~3200 Grafts FUT, Dr. John Diep 7/14/2014

[PP2]

Hi Everyone

 

I have scheduled a hair transplant with Dr. John Diep on 7/14/2014, approximately 3200 grafts (could be more or less, we will see). I noticed there is not a lot of detailed patient results for Dr. Diep but he has been recommended on this forum. Before getting into the details about my experience with Dr. Diep so far and I thought I would give an brief intro into my hair loss story.

 

Me:

I am currently a 26 year old male student and I first started losing my hair when I was 20 years old. I am about a NW 4 scale of hairloss. When I was 21 I started doing research on this forum and I want to thank this forum a lot. Nevertheless, I started taking a combination of Propecia & Rogain foam. I took both for about a year and still noticed my hair continued to thin. The side effects never bothered me but since I didn't really see any improvement over a year I decided to stop taking it (it was getting expensive). By the time I was 22 my hair loss was very noticeable, it was about a Norwood 2-3. At that time, I heard about Nanogen and have been using it ever since. At age 22, I was still in college and it was a very difficult time for me. While in school, I was loosing a lot of my hair at a rapid rate. I was pretty stressed in school and seeing myself everday in the mirror made me feel miserable a lot. Wore a lot hats, wouldn't go out much because I was so embarassed. Now 6 years later I have come to terms with my hair loss and have decided to undergo a hair transplant and give it a try.

 

Experience with Dr. John Diep:

1st. Consultation (phone):

The first time I met with Dr. Diep was over the phone. I had sent him detailed pictures of my hair loss during our conversation so he could view my hair loss. Overall, I was pretty content with the conversation that I had. At the time I was debating between FUT & FUE but for my pattern of hair loss, I thought going with an FUT would give me a better result. And Dr. Diep educated me on both procedures, their pro's and con's. Dr. Diep does both FUT & FUE but a lot of the patient results that I had seen had been done through FUE so I was a bit nervous undergoing FUT but his FUE results are very promising. Nonetheless, I have made the decision to undergo FUT. Over the phone, I felt he never tried to sell me on doing FUE or FUT or doing a hair transplant, he really assured that me that it needs to be a personal decision. I had a tone of questions to ask and he took time to answer them and I thought that was really nice of him. And after that phone call I felt a lot more comfortable with him and decided to pursue a 2nd consolation but this time, I wanted to meet him in person.

2nd Consultation (in person):

I drove with my mom about 2.5 hours from our home to his office in Los Gatos. When we got into the office the staff I met Wendy and Liz working at the front office. Overall the staff was very professional, friendly, and courteous to my mom and I. And just as we walked in, a patient has just finished undergoing an FUE and had a bandage covering his entire head, it was really interesting to see. Then, Dr. Diep invited us to his office to discuss further about undergoing a hair transplant, this time I only had a few questions but my mom had a lot (she doesn't know a lot about hair transplants and the different types of transplants) and so Dr. Diep began explaining to my mom in detail about the procedure and the differences between FUT, FUE, Neograft, etc. Later in our consolation Dr. Diep showed us on his computer patient results that have undergone FUT and I was pretty impressed with the results. He had a variety of patients coming from all over, East Coast, Out of State, Canada, etc. Dr. Diep also took time to draw the potential new hairline on my head with a marker for my mom and I to see. We spent about an hour talking to him and I felt he was very professional and genuine from out meeting, we never felt rushed to finish. We felt very comfortable with Dr. Diep after that visit and I scheduled a hair transplant on July 14, 2014.

 

I will do my best to update this thread periodically (I will be starting school in late August) for people to see and for your own benefit. If anyone has any thoughts/comments or questions, feel free to post them here. In the meantime, I have attached some pre-surgery pics, I will post pre-op pics and post-op pics soon. Stay tuned! Feelin Excited

Edited June 27, 2014 by PP2

[Roman94]

PP2,

 

Thanks for sharing. I heard he's a great surgeon and delivers nice results. I can very much relate to your story on the college experience.

