Vann

I havent taken a look at your before/after post op. But either they transected your hairs either during extraction and never got a full follicle out or they transected a hair when implanting. Hopefully it was neither but reading the comments about 5.5k is alarming.

I think even if it was failed you should consider consulting other physicians/surgeons on their opinion on next steps. What would you ultimately want from anything going forward? Remember, no transplant is truly one and done so do not lose hope in any possibly future development. 

There really isnt a definitive answer. There are some people who have slightly higher percentages of their hairs in the dormant or active phase. Most of the time there is a percentage and some people are within or slightly below/above. It is hard to compare one to another (unless you have a twin sibling). For the most part, you can probably guess based on your family history.

But with that being said, to answer you question. You can add dutasteride at any given time, should you receive a prescription from your doctor you can talk to them about the dosages and if you want to split the medication between finasteride.

I personally only take 0.5mg of Dut daily and 5mg of Oral Minox. (i take 2.5mg tablets daily one in the morning and one in the evening to extend the half life) and I havent experienced anything major. 

I will say tho. whenever you take one of the new medications you may experience some symptoms early on but they may subside over time or you get used to it. But make sure you note how you feel and express any concerns with your physician.

It is hard to say 5 months is not really a long time. It looks like you have some progress, You definitely had a lot of area to cover for 4.5k grafts. 

I would say at this stage you look like you are where 5 months should look like, but that varies per person.

Your frontal third does look like you had a good amount of grafts placed so hopefully, you start to get some results coming through in the next 7+ months.

3 minutes ago, Ketchupp said:

Is this a normal practice?  I actually wanted to move forward with a specific doctor but he wants around $107 USD just to see me on video and seems like he will only move forward from there.  I'd understand if it's to weed out serious vs non-serious patients but it's not applied to any portion of the surgery.  What's up with that?

There’s a ton of surgeons who will take free consultations to help build their portfolio of potential candidates. 

you can’t really blame someone for charging since it is their time. However, depending on the work ethic you don’t need a paid consultation when there are reputable clinics who will offer a free consult either virtual or in person. Just try and get as many perspectives from the ones that offer a free consult and if you want a specific surgeon, perhaps go for a paid consult.

all the ones I have had for free have been online with photos or video call. It’s a put off putting having to pay $X for 3-5 mins. Unless it’s extensive 30-60 mins of time I can’t justify that.

I had gone to HLC and had Bekir doing the implant and I have to say it looks orettt similar to mine (work wise). 
 

I was not aware he had parted ways with HLC and it seems like some other staff did as well. 

Nonetheless, thanks for sharing and happy growing!

If you care about how it is now, trust me you will definitely care about it in the future. Despite all that, if you haven’t explored all [more] medical therapy options try to wait a bit and see how the verteporfin trials work themselves out. Perhaps you could be a candidate for future trials. 

Could you brush your donor hair down and see how it looks long and short?

You could potentially get a HT, but if I was in your position, personally, I would not go with any of the doctors you have suggested but to differ from that. I think I would look at patients who are similar to your case and see what steps they took.

I would consider a few local surgeons and see what they evaluate you. Then show your potential HT surgeons your case in person and try to get as much feedback as you can in any approach that you take. It would definitely need long term planning and docs with a long history or track record would be your best bet.

Realistically, I think you would still need much more then your donor has and to perhaps go with a mature design with a slightly thinning approach. Therefore, I would probably consider only doing fue and staying with the same surgeon for multiple small sessions.

7 hours ago, sila said:

Dr Cengiz for extraction and Dr Kaan for insertion. 

I don’t think I follow, is Dr. Kaan new? 

The next 3-4 months will be difficult to tell exactly how well you have recovered. As time passes things should recover and get better. For the most part it may take up to 9-12 months to completely heal as your skin and surrounding hair recovers.

For the most part, you will definitely notice as time passes that it is getting better. For now just stay strong and embrace the upcoming ugly duckling phase.

3 cases is not sufficient evidence, its a no from me. I think if more people are willing to contribute their story I am willing to change my response at a later time.

Although the 3 cases have been insanely well performed with a great result, there have been amazing doctors who have fell off with time. With that being said could we possibly have Dr. Zarev share some cases, if he is willing to, and we can re-evaluate again in the future?

who did your extractions and implants?

There are different variations to how people adapt to MPB. Some are aggressive some have it light.

Sorta how obesity can work...If you look at different ways people adjust to being overweight by different groups across the globe you see how it changes. Either lifestyle or genetics, play a major part in how you adapt. EX: obesity in the US there are multiple people/groups that are affected differently even though they are the same size/weight/etc. as opposed to someone in EU. 

After 8+ Billion people there's going to be a majority that have similar loss and some that do not. It just feels worse because there are that many more people as opposed to 60% less in the past.

I did hear that there are hormonal imbalances that are happening in different parts of the US from the last 30+ years from thing like birth control and other otc meds that are leeched into the water system. Not sure if it plays anything significant but it wouldn't surprise me if our food affected by something similar as well. 

wow, having to go through repairs suck. But overall the end result after 3x HT I think this came out just as good. Its great that your forelock is strong.

