FUE procedure - 3750 Grafts - Jan 02 2014 with Dr Demirsoy

[mm015]

Hi all,

 

I've been researching for quite some time as to which Dr to go for and I've now booked with Dr Demirsoy via his agent Clemens Weber.

 

Ive looked into FUE for over 7 years and now being 34 have finally got round to making the jump and booking a procedure.

 

I've added some photo's of my hair line now ( I have no idea what NW scale I am?). And I will update before, during and after the procedure.

 

I want to achieve a good front line, and cover up most of the crown.

 

The only thing I am slightly anxious about is the time it takes to grow back. I work in an image conscious industry and I hope that I can wear a hat to cover the very short hair I will have. I also hope to use a concealer once I have enough hair to remove the hat and cover up any whiteness.

 

Anyway, thanks for looking and feel free to give your opinions as time goes on!

 

These photos are Oct 5th 2013

[imnothere]

Best of luck. Keep us posted.

[Sethticles]

Hi there, Hope everything goes well, Post op care is vital, you will want to protect your implanted hair at all costs, avoid going outside, doing much physical activity, avoid sunlight dust etc and as for a cap, you will want to have quite a loose fitting one. Plan for about 2 weeks after HT before returning to work, if you can work from home I suggest doing that. Takes about 14 days for all signs of the HT to be gone, and the even look between implants and original hair. Around 4 weeks the implants will begin to shed and before you know it you will look like you did before you went in for the HT. Judging by your photos you look like NW IV - V, which means around 3500-5000 grafts depending on the size of your head, with a breakdown of the implants for the crown 1500 - 2000, for the top around 700 and for the front hair line around 1200 - 1500. I hope this helps and best of luck, all the best s

[Hairlosstfa]

You hair line is simplier to RXKHAN. See the following post. Dr Erkan Demirsoy FUE 4177.

 

We had ours done back in June. Best of luck.

[rxkhan]

mm015 I had the same concerns as yourself, the initial healing process, scabbing, reddening etc. does take a few weeks to clear (although everyone has their own healing timeframe).

 

I work in consulting so I spend most of my time infront of blue chip clients, turning up for a meeting with a strawberry head wasn't going to fly.

 

What I did was cut my short before the procedure (but within the timeframe given by Dr. Demirsoy and not too short as per Dr. Demirsoy instructions). This way people at work got used to me in short hair.

 

I then took 3 weeks off work, in that time my hair in the donor area had grown, scabs had gone but there was still some redness around the donor area, sheading of hair had begun.

 

When I got back to work noone noticed I had a HT done, barring the redness which subsided over a few weeks I had pretty much the same short hair I left with.

 

Growth is a slow process and in the 4 months since my HT I've had 3 "blade2" hair cuts to keep hair normalised so again people don't really notice, unless you compare pictures, but the growth for me I found to be quite natural it's not like you wake up with a bush of hair although that would be cool

 

I'm sure things will be fine mate, I postponed having a HT for almost 10 years because of these concerns and in the end it really wasn't that much of a big deal workwise.

 

RxK

[maz]

Hi and good luck with your visit to Dr Demisroy. I too decided to book an appointment 15th January.

Im 33 and I am planning to get upt o 3000 grafts. I was really finding it hard to choose a right surgeon especially as there are some really cheap ones. Anyhow, thanks to this website, Dr Demisroy seemd to have good results and I decided to take the plunge too.

One main concern is that the doctor said to stay on medication in order to work on my crown area. I mainly wanted this operation to stop taking meds as Im fed up of it, but it seems I may still have to post op as it may be risky to implant grafts in a dense area??? I hope in the consultation the doctor will reassure me about my concern.

Hope you stay in touch to let me know how you get on.

[mm015]

Hi all,

 

Apologies for the delay - I have been mental with work and not had a second to get back here!

 

My procedure is in 12 days - I'm excited as it's the beginning of getting this all sorted, but as already mentioned, trying to work out that cosmetic side post op!

 

Sethticles and rxkhan, thanks loads for your experiences and advise. It's given me a bit more hope with the post op stuff!

 

Another thought I had is regarding the "design". I used to have a far more straight hairline (although never completely straight). What's the deal with the design part of the consultation? I've seen the phrase "Hollywood Hairline" banded about etc. What does this mean?

