2084 FUE Bisanga September 2014

[Baldietwo]

Soo...It's been just over a year since I had my first Procedure. Back then I was a NW5-6.

I had a 4703 grafts to cover the front and part midscalp. That made a HUGE difference and I am pleased with the results (read the story with pictures etc here:http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/172018-journey-my-4703-fut-hair-transplant-dr-bisanga-august-2013-a.html)

 

A couple of weeks ago I went for procedure number 2.

2084 grafts was placed in the end to cover the rest of the midscalp and crown. It won't be as dense as the front. I guess the total area covered this time is almost as big (probably a bit smaller). So maths says that this will be half the density. Still it will make a huge difference to me. It will no longer be shiny shiny scalp, but a covering of hair. The scalp will probably shine through but I'm not to concerned about that. I'm 40 years so no one is expecting me to have perfect dense hair anyway. This will take YEARS of my look.

 

The procedure was over 2 days. The food they served at lunch time was great and very tasty. A heck of a lot better than the crappy food they serve at the Hotel Catalonia where I stayed. The breakfast is ok but the evening meals.....it's not fit for dog food. I ate there the night I arrived just to see if had gotten any better...it hadn't. I stayed here last time as well so this year I came prepared!! I brought some ready meals (noodle packs)I could mix with hot water and some pepperoni sausage.

 

The 2 days themselves went really well. The staff were helpful as always. The only "bad" thing about the 2 days was the anesthetics... which hurts! And there so many more of them than for FUT....

on the 2nd day the injections felt 10 times as bad.. Don't know why but it was excruciating. When they were over the rest was a doddle.

 

Post op I had very little pain. Compared 2 FUT the pain post op is a walk in the park! Now, just 10 days post op i have no pain or discomfort at all. With FUT the pain lasted a good 2 weeks until sutures were out.

 

On the topic of FUT. I got to see the scar in it's full glory since I had to shave it all off. On the left side it's ok, the right is a bit wider. Nothing too bad and it will be covered with a grade 3 or 4 i think. For those saying FUE is the way..I was a NW5-6.. FUE would not have given me enough to cover it all. I had to go with FUT and I don't regret it. Even when seeing the scar.

 

I'm not planning on any more procedures but I should have enough donor left for one more FUT if I really want to. But I have no plans to do so. If I do...and that will be in the distant future I can place some in the scar to cover that up.

 

Apart from the FUT scar no one would know I've had a procedure.The scar is visible, but I'm not covering it up when out and about (I do cover it in the sun of course)..I'm just letting it all breath. All my friends and work colleagues know about it so there's no point in hiding it anyway.

 

Below are some pictures.

* The first is a comparison between my original NW5-6 state to 1 year Post my first op. (Basically the way I looked before this FUE Procedure)

* The remaining 2 pics are from this Op on day 1 and day 10.

 

day 1 and day 10.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2014 by Baldietwo

[stinger99]

Great result from ur first op. Ur second will complete the journey. How bad were those shots.

[TakingThePlunge]

Congratulations Baldie! Thanks for sharing your experience. I wish you the best of luck and hoep that you'll keep us updated on your progress. Happy growing!

[Baldietwo]

Time for an update! I don't hang around too much on these forums but a promise is a promise. I've learnt a lot here so it's only fair to post the pictures.

 

19 months ago I was a NW5 heading towards 6. Now, I'm a NW something else (not sure where I fit to be honest).

 

It's been 6 months since my 2nd procedure which focused on the midscalp and crown. It's growing nicely but it feels slower than the first transplant. The crown is also taking it's time.

 

I didn't put many grafts in the crown since I didn't really have enough. I wanted a scattering to avoid scalp shine and I think once it's fully grown out it will achieve that.

 

Nevertheless, I'm a new man!

 

As you can see from the pics in certain light conditions it's clearly see through. I also have to style my hair in a certain way to achieve maximum illusion.

If I was to point all the hair upwards it looks awful! This is not a surprise since there's only so much a HT can do for a NW5/6.