Hopefully if verte has a break through with repairing damaged tissue you can possibly fix/address some of those overharvested areas. 

Drop that trap routine asap.

But glad to see you back @MachoVato and do you ever plan to do any future work? Not sure if you have been following the threads but look up verteporfin, its showing a lot of promise for better scars and the potential to yield future grafts you wouldnt have had access to.

First time I think I have seen you with facial hair too. Was this due to the peds?

**** man.... wow

On 2/3/2023 at 7:21 AM, Adrenaline7 said:

Thanks for the feedback. 
 

Sure, here are some pre-op photos. 

looks similar to my loss and hair characteristics  

your results look great btw. congrats

JUST WOW

4 hours ago, UnknownDeath2002 said:

Thanks for all the interesting info. My family heart history isn't great which is why I have been reluctant to try oral minoxidil but probably no harm in giving it a trial and seeing how it goes. Would you recommend switching to dutasteride as it would give an extra chance for regrowth?

I'm not sure if my donor area appears worse because I got a skin fade a couple of weeks back. I definitely don't have naturally thick hair, but it's the same thickness in the potential donor areas as it is on the top of my head which have not experienced thinning. However there is a big difference in the length of the hair.

Photos sometimes are hard to measure miniaturization across the board. It really depends on a factor of things that surgeons prefer to test in person.

as far as oral minox. Please consult with your physician and list all questions, concerns, and family history with them. Sometimes it’s not worth the adverse side effects.

with addition to dut… I was on fin for awhile but when I switch les to dut 0.5 mg daily I noticed a tremendous difference in my hair within the 2 years (more like 15 months) but you can always do what you tolerate best.  You may not always regrow but you could probably save a lot more grafts in the future. 

Have you ever tried to get in contact with any surgeons that are doing the verteporfin trial? I think your case may be a great study for their research. They may not want to have someone who may not be a good candidate. But it can be an indication for a number of different experiments to see if you have any other issues that are underlying.

If you are willing to be a candidate perhaps @Melvin- Admin can refer you to a doctor that is looking for patients to trial on?

Depending on your family history and future potential to lose hair. I would suggest getting on oral minox if you are able to tolerate the medication at 2.5mg you can switch to 5mg. 

You can also try swapping to dutasteride 0.5mg but of course speak to your physician and see if you  are a good fit for the meds.

Your donor looks so so from the photos its hard to say given the length and photo resolution. But with your hair characteristics I think you would need a ton of grafts and many future operations (3-4) to get something over the next 10-20-30 years. 

With that being said I think you should consider FUT... perhaps wait a bit longer and save some money and see how the other two meds I mentioned do over the next 12-18 months. Hopefully, by that point youll have a couple of dollars saved to do whichever procedure you find would best fit you.

Additionally, there is a drug trial for verteporfin that you should follow and see if that could potentially reduce any type of scarring you would have from either FUT/FUE and potentially be another way for you to get some grafts back.

Just remember, surgery should be your last resort because whether it is successful or not. You are stuck with whatever happens.

7 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Outdoors

 

remind me to keep any women i meet away from you

On 10/15/2023 at 3:13 PM, MikeJohnDaDon said:

Hit the 6 month mark the other day. Progress pics:

Relative from where you started, this is a great improvement. The nice thing is that you have the potential to keep improving as time passes. But hopefully your midscalp-crown will improve much more over time.

Do you know how many grafts you have remaining? Honestly, the 2 FUTs are going to be an amazing saving grace for you down the road. Extremely smart that you had gone that route.

Side note, do you have a graft distribution on the FUTs?

nice couto is a great surgeon. Hopefully you get results you didnt expect but hoped for even more.

Do you have the graft distribution and the remaining grafts/donor you have left?

If it is any consolation I recently went through a massive shed due to oral minox. I thought it was further hair loss or more aggressive hair loss. But I rebounded a bit and everything seems to be bouncing back. Sometimes these things happen and it makes it worse mentally. 

Regardless of outcome just remember. No matter how many operations or procedures you are satisfied with you will continue to lose ground. Just make sure you are aware of future proofing and potentially getting more procedures even if they are minor touch ups or bigger procedures. (Even with amazing survival rate)

Its too straining on yourself to make it all perfect. My best advice is to give yourself some more time and see all the alternative options you can explore before any future surgical routes.

most definitely things are not over and it may not the best outcome but giving yourself this timeline of accomplishments in your early 20s-30/etc. just forces you to believe that it is over.

wow first off, congrats on your first steps and great write up.

I think you definitely chose the best method possible to maximizing your lifetime grafts. However, why not try to get Konior to do your FUT? I think the man is a cheat code when it comes to anything hair transplant related.

Still H&W is a good choice, so please dont feel discourage if I mention that.

Nonetheless, I really like the conservative approach of FUT and working on this first procedure to give you as much coverage as possible then future proofing. The second procedure will most definitely be needed to give it the final touch up. But if you have a solid beard you could potentially restock your donor.

All the best and happy growing.