Regular Member quidproquo82 Posted June 8, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted June 8, 2013 Hi Everyone, So I had a 1500 graft FUE procedure this past January. For the past 5 months, I've tried my best, for the sake of my sanity, to not obsess about the surgery and my misgivings about how things went down. A few things left me unsettled, but what has me most concerned is whether or not I actually received the quoted number of grafts. Judging from my pics, I have lingering doubts. Now at 5 months post op, there is growth but it is sparse. I know that it is still way too early to fully judge the results, but I'm not optimistic. Before I say too much, can you guys please give me your opinions as to whether this looks like a bonafide 1500 graft procedure? I've scoured pictures in this community for other ~1500 graft procedures, and I believe mine does not look comparable to these other patients. BTW, I'm Asian , 31 yo, and was diagnosed as a Norwood 3A prior to the procedure. Please see the attached pictures, which illustrates my concerns. These were taken a few days after the surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member tacolinowest Posted June 8, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted June 8, 2013 to me it looks to be a little less than 1500, maybe 1300, did you do research be4 you went to your doc? who was he? it doesnt look terrible but not great either, good news is you did fue so no scar and didn't use alot of grafts so you are in good shape my friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member stinger99 Posted June 8, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted June 8, 2013 i agree doesnt look too bad, who was the doc?what went wrong in the procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted June 9, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted June 9, 2013 I don't see a reason to believe that it is not hard to tell based on those pics, but that isn't something that I would be too worried about. I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. View Dr. Konior's Website View Spanker's Website I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member hair70 Posted June 10, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted June 10, 2013 Agree with Spanker. Hard to tell. . .but I can tell you at 5 months, my growth was not sparse my second time around. Sorry man, I feel for your pain and obsession about the surgery and its outcome. I also wondered if I got cheated my first time around concerning number of grafts but I realized at about 6 months that being shorted grafts was only one major concern. You also start wondering if the grafts that were placed, 1500 or not, will ever take and if the angles of implantation of grafts matches your natural hairline. What's the point of putting in 1500 or more grafts when only 1/2 of them grow and then grow at terrible angles that don't match your existing hairline? You'd be worse off then when you started. . . Thank goodness only 50 grafts out of 1000 FUE grafts grew my first time around with North Valley Plastic Surgery in AZ as the technician but them at terrible angles making things worse then when I started. PM me and I will be happy to share my experiences with you. I hope you get some significant growth soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member quidproquo82 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 Hey guys thanks for the words of encouragement. Regarding what other issues I had with the surgery, I noticed immediately after the surgery that the grafts were over-harvested in a small area. The right side on the back of my head looks overly thinned, and you can actually make out the exact area in which the grafts were taken. It is an obvious rectangular area, almost like someone shaved a square pattern into the back of my head. Instead of feathering out the edges of the donor area, too many graft were taken in that one area. The whole point of me getting the FUE was to allow for shorter hairstyles, but I can hardly get away with a #3 guard on the back of my head. Even the girl who cut my hair recently noticed that it was odd and stated that my hair looked really thinned out in the back. She used a #2 guard on the back and the sides, and frankly it's cosmetically unacceptable to me. Now I'm basically forced to wear my hair longer in the back, which defeats the original intent. One side of the donor area looks okay, but the other side looks like something was obviously done to it. Makes me wonder if at some point a tech took over and did the extractions while I was konked out from the meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member quidproquo82 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 Hair70, I'm sorry you had such a terrible initial experience. I mean, none of us have an unlimited donor supply, so to lose 1000 grafts must have been a real kick in the pants. I'm just hoping that the results at 1 year will at least be cosmetically acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member hair70 Posted June 14, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted June 14, 2013 Thanks qpq82, Sorry you donor area was over harvested in one area? Hopefully it was just shaven more in that rectangular area and not unevenly harvested. Lets hope for the best in the months to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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