Dhcyoo

On 9/12/2022 at 10:55 AM, Dillpickle123 said:

Perhaps but most surgeons wait till then anyways 

yeah to cover up their behinds. 

20 hours ago, asterix0 said:

It is a little disappointing that posters aren't supported more considering how heartbreaking it is to have a failed result, after all the time, money, high expectations put into surgery.

There is a high chance OP you will not have a satisfactory result and it looks like your yield is about 50% or even worse, just objectively speaking.

Your immediate post op photos look good, but do you have 10 day out photos after washing out the scabs? That is a good indicator of what the result "should" look like down the road.

 

I really appreciate your empathy and just sitting in with my deep dissapointment and the heartbreak after spending so much of my resources... the comments about "just wait 12 months!" may be true logically, it doesn't really help much emotionally. and my hope is that in community like this, where i'd like to think that we're reading this because we ALL know what it feels like to be emotionally hurt/sad/dissapointed, we would be able to support one another more emotionally. 

On 9/14/2022 at 3:53 AM, RTC said:

Fair play bro, but in all the threads I've seen I don't think I remembered more than two or three where six months was poor and then it took off after that. Hope I am wrong too and OP gets a result.

I appreciate you naming that. I totally agree. I have never seen growth that was weak around 7-8 months becoming "WOAH that's a big improvement" at 12 or 16 months. If anyone seen it please do share.

20 hours ago, asterix0 said:

It is a little disappointing that posters aren't supported more considering how heartbreaking it is to have a failed result, after all the time, money, high expectations put into surgery.

There is a high chance OP you will not have a satisfactory result and it looks like your yield is about 50% or even worse, just objectively speaking.

Your immediate post op photos look good, but do you have 10 day out photos after washing out the scabs? That is a good indicator of what the result "should" look like down the road.

 

the last 2 photos in my original message is actually 8th day. And you can see significantly less number of plants/hair there...

24 minutes ago, RTC said:

What's confusing about it? Simplest forum to use ever

the replied messages are not organized via stack up / indent like reddit - so there's lot of scrolling up and down to see who had said what, etc.

On 9/9/2022 at 11:45 AM, HappyMan2021 said:

Just thought i would chime in myself as a mwamba repair patient from the nj clinic who is 3 months post op.

I still have 50 or so badly angled grafts Mwamba - for whatever reason - couldnt or didnt extract during surgery. 

Im open to him fixing this during a 2nd round, just hope it would be free or a vastly reduced cost. 

I really don't want or need the horrible stress of a full on surgery, just to get 50 grafts exctracted.

Im hoping I can go to Mwambas Atlanta location, but im actually not 100% sure he is operating there. I feel like he still is...but unconfirmed. 

I went to Mwamba bc i really needed a top level surgeon to do my repair. And while i do think 90% of my transplant will be amazing, it still sucks its not 100% complete. 

The good news i guess is at this point, any "B-list" or higher doctor should be able to identify and extract these remaining grafts. 

So if i do need to get these extracted, my options arent limited to the few truly elite repair docs, i have a wider selection now. 

Still massively sucks for me to be so close to the finish line, and just having a few dozen bad grafts holding me back. 

Seems like you and I might be in the similar boat - needing some sort of repair. I totally agree with you the stress of going through the surgery and post work... is insanely painful and stressful. I basically invested one year of my life here... 

12 hours ago, mustang said:

I had a great experience with them, all very nice, however, I am not a patient who needs any type of after care contact or service.

Couto and Feriduni never checked on me again after surgery, neither did Lupanzula, I don't recall any clinic every contacting me after but one saying you are now 6 months out etc...

I agree the service of My WHTC has to improve despite on how nice and ethical Dr Mwamba or there wouldn't be these complaints.

I hope they can improve on it.

A free touch up is not warranted imho here, whatever was implanted grew. 

Nah, whatever planted, did NOT grow. That's the problem. 

1 hour ago, Z-- said:

First less than ideal Mwamba result I've seen. Very unfortunate. I think even if it was shock of native hair, a touch-up ought to have been offered, as it doesn't rise to his usual standards. It's either a case of lack of growth (doubtful) or poor planning - both warrant a discussion to solve this itssue.

