Thinking about not following through with scheduled FUE, please help!

[Balloonknot725]

Hello my name is Steve,

 

I am 27 years old and my hair started receding when I was 17. I started taking finasteride around the age of 21-22, not sure exactly when. It has prevented me from losing any hair on my crown and slowed down the process for the most part, although I have a pretty bad receding hairline. My best guess is that I'm a norwood 3. I have had 2 consultations with Dr. Holt in Grand Rapids, MI. I am scheduled in a week to do an fue transplant at a great price break with the artas robot. This is because the artas will be brand new at his shop, but the artas technicians will be on site with Dr. Holt and his crew the whole procedure (my appointment is also on the last day of the week that they're doing artas, so they'll have a hang of it by then. The price I was offered is less than what Id pay for an fut. Dr.holt told me he'd really try to aim for 1400 grafts. From what I've researched, I may not be satisfied with just 1400 grafts, and a second procedure will be inevitable. I don't really have the money to go with a second procedure, and don't like the idea of that either. I don't want a transplant that I'm unhappy with and then I won't be able to shave my head. What kind of results should I expect with a norwood 3 and 1400 grafts? I don't currently have a picture but could gladly try to do so if that would help. Any input or advise would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[FUE2579]

we need pics big guy.

[Balloonknot725]

Ok I got my phone to work and take some pics...again I appreciate all input a lot!

[Balloonknot725]

Sorry I'm a noon and can't figure out how to attach all pics to one post

[hsrp10]

I have not heard of him, especially for FUE.

If the surgeon is not recommended here then cancel.

 

Research more deeply, and save your money and go with one of the best surgeon's in the world.

You only have a finite amount of grafts, so choose wisely.

 

read this btw:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156980-dr-holt.html

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/152969-dr-steven-holt-grand-rapids-mi.html

[Balloonknot725]

Also don't know why these are posting upside down..

[Balloonknot725]

Last one, if anyone can give me an idea if 1400 grafts is even worth it for me I'd appreciate it, thanks.

[Balloonknot725]

Thank you hsrp...that's what Im starting to think...too serious of a surgery to just get it done...but there aren't really many doctors in Michigan

[hsrp10]

got to fly man, most of us here have flown quite far in order to get decent results.

[Paulygon]

I have not heard of him, especially for FUE.

If the surgeon is not recommended here then cancel.

 

Research more deeply, and save your money and go with one of the best surgeon's in the world.

You only have a finite amount of grafts, so choose wisely.

 

read this btw:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156980-dr-holt.html

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/152969-dr-steven-holt-grand-rapids-mi.html

 

Agreed!

 

my thoughts are that w/ 1400 you could probably have a good cosmetic result but you may need a second procedure down the line.

 

The deal with the ARTAS discount you're getting-- sounds a little risky. Does anyone have experience with such a discount for the physician being trained for ARTAS? What was the result?

 

Please keep us posted with what you decide to do.

[Balloonknot725]

Thanks for response. The only reviews I've seen online about dr. holt are what hsrp posted, but those are years ago when he was associated with a different company. He has since branches out and formed his own independent company. He has not pressured me into anything, and been resourceful when I had questions and kept coming back to talk to him. He has had a transplant himself, and even let me go through his hair looking at his scar and density, etc. the artas robot experts will be on site the whole time, and after my procedure he will be charging customers more than double for what I'm paying. Also for free, e has had an associate design a hairpiece for the back of my head to cover the donor site, so I won't have to shave my head for the fue. I don't mind being a gunea pig for the hair piece, but I do take the actual surgery very seriously. I don't want to regret it and wish I would have just shaved my head. Everyone here so far seems to say go with an extremely reputable doctor or nobody at all. Have you guys seen great results from doctors you haven't heard of on here?

[hsrp10]

Got to admit I almost wrote "don't be gunea pig for this doc..." because that's what it sounds like.

Even with the best docs in the world there are no guarantees with HT surgery, so you have to reduce your risks as much as possible. You are getting a discount for a reason so be wary of that.

 

1,400 grafts is a count that is good for adding hairline density and not very much when it comes to hair restoration surgery.

You will need at least 2,500 grafts for any significant cosmetic improvement in my opinion, and 3,000 would probably be better.

 

FUE in Turkey seems affordable btw, and there are two recommended docs on here, Dr. Hakan Doganay and Dr. Koray Erdogan.

It's your money but be careful.

[Britanium]

Agreed with hsrp10 here ! more grafts would be needed for a good/dense result. So up to 3000 most likely would be better.

And yes travelling to Turkey for FUE with either of the recommended Drs would be a much more cost effective way to get your desired outcome.

[hairthere]

BK, Cancel the surgery. You have a finite amount of donor grafts and you don't want to gamble them away.

[JohnnyDrama]

I'd agree with hairthere. If I were you I'd cancel, research other clinics and send off your pics to maybe 6-7 of them and get a feel for how many grafts they would feel necessary. In my opinion you'd be looking at closer to 2,500-2,800.

 

I think by coming on here and creating this topic, you could very well have saved yourself a lot of grief and hassle down the line.

[Balloonknot725]

Damn, I was really looking forward to having more hair. Turkey is not an option for me. He's gonna hate me if I cancel now, oh well. Guess I might have to shave my head soon after all. I appreciate everybody's honesty. Still though, you guys haven't been impressed with an unheard of doctors work on here?

