Furless

Happy New Year, guys.

I've uploaded my pics at just over 3 months.

(as is always the case, it looks better in person than it does in pics)

The 3 months after surgery actually flew by - I managed to stay away from the mirror - in fact there were many days where the fact that I'd had an HT wouldn't be on my mind.

Post 3 months now, with some action going on I am more anxious and awaiting growth.

I had considerable shockloss in the donor region on the left side. It's slowly starting to fill in now.

I'm 10 days post-op, and my wife wouldn't touch my head with a 10 foot pole The scabs aren't terribly inviting.

But my head is irresistible to me ... I keep lightly feeling the new hair and the scabs (I'm always tempted to pick those but have to restrain myself)

The back of my head (donor area) is still a bit sore, so I wouldn't enjoy anybody playing with that area very much myself.

From what I was told by my clinic, after 2-3 days, the follicle is almost certainly set. One start regular showers etc afer 7 days. Your scabs will begin to fall off then and so will the new hair. The follicle will remain intact though and will resume growth after a couple of months.

Of course, check with your Doctor for confirmation.

I started receeding/thinning at about 25 too.

My problem was that I was in denial for far too long

By 28, I could tell what pattern I was headed towards, and yet for the next 3-4 years I wasted time/money trying snake oil and magic potions which were "guaranteed" to work!!

If I could go back in time, I would see a good doc at the first sign of hairloss and get on medication based on his/her advice so as to curb/slow the thinning (if not regrow lost hair).

btw, I had my first transplant 10 days ago at ~32 and am now on finasteride.

Originally posted by Furless:

Originally posted by Bill -

I also showered twice a day and performed the same routine at night. It worked wonders for me and all the scabs were gone by 10 days, and I didn't lose a graft.

 

Hey Bill,

After 10 days post-op, isn't is expected to start to shed. I take it that by "lose a graft" you mean really lose the follicle, but shedding should be expected, right?

Thanks for the tip. I'm getting rid of the scabs at a much faster rate by following this.

Thanks.

Originally posted by Bill -

I also showered twice a day and performed the same routine at night. It worked wonders for me and all the scabs were gone by 10 days, and I didn't lose a graft.

 

Hey Bill,

After 10 days post-op, isn't is expected to start to shed. I take it that by "lose a graft" you mean really lose the follicle, but shedding should be expected, right?

Thanks.

Things must be getting exciting about this time?

Looks like they're sprouting out nicely now.

Out of curiosity, do you have a graft breakdown / haircount? (sorry if you've already mentioned this)

Thanks trigger.

I will try and post pics of the scar later today.

I had a 2 day session - a strip was cut from the right side the first day (yielding ~2200 grafts) and from the left, the second day.

Both were tricho closures.

The yield from the first day went completely into the frontal 1+ inch and the temples. The second day yield covered rest of the area.

This reminds me, there was some discussion on how hard a 2-day session is on a patient. I will post my experience on that soon.

I'm sorry that I contributed to this thread getting out of hand.

Anyway, this thread is yours and we shouldn't take that away from you.

[\QUOTE]

 

No foul what-so-ever, Bill.

imo the discussion was quite relevant and educational. Like I said, we should all feel free to disagree with each other and occasional fire-works are a part of the game.

 

I'd still like to know whether or not your hair count was before or after some DFUs were created - this will help clarify whether or not you naturally had such a small number of single hairs, or whether or not some of them were used to create larger FU grafts.

[\QUOTE]

 

I have requested this clarification from the clinic. I will post an update as soon as I have the information.

 

At day 10, scabs are going away and so are a lot of the grafts. Of course this was expected, but it's sad to see them leave nonetheless. Can't wait for them to grow back with renewed vigor.

 

Thank you all for the comments and the best wishes.

No, Gorpy can't go! I am a gorpy groupie

Come on guys. There are always agreements and disagreements in any technincal discussion, and that's not limited to the field of hair-restoration.

(If you think this is bad, you should attend one of the meeting at my work place )

My take on this is that each member has a right to post/defend his thoughts or critique those of other posters. No harm, no foul. And moderation should only be required when things get out of hand imho. (Just my $0.02)

The other key thing to keep in mind for anybody that reads anything on the internet (not limited to this forum, this field or this topic) is that while the internet is a great information gathering tool, not everything you read is necessarily true.

One has to exercise due diligence and talk to a reputed trained professional in that field or refer to reputed text/reference books to clear any doubts and ascertain the facts.

I am always up for a technical debate, but am just not qualified enough in this field and do not want to dispense information which may not be accurate.

But if trained reputed surgeons decide to debate on this topic, the courtside seats + popcorn's on me

The pictures admittedly don't do enough justice to the work. And it's perhaps too early to tell whether or not the hairline will look refined. Time will tell, but I am very hopeful.

This discussion has been educational to me, and I appreciate all the comments; but let's agree that this discussion is theoretical/hypothetical pending results. After all, the proof is in the pudding.

I am simply not trained/qualified enough to indulge in a technical debate on the advanced techniques in the field of hair restoration, but at the same time I might stop to question whether a one-size-fits-all rule such as "thou shalt graft X number of singles in the hairline for a session of size Y" always works best. B-spot said, I have "got great bundles of hair". Perhaps my great bundles needed a more tailored approach?

That is corroborated by Bill's comment below:

If this patient just happens to be rich full of 3 and 4 haired FUs, than splitting them apart (unless absolutely needed such as for the hairline) may not be in the patient's best interest. On the other hand, creating a number of DFUs may not be in a patient's best interest either in the even a hair transplant patient has mostly 1s and 2s.