The lack of communication is very concerning, especially now that 3 different people have stepped up. It's really a shame -- Mwamba is a super nice fellow and usually is as near a surefire guarantee of a good result, but the office really needs to get its act together. Patients shouldn't be strung along like that at all.

I hope you can reach some resolution.

I appreciate you sharing your similar sentiment of concern, given that patients do look into this network as a source of referral - I went with Mwamba because of the video chat that @Melvin- Moderatordid with Mwamba and the positive reviews; and the result is not so great so I'm quite dissapointed. To be fair, as I mentioned in other reply, Justine, the administrator said she'll get back to me next month - but the track record of their communciation has not been reliable. So I'm really hoping that they would give me update - if not, I'd be one sour and dismissed patient. 

If anyone knows what's going on with their US operation, please do share. 

4 hours ago, Gramatik said:

i think this result is Unacceptable for 5$ per graft. When you pay premium prices you demand that everything will look perfect as an outcome. But here we can see poor growth in some areas plus shock loss of your native hair, so giving this outcome. I think you will need to do a repair procedure to other doctor..

I appreciate that. I totally agree. This was over $10,000 surgery. There needs to be an accountability. 

1 hour ago, JP28 said:

They are not in Atlanta anymore.

Please expand. What's going on with them? And why aren't they in Atlanta anymore? What happened to them? Did something bad happen? 

36 minutes ago, Ajamilo said:

He is Joshua and works for them. He is also trying to sell and promote the DUT from the clinic on other forums such HairlossTalk but a lot of people exposed him pretty fast there.

so dont worry if he attacks you

The communication interface for this forum is really confusing and unintutive - @Ajamilo, would you write down the screenname/ID of the Joshua guy who works for Dr. Mwamba? I'd love to have a chat with him.

10 minutes ago, SteveUrkel02 said:

Hey, if the temples will not close up then you should DEFINITELY get a free touch up. I also had a procedure with Mwamba about 2 months ago, so I can’t comment on growth so far. I just saw your thread on Reddit and you complained about the doctor and team not responding. I sadly have to say that I have been experiencing a very slow and uninformative service. I have barely asked questions yet. Once I asked if I could use minoxidil on the recipient area. The patient coordinator said he will ask the doctor and he will be back soon. No answer. When I asked again this particular question was not even answered 👍. Also After 1-2 months I received an e-mail where I was told to send photos from different angles and if I had any questions I shall fell free to ask them. I sent pictures and asked 1 question. Still after several weeks no answer. I have to say that this feels very weird and although I am not even in the growth stage yet I am starting to get worried because . This is very poor patient care. I hope they are just very unorganized, but after 3-4 incidents it starts to become UNACCEPTABLE. I paid 15 thousand euros ! 

Yeah, their service is horrifying. I'm surprised how that is not mentioned in communities like this. I think more people should share experiences like these - we've invested so much of our resources and that cost deserves much better aftercare. The only way to get in touch with them is via call because they RARELY respond to your emails. I mean, at this point, I've known than almost over a year (from pre-op conversation till now) and that's been my consistent experience. And I had to do so much work trying to get their attention. I called Justine (the admin lady) to ask about my future checkup plans since they closed down NJ office (which I have no idea why) and all she said was "they're trying to revamp the American operation." And they said they'll get back to me next month about my followup/checkup visits. Given the track record, I feel like I'll have to call them again to see if they will give me a spot IN A MONTH. I told them I don't live in Atlanta, so I'll need to know well in advance so I can plan my trip (not to mention it'd be during winter/break time - horrifying time to travel just to get my hair seen by the doctor). Taken all together, doctor is a sweet/gentle/thoughtful guy. The team is lovely. However, the after service, including the communication has been unorganized and non-reassuring. Yes, the doctor had met up with me via whatsapp but that took a long time and I had to jump through hoops to make that happen. I'm surprised how Dr. Mwamba's team has been known to be elite here.  Also, I'd like to mention the surgery takes VERY LONG TIME compared to other places. It took almost 24 hours (2 FULL days until midnight) to do 2200 grafts on me. I was very confused and exhausted... He said he likes to take time to make sure it gets done well - great! I really appreciated that. Given the result i'm experiencing now (of course, we'll have to see the final result at 12 months) and the time/resources I'm experiencing... this has been pretty challenging experience. 