 

I'm delighted with the result. I'm hitting the big 40 soon and many of my friends are now asking for advice on getting their hair done!

 

Now, for some pictures. There's still lots of growth left to come for the midscalp (and crown) but so far I'm delighted with the result.

 

 

 

[stinger99]

Looks good man, what a change from where u started. The next six months I'm sure ull see more density from second op. Congrats

[BUSA]

not too bad. u need another 2500-3000 grafts tho. why did u opt for so few grafts being a NW5-6?

[Baldietwo]

not too bad. u need another 2500-3000 grafts tho. why did u opt for so few grafts being a NW5-6?

 

I had 4780 in the first procedure (FUT) and 2080 in the 2nd (FUE).

Just shy of 7000 grafts in total. I wouldn't call that 'few grafts'.

 

Right now I have no plans for another procedure. I'm OK with low density crown.

Its expensive and I'd like to spend money on other things in life.

I have another 2k or so available if I do another FUT. Maybe in 5-10 years I'll fill in the crown.

 

This has changed my life in a way that only fellow NW 5/6s will understand. I never had any expectations of youthful dense hair. Frame the face and avoid the slick cue ball look was my goal. That goal has been achieved already and I have another 6 month of growth to come (at least).

[fortune11]

Baldie -- Congratulations on the results so far and hope the growth continues. As a fellow NW5/6 and being of same age, I totally get your viewpoint. I have been through 3 HTs now for a total of ~6k grafts (all FUTs) and will probably go for another last one down the road which will be FUE to cover the crown area. Like you , my goal is also to just "frame my face " and avoid a slick bald crown. I am not all the way there yet but hoping that when my current HT # 3 develops fully in ~ 8 months from now , my hair will look very similar to yours !

[BUSA]

I had 4780 in the first procedure (FUT) and 2080 in the 2nd (FUE).

Just shy of 7000 grafts in total. I wouldn't call that 'few grafts'.

 

Right now I have no plans for another procedure. I'm OK with low density crown.

Its expensive and I'd like to spend money on other things in life.

I have another 2k or so available if I do another FUT. Maybe in 5-10 years I'll fill in the crown.

 

This has changed my life in a way that only fellow NW 5/6s will understand. I never had any expectations of youthful dense hair. Frame the face and avoid the slick cue ball look was my goal. That goal has been achieved already and I have another 6 month of growth to come (at least).

yea I agree that is a lot total grafts. I hear ya tho there r other things in life that are important too but imo if I got a HT and was still bald on top it wud completely defeat the purpose of getting a HT in the first place and wud just continue to shave my head but thats jus me I guess....:cool:

 

ur so close to havn a full head of hair. I wud jus bite the bullet and do the other 2000 grafts and fill in ur crown. 5-10 years is a LONG time... why the hell wud u opt for FUT wen u just had FUE done?

[Cryingoutloud]

Ah, good ol' BUSA's winning personality is still going strong, I see. Have you had your first procedure yet, BUSA?

[Baldietwo]

fortune11,

It is such a nice feeling isn't it.. To go from NW5/6 to a full head of hair. Sure, it's not dense and it's see through at times. BUT no one will say that you're bald! They might say "it looks like you're going bald". But I'll take that any day. Because I know that what I have is permanent. Happy growing! 8 months will go fast.

 

BUSA,

I see you're a NW5. You'll soon come to realize that expecting a full head of dense hair all over is unrealistic for us high norwoods. No matter what the surgeons say your hair will be see through and the crown will be less dense.

The exception is if you happen to be lucky and have exceptionally high density and hair shaft caliber/

 

And....FUT because I don't have 2000 FUE grafts left.

[Baldietwo]

I just posted a response here and it says "awaiting moderator approval"

 

What does that mean? I can post this....

[PupDaddy]

It probably means that your post contained a word, term, or name that is automatically flagged for one reason or another. A moderator should review the post shortly.

[Pete-from-Farjo]

Looks like a large area you've addressed there Baldie. (feels slightly insulting calling you that but hey - you chose the username:D).

