JoeMan

Yes, you should start one. I think it goes both ways. Helps others decide on Dr's and see the growing process and then it's helps you by getting guidance and input from others. Good luck!

These examples seem over the top but obviously you feel this question is as well. While I agree a bad surgeon will just lie to calm your fears, I honestly can't imagine an experienced Dr getting turned off by this question. To be honest, there is no way this question even makes it to him. The staff will answer it and it will only take a moment of their time. I think too much is being made about this on both sides. I don't think it's a big deal but I also don't think it's a big deal to ask. Honestly if my surgeon was turned off by this, then so be it. Now if someone asked the silly questions you presented above, then yeah, those are ridiculous and I'm sure you realize that they are in a different league of stupidity which are all personal questions anyway.

1k grafts won't do much and you really need your hair to stabilize 1st. At your age I think most top Dr's will ask you to wait though. I know you want results now but honestly I think being patient will serve you better. It might take 1.5-3 years to get scheduled with a good Dr and in my opinion, this is good timing. Then maybe focus on the front with 2-3k grafts depending on how you progress in the meantime.

How many surgeries have you had if you don't mind me asking? Honest question here...How many weekend procedures have you had? What I don't understand is why some people come here to ridicule someone with honest concerns. Sure, this might not be something that you would be concerned with but if @SadMan2021 is, that doesn't make him a bad patient that scrutinizes "small shit". I'm not sure how your post helps support him, but instead you seem to try to belittle him and make him sound crazy for asking such a question. And if asking your Dr's office this question turns them off, then they have bad customer service. If they can't qualm someone's fears on minor issues with a quick text then maybe they need a new patient coordinator. I bet they get way more silly questions than this.

That sounds like fun lol! Has your post op experience been the same?

You are still young with aggressive hair loss. Your donor looks weak and like Melvin said above, how would it look after missing 3k grafts. I'd say hold off a few years and see how you respond to the meds. In the meantime, maybe see if you can get on a top Dr's wait list. Cuoto being 3 years out might just be perfect timing for you.

@Melvin- Moderator Any particular brand you use?

Thanks I'll look into it and likely add them as well.

I have to be honest, I abandoned the search for Dr's in the US and Canada pretty early. The few I received quotes from didn't really offer a graft price. It was a procedure price and it was very expensive. One offered about 2k grafts for I believe 15k USD. Most Dr's agreed that I needed 3200-4000 grafts so that wasn't going to work. After I started looking into Europe more, I was sold. You just get better Dr's for your money. So needless to say I'm probably not the best person to ask about North America. I'm from the US but feel quite biased that the better value is in Europe.

Honestly I was ready to book Dr. Biçer when I came across @Rolandas post. In my mind I was only prepared for a Dr. Biçer price point but as I did more research, I realized that I wasn't going to box myself in on price as much. Not to say my budget became unlimited because it wasn't but I opened my mind to the 10-15k mark which put me in a different class of Dr's in my opinion. I reached out to Dr. Ferreira through Fast Track in probably March or April last year. Within 48 hrs I had a detailed response. More detailed than most of my other consultations. They provided a November date originally but I waited 3 weeks to decide. By the time I did, it was a Jan date offered. In thr mean time, I kept looking at Dr. De Freitas but his clinic lost my pictures and by the time everything was sorted out, I had already booked Dr. Ferreira. In August, I decide to take a trip to Portugal and meet Dr. Ferreira to see the clinic and help put my mind at ease. This trip wasn't necessary of course but I was glad I went because it's scary having surgery overseas. Leading up to my surgery, I still kept thinking about switching to Dr. De Freitas at times but so far, I feel like I made the right decision. Time will tell of course.

Here is a list/picture of my current supplements: Collagen, Beef Liver, MSM, Hyaluronic Acid, Zinc, Vit D and some multi vitamins from Dr. Ferreira. They have biotin, B5&B6 and a few others in it. I stopped taking the beef liver last week due to indigestion. Not sure if it was the cause so I'll resume in a week likely. Not even sure if any of this stuff helps lol but @MazAB had turned me onto a few of these. I was already taking some before surgery like Bone morrow and others. For cost, I've settled on this group for now.

With your budget I'd stay away from Turkey all together. Not sure how many grafts you need but for about 12-15k you can likely pay for travel and surgery with a top European Dr. If you're looking at Dr. Yaman, look at @digi23 thread before proceeding. Get a bunch of consultations from different Dr's and this will help you decide. Unfortunately top Dr's are booked out 6 months to a year or more so be patient.