 

I do want more of a straight hairline, and from the side, that to be more visible as I"ve got a big nose! haha.

 

Cheers all!

[mm015]

Also, one other questions - I spoke with Clemens Weber who told me that I could get it all done within a 2 night stay? I land in Instanbul at 15:35 on the 1st and leave on the 3rd at 16:40. I booked this as I needed to get back asap, but took advice from Clemens who said this would be fine. I'm wondering how 3500 grafts will be taken and planted in one day? Does that sound right?

[B-KW]

Sounds about right to me, for my precedure with Demirsoy i stayed 3 nights (4 days total). day 1 was just airport to hotel, 2nd was consult + surgery 1500 grafts, 3rd day was another 1500 grafts, 4th day was followup wash then straight to the airport. If you're only staying 2 nights (3 days total) then u might be missing out on the followup wash day or u might have ur procedure started on the same day you arrive. Best of luck.

[mm015]

Clemens W replied to me and told me that Dr Demirsoy apparently does 3500 grafts a day as standard now which would make sense. So it'll be arrive Day one, consult/procedure day 2, Hair wash and fly home day 3.

 

Only a few days away now!!

Edited December 28, 2013 by mm015

[mm015]

I've arrived in Istanbul and I am excited about the procedure tomorrow!

 

Clemens W has booked me into a great hotel here: Princess Hotel Istanbul - Asia Princess Hotel Beykoz Ortaky Princess Boutique Princess

 

It is apparently 500m walk from the new private hospital that Dr Demirsoy now works out of.

 

I am meeting the liaison tomorrow morning in the Lobby at 8am and then we are going to go over to the hospital.

 

The Journey here was, ermmm, fun shall we say. The driver clearly thought he was on a Formula 1 lap! It got here quickly though I guess ;-)

 

A Word of advice which I wasn't aware of - at the airport you must have a visa in your passport! I queued up for ages to get to border control, only to be sent all the way back, having to walk through the bendy queue and to the visa office where you pay ?10GBP or 15 Euros which results in a sticker being put into your passport that says "Visa". Absolutly no checks were made, it was literally go to the window, give the lady the money and she puts a sticker into your passport. Seems like a money making scheme to me. Anyway, when you arrive make sure you go to the "Visa 1" area to get the visa before queuing up for border control.

 

I'll try to post some pics up tomorrow before and after the op.

Edited January 2, 2014 by mm015

[JohnGage]

Good luck. Looking forward to updates.

The driver/car was from your hotel? How much time did it take from the airport to your hotel?

Thanks & all the best.

[mm015]

The drive was about 45 mins in med/heavy traffic. I'm not sure what company the driver was from, but it was not the hotel. Clemens W must have some sort of link up with a company here I'd imagine. He booked it all for me.

[Hairlosstfa]

Good luck. Watch out for the dreaded needles. Worse part of the HT.

[rev333]

wow! sounds like an incredible journey

 

i want Clemens W as an assistant

 

lol!

[ThinJim]

Hi, Could you please elaborate on the new location of Dr Demirsoy. I currently have a date reserved for the middle of February and was researching hotels to stay in. I was under the impression that the clinic was still located in Kadikoy. Clemens did not mention that the Dr had recently moved.

 

Thanks very much

[mm015]

*DAY OF PROCEDURE WRITE UP*

 

Hi all, I've had a few questions here so I'll answer them as I go.

 

I'm back form the procedure. It was a Loooooooong day...!

 

So, whilst I remember- a few important things to mention;

 

The Private hospital is here: http://www.medistate.com.tr/en-EN/home/221.aspx

 

Make sure you bring a tennis style headband.

 

I interpreted Clemens Email incorrectly (My fault, not Clemens fault!) and I have not brought one. I think they are going to create something for me after my first wash tomorrow.

 

Bring a Travel pillow to sleep on

 

The day is very long - make sure you drink the water available throughout the day

 

I think that this may have led to me not feeling so great by the end of a long day...

 

You can bring an ipad/mobile

 

There is free wifi in the private hospital which Dr Demirsoy and his team are fine with you using during the procedure. I got a few work Emails done, text msgs etc

 

There was also a TV playing which you can see from the bed. I now know the latest most popular Turkish music chart hits as it was on a music channel all day (yep, even had the melody and lyrics to some down towards the end of the day!). Seems the music vids over here also have a thing for rather hot women in pretty tight clothing, low cut tops etc. No complaints there then...

