EmuSteve's HT with Dr Ron Shapiro - 2700 grafts

[EmuSteve]

Hi all. =)

 

So, as promised, here are a few pictures of me pre-op, with the pre-op hair plan Dr Shapiro drew, during surgery, with the incisions, and 1 day post up.

 

The morning of surgery, I asked Dr. Shapiro if we could use a small amount of grafts for the triangle temple areas on the sides of my head, and he agreed we could use about 50 grafts each.

 

In the end, the average density on the top was about 35 fu's per sq cm. My donor strip was 26 cm long... 1.4 cm wide for 19.5 cm of it, and 1.3 for 6.5 cm. That gave me about 35.75 sq cm of donor extracted, and an average donor density of 75.5 fu's/sqcm.

 

As I said in my other post... pre op I felt like I was going to pee myself I was so nervous, but Dr. Shapiro and Janna made things a lot easier with their friendly and professional beside manner.

 

Looking forward to hearing everyones comments! Thanks =)

 

 

 

[EmuSteve]

In case anyone was curious, Dr. Shapiro gave me the graft breakdown:

 

1 Hair FU's: 685

2 Hair FU's: 1436

3 Hair FU's: 525

4 Hair FU's: 63

 

Total Grafts: 2709

Total Hairs: 5384

[Glock08]

Emu:

Congrats--the work looks excellent, as I knew it would.

I was scared sh#@less too..but it will soon be a distant memory underneath all that hair.

 

Heal and grow well.

Glock08

[frog]

well done emusteve. this looks to be really good.

[MrJobi]

Super clean work..

 

12 months you will be as hairy as an EMU!

[NervousNelly]

Steve,

 

Things look ultrarefined. Great stuff. This should give good coverage and decent density. The closure looks great. Just don't do anything stupid for a few months. The scar has been such a big concern of yours so don't do as I do, rather do as I say. LOL. Best of luck with everything and heal well. Congratulations.

[Janna]

My donor strip was 26 inches long... 1.4 cm wide for 19.5 inches of it, and 1.3 for 6.5 inches. That gave me about 35.75 sq cm of donor extracted, and an average donor density of 75.5 fu's/sqcm.

 

Hey Steve,

 

I know you were a little luped up on valium, so we'll forgive the typo. Most people probably won't give it another thought and know what you really meant anyway, but I have to clarify your strip was 26cm long, not 26 inches. I know we said you have a big head, but I didn't think you'd take it so literally....lol.

 

Hope you're healing well!!!

[the B spot]

Your going to look great Steve!

 

I think it is amazing how clean the inter-op/immediate post-op pics look, very little bruising very little blood, smallest possible incisions and GREAT hairline design!

 

As NN said, TAKE IT EASY!!! Your going to want to test your limits a day or so after your staples come out--- Don't!

 

Anyway, big internet hug my brother--- in a few months we'll probably be trying to help you fight the inevitable hair greed bug!!!!

 

Take Care,

Jason

[the B spot]

Oh-- and I forgot to add.... the Janna fan/stalker club is probably going to be MORE than peeved that her face is blocked in these pictures.

 

LOL!

[chucky]

the work looks really good emu,nice and clean.

[pushing 40]

Emu, what are those pics that make it look like you had the old plugs? Those are confusing me!

[EmuSteve]

Whoops. Sorry Janna, you're right. 26 cm, not 26 inches. lol. And you're also right about the meds... that Tramadol is great stuff!

 

Also, hope you didn't mind me blurring out your face... like Jason said, I am sure you have enough Janna fan club stalkers on here. =)

 

Thank you again for lending me that blanket! I left it in your office when I came in Saturday morning. First time I've seen snow since I was 7, and I didn't even remember a coat... you are a lifesaver. =)

[EmuSteve]

Old plugs?! Huh?

[wylie]

Originally posted by EmuSteve:

Old plugs?! Huh?

 

Pictures 5, 6 and 7 do look like old plugs. They are pre-op pics.

 

Very strange, as I know you've never had a HT before.

 

Either way, looking good now, congrats!

 

P.S. - I've heard so many people rave about Dr. Shapiro's hairlines yet he is not pictured, but there are two technicians working on you.

 

Is it normal for Dr. Shapiro to "hand off" the graft insertion to his assistants?

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Looks extremely good . I like the little temple points also.

Wylie I can almost guarantee you one thing ,and that is there is NO doctor that could do a better job at planting grafts then Janna and most techs. Thats what they do and are great at. I personally would rather have a girl handling my grafts then a man. A mans hands are bigger ,stronger and rougher and less steady then a womans and those grafts are delicate. Have you ever tried to thread a needle ? I have and cant but every woman I know could whether she sews or not.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Steve,

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your preoperative and postoperative pictures. It really helps that we can see your head before and after from varying angles as well in order to get a good idea of your preoperative hair loss condition and how the results will turn out.