[KO]

You have one of the better balding patterns - you look balder than you are...should be a home run.

[PP2]

PP2,

 

Thanks for sharing. I heard he's a great surgeon and delivers nice results. I can very much relate to your story on the college experience.

 

Anytime! I am going to try really hard to record in detail of my overall experience, start to finish. As I said, their are not a lot of detailed experiences (with lots of pictures) from patients with Dr. Diep on this forum and so I hope I can be the person that provides it.

 

You have one of the better balding patterns - you look balder than you are...should be a home run.

 

Thank you, fingers crossed!

[Britanium]

Thanks for such a detailed write up ! you have chosen a great surgeon and im sure your going to have a great result.

Look forward to subsequent postings :-)

[Blake Bloxham]

Congratulations! Look forward to updates.

[TakingThePlunge]

Great choice! Good luck and please keep us posted.

[PP2]

Hey Everybody

 

Sorry I haven't posted for some time but I will be posting up a lot of pictures and a full write-up in the next coming days. I have been feeling a little weak lately as I am recovering from surgery but so far I'm doing good and I will describe my experience in detail in the next coming days. I took detailed pictures with my own camera but I am awaiting pictures from Dr. Diep and the breakdown of the number of grafts. Stay tuned!

[PP2]

7/14/2014

Here are some pre-op pictures Dr. Diep took with my camera. I am about a NW 4 level of hair loss. You can see that my hair is receding towards the crown.

Edited July 19, 2014 by PP2

[PP2]

7/14/2014

Here are some pictures immediately following my hair tranplant operation on 7/14/2014 at Dr. Diep's office.

 

Here's a write up of my experience at Dr. John Diep's office during surgery day:

 

# of Grafts: 3577

1's: 897

2's: 2016

3's: 451

4's: 213

 

Method: Strip/FUT

 

*I came into Dr. Diep’s office with my mom at 5:30am. I saw Dr. Diep at around 6:30am and my mom and I chatted with him prior to the surgery. We finished up some last minute paperwork that he made me sign and then he drew in the new hairline on my head. During my second consultation, Dr. Diep mentioned that I would need about 3000-3200 grafts to fill in my bald spot. On surgery day, my mom and I asked Dr. Diep, if it was possible to add more grafts because I do have a slight balding towards the crown area and Dr. Diep was willing to do so if he though it was suitable as the surgery went on (which he did). And he mentioned it would be about an extra 500 grafts and my mom and I agreed to it. I also agreed to undergo A-cell injection, it’s a new trend that Dr. Diep mentioned hair transplants clinics are incorporating because it is supposed to help in the healing process (extra $500).

 

After the pre-surgery talk, it was on to the surgery. I got into the surgery room and there we went! They had a TV, which was nice, I got to watch sportscenter. The surgery itself wasn’t too painful (I underwent Strip/FUT). The painful part was when they were stripping the hair from the back of my head (I would give it a grade of about 6/10 pain level). But the stripping didn’t take very long, I would say about a couple of minutes. I was pretty numbed up too with the local anesthesia.

 

The surgery itself went from about 7am to 6pm. I took 3 breaks, 2 bathroom breaks, and 1 lunch break (and Dr. Diep provided lunch). In total Dr. Diep used about 3700 grafts to fill in not only the main bald spot, but also added some grafts to the crown area to give it some density.

 

Overall, I felt the surgery went well. Based on my point of view, I think Dr. Diep had done the stripping of the donor area and once the strip was removed then several nurses came in and continued on with rest of the surgery. I couldn’t really see who was actually putting in the grafts into the recipient area but I believe 2 nurses did that, not Dr. Diep. I did see Dr. Diep come in continuously to check on the progress of the work of the nurses. I wasn’t sure if this was a common practice at most hair transplant clinics but overall, my overall feeling was that the nurses that worked on me were very professional regardless.

 

When the surgery was over, they wrapped my head with a bandage and provided me some medications to take with home. When I got home, the pain from the Strip in the back of my head started to get worse and couldn’t sleep that night. I was told I needed to sleep at about a 45 degree angle with my face up. The pain slowly got worse (about 7/10) through the night and I did take pain meds before going to sleep but it didn’t help, plus the strong pain meds made me feel really nauseous.

