3988 grafts with Dr. Paul Shapiro

[hadenough2014]

Day 37: no major progress to report or anything worth taking the time for pics. Scar seems to be healing well and pinkness fades each week. I continue to shed graft hairs, which is bitter sweet. I have now shed more hairs and look more bald than i did before the transplant, so that is the true definition of ugly duckling, I think. I have shed basically everything in the front 1/3 and it's now just some fuzz there. That is the bitter part. The sweet part is the fewer graft hairs that remain, the better they should grow when that time rolls around.

[Squatch]

I know what you mean by the way you feel about shedding. I was starting to get used those guys. Day 23 for me buddy.

[SunnyCool3]

Another 2 months of wait. No more ugly duckling after that. Hang in there!!!

[hadenough2014]

I know what you mean by the way you feel about shedding. I was starting to get used those guys. Day 23 for me buddy.

 

I stabilized the shedding between day 20 and 35, and on day 36 I shed a ton and today on day 38 I am still losing some. It can stop anytime now...

[Pcrudance2006]

Great looking work. Neat and tidy.

[hadenough2014]

End of Week 7:

 

I have some new growth of a few indiviudal grafts at the hairline and a couple of multi-hair grafts in the dense pack area behind the hairline. I've just noticed these in the last day or so and they are very small and sparse, but they are definitely new since my shedding period largely ended a few weeks ago. They are also not native hairs because I did not have hair that far forward before my procedure. Not enough for photos, but if more growth starts to show, I will start taking photos.

 

Encouraging 7th week, but I'm not jumping for joy just yet or becoming mirror-obsessed.

[Squatch]

Sounds like a good sign.

[SunnyCool3]

That's good to hear mate.

Almost 7 weeks are gone and I think another 5 to 6 weeks to go before action begins.

I am confused between native and transplanted hair. I am seeing some hair in the frontal half however not sure if they're native or transplanted. :confused:

[hadenough2014]

It's pretty easy for me to see because I basically had zero native hair left in the front 1/3 after the shedding concluded. So anything new is very apparent to me and it is easy to see the new growth. In the mid scalp it just seems thicker/fuller and that's about the only distinction I can make right now. Maybe in a few days I'll have enough up front for a photo to capture it well enough to post.

[SunnyCool3]

Nice. I'll look forward to see picture.

[hadenough2014]

Week 9: Still not-photo ready yet, but I had some growth and pimples in various parts of the scalp are more frequent now. Mid scalp and near crown are areas that are thickening with hair, but I think it is hairs that I did not fully lose during shedding that are getting thicker/longer and are being helped with Propecia/Rogaine. A few hairs (10-20) popped out along the hairline on both sides and the front a couple of weeks back, but they have remained "lone soldiers" over the last couple of weeks. I still take it all as a pretty good sign right now that a growth period is near. I hope by the first of the year I will have a photo where some difference from my-pre-op can be clearly distinguished.

[SunnyCool3]

Good to hear man.

Are you taking any medicine for the pimples or just warm/hot compresses?

I am still getting pimples here n there and it helps when I do warm/hot compress. Nothing to worry though. In a way it's a good sign if there are small pimples here & there cos that indicate the growth phase is about to start

it’s been almost 2 months. Time just flies.

[hadenough2014]

Hi Sunny,

 

I am not taking medicine. I only have 2 or 3 at any one time, so far. Time is moving along nicely now. The first month was a bit torturous, but once I realized I was going to not have much of an ugly duckling look, I have put it mostly in the back of my mind other than when I check out the forum every few days or so now.

 

I should also mention my scar. The scar feels good (no pain, no tightness, no numbness) and is healing thin (no visible stretch), but it is quite pink/red still. Mine may take more than the average time to convert to scalp tone. I sometimes feel the scar's presence more at the end of a long day and my neck muscles recently felt strangely fatigued back there for a few days, but then that went away. Time is the scar's best friend. I know it is getting better now and will get much better in the next few months, but no one should ever be misled to believe that all scars will "heal" in less than a month...I'm sure it is a different timeframe for everyone.

