asiako

Right! I'm 46 now, so hoping it's a gradual loss to retirement

Understood. I'll really look into what I can do (realistically) with those remaining grafts.

Yes, that's correct. I should have been more specific. I'm looking for both a density boost and a slight lowering of 1cm (give or take). Thanks for the feedback!

My main issue has been along the hairline. A lot of improvement with the first HT, but I'd like to get it to the attached GIF (animated comparison) I'm told I have about 3000 grafts left, and I don't want to use them all on the hairline. Ideally I can get a revision with max 1200 grafts, and save the rest for down the line!

Nine-and-a-half month update! I'm happy with the hairline design. I was hoping for more density. I will consider adding more grafts in the future, depending on how it looks at 12 months. Here are before/after GIFs to show the comparison more clearly: https://imgur.com/a/4pqE6cF https://imgur.com/a/8EufuIV https://imgur.com/a/OuSLUGe https://imgur.com/a/kqpYdJ5

8 month progress update! Hope these photos are clearer. Unfortunately, I'm seeing very little difference between this and the 4-month mark. Still hoping for another boost before 12 months hits.

Been a while! Just one photo update doing a side-by-side. Hopefully before and after is clear lol Brow is a bit furrowed on the right pic, but also my head is tilted down further (so the difference is more dramatic in real life). Overall I'm happy with current progress, but still hoping to see more density on the hairline before 12 months. If not, I'm feeling positive enough about the experience to do a touch up (and my crown area).

Three months-ish update! Starting to see some growth of fine hair where there was none before. Pretty happy with progress so far and hope it continues.

Looks like I didn't post a 1-month update! (2 months as of today, following..) 6 weeks, and then 8 weeks --> Overhead, 2 months -->

Makes sense! I do think Dr Rahal was being conservative, given my profile. I appreciate that because.. it's easier for a surgeon to aim high and increase profits, right? But we all know the patient will call the shots at the end of the day (within safety measures). I'm 44, but there was some 'later in life' hair loss on my maternal side. I think I've already surpassed that (more hair than expected!) but my plan is to maintain for the next 4 or so years. If things are holding, I will look at another procedure-- possibly with a more aggressive donor plan. I also haven't been on fin/min all that long, so I'm hoping they will remain effective for a while yet. I'm not sure about the per/cm density of my donor area, but was informed my shaft density is 48 (average). I would definitely consider beard grafts for my crown, now that I've defined my hairline for the future. @Zoomster's results are hugely impressive! I would also consider SMP on my donor area, if it allowed for 7-8k grafts.

Correct! The estimate is 4800 total including this current operation. I was hoping for 7000 tbh. I also noticed with this op that I had more singles/doubles vs. triple/quad grafts than the average I've seen... so I'll have to be conservative going forward.

Two week check-in! I asked about my total grafts available. It was suggested I could have one procedure with 2000 more grafts, and a final with 1000 (before over-harvesting, I think)

Post surgery update! Day 0/1/2: Everything went well and the staff made me feel really comfortable. Dr Rahal is very 'to the point', but I like that.. I don't want to feel I'm being sold something, and he offered his suggestions that didn't always result in a higher cost-- which is awesome. The only hitch was that I have scalp eczema. It used to be very bad, and has left scars. That made the numbing injections ineffective, and they had to inject me a LOT. The actual needles were not painful for me, but when you can feel the graft removal... yikes! I should have said something earlier, but they picked up on my wincing. In the end I felt nothing. I think I had more swelling that is typical (at least from what I've seen -Day 1 photo below) but it looks like it went down a lot this morning. I just have a ton of itching, and may try out allergy meds as they suggested.

Completed my initial consultation with Dr Rahal today and I think it went well! He and Sarah touched on all my questions pretty much immediately.. donor density, shock loss, etc. My donor shaft thickness is at '48' (50 being average thickness). Could be thicker, but enough to use for this operation. Fin and min did bring back my overall density + some growth on the hairline,...but he said much of it could be gone due to shock loss-- and if some do make it, hey even better! But he wanted to accommodate so we didn't rely on that. He did quote 1500 initially and increased to 1800 grafts for that 50g/cm density. I had a feeling this might be the case. My hairline is eroded and doesn't really have a shape. The lack of density goes quite far back as you can see in today's photos. He broke it down into four regions where the highest graft count will be up front. He also adjusted the hairline against my uneven skull bones I think the unevenness will help with a natural appearance. I asked if he could use nape hairs at the very front for a softer transition, but he said they tend to die out. But they do aim for the finer hairs lower in the donor area.

Thanks for the honest feedback! The truth is my hairline has been like this for almost twenty years. I lost density over the last 5 years, and medication brought much of it back. I'd like to just fill in my hairline-- even if it's fewer than 1500 grafts in the end. The initial consultation was 1000 grafts, so let's see how the pre-op appointment ends up!