That was the area that had the largest scab after surgery. I'm guessing it had more trauma and either the grafts are dead or really slow to respond. It's about the size of my index fingertip but it's slick bald. I keep hoping I'll see something pop through the skin in the area but nothing yet. At least it's far enough back that I can possibly cover it up when everything around it grows.

10 week update: So it's been 10 weeks. Not much change but possibly more growth. I think it's becoming more full each week but obviously still has a ways to go. I see plenty of little hairs popping through now and a few pimples that just subsided. All good sign I think. Hopefully by month 4, I can style my hair again. I don't use Topik and never have but lately I've been thinking about it. Let me know if you think it would help at this stage and what color I would require if so. Just been wearing a hat lately. Thanks

10k is a decent amount. I agree that you should get back on meds. The good news is that most good clinics have a rather long waiting list, some up to a year or more. A few Dr's to consider in your price range. Dr. Pinto and Dr. Ferreira in Portugal. Dr. De Freitas in Spain and Dr. Bisanga in Belgium. Dr. Bisanga might be a little out of your range honestly but I'd still consider him. Several other Dr's that you can consider if you look around. My advice is to make a list of Dr's in your range then get a bunch of consultations. @J.A.C do you know where the list with prices are? Can you please share it on here as this is really helpful as well.

Dr. Ferreira is Mon-Fr but surgery is only Tuesday-Friday. Monday is a consultation day I believe.

You are correct I made that assumption. Since @SadMan2021didn't request a weekend surgery, I figured the Dr booked weekends due to load. Several patients in this forum requested Monday procedures as well. Personally I'd still consult the clinic and ask but that's me. Some people wouldn't think twice about it. You're right it's not a big issue and I'm not saying it is but I think you're off base implying that @SadMan2021 thread is ridiculous. It clearly helped him and may help others. While you live and breathe hair transplants, most of us are not informed on the inner workings of clinics so we post and ask questions here. I know if my Dr told me I was having neck surgery on a Sunday, I'd question it. Obviously the HT industry is different but we don't all know this.

Sure, it's a free market and like you said when demand increases, the doctor might start working weekends to make more money and make more customers happy. Or, the Dr doesn't have to supply weekend surgery and can continue a typical 5 day week with a longer wait list. You saying that it's ridiculous to ask questions about this seems harsh though. I'd bet that it's quite uncommon for most Dr's to perform weekend procedures. The risk is that the Dr and his team can be overworked or fatigued, thus lowering the quality. We are all human and can reach our limits and plenty of work studies reflect this. While I'm not saying that this is the case here, I don't think it's ridiculous or crazy for @SadMan2021 to inquire about it in this thread or even ask the Dr's office about it. In the end I'm sure everything goes well but having mild anxiety around this issue is ok. If fact, I believe this thread seems to have lowered his anxiety which means that this site and thread served its purpose, no?

Well said 👏 I truly hope that you get your hair to your liking, whether through HLC or another Dr. Your post is important and highlights that HT are not always perfect. I hope you don't think that I'm discounting your issues because I think that HLC could've done better. I just feel like it can be fixed. If they offer to repair your hair and you say no, I'm not sure they'll offer you money instead. It seems to be very uncommon for money to be offered. But honestly, I hope you can get something back if that pleases you. Please keep us posted.

Yes please create a thread and post your results. This always helps. While I don't think this Dr is scamming anyone, I think the OP is wise to be mildly concerned about a weekend surgery. If this is normal for this Dr then I guess it's not a big deal. Either way I'd just ask for your own peace of mind. Sure, it's probably nothing to worry about but asking someone about it can only ease your mind as well.

Well I assumed that you thought so considering that you are asking for 5K€ back on a 8K€ hair transplant. That would mean that it's over a 60% failure. Sorry if I misunderstood but it sure seemed like you are extremely unhappy.

Shedding is normal as others have stated. Did you figure out the shock loss?

I guess it's hard to truly know if it's working. How would you know that without using it, you wouldn't have had the same growth? Genuine question as I'm always a little skeptical about these things that seem like snake oil to me. Your hair obviously looks thicker. Is it brushed back in the 2nd picture, because in the 1st it's pretty spiked up? I know you said you were measuring your hair as well but I still wonder how you'll ever know if the growth wasn't from vitamins and minoxidil?

Any update on your progress?

Here is 1. I remember another about a month ago where many throughout his head had weird angles. Some people thought it was shedding. I'll try to find it later or if something else recalls and can point me to it, I'd appreciate it.