1 hour ago, Vann said:

I think the disconnect is that you still have miniaturized hairs and that when you have them short it’s hard to see, but perhaps when they’re long they become thinner smaller hairs. Those hairs may have some survival in the future it depends on their growth cycle and shed cycle. Not every hair is in the same phase so perhaps he saw under the microscope the phase the hair looks most appropriate to be. 
 

just take your time with the density. In my honest opinion if you can get him to touch up your procedure for free that’s a steal. I have seen him do a lot of peoples repairs in this forum when things go bad. So I would say based off those reviews you’re in good hands. 
 

perhaps the PRP sessions you get (if you continued) may help to thicken up your hairs a bit, but you would have to grow it out longer to know for sure.

I appreciate your explanation. It makes sense that minimaturzied hairs might be more visible if I do let them grow out -- he might have seen the weaklings trying to survive under the microscope, but it might not have been visible with naked eyes since I've always kept it short. So giving more time, the minituarized guys can thicken up, and hopefully fill in the patch. Then his reasoning makes sense for not planting as much in that spot. I mean, just thinking through, as a transplant surgeron who wants to give the result patients want, it wouldn't make sense to "not plant" just for the heck of it. I'm sure his reasoning was true that he did see potential hair growth there. I think what I'm faced with is the miniatruzed hair struggling to grow - and that's not visible because i'm keeping it short. So, thank you

19 hours ago, mustang said:

I am sorry to see the outcome is not that great, there were obvious signs of miniaturization where low density was implanted and these grafts can or won't survive a transplant, it happens all the time, even with transplanted hair. Are you on medication? 

I always tend to believe that those areas are best to be treated as they had no hair but he respected the native hair you had left and only implanted a couple of hundred grafts on each side on the circled parts.

1) Is this a good esthetical result?: No, you definitely need a touch up of 250 grafts per side

2) Did you have shock loss from miniaturized hair?, Yes, 100%. That is why your hairline looks dense and with proper growth and the connection is not there with your native hair.

3) Did you have good growth?: Yes, definitely over 90% which is the norm with any elite doctor.

You just had further hair loss and there is nothing and none who can prevent that, you will need to stabilize it with medication and get a touch up to blend in both areas, I have had to do it several times.

I hope Dr Mwamba or another good surgeon can give you the result you are looking for and deserve. 

So you're saying, he saw some native hair hanging out, even though they were miniaturized, and decided to not plant there to give the weak native hair chance? While I can appreciate his conservative approach, I wish that he had shared that approach with me and see if I want to be more aggressive with planting hair. 

Also, can you clarify what you mean by "i had further loss?" I don't think I had further loss in any of my areas - the areas that didn't grow, simply had no hair planted. And as you can see pre-post, there were no visible hair in circled areas that he didn't plant. 

As mentioned in the original post, I have been on fin for awhile and it's been working. So I don't think I'm losing hair.

On 9/6/2022 at 6:19 PM, HappyMan2021 said:

If your growth was more diffuse, i would say just be patient and that some of the grafts growth is slower than others

But the fact that your post op photos show a lack of implants in specific areas, and now these areas are not growing - unfortunately i do not think you can expect further growth

If its any solace - I know you are a 1st time patient. Its actually pretty uncommon to have a perfect end result after 1 surgery

It seems like plastic surgery advanced cultures like Korea have really strong thick density results in the first surgery. Is this 1+followup surgery a common thing in the states? 

10 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

I think the hair there might’ve been affected by shock loss 

Please say more? Shock loss from existing weak minituarized hair? Or shock loss of the transplanted hair? 

4 hours ago, RTC said:

Definitely a poor outcome, simply telling him to grow his hair longer is not a solution as there will be visible gaps behind the hairline. Some photos look much better than others though.

I guess all you can do now is wait and then either try to get Dr Mwamba to touch it up (should be for no cost in my opinion) or go elsewhere.

I appreciate you naming that "grow your hair" is not the solution. That's how I have felt every time I hear someone respond me with that comment. I didn't spend 10K to "seem like" I have hair. My hope is to get the density that I'd like to have at that price point. So, thank you for naming that. 

