Bailey99

You are correct, I have a plan b which is flying direct. It means a longer stay but so be it.

Hey all, sorry been very busy with work, the 6 months has flown by. Latest pics attached. I can't notice much difference from a month or so ago when looking at the photos but do see it when looking straight on in a mirror. Very happy with the progress, it will be interesting to see how it finishes out. Considering my starting point, my main goal was coverage, a bit of density would be a bonus. My planned surgery in May couldn't go ahead die to Covid but I have another slot pencilled in for this day two weeks. So far everything looks to be going to plan even if its not straight forward - No direct flights between Ireland and Belgium so have to fly to England from Belfast and then get the Eurostar on from there.

5 and a half months in now. I buzzed the hair down to a 3 blade last week so it's difficult to see if there has been much progress from the last month. Outside photos this time seeing as we have unusually good weather in Ireland at the moment. Also due to the Covid situation in Europe my scheduled second procedure in May could not go ahead. Thankfully BHR have been able to re-arrange a new date for me in June.

Thanks for the wishes. You are correct on FUT but I chose FUE as my fall back plan was to keep my head buzzed and supported by SMP if the FUE didn't go as well as hoped. I also have a good beard and if required chest supply.

19 weeks or 4 and half months since surgery and a month since my last update here. Everything continues to come along nicely i think. My hair is getting longer now though so have a decide do I just keep letting it grow or do a DIY job to bring it back to a buzz cut (barbers are still shut here in the lockdown). I have my second surgery booked in for the second week in May, its not far away now and I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully covid doesn't throw a spanner in the works. The first 4 photos are with the hair combed forward.

Thanks Ian, the side by side photos are needed to see the difference and I am certainly very happy with how things are progressing. To give insight into that statement - I have seen many great results for different Doctors on this forum but there is still the risk that even going with the one of the best in the World, the results do not achieve the desired outcome. Therefore having done a lot of research and landing where I did, my satisfactory expectations pre-surgery were still basically as low as being described by a stranger as being a balding middle aged man rather than a bald middle aged man. Post op, my plan was to keep my hair in a tight buzzcut which would have been a little longer than as normal, however seeing the new hair come through I have started to let it grow out for the first time in 8 years . Admittedly being in a lockdown has helped this aspect and most of my friends and family still don't know I underwent a procedure simply because they haven't seen me since Xmas but I'm now back in my office and as I mentioned before the comments are very positive. To finish, even if my hair did not continue to improve I have surpassed what I had hoped for when I started on this.

Thanks and best of luck, you will be in good hands. I don't think Dr B does mega sessions with 7 or 8k graph counts ( open to correction on that) which I need and also the following: Having not had an in person consultation due to Covid, it was difficult to judge what donor I had available so I wanted to definitely concentrate on the frontal part. Completing the front took two days and I'm not sure I would have been able for a third or possibly fourth day. Also doing the front only first also allows me to gauge how well it took and how well it healed. Being happy with everything, I now have scheduled in a second op in May with Dr B to work on the crown.

Thank you, coming along nicely. Can't wait to get the rest done now. Also not that it makes much difference - mistake in my post- its 15 weeks today post op.

As promised, beard pics at 15 days since last shave. Also some more of the recipient, 16 weeks post op today.

Hey Melvin, thanks for the comments. Yeah no problems growing a full beard, I haven't shaved in the 6 days since i posted the photos, so i have the full stubble back, I normally keep it to what its like now but can let grow another few days. I'll stick some photos up of what it is like now and will add some more when it gets a bit longer.

Above close up photos are freshly clean shaven.

I don't think any scarring is visible, I'll get some photos up once I've shaved. No problems growing the beard, you would not notice that 1000 grafts have been taken from it. Earlier on I was a bit concerned that they would not blend in well but as i've grown the hair they have started to blend in. I have gone back to the office this week and people just think I've grown out my hair, most comment that they didn't realise i had any hairs to grow. My story for them is that growing out my hair has encouraged me to tackle my crown so have been open that I'm going to get a transplant in the summer. The reactions are very good, one guy came to me and told me he had a job done himself just before he joined the company. I would never have known otherwise.

My beard is 100%. It healed really fast, was pretty much healed when the scabs fell off after a few days. I'm not normally clean shaven, have always had some stubble. I will have a shave and post some pictures for you shortly.

Thanks Ian, yes I'm happy with the progress, the photos don't show it but I see a lot of hairs just coming through now.

Thanks, yeah should only be improvement from here. Very happy so far.

Week 12 update, decided to let it grow a little. Not much to report, the shedding has stopped and I notice some hairs sprouting.

Yes that the beard hair, it is a little thicker alright. When the new hair comes through i think it will blend in quite well. Most of what will be required to finish it will be beard or chest hair also. I shaved the head using a 1 blade just before Christmas and I thought the donor looked really well. I have been clean shaving the beard now also and I cannot see any scars, it healed really quickly.

Week 9 now. At the stage there is not a lot happening. In normal times I'd have it well shaved by now but as I'm going nowhere with this lockdown i'm going to leave it grow a few weeks. I now also have my second procedure booked in with Dr Bisanga for the summer. Also do you notice new hairs growing in the Crown in the last pic, there seems to be new ones popping up? Again I think i may be repsonding well to the Fin.

Happy New Year all. 7 weeks today since my procedure. Not a lot happening, the shedding seems to have stabilised. It seems I have gained hair behind my ears again, so maybe that is the Fin taking effect, maybe it will help the crown as well. Nice day so outside pics

Hey Storeyteller, I can tell you that I had 3000 graphs in the frontal part and 1200 in the mid scalp. I don't know the area to be covered in a cm2 figure but looking at my pre-op photos it is extensive. It even shocked me, as I'd been shaving my head for the last 7 years. Going into this and considering the area to the covered along with what was available in the donor, my goal was more about coverage than density. The rest of the mid scalp and crown will be tackled with another procedure as soon as is possible, If I could get from being a NW6/7 to NW3 then I'd be very happy. You will see from the photos that my donor on the sides is poor, but on the other hand I have a very good beard and an adequate chest hair supply to be able to tap into. I am now on Fin a month (1.25mg Mon/Wed/Fri) along with MSM and Biotin daily so hopefully that will help the donor and hair i have remaining. Also notice the little shockloss (3rd photo) but that common enough though.

Hi Johnbob, Thanks for the comments.. I agree it does look a little unnatural at the moment but as Sl says, his was similar and it ended up blending in quite well. One of the main reasons i went to Dr Bissanga was because of Sl's starting point being similar to mine and the results he achieved. I can confirm that i will be going for a second procedure and hoping to get it done as soon as possible. In between i will be keeping the hair really short so it may not be too noticable. Another thing is this pandemic has one upshot in seriously reducing my contacts, outside of my family only 3 - 4 people i know have seen me since i had it done.

Hair buzzed down to a number 1 and clean shaved (I went with the grain under the chin as I didn't want to risk aggravating the skin), have to say it looks much tidier.