Edited July 25, 2014 by PP2

[PP2]

7/14/2014

Some more pictures I took on surgery day when I got back home.

Edited July 19, 2014 by PP2

[PP2]

Day 1 Post-Op: 7/15/2014

* Since I didn’t sleep well last night before and I ended waking up early about 5:45am. I still had pain in the back of my head but it got slightly better. I woke up and was pretty nauseous, I tried to eat some breakfast but ended up vomiting in the morning, which actually helped me feel a lot better. After feeling better I started taking the recommended medications that Dr. Diep provided and followed it diligently.

 

*When I looked at myself in the mirror, my head looked like a strawberry lol, just a lot of redness and blood. I didn’t really do anything the day after my surgery, just tried to sleep, eat & walk around at home.

 

*Later in the afternoon that day I drove back with my mom to Dr. Diep’s office for shampoo & hair wash. One of the nurses there had gently used a special shampoo and water to wash my hair. They didn’t touch the recipient area they just let water and soap run through a cup but they used a special sponge to clean the sutures on the back of my head. The washing took about 10 minutes and I was off back home again. There was still a lot of redness after the wash but I wasn’t worried, I knew the redness would take time to heal.

 

*Eating and smiling was a little difficult, I mean I could eat and smile but I couldn’t open my mouth or smile too big because it was discomforting, I could feel the back of my head sort of stretching so I avoided eating big meals or smiling too big.

 

*That evening the pain in the back of my head was still there but instead of taking the strong prescription pain med Dr. Diep gave me, I just took an Aleve (an over the counter pain reliever), I didn’t want to get nauseous again. That evening I was overall mentally feeling a little better even though I still had pain. That night I used a neck pillow to help me sleep.

[PP2]

07/16/2014

* I slept much better this time than the night of my surgery. I woke up a few times during the night but I was able to go back to sleep. I woke up in the morning and still had the pain in the back of my head but the pain was less. The only surprise that I woke up was that I had a lot of swelling around my eyes. The lower lid of both eyes was swollen like a ping pong ball and around the area of my sideburns/ears was really swollen and puffed up on both sides of my face. I wasn’t in any pain, just a lot of swelling around my face. I looked like a football lol, and I got worried and immediately called the Doctor’s office and they told me that it would be ok and it was normal. They told me to apply some ice and just rest, not worry too much.

 

*I continued to apply ice in the morning, afternoon and evening and by the evening my swelling had gone down a little bit. Eating and smiling was still a little discomforting but not a big deal.

 

*I still continued to have some pain in the back of my head. I had another feeling that I won't sleep well again…oh well lol.

[PP2]

07/17/2014

* I didn’t sleep well again this time; I only slept for a few hours. I still had pain in the back of my head prior to going to bed that small pain still bothered throughout the night. I am a very light sleeper and just a small amount of pain kept me up last night. I still used a neck pillow and was sleeping at a 45 degree angle. The doctor recommended for the first 3 nights that I sleep at a 45 degree angle and on the 4th day I have the option to sleep normally but I would have to be careful sleeping on my stomach and not rub the new grafts against the pillow.

 

*When I woke up, I noticed the swelling around my eye’s had gone down a good amount, which was relieving. After eating breakfast I tried to go back to sleep but I ended up only laying in bed. From that point I just continued to rest, read, walk around and eat. I tried to be as stress-free as possible.

 

*In the evening, I still had some pain in the back of my head where the sutures were, I had a another feeling I was not going to get a good night sleep but oh well. I slept at a 45 degree angle with a neck pillow too.

[PP2]

7/18/2014

 

*I didn’t sleep well again, I may have sleep for about 2 hours. The small pain again in the back of my head still affected my sleep. Plus I don’t like sleeping at a 45 degree angle but I was instructed to do so for the first 3 nights.

