, I am happy with the progress so far and looking forward to the one year mark. Btw, it seems like my full time work from home days are going to over in a month or two. Good timing on my part to skip the ugly ducking phase during covid. Frankly, I think it was only the first month and half that I felt my head looked bad when I stepped outside. Here are the photos from couple days back. I buzzed my head with a two guard and will start let my hair grow longer from this point on.

I am also Dr Diep's patient and my experience was similar to yours. I am at 4 months now and the hair is slowly growing out. It will be a lot of discomfort during the first month but things will get better real soon. Hang in there. Thanks for the post and I am looking forward with your updates.

It has been exactly 4 months. It is about time to give everyone an update. I start seeing more significant hair growth during the last 3 weeks. I am still using the minoxidil once a day and fin 3 times per week. The front looks decent on zoom if I tile my head in certain angle. The back is healing pretty good and people should not be able to tell if I use a three guard or longer. Here are the photos from yesterday after I cut my own hair with a 2 guards. Not salon quality but doesn't matter since not going anywhere. I don't think I am out of the wood yet but hopeful it will come out fine. Positive thinking!

It looks great after about 7 months. It is still 5 months to go. Frankly, I feel Jim is paying closer attention to the imperfections than the how good he looks overall. It is a shame because I will be super cited if my results come out like his.

A two month update: I just went to Dr. Diep office for a two month follow up and a second steroid shot for my FUT scar yesterday. I can tell the office was pretty busy with three staff sitting in the reception area. I had my normal chit chat with Dr. Diep in his office about my family and life, and the shot is pretty quick and not so painful than the first shot. In and Out after 30 minutes for a 5pm appointment. These are the photos from today after two month. It is due for my bi-weekly haircut with 2 guard. The recipient looks pretty spare and Dr. Diep assured me it is normal after two months. The donor area looks fine (especially I had both FUE and FUT done at the same time.) Pretty happy with the outcome. Medication wise, I am taking fin 1mg three times a week (No sexual side effect by definitely brain fart) and minoxidil 5% once a day. Shampoo wise, Nizoral is my weapon of choice. I also got two prescriptions for anti-itching and it is under control. Still take Aleve once or twice a week for the nerve pain in the donor area but it is getting less but are still there. Overall, I am quite happy with the end result and met my expectation after two months. Let's hope I will see more results in the third month.

I am actually heading to Diep's office for a 2 month follow up today. Yours is different than my experience. When I was his office (twice), his staff looked busy but unsure about the short staff. I think he has more than 10 office staff there. Since you are a forum member, you should dm Mervin who maybe able to help.

I went to Dr. Diep's office to remove the stitches on Monday. Mary is the technician who is very nice. Waited about 15 minutes and the whole procedure took another 20 minutes. There were no pain until she removed the knot in the very front. I hope the soreness will go away soon. My follow up appointment with a complimentary Acel shot is in two weeks. I will report back. Btw, I am exactly 3 weeks in and the donor hair in my recipient area are half gone. Normal to shed this early in the process? Anyway, a photo from yesterday after the removal of the stitches. The donor area looks pretty good in the photo....... with the correct lighting.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. A quick 2nd week update. There is still some discomfort at the back but doing ok overall. I will head to the Dr. Diep office to remove the suture on Monday and hope it will accelerate the recovery. I took the minoxidil 5% first time ever two days ago and I was getting some tension headache. The headache went away a day later after I stopped. I applied the minoxidil today again and a slight headache comes back. Maybe my body needs to get used to it. I also filled the Fin prescription and still thinking about what to do with it. Should I do a DYI to turn it to tropical or take it 3 times a week.. I already have below average testosterone level and kind of concern....

My donor is fine with 2250. I wanted to keep the same cost and that's why Dr. Diep suggested to do a FUE/FUT combo. I feel it was actually more work to them since the procedure was not done until way past mid-night. Yeah, that's why I asked Pam to not quit her day job. It is almost no point to not buzz the rest of hair out.

The aftercare package includes couple surgical paper hats. I was wearing those.

Here is my new review thread.

I don't. I am guessing .9mm.

Today (Day 9) - Probably lost couple hundred dollars worth of grafts.

Day 4

Day two:

Before Photos:

Summary (because this review is long): Today is the 9th day after the surgery. I am very pleased with the Dr. Diep and her staff (so far.) Let's start with surgery info: Surgeon: Dr. Diep MHTA Clinic at Los Gatos, California Surgery Date: 11/12/2020 Procedures (graft): FUE (1411) + FUT (1211) Myself: Asian in my 50's with NW4 to 4.5. Start losing my hair since early 20's. Never take any med, tropical, roller, special shampoo, or anything for hair treatment (just too lazy to care.) My hair never give me trouble at work or dating. Live in the Bay Area and 20 miles from Dr. Diep's office. Reason on Dr. Diep: I have been following Dr. Diep's YouTube channel for more than 2 years and am impressed with the results. I also read a lot of reviews here and I don't see any justification for me to travel during Covid to see other doctors. My #1 requirement is not to screw up. #2 is nature hairline with good density at the front. I actually don't give a damn about the back since neither I can see it in the mirror nor I talk to others with the back of my head. Anyway, I decided Dr. Diep is the best fit for me. Cost: I was first quote $17k to perform 2K FUE to fill the front during the zoom consultation with Dr. Diep. When I got to the office, Dr. Diep was worry that I would not be happy with the density and suggest to go up to 2250 grafts. Since I am not a 1%er, I would like to stick with my original budget (I also heard Divorce is very expensive.) Dr. Diep then suggested to fill my front with FUE+FUT for $17k. Since I actually was undecided about FUE or FUT, I liked the suggestion. The Day of the surgery: Arrived at 7:30am shape. The office is at the very nice part of the Bay Area and is much bigger than I thought. The nurse then had me to fill out a bunch of forms that I read two weeks prior (same time the full payment was due.) I then chit chat with Dr. Diep for about 20 minutes about the surgery (procedure, med, and time), work, and also family. Btw, Dr. Diep is younger than me and I beat him on having much older children. Felt good since I likely retire sooner than him. The tech then lead me to a large surgical room (end up spent the whole day there) and Pam the nurse came in to buzz the back, front and the side of my head. (Pro-tip: If you decided to go with Dr. Diep, just have Pam to buzz off all the hair.) She was very nice but I told her not to quit her day job. I was start dozing off from the med and kind of in and out of consciousness. Don't quote me but my surgery probably starts around 10:30am. I aware there were two tech + Dr. Diep when they were getting the donors. The only time I was fully conscious was having my Pastrami sandwich (good), Fries (not good), and Apple juice (best I had ever taste but I think it is because of the med.) during lunch. I also aware that I may be bleeding a bit much (end up with IV) and talk a lot while I was out. I finally came back to full conscious when the two technicians (Kwan and Linsey) was injecting the hair to my head. I asked about the time and it was 11ish at night. We then spent about an hour making fun about the back to back Julia Robert movies (Pretty women + Sleeping with Enemy) on the TV. Dr. Diep would come in to check on us periodically and the surgery ends around 12:30am. Linsey then went through the aftercare package (med, shampoo, bandages, and shoulder pillow) while I pull my IV off my arm. She wasn't too crazy about it. Dr. Diep then spent couple minutes to give me a quick low down about my surgery (a lot of grey hair and it made things harder.) He was happy about the results after all and sent me on my way. After surgery: The pain was pretty ok. I took the Tramadol for the first two days and then just once a day Aleve afterward. I actually have more problems with the swollen and had trouble open my eyes two days later. I did not take any time off and went back to work the next day. I sent my photo to my boss and he told me not to get on zoom. I actually sent him another photo during the peak of my swollen, and he said never send him anymore photos. Things start looking up about four days later and the swollen was totally gone after 6 days. I still take Aleve right before bed time but it is more to do with the discomfort of the back of my head then anything else. Cleaning (day after): I went back to the office the next day afternoon to have my head clean. No appointment was needed. Jenifer the nurse was super nice and answered a bunch of dump questions that I did not ask the night before. It took about 20 minutes in and out. Billing mix up: I got a bill couple days later for some extra charges because my combined 2611 grafts are more expensive than $17K. I called the Monica the office manager and she was able to resolve it with Dr. Diep. Follow up call from Dr. Diep: Exactly one week after the surgery, Dr. Diep called my cell around 9pm to check on me. I can tell he just finished his shift and was getting in his car. He explained to me about the 14 hours procedure and the combination of FUE + FUT just took longer. He also apologized about the billing mix up due to the office manager did not read his note about the no charge. He ended the call to offer me a free ACELL injection ($600 value according to him) due to the billing miscommunication. Next steps: I have scheduled to remove the sutures in two weeks. An appointment with Dr. Diep for the first check up in four weeks. Overall: I am happy with the results and overall experiences. I can be just like many people her to nitpick stuff and expect the doctor to do everything perfect. You probably can tell by now that I don't take shxt too seriously. OK.. Let stop the rambling and see some before and after photos.

@anotherhairlosssufferer Give me time. I am not some one percenter (I do think I fit into the 50 percentile) that some member mentioned earlier. I have a day job and I took only one day off (surgery day) due to my work schedule. For people who is planning or considering Dr Diep, I personally think you will be fine. Maybe because of Jim's comments here or else, I am very pleased with my Op experience. My surgery is only two days old, so I have no idea how the end result will turn out. One thing is true that I had a great time with her staff (Pam, Jennifer, Kwan (sp?), and Linsey.) They were all so friendly to me and two of them + Dr Diep were with me to finish my surgery well past 12:30am. It was truly a long day for everyone, especially Dr Diep and the staff will do this all over again at 7:30 am the next day.

@jimcraig152 This is your review thread and I realize it is not respectful for me to take it off topic. My advice to you is take a step back and don't be too judgmental. Your result is looking good so far and like I stated before, if mine looks as good as yours, I will be happy. Life is a journey and I read your whole thread. I truly hope you can have more fun along the way. Also, I hope you understand there is a true different between a "critical thinker" vs a person just being critical. This is a hair restoration forum and it is a place for people to do research and also gets some entertainment. If you are able to focus your own results (not other people) to be the primary message, people will get more from all of your hard work. Btw, I am neither a pragmatic guy nor a critical thinker. You should consider me as a happy go lucky guy and someone who just doesn't take things too seriously. I also don't give a crap of what people thinks of me. You maybe surprise that can bring more positive energy to others and also for you to get some unexpected benefits. End of the day, your hair is progressing well. Good luck.

Jim, almost every single posts of yours here is trying to stop other patients to see Dr. Diep. When I first read the forum, I truly thought Dr. Diep mistreated you and was trying to screw you over. If he didn't even mean to you, why are you using an open forum to destroy his reputation and business? This is not what a decent person should do, even on internet. I seriously don't know what is your end game. Do you want him to shut down his business? Do you get commissions from other surgeons to bad mouth him? Do you do it just for fun, even though you mention your HT will likely be successful? When people does things, everyone has an end goal. What is your end game?