Harry Bosch

Rock solid

Honestly I don’t mind it, although I have been concerned it might be indicative of some scalp condition that might negatively impact the final result. Dr. Bruno answered that question over WhatsApp and remains optimistic that the growth there will be healthy

I remember him showing me close-ups of the immediate post-op photos. He was really happy with how the dense pack blended with my native density and there was not any discernible difference in imaging between the native hairs and the implanted grafts. Hopefully it grows in as a he designed

I think he has a growing record of excellence. Hopefully I turn into another one of his success stories 🤞🏼

Still looks white/gray to me, especially in the daylight. I get a lot of comments on it. Dr. Bruno suggested it will be less noticeable when my hair gets longer and the trauma of surgery wears off. Grays in that area were existing prior to surgery but I had no idea the extent - likely related to some form of fibrosis that Dr. P hopefully remedied with an additional 200 grafts

Here is a quick update at 7.5 weeks. Fully immersed in The Desert, and navigating the best I can. Got a haircut on the sides, following Dr. Bruno’s advice to scissor the cut the temple peaks. I think the shedding phase has (hopefully) concluded and hope that the growth of my native hair up top starts to hasten - I am following @MazAB’s suggestions on supplements to facilitate faster and healthier growth of native hair. Looking forward to feedback & any suggestions on general hair care for this humbling step in the process !

4 weeks in the books. Sharing some progress pics. Can see a good amount of shedding in the temple peaks & temporal regions (or “entrances” as they say overseas). Hard to say what % of the implanted hairs have shed. In earlier posts, I detailed how Dr. Pinto discovered a peninsular region that extends into my mid scalp. It had been significantly thinned by some type of fibrosis, he speculated. That same area is defined by a stark gray patch, and I’m wondering if there is a relationship? And if I have anything to fear with the overall outcome. It looks must unusual right now with such short hair. Curious to hear commentary on that topic, along with the health of the recovery & progress. thanks!

3 weeks out of surgery. Some outdoor pictures from this morning. Looks like right on the cusp of the shed and can see some sparse areas where the recipient has likely already shed slightly. Temple peaks, especially the left one, seem to be shedding already. Also evidently I have a much more prodigious gray patch than I initially thought ! 👴🏼

Best of luck, mate. Hopefully see ya at the finish line

@Falconary @JDEE0 Did your recipient grafts live in a smooth tiny little hill early on while the scalp was still recovering from the surgical trauma ?

For frame of reference, here are the pre-shave, pre-op, and immediate post-op pics. (fwiw both Dr. Pinto and Emilio feels everything looks perfect at this time, but in this game it’s not easy to diminish any anxiety!)

Two weeks in the books. Here’s an update. Some shock loss, especially in that peninsular region where Dr. Pinto found that some type of fibrosis had really thinned me out. He implanted about 200 grafts there. It’s also an area where I have a significant gray patch, which makes it look more sparse imo. Also, question for the HT vets: in the hairline where the grafts where implanted, I’ve got a little ridge upon which the graft were placed — during the shampoo phase of the head wash, I can feel where the native hair ends and the implanted grafts are very very slightly elevated — is that common? Pictures:

That was my experience with Dr. Ferreira. Every time I asked if consultations were available, his assistant would respond a day later saying they were still not accepting new patients. Both Pinto and Ferreira are full service surgeons, doing literally ever aspect of the procedure & treating just one patient per day. So there’s no way for them to scale up when business demand increases. If you can, stay patient and periodically circle back in case their availability improves. Fwiw, in addition to Ferreira, Dr Pinto is also a big fan of Freitas. I consulted with their clinic as well, which took a couple months to respond to my photos with an assessment and quote. They were booking about a year out. I ask if cancellations occurred, and Freitas advisor said “yes” but I had to book a date & pay the deposit in order to be eligible for a cancellation date. If you have the freedom to go this route, I say do it — you might wind up waiting just 6 months instead of 12 months. My work responsibilities vary by season so I went with Pinto when they offered me a date during a down cycle. Definitely got lucky in that sense, the only drawback is that my summer socializing will take a bit of a hit!