 

*When I woke up I noticed pretty much all the swelling I had around my eye’s & ears had gone away, which was nice. And this morning I started to get an itchy head and I had to keep refusing mentally to scratch my head. The itchiness continued throughout the morning but towards the afternoon it got less.

 

*I still continued to have small pain in the back of my head.

 

*I begin to notice that I have a lot of dry blood & crusting on top of my head, but I will try to stay positive. It hasn’t past the 7 day mark so I can’t shampoo, I have to wait 3 more days.

[PP2]

7/19/2014

 

*I didn’t sleep well…again. Maybe only slept for a few hours, the pain from the sutures still bothers me when I sleep. And I still used the neck pillow but since I am past the 3rd night, I have been given permission to sleep normally from now on so hopefully I can sleep better tonight.

 

*I still have itchiness on my head but I avoid touching or scratching my head in any way. It’s a common symptom but hasn’t bothered me too much.

 

*I still continued to have pain in the back of my head but this night I was going to sleep flat and on my belly. The pain in the back of my head has been about the same for the past couple of days.

[BayArea510]

Looks good. I had the same procedure with him on 6/20 so I am about a month ahead of you. He did 3251 grafts same way FUT in the front area also. It will be interesting to compare results..

[PP2]

Looks good. I had the same procedure with him on 6/20 so I am about a month ahead of you. He did 3251 grafts same way FUT in the front area also. It will be interesting to compare results..

 

Thanks! how is your recovery is going so far? How is the scar healing? Is it noticeable for you after about a month? Do you have any pictures?

 

This 1st week has been a little difficult getting used to the aftermath of the surgery, but just keeping positive.

[PP2]

7/20/2014

 

*I slept a lot better. I slept flat and on my belly and I was finally able to get some much needed sleep that I haven’t been getting this first week. I did get up a few times during the night but I was able to go back to sleep even with the small pain that I had in the back of my head. I think since I didn’t sleep on my back, it didn’t make the pain any worse so it didn’t bother me as much last night.

 

*I still have some dry blood & crusting on some areas on my head, by tomorrow or the day after I should be able to start shampooing my hair normally so hopefully by then they will start to come off.

 

*I still continued to have that small pain in the back of my head.

 

*I would also like to say that I have been contacting Dr. Diep's office daily and the front office has been very kindly taking my calls and answering my questions. They have been really responsive which I really appreciate.

[Pulpedfiction1]

You'll start sleeping MUCH better on a consistent basis once your sutures are out (10 days for a first-time strip?)

[PP2]

You'll start sleeping MUCH better on a consistent basis once your sutures are out (10 days for a first-time strip?)

 

Thanks for the reply. Starting after the 7th day, I started to sleep better. I will be getting my sutures out today. Yes, after 10 days, sutures will be removed for first time strip.

[PP2]

7/21/2014

 

*I slept pretty well last night, I didn’t have to get up in the middle of night. This was the first time I actually slept through most of the night, thank heavens! I miss sleep.

 

*I still had the small pain in the back of my head, the pain level hasn’t changed much over the past few days, it stayed pretty constant. It still pretty discomforting for me when I smile too big or laugh sometimes, it feels like I’m putting tension on the scar & sutures so I try to be very careful in those situations.

[aWidowsPeek]

Wow great in depth updates Hope it turns out awesome man!

[PP2]

Wow great in depth updates Hope it turns out awesome man!

 

Thanks! Fingers crossed :confused:

[PP2]

7/22/2014

*I slept better again and I think I will hopefully start to sleep better again at this point moving forward. The pain in the back of my head was still there, it was a little less painful but about the same.

 

*I shampooed my hair normally for the 1st time today. I noticed as I was massaging my scalp that I no feeling or sensation on the recipient area, I could not even feel the water lol. I had a feeling that was going to happen but hopefully overtime I will get that sensitivity back. Some of the crusting and dry blood came off but there was still a good amount that remained after shampooing. I didn’t rub too hard, I just gently massaged, I didn’t want to over do-it my first time shampooing.

 

*I still had pain in the back of my head.