[hadenough2014]

I am now starting to believe the early growth I saw between weeks 8 and 9 post op is due to Propecia. I believe it allowed a mixture of a few grafts and mostly native hairs to bloom. I have not seen any new growth in a little more than 2 weeks but those that poked through in 8 and 9 are growing longer. The early growth is also all within areas where I have had some hair in recent years, and nothing from the "new" slightly lower hairline created by the Dr. is coming through.

 

I actually hope this is the case, because it not only proves that propecia is working for me, but it means I could see a final result that yields HT hairs plus propecia hairs for even more density than I bargained for...

 

I guess I may not really know until I start seeing more HT hairs coming through.

[SunnyCool3]

Propecia could be doing the magic in the background. I wont be surprised.

I am confused right now. I had some native hair left (not a lot), some transplanted grafts lingering on the recipient area as they didn't shed and of course the Propecia:confused:

 

One thing is for sure that I am seeing lots of new hair coming out; reason could be anything. So let's see, we haven't even entered the growth period. This is all good stuff

[hadenough2014]

...This is all good stuff

 

Very true, Sunny!

[Squatch]

Maybe your just "willing" them to grow.

[hadenough2014]

I am basically at 3 months now and I have nothing to post in the way of pictures just now. While the mirror tells me there is some growth, the photos show hardly anything. The photos reflect how others see it, so I go with them as a better indicator of results than the mirror. It is still early. I essentially look like I did pre-op with a little shorter mid scalp hair and a few new hairline hairs (maybe 150-200 hairs, not grafts - I can pick out a number of multi-hair grafts).

 

I can see little hair popping out and I can feel the stubble, but the camera does not pick it up.

 

I am not disappointed, as I know the real growth is still in the coming months. But I was encouraged by some early sprouting the last few weeks, only to discover that the pace has not yet accelerated and the real emergence is still to come. These are hopefully just teaser hairs.

 

I remain on Fin and Rogaine daily as well. Nizoral once a week.

[SunnyCool3]

Thanks for the update.

Next three months will be very exciting.

Hopefully the problem will shift from baldness to finding a good stylist and right styling product (s)

[Janna]

I am basically at 3 months now and I have nothing to post in the way of pictures just now. While the mirror tells me there is some growth, the photos show hardly anything. The photos reflect how others see it, so I go with them as a better indicator of results than the mirror. It is still early. I essentially look like I did pre-op with a little shorter mid scalp hair and a few new hairline hairs (maybe 150-200 hairs, not grafts - I can pick out a number of multi-hair grafts).

 

I can see little hair popping out and I can feel the stubble, but the camera does not pick it up.

 

I am not disappointed, as I know the real growth is still in the coming months. But I was encouraged by some early sprouting the last few weeks, only to discover that the pace has not yet accelerated and the real emergence is still to come. These are hopefully just teaser hairs.

 

I remain on Fin and Rogaine daily as well. Nizoral once a week.

 

 

It'll take few months for the stubbles to show up on pictures. Typically, 6 to 7 months post op is when you and others will be able to tell a difference. Looking forward to your updates!

[Squatch]

I know what it is like man..... You always hope you are the guy with the bushy early growth. I run my hand up there and it feels like more than the camera picks up. Keep up the good attitude.

[hadenough2014]

The anterior mid scalp is really slow to emerge, and I think that is why the photos don't pick much up. There is basically a gap behind the tuft in front at the hairline, and since that anterior mid-scalp is an area that probably had more densely packed grafts and multi-hair grafts, it is important for that area to emerge behind the hairline before the appearance of density begins to kick in. Small progress everyday, but still looking ahead to months 4-5 for the real action.

[hadenough2014]

I decided to post a couple of 3 month photos. I know, quality is bad, but I just quickly snapped them off my iPhone. It's really just to show that everything forming the hairline is new - I had none of that hair before surgery. The hairline will still come down a bit on each side and the front. I also have some general new growth coverage across the mid scalp and even towards the crown.

 

I figure this is pretty good for 3 months to see some things happening. I wish I was more of a whiz with a camera, but alas, I am not.

 

Looking forward to the growth and thickening continuing.

[SunnyCool3]

Looks good. Right on track.

Exciting time ahead.

[Squatch]

Showing growth. Still watching.