 

Disclaimer - None were anywhere near as hot as my G/F (hey hun!).

 

 

I also noticed a load of English DVD's under the TV which I'm sure they will put on for you if you asked.

 

You may want to put a towel under your back to keep it flat so as to avoid back pain from prolonged lying down

 

DO be prepared for a LONG day which at times can be uncomfortable.

 

So I met Musafa who was Dr Demirsoy's assistant in the hotel lobby at 8AM. A lovely guy, who was more than helpful and spoke excellent English. He drove me the short distance to the Private hospital where I met the team.

 

Permission papers signed and then a consultation with Dr Demirsoy regarding my desires, what is possible based on hair type and head shape and of course Dr Demirsoy's expert opinion. This took about 45 mins.

 

It was quickly apparent as to how much of an absolute expert Dr Demirsoy is, and would explain the reason he is currently booked up every day from now (Jan 2nd) to the end of February with an op each day.

 

We spoke through everything, family history, my desires for my hair, any medication I had used to try to treat it etc before he designed what he felt would get the best results from my donor region and with the hair already on my head.

 

Having looked at my donor area, Dr Demirsoy said that the hair is thin and it may be difficult to extract the 3500 grafts we hoped for. I was a bit disheartened by this within. But he said we would see how it all went. His assistant explained to me that each grafts has either 1, 2 or 3 hairs, and obviously the more the better. My concern was that as I had a thin donor region, I'd probably only have 1 hair and some 2's and maybe 3's. Anyway, it is what it is, so we cracked on.

 

The procedure takes place in 3 stages:

 

Stage 1

 

The head is shaved and the grafts are removed by Dr Demirsoy. You are given local anaesthetic injections, which I didn't find that bad at all. Pain scale 4 or 5/10. No biggie. They kick in almost immediately. One injection tube is used a number of times to cover your head.

 

It's then onto the graft extraction by Dr Demirsoy. He used a motorised punch and had a short break after an hour or so where two of the team took over and manually extracted, before Dr Demirsoy came back to finish off. This took approximately 2.5 hours continuously (this changes depending on the individual). This didn't hurt. In fact, I kept falling asleep sometimes for around 20 mins whilst he worked away! More about the number of grafts actually extracted further down...

 

A break for lunch - delicious "meat balls" (actually more like small kebabs) plus rice, chips and some veges, bread and some incredible fresh orange juice.

 

Stage 2

 

Dr Demirsoy opens up the canals in which the grafts would be placed. From what I gathered, this is where the direction of the hair grafts/design is physically created by Dr Demirsoy. This took about 2 hours (this changes depending on the individual) and doesn't hurt at all. Again, I fell asleep a few times...

 

Just before the next stage, I was shown the grafts that had been extracted and to my delight Dr Demirsoy had managed to extract 3750! Which was 250 over what we originally thought would be the maximum possible. And amazingly, Dr Demirsoy said that as we had originally said 3500 he would not charge me for the extra ones. Good guy

 

I asked what the criteria is for deciding when no more graft extractions are possible, and it is a mixture of Dr Demirsoy's experience, available space within the donor area (this is apparent on v close inspection using his magnified goggles) the quality of the hair graft itself in terms of it's depth and whether it curls under the skin or is fairly straight, and finally, whether the graft, when extracted, comes out cleanly or breaks (which is due to the health of the hair). Mine were apparently all very good, came out easily and even more good news, averaged 2/3 hairs per graft! Happy days

 

Stage 3

 

The grafts that were extracted in the morning are taken out of the fridge (one group of 250 at a time) and two of his assistants place them into the canals. This was the hardest part of the whole day due to anaesthetic sometimes wearing off and needing re injecting (you know you need more as you feel the pain of the insertion a little bit - Pain scale 6/10). This was the point at which I found out that the assistants have nothing to do with the direction and simply place them into where Dr Demirsoy has already opened the canals in the correct direction. It's not possible for the assistants to insert the grafts any other direction other than the way Dr Demirsoy has opened the canal insertions.

