1937 FUEs by Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Dr. William Lindsey]

This UK fellow came over last week and wanted repair of balding frontal triangles and the anterior hairline. I thought that would take 13-1500 grafts. He wanted to have additional grafts placed into a thinning hair region behind the frontal “tuft”. I have posted and explained to him that I was not in favor of putting a lot of grafts here, as I think it will only temporarily fix the balding…and that when additional hair destined to bald goes, that he may think my transplants “didn’t work”. Rather, I’d push for waiting until balder and then hitting that area with a big case. He thought about these issues and came prepared to do a smallish case in the thinning areas, hitting only places that really didn’t have any hair in them and acknowledging that he’ll need more work with future loss.

We did 1110 FUEs on day 1, and he returned the next day and we did 827. Feller 1.0 and a modified 1.1mm hand punches were used. He tolerated the procedure well and flew out the next day, hopefully he’ll chime in and describe his experience. The grafts looked really good, and I’m hopeful that he’ll get a nice result.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[TheTallGuy]

Hello everyone. That's me in the photos. Thought I'd post a little write up.

 

I'm back safe and sound from the States (obviously), as expected the Doc and all his staff were really nice all the way through. I asked them to shave my whole head instead of just the donor / recipient, as I just figured I might as well have it all the same length and then grow it back at once. Basically the only complication I had on the first day was that for some reason no matter how many injections I had into the front / top of my head it just refused to go numb. Weird! It worked fine on the back for the donor but no dice at the front and I could feel everything that was going on so the Doc had to inject a nerve numbing agent which went in through my eyebrows. Once that went in it was a breeze really. They did the hairline with 1100 grafts on day 1. The Doc said that was a record in a FUE day for him which I guess goes to show the care they take because you read reports of other people doing more than that.

 

The second day was obviously a bit harder as the back of my head was hurting a touch, and my body isn't built for lying still for long periods. At one point I was actually in quite a lot of pain as the back of my head was throbbing and I could feel the slits being made on top of my head. I was trying to avoid having the nerve injections again as I had a really important meeting on the tuesday (today) when I got back and the Doc told me I'd get bruising around my eyes. However the pain got bad enough that I had to cave in and as soon as I had the injections I wished I'd had them earlier! I've since managed to move the meeting to Friday, so all good, as I've got quite a bit of swelling in my forehead, temples, eyes area. Basically I look like I've gone 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao!

 

As Doctor L says he was reluctant to put grafts further back on my head but I thought I might as well since I'd gone all that way. I realise this isn't going to be an all encompassing one time hair victory for me. Anyway he agreed and actually said once he looked through the magnifiers that there were some pretty bald bits with no hair, so hopefully it'll all lead to a good result with not too much shockloss.

 

Anyway the flight back was cool - Doctor L kindly tried to get me upgraded (I'm really tall) with no success but fortunately I managed it anyway. Having a clearly post op head will do that for you!. I've since washed my hair a couple of times, today I poured some water with a bit of shampoo from a cup onto the recipient area. It's looking fine, I've got a few yellowy looking pimple type things but I gather that's pretty normal. I've been sleeping using my aeroplane pillow so quite upright. The doc's post op instructions are pretty simple and just involve keeping it all clean.

 

I guess it's just a waiting game now!

 

Thanks again to Doctor Lindsey and his staff.

 

I'll post a couple of photos once I work out how.

Edited November 15, 2011 by TheTallGuy

[TheTallGuy]

So this is 4 days after. Pics taken under v bright spotlights.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2011 by TheTallGuy

[Blake Bloxham]

Dr. Lindsey,

 

Excellent presentation! The work looks very refined, and I think this is a great example of refined FUE. Nicely done.

 

TallGuy,

 

Congratulations! I hope you'll keep us updated as your result continues maturing.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

He emailed pics yesterday, at about 11 days out.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Blake Bloxham]

Thank you for the update. Again, an excellent example of a well planned and executed FUE case.

[lukeyb1687]

I can not wait for this result! hairline looks very refined and suits his head shape very well.

What was the age of the paitent?