 

I feel that you will be very happy with your results. The hairline is nice and conservative and seems to shape your face very well.

 

I'm a little disappointed however, that the "Girls of SMG" have their faces blotted out! I was hoping to see a picture of Janna in there somewhere .

 

Congratulations brother! I look forward to following your progress.

 

Bill

[wylie]

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:

I personally would rather have a girl handling my grafts then a man. A mans hands are bigger ,stronger and rougher and less steady then a womans and those grafts are delicate. Have you ever tried to thread a needle ? I have and cant but every woman I know could whether she sews or not.

 

That explanation does not wash with me.

 

However, it is entirely subjective to ones viewpoint, and there is no doubt in my mind that these assistants do excellent work, their patients reviews back that up.

 

But my doctor placed all grafts and I'm happy, as that is what I paid him to do.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Wylike,

 

Pictures 5, 6 and 7 do look like old plugs. They are pre-op pics.

 

Very strange, as I know you've never had a HT before.

 

 

I believe these were just drawings on his hairline, a sketch if you will to map out the hair restoration game plan for the day.

 

Bill

[max1010]

Hi Steve,

 

Congrats!, It looks great. Very clean.

I have a logistics question for you. Are you planning on staying out there until you get the staples out? Just curious..

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Wylie, Maybe I would just rather have a womans hands touching me then a mans as long as they are just as qualified. One thing is Dr Konior told me that he places a nice portion of the grafts but not all,depending on size. He sais after awhile his hands get tired.

So you must have had a small procedure otherwise you also would have had techs planting grafts on you,no matter who you paid. So yes its normal for the docs to get "handoff" the insertion.

[wylie]

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:

Wylie, Maybe I would just rather have a womans hands touching me then a mans as long as they are just as qualified. One thing is Dr Konior told me that he places a nice portion of the grafts but not all,depending on size. He sais after awhile his hands get tired.

So you must have had a small procedure otherwise you also would have had techs planting grafts on you,no matter who you paid. So yes its normal for the docs to get "handoff" the insertion.

 

Very true, and a good point.

 

I have limited donor hair and my procedure was much smaller than Steve's. If I did something as extensive as his then no doubt this would have happened as well.

 

Most of my grafts were tiny ones, but in the four hours Dr. Konior did all the graft placement.

 

I only wish I had enough donor hair left to come out of a session looking like Steve does.

[EmuSteve]

Ah, I see what you mean. If you look at the caption for those pictures, you'll see that they are the drawings Dr. Shapiro made for hairline placement, in our consult a few weeks before the HT, not old plugs. lol. This was my first HT. =)

 

Bill, if Janna says its okay, I'll post the non-blotted pics... but I know that I wouldn't want someone posting my pic on the internet without asking me first, so I was trying to be considerate of her. =)

 

Wylie, Dr. Shapiro met me an hour before the clinic opened to go through everything with me, took the pictures, explained everything, walked me back to surgery, extracted the donor strip, made the incisions, and supervised the placement of the grafts. From start to finish, the surgery lasted 11 hours.

 

I don't think I'd want just one lone doctor there placing grafts for that long. Plus, Janna and the rest of the techs were nothing short of amazing. I have no complaints.

 

In addition, Dr. Shapiro called me himself that night to make sure I was back at the hotel okay and that I was feeling alright.

 

The next day was Saturday, and not only did Janna and Dr. Shapiro open the clinic specially for me to come back and get a post-op wash, Dr. Shapiro came in again personally on the weekend to check up on me, re-seat 1 or 2 grafts, and then took me back to his office where we chatted for about an hour. He was also kind enough to put all the pics I posted on a jump drive for me so I could take them home.

 

So, in short, if you are suggesting that Dr. Shapiro shirked some of his responsibility in some way... don't. He was great. =)

 

Max, not in Minneapolis atm... I flew back home to Tampa to relax for a bit, and I'll be flying out there again on the 11th for staple removal and a checkup.

 

If anyone else has any questions, feel free to shoot them my way! =)

[nobuzz4me]

Steve,

 

Work looks super!! Take it easy now and let the good times grow!!

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Emu , Are you planning on using emu oil? I had great success with it, but there are a few people who get irritation from it. Aloe seems to to be less of an irritant, so thats a great option if emu gives you any troubles .

By the way Who took those photos ? Thoses are great. Was it Matt?

[max1010]

PGP,

 

I purchased some emu oil. I'll be going into my procedure on the 5th. What day post op did you start using emu oil? I've only heard good things about the stuff..