 

This was the longest part and took 3.5 hours continuously. For the last 1.5 hours I was quite uncomfortable in the bed on my back having been lying down all day, so I used the small towel under the top of my bum (that's right I said it - BUM!) to help straighten out my back as it is quite arched. This helped a lot. However, my head was feeling pretty overwhelmed and I felt a bit "quesy". The anaesthetic also makes you feel like your head is enormous and very heavy.

 

The concentration of his assistants was extremely impressive having sat there and placed 3750 grafts into my head over 3.5 hours!

 

I put the queasy-ness down to my lack of drinking water, which is unlike me as I am very health conscious. Once the op finished, and I had got back to the hotel and drunk a lot of water, I felt fine again.

 

Finally at 19:10 it was all done, bandages put on and I was very relieved to stand up. I had earlier in the day asked what time they packed up, and was told they keep going until the op is completed. I did take a couple of quick breaks to stretch my back during the day, which isn't a problem for the team at all.

 

All throughout, Musafa was there to translate any questions I had etc.

 

I was given some antibiotics and pain killers to help with the post op pain I had mentioned.

 

Back in the hotel now. Had dinner in my room (the hotel is very reasonably priced - grilled chicken breast, rice, vegetables and chips works out at 22 Lira which is about ?6.20 [7.20 Euro]) and I've set up my pillows as you have to sleep with your head in the air so it doesn't touch anything where the grafts are. The donor area is covered by a bandage and that is ok to have touching something, but not the recipient area.

 

So we will see how the night goes. I have my hair washed in the morning (10:30 meet in the hotel lobby), before being driven back to the airport at 13:00 and flying home to the UK.

 

So far, I'm really happy with everything, especially Dr Demirsoy and his team. I've been researching this for years and saving up for it, and it's finally happened! This experience couldn't have gone any better.

 

Slightly anxious about the post op self care and image, but I've taken 2 weeks off work (Self employed anyway) so I won't be out and about in order to give myself the best healing chance. Originally I thought I could probably go back to work within a few days. This is definitely NOT a good idea in my opinion due to the fact that grafts need 7-10 days to really settle.

 

Here's a post op pic (note the shape of the graft area - as pointed out by Dr Demirsoy - it's like a face with a balaclava about to do a bank job!).

 

I'll keep updating with pics over the coming days etc.

 

Cheers

[ukbilla]

Hope all goes well. Good luck with the healing

[zagh]

thanks for the write up. hope that the hair grows well.

[cloudy]

Cool man, until the summer you'll be a new person. All best!!

[JohnGage]

Thanks for the write up. Are you on pain killers? How bad is the pain? Do you have any more pics? pre/post... donor.. front? Wish you good luck with healing/growing.

[hairgainer]

Looks good...just be prepared that you will have swelling in the head and the face in the first week, it's all normal though

[mm015]

Had a very tricky nights sleep (about 4 broken up hours) due to positioning and then went for 1st hair wash. The hair wash hurt a bit as the girl went over the areas worked on. But nothing you can't handle.

 

Instructions given to me and also told to buy some Monoxidil and Biotin tablets in addition to the lotions and shampoo Dr D gave me. (If anyone knows the best place to buy Monixidil and Biotin tab can you PM me details please?).

 

Just got back to the UK. Wore my baseball hat very very loosely at the airport but took it off for the flight. Head isn't painful but I had to insist on cool water rather than lukewarm when my hair was washed this morning as it feels like it's burning otherwise. It's starting to feel a bit itchy on top.

 

The trickiest thing is sleeping for the next 7 days with the recipient area not being touched. It was very hard sleeping with my head in the air using a combination of travel pillow and normal pillow. Can't wait for 7 days to pass so I can do everything normally again!

 

I've uploaded a load of photo's for you below which were taken by Dr D. They are before the op, both as my hair was at the time, and with the pre op design. Then I have included the post op pics after the first hair wash on day 1. I'll keep updating here over the coming days!

[imnothere]

Sounds reassuringly professional. Good luck.

 

Im due end of Feb

[JohnGage]

Thanks for the update/pictures. Dr. Demirsoy is an amazing surgeon. His work always looks so refined. I am sure you will get great results! Are you on Finasteride? If not what is the plan for the future? After few years you will need a second procedure to fill in those "eyes" and "mouth", right?

Any swelling so far? Are you using a head band? Did they give you steroids?

All the best.