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks

 

I think he's about 33 or so. Way younger than me.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[TheTallGuy]

Hi everyone

 

Sorry I've been a bit remiss in updating my progress. In truth that's because there isn't an awful lot to report. I still have a fair bit of redness in the recipient area. I've been wearing make up to cover it up which isn't something I thought I'd ever say but it works! The donor area has healed fine although I still have red dots where the incisions were made. I guess I'm suffering ongoing redness on both counts from my pasty English complexion.

 

There is actually a fair bit of hair growing in the recipient areas, but I'm pretty sure that's just my old hair that's clinging on for dear life rather than any crazy early growth to get excited about.

 

I don't appear to have suffered any shock loss although I'm aware that could still happen?

 

Onwards and upwards.

 

Here are some pics at 11 weeks (last friday)

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks for the update. Any chance you could post a pic of your donor site next time too?

 

All normal...now its just waiting.

 

Thanks

 

Dr. Lindsey

[RecedingTide]

This is exceptional work. Immaculate. Can't wait to see this one grown out.

[orlhair1]

Agree.....looks great. Look forward to following his progress

[chrisdav]

Keep us posted Tall Guy.

[TheTallGuy]

Greetings and Salutations

 

Here is the 4 month update. Not an enormous amount happening that's visible in these pictures. At this stage it's quite hard to tell the difference between new hairs on their way in and old ones on their way out. There are a few hairs sprouting up in areas I definitely had nothing before, and if you look very closely (as I spend far too long doing) there's a number of tiny, very blond hairs poking through. I'm presuming / hoping these are the precursor to the HT hair coming in. Obviously it's still early days. It would be nice to have a bit more growth at this point but it's all about the end result.

 

As you can see there's still a bit of redness in the recipient area. This is pretty annoying but there's not an awful lot you can do apart from wear your Missus's concealer.

 

Likewise the donor area is a bit pink still, although the actual incisions have healed fine. I'm just a pasty English white guy who's susceptible to redness!

 

I think I've undergone something of a shed since starting the Regaine foam after the HT. Hopefully some of this will return. I'm also on the Biotin, B complex, Nizoral and MSM.

 

Hope all's good with everyone else, thanks for the comments.

 

Tall Guy

[Dr. William Lindsey]

That redness is about what I'd expect in your skin color...not really red in the pics but I bet a month ago is was worse.

 

I think you will start to see some good growth in May...anything earlier is just good fortune.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Dr. Lindsey

[TheTallGuy]

That redness is about what I'd expect in your skin color...not really red in the pics but I bet a month ago is was worse.

 

I think you will start to see some good growth in May...anything earlier is just good fortune.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Dr. Lindsey

 

Yes Doc the redness has improved in the last month. I think it's on its way out now.

 

I hope all's good with you in McLean.

[chrisdav]

Early days still Tallguy, be patient

[chrisdav]

His hair has come on very well since 4 months.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks for the update. Yes, try to hook up in London in October.

 

Dr. L

[TheTallGuy]

Hi everyone

 

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this thread. But the main reason I haven't is because I've just been waiting and waiting for something to happen... and, well, it just hasn't.

 

I'm at 13 months now and as you can see from the pictures I'm really looking no better than before I had the transplant, other than the hairline in the middle being slightly further forward, and a few disparate hairs dotted around the temples. If anything it actually looks worse than before because there are just hairs in random places which obviously looks unnatural.

 

I've been clinging on to the hope that FUE is sometimes slower to grow than FUT and that a growth spurt was just around the corner. Constantly checking my hair in the mirror, looking for any signs of life, driving myself a bit crazy to be honest! But I'm pretty much resigned now and telling myself to accept reality -- that the transplant has been a failure. There are some wispy hairs just above the surface which you can't really see in the pictures so I was hoping if these were to mature it might look better -- but tbh they're been like that for months so there's no sign that any maturing is taking place.

 

I've been in email contact with Dr. L who is as mystified as I am why this is (not) happening. The procedure went well, I didn't lose any grafts in the recovery process and I'm a healthy guy in his mid 30s so I don't know what to put it down to other than rank terrible luck.

 

Obviously I'm extremely gutted and somewhat depressed that all that time, effort, etc looks like coming to nothing. Does anyone know of any examples of people who've been very late growers? Or should I just accept that it's not happening? It's the hope that kills you.