Thanks mate. Dr. Bruno had remarked to me that he recently paused incoming consultations for new patients because their surgical schedule was booking almost a year out - he didn’t feel it was fair to evaluate prospective patients with such an existing business volume. So that might explain the delay in communication. The surest way to start and sustain a dialogue is to connect with coordinator Emilio through What’s App, if you haven’t already. I think his contact details are available in JDee0’s thread, which was where my connection with the clinic began. And yes I stayed at the clinics hotel, plus two additional nights. Was a good experience. Happy to share advice on how to maximize your enjoyment there. For example, I was not super impressed with the room service menu …until I really thumbed through booklet and found a diverse full course dinner menu. The staff is wonderful and I can tell they are acclimated to seeing HT patient bc nobody looked at me sideways after the surgery. They even helped me get a rapid COVID test at a local pharmacy — I needed an actual swab & the printout to upload in order to check in for my United flight back to the US. I paid for two additional nights but that turned out to be overkill - I was ready to return to the comfort of my own home after the post-op head wash + instruction tutorial.

Most patients report a 6-9 month waiting period. I was regularly in touch the patient coordinator Emilio and asked to be informed of cancellations. I think we began a dialogue in January and at some point I was offered a date in March. Ultimately 17 May became available and I booked it probably a month in advance. So the short answer is that’s it’s initially a long wait but possibly shorter with the fluid surgical schedule.

And some pre-op pics, per requests. I’ll share the pre-shave pics that Dr. Bruno once the clinic sends all the pictures over 👍🏼

a few more featuring temporal angles & the temple peaks:

One week pics. Outdoor conditions after the AM head wash:

Thanks man. You are obviously a big help to me and many others who are finding their way. My post-op supplement stack also has your fingerprints all over it! You’d really enjoy talking with Dr. Bruno btw. Not just the nuts and bolts of the surgical process and anatomical factors, but also his thoughts on ethnicities, hair types, globalization (he believes Iberian based surgeons are doing really good work bc they are exposed to such a melting pot of hair types - traces it back to the early days of European exploration and colonization). I’d pay to see a conference where you, him, and Dr. Sethi were the keynotes !

Something like that! It might be reasonably early in the overall progression of alopecia, however this battle has been waging for like 12-13 years. My feeling was the commitment to medication got me here, and I was in a good position to confidently intervene now — redraw the battle lines — while still young enough to enjoy a somewhat aggressive, totally natural result without fear of noticeable near-term loss behind the implantations. And aligning myself with a younger surgeon who can accommodate my future needs. He told me the overall change won’t be radical, but that subtle redrawing as you described while amount to a substantial change for me, both in terms of aesthetics and convenience, and hopefully buy some more years as well. 🤞🏼

Thanks mate. The full shave was his insistence, so I listened. And it turned out to be a good call bc it led us to the discovery of that fibrotic peninsula region in which he decided to disperse another 200 grafts. Everything you said about him and his team was spot on. Hopefully I’m right there with at the finish line in the Pinto Success Stories soon enough !

From the instant he greets you at the door, you’ll feel at ease. DM with any questions and I’ll share anything I can to help. You’ll do great, brother

Yes! I’ll share the clinic’s pics as soon as a I get them. Will totally clarify my goals, who I wanted this, and the exact parameters of Dr. Pinto’s work

@Curious25 had some good thoughts on this. Lower NW’s can achieve a substantial cosmetic improvement with with a well-planned and executed surgery. For me, the shape of my recession coupled with my hair type — think Don King’s hair on Timothee Chalamet’s face — meant my hair looked bad without intense, time-consuming styling tricks. My goal was to look good and not “less bald” and hopefully it works out that way. Plus, if the surgery hits, spending only 5 minutes to style your hair vs. 15-20 minutes extrapolated over a decade+ is another key benefit, too, imo 🤞🏼