hair2022

Update as of 2 months or so. Just shedding and waiting. Photos are for: 10 days (front, back) 1 month (front) 2 month (front, back, sides)

I appreciate everybody's insight and want to give back to this community so I'm making this post after I had my surgery earlier today. My main goal is resting and recovering as best possible to maximize the results but will try to post regularly throughout the week with my progress so it can help others. Below are some of my initial notes. 4:30 am (updated arrival time instead of 5:30 am): arrived, signed paperwork, and changed into medical gown 5 am: met with Dr Diep to discuss my main goals and concerns, Dr Diep drew my frontal hairline, and then Dr Diep gave me a concoction of 3 pills that I took 5:30 am: started surgery (I don't initially remember much after this because I was asleep most of the time from the medication) 12:45 pm: lunch 1:15 pm: resumed implanting grafts 4 pm: finished procedure and cleaned up 4:15 pm: discharged My procedure took about 10 hours (FUT 3100 grafts estimated) and I was initially told it would take 12-16 hours (FUT 3500 grafts estimated). I was the only procedure for today and understand that Dr Diep MHTA Clinic regularly does 2 procedures per day. I can't remember the exact number of MHTA Clinic technicians that were there today or working on my procedure but it seemed to be about 6-9 total technicians which I was told by MHTA Clinic is about the total number of technicians they have staffed on their team. Other than the 2 technicians working on me (one for the left side, one for the right side), it seemed like that I may have benefited from having more technicians than normal work on my case in terms of extracting the hair follicles from the strip. My total procedure time was likely less by about 1 hour because about 400 less hair grafts (10%) were harvested and implanted (3100) than initially estimated and planned (3500). Dr Diep MHTA Clinic will refund me the difference from the $18,500 initially paid which likely will be a final total of about $16,400. Dr Diep said he would provide me with a final graft count the week after my procedure and I will update this with a breakdown of the graft count for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair. Dr Diep said my scalp is on the tight side as opposed to loose which is average so he cut less for safety reasons and because one of my main goals was a minimal FUT linear scar. Dr Diep also said the number of grafts that are able to be harvested are based on the density with how many hair follices per square inch. I was asleep for the first half of the surgery due to the medication and was awake at random times during the second half of the surgery. For the times I was awake, I remember Dr Diep coming into the room about 2-3 times to check on the implanating work the techncians were doing on me and make helpful recommendations. Also, the technicians working on me seemed to be extermely meticolous about their implanting, and were very nice and caring. When I met with Dr Diep before starting my surgery, I requested to shave my head based on information from past patients but Dr Diep said I didn't need to if I didn't want to and it may make sense not to based on my hairstyle and procedure I was getting for a frontal hairline and filling in to the middle section so I chose not to shave my head.

Thanks again for all the comments and helpful feedback. I followed up with Dr Diep MHTA Clinic earlier in the week and then had a 1 week pre-procedure call with Dr Diep yesterday where he and I talked about some of my most important goals such as a frontal hairline that is natural looking which includes single grafts in the front, density (high yield), no cornow implementation, and an FUT linear scar that is as minimally visible as possible because I wear a shorter hairstyle. I also told Dr Diep that I'm documenting my surgery, experience, and results on this forum and Reddit so I can use this information to hopefully help others going through this process. Dr Diep seemed to me to be genuinely empathetic to my concerns and goals that I told him during the call, said he is going to do the best he can for me with my procedure, and was friendly and positive. He also said it would be best for us to discuss again my concerns and goals on the morning of the procedure.

Appreciate the comments but my point is I reviewed both positive and negative feedback for Dr Diep, and made a judgment call that his overall great results would make him the best option for me.

Hi all, I’m getting my procedure done in 2 weeks on 8/19/2022 which has been a 1 year wait and the earliest surgery date for FUT 3500 after first emailing Dr Diep MHTA Clinic on 7/5/2021 and having my Zoom consultation with Dr Diep on 8/12/2021. I have to arrive at 5:30 am on 8/19/2022 and was told my procedure will take 12-16 hours so should be done between 5:30 to 9:30 pm. I will have my sutures removed on 9/2/2022 which is 2 weeks after my procedure. Surgeon: Dr Diep MHTA Clinic in Los Gatos, California Surgery Date: 8/19/2022 Gender: Male Ethnicity: Southeast Asian Age: 38 Norwood: 3 to 4 Hair-type: Straight black that is coarse but thinning Procedure: FUT 3500 (initial estimate), #### (final graft count - will update after surgery with breakdown of graft count for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair) Cost: $5.28 per graft ($18,500 total paid) Finasteride: Started February 2020 (once daily 1 mg) Minoxidil: Started February 2020 (twice daily to vertex) Location: San Francisco Bay Area (50 miles from Dr Diep MHTA Clinic) Additional Services: I’m not opting for the A-Cell ($600) and can’t get Amino Fill ($600) because Dr Diep MHTA Clinic said it’s on back order My reasons for choosing Dr Diep is that I watched his YouTube channel which has impressive results, and he is great at achieving density (high yield) and frontal hairlines that are natural looking by taking into account facial proportions. I’m concerned about how visible the FUT linear scar will be (hopefully minimal) since I wear a shorter hairstyle and get my haircut with a 1 guard fade to a 2 guard, but I want to maximize donor supply. I also read many reviews on here and Reddit, and acknowledge that Dr Diep is fairly controversial with the criticism (eg, intentionally implanting in cornrows as opposed to randomly which can look like a baby doll, left side is better than right side by starting left and moving right, could improve interlocking, appropriate angles, using fine singles in the front, having a more uniform extraction pattern on the donor, natural appearance, and donor management, etc). My preference is not to travel in the US or internationally to see other doctors. I ultimately decided Dr Diep is the best fit for me. I’m going to document my surgery and results with Dr Diep MHTA Clinic so this information can hopefully help others going through this process because this forum and all the posts have been a very helpful resource for me to learn about all of this. I also know it’s a big decision for many of us due to finances, physical recovery, etc. I plan to ask the Dr Diep MHTA Clinic technicians to take photos of me before the procedure where they cut my hair, after they cut my hair and before implanting the grafts, and after the grafts are implanted so that I can later post the photos here. Thanks to @Melvin- Moderator@Skyb@Cahustler@WS2020@jac@shucity@jimcraig152 for all of the time and effort in their very helpful comments and posts.