 

You've got some nice coverage there and as you say, you're only at six months so hopefully plenty of maturing/thickening still to come.

[Yonex]

Hi Baldie

 

Very interesting case given the current fut v fue debate going on

 

Any updates?

[stinger99]

being a nw 5-6, i agree with baldie's strategy. higher nw will never have that full dense look, for us, its more an illusion of coverage. the crown is like the black hole, meaning it takes a ton of grafts to get a dense look. the goal is illusion of coverage and not having the crown slick bald. i think for nw 5-6, a thinner crown is to be expected.

[sl]

Yes would agree with the above statement. This is a good case where a combination of both techniques can be used to maximise the donor and to good effect also as the Strip left the donor good for FUE work for other areas.

 

Be good to see an update and hope all is going well for the patient.

[Baldietwo]

11 Months since procedure number 2.

 

I think it's improving...but it's hard to tell from the pictures. Different lighting conditions from the last pictures makes it hard to compare.

 

The crown itself is still very sparse, not a lot is happening. The hair that was transplanted there is growing but it's slow and still quite thin....i hope this will thicken up.

 

The midscalp is also still quite sparse, but I hope this will thicken as well. From my first procedure I had this little "island" transplanted in the crown which I was VERY unhappy about. Yes, I did ask for some scattered hair in the crown area but not an island on it's own. That was an issue of miscommunication between me and Bisang. In any case, I was always going to have a procedure number 2 and that island is now more or less gone as the new hair is growing in.

 

From the pictures and certainly from looking in the mirror I can tell that the hair around the "island" is much thinner than the hair in the "island". Which tells me that the hair from phase 2 still has a lot of thickness left to grow. My hair is very coarse so I hope this will improve well beyond 12 months. It looks like the hair transplanted 11 months ago has a lighter colour as well. As if they are not mature yet. However, that could also be due to the sun exposure over the summer..

 

See my previous posts and image if you're curious about what I mean about the "island".

 

Overall I'm still very happy. From a NW5/6 to a thickish front and covering in the scalp midcrown. I was never going to have Justin Bieber hair...I'm 40 years old after all....There's a few minor niggles that I will discuss with Bisanga once I pass month 12. I believe he's missed a couple of areas...they're only small but I notice them (others might not)

 

The pictures below aren't great. Particularly since I've not had a hair cut yet!! I need to get that done soon. That should improve the look. I'll post some more photos once I've had a hair cut

 

If I have one regret it's that I should have asked for a lower hairline. It's way to high in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

[delancey]

Baldietwo,

 

 

Thanks for the update. I have been following your case since the beginning. You have certainly come a long way. 2000 grafts in a big crown will always result in a thinning appearance. The good news is that you have a few more months to thicken up. After that you can always go back to add more density in the crown. I have seen many times how a second procedure in the crown can really thicken things up considerably.

 

Congratulations to you. And again, thank you for updating. It has been very cool following your progress.

[thisguy1]

Thanks for the updates and honesty. That BUSA character was a riot - 7k grafts is not "a lot".

 

Curious if you are happy with the crown work now that there is another 6 months of growth.

 

I agree on the hairline, would have been nice to see it maybe a tad bit lower. Strangely from the side it looks fine in how low it is; it is more from the front I think it could have been lower if you had the grafts to spare. I'll be curious if I have the same opinion of my own once it grows out haha - probably.

 

We started at about the same spot (you just had a bit less in crown) so as you said "This has changed my life in a way that only fellow NW 5/6s will understand." I see some of these 3500 grafts in NW2s and 3s and I am like damn - lucky duckies but we live in different worlds haha.

 

It's definitely clear for most of us who are not the "boom wow... one of top 10 results we've seen" growers that 6k+ grafts are necessary over 2 surgeries at 5/6. You look like a true 5/6 - some of the "5s" I see on here have about 50% more hair on scalp.

 

p.s. curious if you did any meds to go along with your HTs.