 

Here is a summary of my discussion with the Dr. on this topic:

All of the singles were placed in the hairline.

As for the 2 hair grafts they were placed in the hairline behind the first 3 rows, and scattered with the 3-4 hairs throughout the rest of the transplant area.

Studies have apparently shown about 67% of hairs bundle as 1's and 2's in the donor area, where as the the frontal and midfrontal area contain more naturally occurring 3-4 hair groupings than occurs in the donor area.

So, using 3-4 hair groupings in frontal-mid frontal areas better mimics nature (and is easier on the wallet

There was no paucity of singles, rather they were combined with some of other singles to make 2's, and with some 2's to make 3's. Some of the 2's were combined to make 4's.

I trust that Dr. Keene decided on this approach because it perhaps best blends with the natural grouping/characteristics (henceforth known as "my great bundles" ) of my native hair.

I will be keenly observing my Keene hair grow

I personally believe that you are Dr. Keene.

 

That's hilarious. But for the record, not once did Gorpy tell me to go with Dr. Keene. My choice was based solely on my research and the results I saw.

I will post details on the hair distribution shortly.

I was relieved to find out that I had excellent density.

Note 25% of my grafts were 4's

Congratulations Jiggy.

Looks excellent.

It looks like you're going to get great results.

I was in the middle of writing a very long detailed account of my experience, but I realized it really wasn't all that necessary

But there is one thing I have to write:

I had paid in advance for 4500 grafts and had encouraged Dr. Keene to harvest more if she could.

Well, she grafted 3864 - seems modest, but LOOK AT THE HAIR COUNT.

She refunded me not just the extra money I had paid, but she also has a policy of rounding DOWN to the nearest hundred.

So, I paid for 3800 grafts.

To add to the discounts, she pays for the blood tests + gives a $500 travel refund for out-of-state patients.

The point I am trying to make is that for this hair count, I could have easily been told that I got 4500+ grafts and I would have readily believed it.

I found this to be extra-ordinarily ethical, and I thought that this should be mentioned.

(TO BE VERY CLEAR: I am not trying to insinuate that other reputed clinics are not as ethical. I am just noting my positive experience with this clinic. I haven't dealt with any other clinic and hence am in no position to compare)

Dr. Keene said I have ~4000 donor grafts more in stock if needed for future, so I am extra relieved about that.

Well, here are my first few pictures, and I will try and post regular monthly updates.

Finally, do I need to say I love this forum?

You guys kick ass.

I don't know if I would have taken this step without all this knowledge out here.

Thank you all

Furless

1's: 297

2's: 1186

3's: 1382

4's: 999

Total grafts : 3864

Averaging 2.85 hairs/graft. Total hairs: ~11000.

1's: 297

2's: 1186

3's: 1382

4's: 999

Total grafts : 3864

Averaging 2.85 hairs/graft. Total hairs: ~11000.

Thanks Gorp.

The graft count seems modest but I do believe I had a "mega-session" if we talk in terms of my hair count.

Furless

I got the numbers from the clinic today:

Here's the breakdown:

1's: 297

2's: 1186

3's: 1382

4's: 999

Total 3864

Averaging 2.85 hairs/graft and totalling almost 11000 hairs.

I had originally hoped for 4500 grafts, but with the good hair/graft count I think Dr. Keene felt that 3864 grafts gave me the coverage I needed.

Plus, good to know I now have more left in stock for future than I had anticipated.

I just had a surgery early last week, and had expected to be at work looking peachy within a week

Well, given that my head isn't looking any more handsome than a sizeable watermelon at this stage, I told my boss I'd be telecommuting this whole week (and the next one if required)

MarylandGuy,

Thanks.

No. Dr. Keene didn't shave the recipient area, but she did summarily cut a bunch of my existing long native hairs saying "these long wispy hairs arent' doing anything for you cosmetically anyway".

Well, when coupled with toppik and couvre they were cosmetically helpful! But I didn't care at all. I'm OK with anything that would make it easier for her to do a better job on me.

And yes, my existing hairs were perhaps a bit too long anyway.

She normally advises the patient NOT to have a hair cut less than 7 days prior to surgery.

I have just filled up a basic blog, but not much about the whole experience yet. A detailed experience of the surgery and pictures will follow soon after I get requested details from the clinic.

I won't name my surgeon -- he's a very good surgeon who is spoken highly of on this web site. I'm confident he did things right.

Is it considered bad form to talk about a not-so-good experience with a surgeon who's highly regarded on this forum?

It's perhaps true that coalition doctors are perhaps the be-all and end-all of hair restoration.

But it's necessary to understand that they're human after all, and they can have a bad day at the office. They're not necessarily always a 100% impeccable.

Thanks, Woodrow, for your imformative post.

Caveat lector: Being a day post-op, I am still under heavy medication and might sound like Micheallovesnyc (God, I hope not

The deed is done!

I will surely be writing a detailed account later when I'm less dazed.

All these meds have knocked me out so bad that I've barely even looked at the mirror, believe it or not.

I will write a blog along with pics in a day or two.

Thank you all once again for your support.

Isn't it funny how a camera adds 10 pounds, but does the exact opposite to hair?

I am concerned about this too.

But I am also hopeful that:

a) with the meds I am currently taking I will hopefully not bald to that degree

b) that 15-20 years down the line there will be better meds, technology etc.

From what I've read, Dr. Sharon Keene does not require shaving either.