NW2 - 2.5 FUE with Dr Damkerng Path

[kham-yin-dee]

I have read this forum for over a year now, been thinking about posting here for a long time. Finally decided to join today.

 

Sorry for the long post. I don't really know where to begin, or what I m even asking. This isn't a topic I m good at talking about. So I will just tell my story and see what you guys say.

 

Like I said, I have been reading about hair loss and hair restoration for over a year, so I have done some homework and found Dr Path. Some people have circulated the information that he doesn't do the FUE procedure, but he does indeed. He has estimated me at 700-1000 grafts w/ dense packing and I have an appointment in January.

 

I have always had a high hairline (actually just high temples) since before puberty. This has been very slowly receding over the last 15 years (maybe 1-2cm upwards into the NW2 shape) that I didn't even really notice it until last year. My head is oval shape which means I don't have much hair on top anyway, so losing even a little like this really affects my appearance.

 

At the time I really freaked out about this and made the mistake of rushing to one of those "hair clinics" advertised on TV that sell overpriced mineral shampoos etc. I recall raising the option of Fin or Minox with them and they said they don't use these because of the sides. Only thinking about this afterwards I realized it probably was because nobody there was actually a MD so they couldn't really prescribe anything. After reading online I told them to never call me again and never went back. Feel so sorry for all the guys that they sell their crap to that could have preserved more of their hair if they had actually gotten real medical advice and got on the meds earlier.

 

Anyway.. after that I did much more homework online and found this forum and the others. This would be about August 2011.

 

At first I wasn't sure whether I was imagining things or whether there was MPB going on. I have always had fine hair and you can easily see my scalp when wet - this is the same all over. I saw my doctor and said there was nothing to worry about. Following the advice on this forum, I went to a specialist (a local hair surgeon) 3 months ago who confirmed there is some miniaturization going on behind the temples. Due to the fact it has been so slow, he said I should have a good chance of keeping the rest of my hair with meds. He prescribed me Fin 1.25mg 2 to 3 times a week, I take MWF. I also wanted to check whether I would be OK for a HT, given my age, NW level, and he said it would be fine and estimated 500-700 grafts which I think is a little bit optimistic.

 

I was concerned about the meds, but after 3 months on them now noticed no sides at all, feel a lot better about taking these pills for the rest of my life (or until something better) if it will mean I can keep my hair.

 

Anyway after finding out I was a suitable candidate, I really started considering transplantation. I read a really inspiring story on the blogs on HRN dtyn which boosted my confidence a lot. Amazing guy for posting all those photos, I don't think I would be brave enough to do that.

 

So I'm not going to post pictures. Hell, I don't even talk about this stuff to most of my friends. But where I am at now is the same as dtyn minus a NW level. I'm a white guy and my face is more oval shape, which makes it look worse (in my eyes).

 

I don't want to sound too self-pitying here, and I realize that a lot of you guys are much worse off than me. Some of these guys would probably look at my hair and compared to them and I have nothing to complain about. I don't know what to say to you guys. I feel pretty broken with the way my hair has changed and would be elated to have a NW1 hairline. It's probably an ego thing.

 

About the white dots from shaving/buzzing after FUE. Really if I get to the stage where I want to buzz my head down to the level where these dots are visible, I m not going to care about the dots, or scarring from transplantation. I heal well too, had some cuts and burns on my arms and face from working on cars and bikes over the years, even I can't find them now.

 

I know HT isn't to be taken lightly and I will need more treatment if things progress, that's fine with me too. FUE is fine but I wouldn't do strip at all, much rather have the dots than the scar. I would probably want to follow up with Dr Path again in a year post-op to make sure everything is going as expected. Also my family on both sides doesn't have any hair loss past NW 2 or 3. I can afford the treatment and my hair everywhere else is quite dense. If I need more follow up behind the temple areas, that would be easy to do and I guess it wouldn't be as noticeable as doing the hairline (is it, guys?).

 

So my options are these. I can do something about this now or I can do nothing and wait some more. Maybe this comes down to: I can take a chance to improve my appearance, or I can try to accept that it will only get worse than it is now.

 

I think I have covered all the bases and understand the risks. I have chosen a great surgeon. If I'm right then I can get a great hairline that I can be proud of, maybe even better than when I was 20 with 1000 grafts or less. If not then at worst I need to laser or FUE the grafts out some day. Up to NW3 or 4 I would definitely want to do my best to fix it with surgery. Past that I would want to buzz/shave and suck it up.

 

Over the last 3 months I have been so undecided. Making the appointment then not able to take the leave from work. Making the appointment then cancelling it because I'm nervous...

 

I am not (so) nervous any more, I know I want to fight this and at least try to fix it, and everything sounds like I have a pretty good chance of getting a good result. I hope my expectations are not too high, I want to be able to style my hair again in some other way than "brushed forward" (even though I probably will still have it quite short and brushed forward as a NW1).

 

I'm excited about it, but I am really scared too. I haven't done anything like this before. Hope some of this made sense. Spent way too long writing this, got to go now. Thanks for those of you who read this far.

[bkkbaldeyebrows]

how was your transplant fue with Dr.Path