Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 Folks, here are my pictures from a 1700 FUT by Dr. Shapiro. I will detail my experience in a second email to follow shortly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 Folks, here are my pictures from a 1700 FUT by Dr. Shapiro. I will detail my experience in a second email to follow shortly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 Sorry that was the before picture. Here is the post op Day 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 More pictures of Post Op Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 Pre Surgery: Before the surgery my contact with the Shapiro Medical Group had only been over the phone and email. I had been trying to address concerns regrading my suitability for a hair transplant since I have a diffuse pattern. Finally I decided to go ahead with an aim of augmenting my current hairline, and using Propecia and Minoxidil to maintain what I already have. Day of the surgery : I arrived at the SMG center in Bloomington, slightly early so had to wait outside till the office opened around 8:30 am. I met with Matt Zupan who took my before pictures and had a brief discussion regarding the results I can expect from the transplant. After that Dr. Shapiro had a pre-op consultation with me and we discussed how to distrbute the 1500+ or so hair grafts that were to be transplanted. Actual Surgery: The surgery basically consists of four stages (as I perceived it). It started at 10:00 am A. Anaethesia for donor area This is the part where they inject a chemical to numb the back of your head. This is PAINFUL. However, the technical assistants were very careful and asked me how fast should they inject depending on my tolerance level of pain. Was I relieved when this got over! B. Strip Removal from donor area Dr. Shapiro marked and removed the strip - thanks to the anaesthesia I did not feel a thing. I am serious - you would not even know when the strip was taken out, it was a very smooth job. We got about 1700 FUs in all. After the strip removal Dr. Shapiro stapled the donor area together. Again I did not feel a thing. C. Anaesthesia and incisions in the recipient area Dr Shapiro cut my hair short in the front so as to achieve a denser packing. We estimated that since I already had long hair on the top of the hair, they could be combed forward to conceal the newly transplanted grafts in the frontal hairline zone. The recipient area work is somehow much less painful than the donor area injections. Dr Shapiro made the incisions as per the plan discussed during pre-op and again I did not feel any pain. I was watching old episodes of Seinfeld while he was doing this and had to control my laughter, lest I shake my head too much ! D. Inserting FUs in the incisions This part was handled entirely by the surgical assistants and this I believe was the longest portion of the surgery. Again very painless, and we were chatting away to pass the time - got done by around 5:30 pm. I was feeling a bit sleepy from all the pain medication (plus valium which I had requested to relax during the surgery and to relieve the pain in the back of my neck from the day before) so I caught a cab home and went to sleep as soon as I reached the hotel. Next morning I went for my first shampoo and had a post-op discussion with Dr. Shapiro. How is my condition now? So far everything seems to be going according to plan. There are all these prickly newly planted hair all over the frontal scalp and since they are much coarser and denser than my limp and thinning hair in the front, Dr Shapiro expects that there will much better coverage with the 1700 FUs that he has planted there. Today is Day 3 post-op. All my transplanted hair are still there, I haven't experienced any bleeding at all in the recipient area. The scalp does feel a bit tight though. Hopefully this too should go away in a few days. The donor area still feels sore while shampooing but there has been no further bleeding after the first night (day of the surgery). I am eagerly awaiting for Friday, to get the staples removed and get a uniform haircut. My experience with SMG has been great so far and Dr. Shapiro especially, who makes you feel very comfortable with the whole process. I did not feel at any point of time that I was being rushed through the process - during the surgery I got their undivided attention. I will keep the board posted with my progress. Right now the only issue I am seeing is the soreness in the donor area - I do not know how common an occurence is this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Smoothy Posted March 20, 2004 Senior Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 When Shapiro cut the front of you hair for dense packing. Did he just cut it short- inch or so, or did he shave it down to the skin? Also, was this your first HT or have you had others? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Smoothy Posted March 20, 2004 Senior Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 How much did 1700 fu cost you with Shapiro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 To answer your questions one by one: This was my first hair transplant. I am 28 years old. He cut it very short, I'd say to about 1/2 inch length. He could have kept it longer as well but I figured it will grow back in a couple of weeks anyways. My total cost came to approx. 6200, that included the bonus grafts which he extracted in the strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member hombre Posted March 20, 2004 Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 Does Dr Shapiro use needles or blades to create the recipient site? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 20, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2004 I believe he used very sharp edged blades but I did not specifically ask him which instrument he was using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Smoothy Posted March 21, 2004 Senior Member Share Posted March 21, 2004 Your results are coming in nice. Did Shapiro use the "lateral slit" technique? Keep growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 22, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2004 Dr. Shapiro did mention that he is placing the new grafts at the same angle as my existing hair in the hairline zone - I do not know if that is the same as the "lateral slit technique" Today is day 4 post op, almost all the redness has gone and there is no itching/irritation in the recipient area. The donor area also seems to be pretty calm except for the occasional pain once in a while which goes away in a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dandare75 Posted March 22, 2004 Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hi Fortune. Did Dr. Shapiro mention what your density in the transplanted area would be? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member MDM Posted March 22, 2004 Senior Member Share Posted March 22, 2004 Fortune, You're looking good! Dr Shapiro is one great surgeon and artist, you'll love your result. He did my HT on 12/15/03, and my hair is coming in nicely. I hope to post my 3 month pictures very soon. Have patience, and you'll be rewarded! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 22, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2004 The density in my frontal hairline zone was 20-25 FUs/cm2. After cutting the hair short, and inserting the grafts, he expects it to be in the range of 45-50 in the frontal area. He also mentioned that since my donor hair was thick and coarse, it should be look fuller than what would be expected from that FU/cm2 count. Thanks for the encouragement - I selected Dr. Shapiro because of my research on this forum for last six months. After meeting him and undergoing surgery at his hands, I can definitely say he is a straight shooter and sets very realistic expectations. I have definitely come to believe that he is one of those doctors you can totally "trust" with making the right decision regarding your hairline, placement, grafts, etc. As you can see from the pre-op and post-op pictures, I have decided to maintain my existing receded hairline, and I have been told I have enough donor hair for atleast two more transplants down the road if the balding pattern continues. However I hope minoxidil which has helped me in the crown and top area in the past will continue to maintain hair behind the transplanted zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fit4Fit Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Congrats Fortune looks excellent!! BUT what do you mean "keep your receded hairline - dude you no longer have a receeded hairline! Well done and good growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 23, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 23, 2004 Fit4Fit Thanks for the complement! What I meant was my hairline 4 years ago was much lower compared to what you see here; the temples were totally filled in as well. But didn't want to go back to that look. I figured that is a good chance I might need all the extra donor hair for later work on the top of my head. The funny thing is the grafts are so thick and dense when I comb my hair (very lightly) I can already see the thick bunch of hair filling in the comb making combing difficult - i know its gonna fall and then grow back but i am enjoying this feeling atleast for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 27, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 27, 2004 I had my staples removed at Dr. Konior's office in Chicago at Day 9 post-op, since I did not want to go back to Minneapolis for that. Dr Shapiro was kind enough to refer me to Dr. Konior's office so that I could set up the appointment. For those who are not aware, Dr. Konior is himself a leading HT surgeon in Chicago and it was great to have him personally look my transplant and supervise the staples removal. He was very pleased with the work and the healing progress of the grafts and donor area. The staples removal does hurt but I took the advice of others on this forum and thoroughly washed the donor area with warm water an hour before, that helped reduced the pain. I also took a vicodin a couple of hours before the staples removal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member backnats Posted March 28, 2004 Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 Did Konior charge for you it? If so how much? Let it Grow. Let it Grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member backnats Posted March 28, 2004 Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 Also, it would be nice to see your donor area. Let it Grow. Let it Grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 28, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 Dr. Konior did it as a courtesy (since I was referred by Dr. Shapiro) and did not charge me anything for it - I was really impressed. I will try and post some pics of donor area as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 28, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 Here is the donor area pic. the red dots are the marks where the staples were. The area I am showing is where the scar is most visible. There are other parts where I have a hard time finding even the scar line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 28, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 The scabs have pretty much gone by now. One thing I will say here is that I followed the post op instructions to the letter and started scrubbing the graft area with my fingertips after day 5. It didnt take long and most scabs fell off by day 7. I have resumed my regular shampooing routine with head and shoulders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 28, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 day 11 postop grafts area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fortune Posted March 28, 2004 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 28, 2004 grafted area pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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