Transplant w/ Dr. James Deyarman- 6 month update

[MrJobi]

Hi

 

My biggest concern is future loss (if there is some)a nd the challenges that will arise.. Unfortunately, 21 is too early to tell which is why I think most are concerned on here. had a full head of hair at 21 and at 24 I didn't at all..

 

it can happen fast, althoug in all fairness there was no Propecia back then to help me

[userdefined]

Originally posted by hairbank:

User-

 

Thanks for posting the updates. It's a little difficult to see anything growing in the pics.............has it started to come in yet? Hang in there, the first several months is the toughest part!

 

 

hahahah when I posted those pics I was actually thinking to myself 'Damn that growth looks good!' So far I'm seeing pretty good growth in the temple areas, not to any degree of fullness of course, but its great to see my beloved hair line taking shape. The frontal hair on the other hand is just beginning to spawn. When I look closely in the mirror, I can see thin little hairs growing. Its hard to see right now b/c of this and also because the frontal hairs are pointing upward toward the camera whereas the temple areas are matted down.

 

 

 

Regarding the other comments about my age: yes, I understand that most of you have been coming down on me because you believe I'm too young for a HT. I will say that I appreciate the honesty. Although in retrospect I wish I had partaken in this discussion before having the surgery, to this day I'm not sure I agree with any of you on this matter. This is only because my circumstances were different than most of yours. That is, all of my loss is due to traction rather than anything 'natural'. I will grant you guys that I should have gotten more than 4-5 doctors opinions. However, of these doctors--all of whom I explained my situation to--only one refused to do the surgery. I had that consultation at when I was 19 years old, and the doctor told me to come back when I was 21 for the exact reasons you guys cite.

 

For the moment I'll also grant you that 4 of these 5 may have been shitty doctors, perhaps 1-2 of which were downright con artists. Well, there is still the opinion of Dr. DeYarman, the coalition member to whom I was referred via this site, and ultimately the doctor who performed the surgery. I let him know from the first consultation that I realized that I was young and asked whether this would be a problem. He said it wouldn't, as the hair loss in my situation was due to traction as opposed to simple recession. I also let him know that I was aware that my hairline may recede further, and to please take into account that I'd like this to look natural 15, 20, 30 etc. years down the line, and that was apparently put into his planning. After the surgery, in response to much of the debate that came about on this site, I spoke to Dr. DeYarman specifically about this issue. He stood by the surgery. The traction was apparently the big reason of why he agreed to do the surgery without any initial hesitation.

 

Please note that the point of the above paragraph is not to try to prove you guys wrong, just as through your comments I'm sure that you weren't trying to prove yourself right on the matter. As many of you said, it's just better to err on the side of caution rather than take that chance at 21. While I take that to heart, for now I still have to side with the opinion of albeit one respectable doctor (and perhaps 4 crappy doctors) over the opinion of the informed amateur observer, many though they may be. However, I will say to any youngins out there, hair loss by traction or otherwise, that I would definitely have these conversations with people BEFORE doing the deed rather than after. This is my only regret thus far- let's hope that there won't be many more following.

 

 

anyway, i've been trying to figure this signature thing out but haven't a clue. how did you guys get your HT stats underneath your posts? I'd like to add my stats so I can be one of the COOL kids on this site! haha, i keeed i keeed....

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hey user,

 

Thanks for the post.

 

Try not to think of our comments in terms of right or wrong, but more of a general precaution. The truth is, you are not losing your hair due to MPB at this time...but being only 21, you still MIGHT (notice that I'm talking about a possibility, not a definite, hence a precaution). It's all about risk factor. The younger one is when they start losing hair, the higher the risk factor. That's why getting a low hairline so early is more dangerous simply because you do NOT know what your future holds. So if anything, we are just making you aware of the risks, rather than trying to say you WILL or WON'T regret it. Trust me brother...we hope that you do NOT lose any hair due to MPB and then you'll be in great shape .

 

So in what I said above...I'm not sure how one could really disagree with it. The discussion is about minimizing risk factor, not about a definite problem. One might disregard the risk and go for it, or one might choose to minimize risk by waiting to get an HT OR going more conservative to reserve as MUCH donor supply as possible for POTENTIAL future work needed. For those who wait or go real conservative at their young age, one can always lower the hairline LATER if MPB doesn't set in, etc. Make sense?

 

So the way I see it...you ignored the risk factor. That's not an insult by any means and I DO hope it works out for you well. I"m sure you will have EXCELLENT results...I just hope that MPB does NOT set in for you so you don't have to worry about it.

 

Happy growing my friend

 

Bill

[Gorpy]

Hi Userdefined,

To add things to your signature, click on the "Go" button at the top of the page, highlight "personal zone", and then click profile. In there click on view/edit complete profile. There you will see a Signature section. Just add your stats there and Submit.

[userdefined]

Hi All,

 

Here's a 6 month update for the records. please check out the gallery, (I believe the link is embedded in the first post)..the 6 month pics are pics 19-31.

 

Age aside, what do you think of the growth? Personally I think there's good growth coming along at the temples but i'm not really seeing any significant growth at the frontal hairline....

 

Also, I am concerned about the big extended area of loss approximately 1" to the right (left from your perspective) of the widow's peak. I've unfortunately had 5+ infections in this area alone and it took multiple troubleshooting conversations w/ DeYarman's office to get antibiotics which would obliterate the damn thing. You can see the pinkish scar tissue in the pics. Now there's a dime-sized area within this patch where there's no growth whatsoever. Being that this was the exact area of the infections, I don't really expect anything to suddenly grow. But I do hope that once the one year benchmark passes, Dr. DeYarman will stick to his promise of "taking care of any problems that come up.."

 

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

-ud

[Bill - Seemiller]

userdefined,

 

6 months is a bit early yet, however, I agree with you...there doesn't seem to be much significant growth yet. Reserve your final judgement until 1 year post op, however.

 

Not to scare you, but I know there have been some problems with other patients of Dr. Deyarman which is why he is no longer recommended on this site. I say this to inform you, not to scare you. Of course, we all hope that you get the results you are looking for. But in the event you don't, you can always consider seeing another doctor for a second surgery.

 

Keep us posted my friend.

 

Bill

[Wingnut]

Hrmm, this is interesting. I had a recipient site infection as well (post op about 3 days), it was about an inch or so in diameter.

 

Dr DeYarman squeezed out the puss, sent some puss the lab, applied bacitracin, and gave me some stronger antibotics.

 

It cleared up with the stronger antibotics.

 

As with the results, I don't see that the patch where the infection was is much thinner than the rest, but still at just 5 months.

 

Are infections common? Any of the regular posters get an infection?

 

Thanks

[Bill - Seemiller]

Wingnut,

 

Infections are not common but can certainly happen. Of course, I have strong reservations about Dr. Deyarman and clinic currently and hope they have been spending a lot of time getting their act together. I do hope that your results along with user defined's come in nicely. Only time will tell.

 

Cheers,

 

Bill