Dr Charles 1849 FUT

[MM1]

Let me begin by giving you a little background about me. Genetically I knew I was going to lose most of my hair at some point because most of the men on both my mother and father’s side have substantial hair loss. When I was 28 I got serious about trying to slow the hair loss by using Finesteride and Rogaine. Initially it helped, but I was still losing hair. In my thirties I was using Toppik on the crown area, and it worked quite well. Now in my forties my hair loss had progressed to a point where Toppik helped, but I noticed people looking at my head funny tying to figure out what looked odd about it. So I decided after much research to take the plunge and get a hair transplant.

 

I chose to do my first HT with Dr. Charles. I will begin by saying I considered a couple of other doctors, but decided on Dr. Charles based on experiences other patients had, cost, travel expenses, and the fact that he is an approved ISHRS doctor.

 

I lived out of town so Dr. Charles had not seen me in person before my scheduled surgery; he had seen some photos that I had e-mailed to him. Once he met with me he evaluated my hair loss and spoke with me about my concerns. My crown area was pretty thin and I have some recession in the temple area so he told me he would also put some grafts in that area as well.

 

I didn't know what to expect from Dr. Charles' staff, but after seeing them in action it was clear that they knew their jobs quite well.

 

During the procedure you can watch TV or Netflix. At lunch time they order you food and you get a small break.

 

Dr. Charles had originally told me I needed 1700 grafts so I was pleasantly surprised when he told me it was a total of 1849 grafts and he didn't even charge me for the additional grafts, awesome! Obviously money is not his top priority which I appreciate.

 

After the procedure is over Dr. Charles goes over the do's and don'ts with you and he even provided me with his personal cell phone in case there were any problems. One of the things he mentions is NOT to hit your head on anything. This will become important in a minute.

 

Later in the evening Dr. Charles called me to see how I was doing. At the time I was fine. Not long after he called I went to look for something in my car and hit my head right in the crown area where some of the grafts had been placed. There was blood running down my face! To say that I was upset would be an understatement. I was like a caged lion pacing in my hotel room. I immediately called Dr. Charles and left him a message. Not long after he returned my call and told me what to do. He reassured me that it should be fine and he would look at it when I returned the next day for a shampoo.

 

The staff took the time to replace what grafts they could find in the dried blood on my head and Dr. Charles took a look also. He told me it did not appear that many grafts were affected and even if a few don’t make survive it should not make a noticeable difference.

 

For those of you considering your first HT there are really only 2 unpleasant things about the whole experience. The first is you will need to have anesthetic put into your head so you don't feel where the donor area is extracted and in the area where the grafts will be placed. It's certainly not the worst pain I have ever experienced, but you should know it's going to be necessary so expect it. For the first 2 days I was sore in the donor area and had a mild headache. The doctor did provide me with medication to help with that. Aside from that I am at day 3 after the procedure and have had no other issues.

 

Being realistic with my family history of hair loss I will probably need 1 or 2 more transplants to maintain decent coverage and I would not hesitate going back to see Dr. Charles if that becomes necessary.

 

The first 3 pics are just before the procedure and the last 3 are post op. I plan on posting some more pics at the 6 month and 1 year mark so stay tuned!!

[TakingThePlunge]

MM1,

 

Welcome! Thanks for sharing a detailed summary of your experience! Dr. Charles is the man!

 

I look forward to following your progress. Happy growing!

[ccr85]

THANKS FOR POSTING YOUR EXPERIENCE, YOU MADE IT VERY EASY FOR SOME OF US TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF WE SHOULD GO THROUGH WITH A HT. JOB LOOKS GREAT KEEP THE PICS COMING AND THANKS FOR ANWSERING MY QUESTIONS.

I GET MINE ON MONDAY, I'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED.:eek:

[MM1]

I promised an update so here I am about 7 months after my procedure. I wish I could say I have a complete full head of hair, but I can't. I am not sure if I will have much more growth or not, but without using Toppix it's still pretty obvious that I have hair loss. I know technically I have 5 more months of possible growth so maybe I will get a sudden growth spurt and my scalp won't show as much:)

[TommyLucchese]

Well two things in your favour is that 1) I can't emphasise how much my hair improved even from month 11 to month 12 and beyond. 2) crowns apparently take longer.

 

Keep positive, I'm sure it will improve so much more. within the next 6-7 months!

[OtherSyde]

Not bad, not bad at all. You're on Finasteride, right?

 

Also, is MM1 your rate?

[MM1]

Not bad, not bad at all. You're on Finasteride, right?

 

Also, is MM1 your rate?

 

I know it's been a while since I have been back on this site, but to answer your question, yes, I have been taking Fin for at least 16 years and continue to do so. I don't know what you mean by my rate.

 

I came back to post that I have an appointment to meet with someone from Dr. Hasson's office soon and I am excited about it. I don't really look forward to another surgery or spending more money, but the thought of getting to where I'd like to be in a year or so really makes me happy. I am getting tired of living with a hat on my head most of the time:(

[BaldingBogger]

Hi mm1.

 

Have you an updated pics of your situation? Are you saying the op was a total failure with Dr Charles?

 

I must say I have not been impressed with some results from him

Edited March 11, 2015 by BaldingBogger

[MM1]

I don't want to blame Dr. Charles, my hair loss is substantial enough that 1849 grafts just was not going to cover enough of my scalp. I would have liked 2500 grafts my first transplant but I went by his recommendation. I am hoping the second procedure covers much more of my scalp. Below are a couple of recent pics of the back of my head, which is where I have the greatest loss. I do wear a hat most of the time when not at work. Not much change from my 7 month post op pics in my opinion.