Edited December 12, 2012 by TheTallGuy

[chrisdav]

TheTallGuy,

 

I am sorry to hear of this. At 13 months, you are very unlikely to experience any more change( maybe a bit of maturing).

 

Even in the hands of a world reknowned surgeon such as Dr Lindsey, FUE is still less predictable than FUT.

 

What discussion have you and Dr Lindsey had so far?

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Tall guy:

 

A couple of things need to be addressed.

 

1. As I've posted many times and certainly tell every patient....the only person who wants you (the patient) to get a better result than I do...is you. I'm right there behind you wanting you to get a great result.

 

2. I too am disappointed with your lack of progress and upon reviewing what we did, I'd have changed absolutely nothing..meaning that I wouldn't have used a different tool, or placed the grafts differently etc. Particularly since I "started" this thread...I felt we did our best effort. If I'd have had any reservations about our technique that day most likely I would not have posted your case. You went through 2 longs days and so did Wendy and I.

 

3. You may yet grow...but at a year, I'd have liked to have seen more. I'd guess we have 2 people per year, that grow alot after 12 months. So its not impossible but again...per #2, I'd have liked to have seen you with a full hairline today.

 

4. While privacy laws prevent me from going in to anyone's specific medical records in a public forum....I can say that EVERY FUE patient hear's from me that A: FUE is way more variable in results than strip, costs more, and takes more time; B: That I would always push for strip except in patients who are determined to have a true buzz cut in their donor area; and C: That I'd encourage patients who hear this(again from me when they arrive in McLean), to sleep on it and let me know before taking any Valium, if they will convert to strip.

 

 

Now don't get me wrong, strip isn't fool proof either...its just way more consistent that FUE. Dr. Feller taught me that the F U in FUE means F'ing Unpredicatble... and he is correct. I frequently use the analogy in american baseball terms that you can usually get a triple or homerun with strip occasionally you get a double and you rarely strike out. With FUE you can get a home run, or you can fowl out and often average a double.

 

Human physiology certainly plays a significant but undetermined role. You could have had the same result from strip as well, and then we'd be scratching our heads wondering why, plus you'd have a linear scar in the donor area.

 

I'm happy to discuss any particulars privately, and ultimately want you to have a better result. Feel free to email me directly as you have previously, or talk with Spex as well.

 

I will not come back on this thread to address issues that may be brought up by others as I think my post above clearly states my thoughts, but I'd be pleased to talk with you via email or phone.

 

Dr. Lindsey

[TheTallGuy]

Hey

 

Just to clarify, my post wasn't at all intended to be a criticism of the process, or certainly of the Doctor's work. I understood the risks when I went for the procedure and Dr L did indeed try and convince me that strip would be a less variable option. I'm not looking for anyone to blame, nor to start a debate about my procedure. It's not an exact science, and it seems I'm just one of the unlucky ones.

 

The only reason I posted was I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself and as I kept the procedure from everyone but my wife there's no one really to discuss it with, and this seemed the logical place to get it off my chest!

[chrisdav]

I think that is an excellent response by the Dr showing that is he honest, genuine and sincere.

 

The Tallguy,

 

It does seem like he has acted within your best interest by explaning the risks and educated you properley. It seems very evident that he is going to support you, so hopefully you can come to an agreement of what is the best the plan of action moving forward.

 

I don't believe your post is out to harm the reputation of the surgeon.

 

Rightly so you are disappointed. I would be to, and have experienced this twice in the past.

[TheTallGuy]

I think that is an excellent response by the Dr showing that is he honest, genuine and sincere.

 

The Tallguy,

 

It does seem like he has acted within your best interest by explaning the risks and educated you properley. It seems very evident that he is going to support you, so hopefully you can come to an agreement of what is the best the plan of action moving forward.

 

I don't believe your post is out to harm the reputation of the surgeon.

 

Rightly so you are disappointed. I would be to, and have experienced this twice in the past.

 

I have no qualms about the Dr. at all. He's been great whenever I've contacted him, and as he says he wishes as much as I do that things turn out. He did his best work, the result is in the lap of the Gods.

 

As you say I'm just down about it. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

(or maybe I was secretly hoping for lads of examples of people with sensational late growth!)

Edited December 12, 2012 by TheTallGuy