scooping around

I've now got a few pictures up in the Photo Album area now, please have a look guys and tell me what you think.

These are my post op pictures. Sorry that I couldn't take much pictures to show the first few days, but they'd be pretty close to what they look like right now...I've had 2000 grafts placed in the frontal 1/3 area, lowering my receded hairline by about 1 cm.

These are my post op pictures. Sorry that I couldn't take much pictures to show the first few days, but they'd be pretty close to what they look like right now...I've had 2000 grafts placed in the frontal 1/3 area, lowering my receded hairline by about 1 cm.

that was funny Bayer, I'd guess it really depends on which doctor you go with and the particular patient. My doctor did not require me to shave down the receipient area, and my receipient area didn't get red at all, just numb. Other than the smiley face that you get on the back of your head, I didn't really get any awkward looks at all.

notafraid... Please, please do more research...I've spent about 1 year on this forum before calling my doctor to schedule the surgery date. I too live in CA, and DROVE to Tucson, AZ when there's about 4 different Bosely clinics in CA, although I did have a consult with them and knew right away that they weren't the ones that I'd trust. All the consultants are just salesperson with a lab coats. I've been in sales for too long and can smell a salesman from a mile away. Maybe I'm in sales, my instincts just raises a red flag right away, when someone is trying to "pitch" me and "close" me the same day. mjb...good analogy, but you forgot to add that Burger King actually charges more than the privately owned burger joint.

I had the suture removed couple of days ago, man, that was painful. I guess I didn't clean the donor area well enough that the doctor had to pick off most of the scabs that covered the scar. It was so painful that I had to have him take half off first, take a break and then work on the other half...that was definitly the most painful part of the entire surgery. Now that the suture is off, the donor area feels much more relaxed now... The swelling is gone now, and for some reason my receipient area weren't red at all even right after the surgery. The receipient area does still feel a bit numb still at day 10 post op, but much better than before.

For some reason other than keeping the receipient area from sun light, my receipient area was not red at all, since day 1 post op. So I'd say your skin complexion may have be a big factor on how red it will be post op. It does still feel a little bit numb in the receipient area, other than that it's not that noticeble at all.

I'm at 9 days post op and have a few questions about the grafted hairs. At about 2 days post op, 2 hairs fell out with the white skin with it and a little bit of blood oozed out, so I'm assuming those are lost for good and will not be growing back. Right now, at 10 days post op, I'd say 99% of the grafted hair is still there, with some dried up skin on the scalp that looks like dandruff. Most of the dried up skin are about to come off with majority of them no longer on the scalp and at middle of the hair or at the tip of the hair. I really don't mind it as I took a month off work to heal, but when should I expect these grafted hair to fall out? I had a 2000 session with Dr. Keene BTW...

Hey Gorpy, when did Dr. Keene advise you to remove the suture? I was pretty drugged up when they told me, but I think they told me to remove it in one week. I've tried to contact them but they're busy in another surgery.

when you guys talk about cleaning the donor area well, do I really need to start scratching and rubbing that area when I'm shampooing? It still feels kinda tender and sensitive so I just gently rubbed it during shampooing, but never actually scratched it or anything. If any scabs for around there, would it make the scar more noticeble later down the road?

The swelling is pretty much all gone now. I'm going to go to a local critical care clinic to have the stitches removed at the one week post op mark. The HT went just fine, I still couldn't quite believe that I finally got it done after about a year of envy of you guys that have gone through with it and ended up with the amazing results. I ended up going with 2000 graft transplant with about 90% of it along the hairline and lowering the existing hairline about 0.5 cm to 1 cm lower. Dr. Keene actually wanted to lower it even further, but I chose to keep it only about 0.5 cm lower than my existing hair line. She also grafted about 200 grafts in the center of the frontal 1/3 area, where I'm also showing a bit of thinning. I've requested for the pictures that Dr. Keene's assistant took of my hair loss minutes before the surgery and should be getting them back soon. Can someone give me some pointers on how to start a photo blog like the rest of ya'll?

Thanks guys... Another thing that I wanted to share with you all is that the pain reliever that Dr gave me made me hiccup all day for the first couple of days post op. On my drive home from AZ to CA, I was pretty much hiccuping by myself the entire time, kinda funny. The swelling on the forehead is almost gone, but my eyes are still a bit red and swollen and it's definitly travelling down to cheek bone area. Good thing there's so many experienced folks around here that gave me the heads-up, otherwise I'd might be calling Dr. Keene everyday for advice. I think the Coalition Doctors should give a lot of credit to this forum to make their job easier. Will keep you'all posted.

I've just had mine last Thursday. I, fortunately have been planning this surgery for a while and have the luxury of not going back to work for a entire month. I'm at 4 days post op and the scabs are just starting to form. One word of advice, be really careful with the new transplanted hair, especially when you are taking off or putting on your shirts. I got all excited with the transplant and went out shopping for some new clothes and lost a couple of grafts while trying on clothes. I'm pretty much hat-less around the family, but out in public I keep a loose hat on to hide the redness and keep the grafts away from direct sun light. Good luck.

well FL-boy... I just got back from my surgery with Dr. Keene, and starting with the recovery. Let me know if you have any questions about my surgery at all. It was definitly an experience to remember.

thank you for the reminder folica.... I just got back from Tucson, AZ with Dr. Keene's surgery. Yes, the forehead is starting to swell a bit. I'm really not planning on be out in the public too much for the first week. My overall experience with Dr. Keene's work has been great. The medicine that they gave me during the surgery was able to knock me out pretty much throughout the entire surgery. Funny they asked me pick out 3-4 movies to watch during the surgery, I ended up only watching the first 15 minutes of one movie.