On 9/6/2022 at 8:14 PM, pkipling said:

I can see why you'd be concerned - and your concerns may very well be valid, buuuut... I wouldn't jump to any conclusions or have another procedure until you reach the 12 month mark. While 7 months is a significant amount of time to get a solid idea of how your hair transplant is going to turn out, there's always a possibility that things really kick up over the next 3-5 months. 

I know it may be a frustrating answer, but waiting is really all you can do right now. And as HappyMan mentioned above, even if you do need a 2nd procedure, keep in mind that that's fairly typical, though not ideal to have to have one so soon after the 1st one. 

I hope this turns around for you. Keep us posted. 

I appreciate your encouraging response. That's my plan - to give at least 12 months to see what happens. I'd really love to hear stories of individuals who might be in the similar situation who saw patches around 7-9 month mark and saw growth hmm... ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN EMPATHIZE WITH ME?

On 9/6/2022 at 7:05 PM, HappyMan2021 said:

IMO if you do need a 2nd pass, you are a layup case for any elite surgeon. 

I do understand your hesitancy to go with Mwamba again. However, i dont understand the logic of going from Mwamba to HMR. HMR does not seem elite and unless budget is an issue not sure what is drawing you to them.

Just take your pick of any elite doctor. Does not have to be Mwamba again. 

It's so challenging to figure out who "elite" doctors are. In Reddit community, HMR is super highly regarded - but it seems like folks here don't really like HMR. And after experiencing Mwamba who's supposed to be the elite doctor here, I don't really have a good tool to gauge who the elite doctor is anymore. Does anyone have advice on this? 

5 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

It looks to be growing well for 7 months. Keep in mind, you do have to have some length to your hair to have the illusion of density. I doubt it will look optimal keeping it at that short length. 

Thanks, Melvin. I appreciate your thoughts given that you'd gone through an extensive surgery. If I were to pursue the second surgery, after how many months should I receive the second hair transplant, would you say? Also, in your experience, is "fixing"/"touch-up" different skill than the whole surgery itself? I'm wondering if I should be looking for a specialist who can do "fix-up" surgery or a reputable surgeon (i'm considering HMR in Mexico) would be able to do the fixup. 

20 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

If your growth was more diffuse, i would say just be patient and that some of the grafts growth is slower than others

But the fact that your post op photos show a lack of implants in specific areas, and now these areas are not growing - unfortunately i do not think you can expect further growth

If its any solace - I know you are a 1st time patient. Its actually pretty uncommon to have a perfect end result after 1 surgery

Thanks for your response! As mentioned in my post, Dr. Mwamba was certain that he put less graft there because there were already hair in those areas, which I doubt because my pre-surgery photo does not show any hair in that region... So I'm having difficulty understanding what he means by that. I mean, I don't think he would lie to me and I do believe he provided the best work he can. Do others think that it might be true that there were more hair in that spot? Does his explanation of "shock loss" make sense (even though I don't see hair in that region in the pre-surgery photo?) 

I had the FUE surgery done on early February 2022. It's been 7 months and my result does not seem to be getting better. Particularly my temple is not growing and I wonder if this is normal and if I should be concerned about this. Dr. Mwamba is a good guy but I must say I'm a bit concerned about my growth compared to others' photos at this point. I am particularly concerned because it seems like there were less grafts planted on the temple areas (as you can see in my post op photos), which he responded with "there were other grafts already there" When I spoke to him about 6 months mark, he said that there might be shock losses and it's normal for front hair to grow first and temple to catchup later cycle. But I have never seen photos on reddits (hairtransplant) not on this network. Could someone share with me if you know of any similar cases and the temple filled up later around 12 months mark? I'm already looking into different clinics for a fixup. 

$5 per graft, New Jersey, Dr. Mwamba, roughly 2200 grafts. 1 PRP session, i have been on fin for 1.5 years and min for last 5 years

Hey Melvin - how do we access the live Q&A?? Will this be via youtube? would you please let me know how to have access to the live discussion? Thanks!

@JDEE0 Thanks!

@Snowboard Thanks for your response. Would you share an article that you mentioned about Distefano screwing you up and Dr. K fixing you up, with me? That'd be very helpful