My 3 HTs with the wrong doctor!

[MJ2012]

Hi all,

I'm embarrassed to say I've made the same mistake 3 times. I've gone to the Bedard Hair Transplant Clinic in Montreal for my 3 FUT HTs, my last one being on November 1 of this year. Please bear with me while I provide you some background before asking the question I need help with (I appreciate your time and patience).

 

I had 1,200 grafts placed in my crown area for my first HT, my second HT (8 months later) I received 1,115 grafts to my hairline and front 3rd. The results have not been bad, so I went ahead for a third HT (to my crown), where pre-op the doc said that we should be getting about 1,000 grafts, the result was a measly 765 grafts!

 

I was VERY disappointed as not only did the doc fail to come close to the 1,000 grafts but when I questioned him about it, he explained to me that my first surgery they cut from the middle of the back of my head around to above my left ear (20 cm2), the second surgery they cut from the middle to right above my right ear (18 cm2) and the third time around they cut 18 cm2 but due to the presence of scar tissue where only able to harvest 765 grafts.

 

Given that I have a scar from my 2 previous HTs that goes from above my right ear all the way to above my left ear, I would have expected him to take a strip of that length to maximize the number of grafts, instead he stopped at at the back of my head (5 cm2 more could have been cut). I can't understand the strategy employed by Dr Chagon, common sense would dictate that he cut a larger strip to right above my right ear he would've likely come a whole lot closer to the 1,000 grafts he was targeting. What do you guys think?

 

I'm frustrated to say the least but much more important than all of this is now that I've had 3 HTs by FUT for a total of about 3,000 grafts, is it reasonable to hope to have an FUT mega session of about 3,500 to 4,000 grafts with a physician like Dr Rahal who I now know should have been my choice from my first HT? For what it's worth Dr Chagnon has told me that my donor area can sustain 1 more FUT session.

 

For the record, I am not planning on going for another HT before at least another year, but it would be great to get some reassurance that my mistake has not doomed me to be NW4 at best after 3 HTs with the wrong physician.

 

Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

The answer to your question depends on the donor hair you have remaining and the scarring you have from the prior procedures. It can take several months for final scars to form. You will have to visit a few clinics or send photos to several hair restoration physicians via email to have your situation evaluated after your final results come in. I have done more than three cases on many patients over the years and have also been able to find donor hair on patients who have had three prior procedures with another doctor. There is still hope.

[MJ2012]

Dr Charles, thank you for your reply. It's reassuring to hear that coming from you! The scar from my two previous surgeries was quite fine, so I am not expecting a bad scar this time around.

 

I've read that an average person can expect to get 6,000 to 8,000 grafts from their donor area but what I am not clear on is how do my 3 HTs affect that given that only 3,000 grafts have been harvested? From your experience, is it reasonable to hope to get 3,000 to 4,000 grafts after 3 HTs given a decent donor area scar or am I dreaming of the impossible?

 

Thank you for your time!