$5 a graft does seem quite high. I wouldn't judge the quality of work by the asking price of the doctor. Do a search for a coalition doctor within your area and I'm sure you will find out fairly close to you. There has been numerous law suits going on against Bosely for the ethic of their practice, I'm glad that I did my research before handing my head over to Bosely. I did have a consultation with them, and just didn't get the right feeling with them, seemed like they were trying really hard to "pitch" me and "close" me and get me strapped on to the surgery chair right away. Felt like I was dealing with some used car salesman.

Thanks for the words of wisedom from all you experienced folks. Dr. Keene seems to be able to do pretty clean incisions and natural hairlines (didn't want a aggressively low hairline until maybe for the second time around). It sure will be nice to be able to go out to the public undetectable 3-4 days post op. Hairbank: About 90% of the 2000 grafts will be placed in the frontal 1/3 area, and about 10% in the tempo area.

Hey everyone.. I'm going to Tucson on the 14th for my scheduled surgery with Dr. Keene for an initial estimate graft count of 2000. Been counting down the days, but hard to believe it as I'm getting closer to it. Really excite and nervous at the same time. Wish me luck guys...

Hey everyone.. I'm going to Tucson on the 14th for my scheduled surgery with Dr. Keene for an initial estimate graft count of 2000. Been counting down the days, but hard to believe it as I'm getting closer to it. Really excite and nervous at the same time. Wish me luck guys...

The percentage of people that see the negative side effects of propecia is rare, but they do exist. From what I gather through my research, most of the results that I've seen that does have a bit of "unnatural" look are the patients that have pretty much no hair at all near or at the hair line area. Haven't seen your pics yet, but if you have some natural hair left in the hairline, most of the highly rated surgeons here can do a good job of blending in your transplanted hair with your natural ones, to go by fairly undetectable even under bright lighting environments. Combined with your hair color, skin contrast, and the way you style your hair, you can do a lot to make it even more "undetectable". I'm not as fortunate in that regard that I have black hair, light skin and straight hair, which makes thinning areas more apparent. You can always take a look at the pictures that our surgeons show in their gallery to see if they pass your "natural" test. I'm still about 3 weeks away from my scheduled surgery and will definitly be posting my progress for pictures.

FL Boy... I'm 27 and have also been loosing my hair since my early 20s. I've been visiting this site for nearly a year by now, and have been on propecia for about the same amount of time. I'm lucky that I see none of the side effects that some people go through. If you are not sure about getting the HT, I'd learn as much about the procedure as possible here, or even talk to a few surgeons just to see what they have to say about your hair loss. I've had a consult with Dr. Keene and am scheduled for a transplant of 1500-2000 grafts during mid June. The surgeons that are recommended on this site can get a good idea of how your hair loss might progress and see if a transplant is really a good option for you. I'm personally not too worried about the 4-6 months of waiting time for the transplanted hair. I planned on taking about 1.5 month off work to concentrate on resting and keeping myself away from as much stress as possible. I'm also doing work in the hairline area, and was told that the redness and scabs should be gone in about 2 weeks (faster for the younger guys). Look at it this way, if you've been dealing with thinning hair for at least 4 years now, would waiting for 4-6 months(for the transplanted hair to sprout) be that big of a deal? After being a member on this site for quite some time, you learn that there's plenty of people thinking about and actually going through with the surgery at our age, and some as early as their late-teens. Just make sure you know all the details to make a good decision. Best of luck to you and let me know if you have any more questions, as we're in the same boat.

Hi, I've contacted Dr. Keene via email a few times regarding coming to Phoenix for a in-person consultation. She seems to be the best doctor closest to me(I live in California). Not sure what to do at this point, if I should research a bit more about which doctor to go with or just have it done with Dr. Keene. After being a member on this forum for a while and looking at pictures and experiences of others that have gone through with a transplant, I think the number of grafts that I'd need would be in the 1500-1750 graft range, if I continue with my current treatments(propecia and nizoral every other day). Please give me some advice considering my needs and time schedule and how I should continue with this?

Hi, I've contacted Dr. Keene via email a few times regarding coming to Phoenix for a in-person consultation. She seems to be the best doctor closest to me(I live in California). Not sure what to do at this point, if I should research a bit more about which doctor to go with or just have it done with Dr. Keene. After being a member on this forum for a while and looking at pictures and experiences of others that have gone through with a transplant, I think the number of grafts that I'd need would be in the 1500-1750 graft range, if I continue with my current treatments(propecia and nizoral every other day). Please give me some advice considering my needs and time schedule and how I should continue with this?

I'm interested in picking Dr. Keene as my doc. Does she offer financing, if not what's her rates going for? Anybody that have done their transplant with Dr. Keene, please PM me for more details.

no...i haven't noticed any change of hair density on Kaman, but you are right he does need some work done soon. scientist: if you noticed that he's thinning in the past, watch him this year...it's a dramatic change. His current hair do shows absolutly no sign of baldness even in hi-def broadcasts. I'm pretty sure he's had some work done.