[voipman]

I would consider traveling as it is an option in this day and age given you have the funds. To me computers have a place but not creating art to which a good Dr will achieve.

 

Why not address your hair loss first before having a Ht as you may loose more hair seen as you are young and the Ht will then look odd or require another Ht.

[Balloonknot725]

I actually don't have the funds to travel to Turkey. I work full time, and could take a few paid days off, but am already juggling many monthly bills at this time and with the discount prices would be living on an even tighter budget. I am not worried about any further hair loss, as I have been taking propecia for over 6 years and my hair loss has been stabilized since that time. I already had the killer receding hairline when I started taking that.

[Jotronic]

Yes, I'd want to have a procedure with a clinic that "should have the hang of it by then". :eek:

 

Look, I know it is tempting to do because you are getting a serious price break but that is the typical situation that gets guys into trouble What happens when you need more work done because the first procedure wasn't dense enough? How long are you willing to wait with a result you may not be happy with while you save up more money to afford a second procedure?

 

Playing devil's advocate here, 1400 grafts may be fine for you because it ultimately depends on how much your temples will be addressed but your existing hair looks pretty full so any work done to lower your hairline and to address your temples would have to be pretty dense as well and the higher the density goes the more grafts are needed.

 

How many results did you see that were performed by the doctor since he's in charge of the placement for your surgery? How many other doctors have you reviewed that you can travel to? You don't have to go to Turkey, you can stay "local" to North America but I think you should hold off, save your money and take the time necessary to do some real research.

[Balloonknot725]

Thanks Jotronic, I appreciate your reply. When I meant "have the hang of it by then" was that they would have a full week experience using the artas robot, all with the artas robot specialists there the whole week guiding them The artas specialists will also be there during my whole procedure as well.. I know he already has the hang of transplanting grafts onto peoples' heads. I have seen his picture book, and the results looked pretty good. Trust me, I do pay alot of attention to detail in all aspects of life, especially something as permanent as this. I know that 1400 grafts would not be enough to give me the density that I would most likely need, and that is something I already discussed with this doctor. Most likely, I would have to schedule another transplant to thicken it out after it healed. I would be fine waiting it out after the first transplant because, either way, my hair would look better than it does now. I pretty much put it down and it covers up the receding hairline. I could still be doing that, and the transplant would only help that out. But, the whole point of me doing this is so that I can do other hairstyles. I would rather be able to shave my head than have a messed up transplant where I can still only do the comb forward look for the rest of my life. I just want to know if any of you have been impressed with doctors who are not recommended on here, or doctors you never heard of...Also, with the density of my hair as it is now, do you think 1400 grafts, even if he did a good job, would look goofy and weird? Would I not be able to cut my hair shorter and put it up with gel?

[Jotronic]

I understood what you meant but one week with the robot, I don't know, sounds absurd to me. This is your head we're talking about here. You are the one that has to live with it, no one else has that privilege. I talk to guys like you all the time (this is not a shot at you) in that they think they've done their research and when something makes sense at first glance they jump into the water not realizing their is a giant stump just below the surface. I get particularly worked up about situations like this because of my own short sighted decisions about surgery twenty two years ago.

 

I'm glad the doctor let you check out his transplant and scar. Did he do it on himself? I never understood the value in a doctor showing his own results as if he did a surgery on his own head. If his partner did it, that makes sense. If his staff did it, then who removed the strip?

 

The option to have more hair styles is dependent on what you feel is enough hair to pull those styles off. Again, the density will be determined by the size of the area the grafts are to be placed. The larger the area, the lower the density. You already said you are having to juggle some bills to pay for this at the discount rate so how will you pay for the second surgery that you admit you might wind up needing?

 

I've said my peace, you're the one that has to live with this so I wish you all the luck in the world.

[hairthere]

"He's gonna hate me if I cancel now, oh well."

 

Don't worry about how he'll feel about you. People cancel surgeries all the time. Worry about how you'll feel about him if you get a lousy result. Trust me, he'll get over it. If it goes wrong you'll have to deal with the fallout--every day of your life.

[Balloonknot725]

Again, I thank anybody and everybody for taking the time to respond to my concerns at all. I will be juggling these bills yes, but will have it paid off within two years max. That is by paying the least amount every month, but I intend to pay off more as I get quarterly bonuses throughout the year, so after the year I should be able to afford more, I just don't know if I want to put forth all of that money on a second procedure. And I probably won't have that discounted price down the line.

 

I do not believe he did his own head, and it was quite some time ago. His looked decent enough, but was also done quite some time ago. He assured me the techniques he does nowadays would be better than what he has had done, which I didn't realize he had anything done until he told me, it just looked a little thin up front to me.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what to expect from 1400 grafts. He drew a line on my head about what he would do. He would lower my hairline a little bit, and fill in the temples, giving a mature hairline. Again, I really, truly appreciate everybody's input as I go through every angle in my head! I've always been indecisive, but man, this is tough!

[Ali Emre Karadeniz]

Dear Steve,

Don't have surgery done by the robot, choose a skilled surgeon.

Either don't have a transplant and use finasteride or have 2000-2200 grafts.

If you decide to have the transplant FUT shoud theoreticaly be prefered to preserve more graft potential for the future since you are sure to need more.

[Balloonknot725]

Damn, I was really thinking Id have a decent hairline in about a year. But I appreciate everyone once again. So you think there's no chance I'd be happy with 1400 grafts from this doctor none of you know about?