Jump to content

Hakan Doganay, 2835 Grafts


Swooping

Recommended Posts

  • Senior Member

Hey guys, In this thread I am presenting my 2835 FUE procedure with Hakan Doganay (AHD CLINIC). My surgery took place in January over the course of 2 days.

 

Introduction

 

I am 25 years old. Mainly active on other forums like baldtruthtalk, hairlosshelp, hairlosstalk and stopaga under the same username. Been around for like 2+ years on these forums. What started as a search to explore my possibilities of battling androgenetic alopecia it also became an interest for me. As much that after finishing a degree in economics I started a study in bio science. I am working on a paper for the NCBI about AGA & senescence currently. Looking into visiting the hair congress later this year and quite possibly setting up a collaboration which is related to FUE multiplication.

 

Nonetheless, aside from that obviously the journey began primary to reverse my baldness. I managed to maintain and regrow a bit using compounds, while I was definitely happy with that it wasn’t enough. I wanted a better hairline and so did I chose to go for a FUE treatment.

 

Choosing the doctor

 

I quickly narrowed my choice to Dr. Hakan Doganay and Dr. Koray Erdogan. I lost some confidence in Dr. Koray Erdogan though. First of all because the communication through e-mail was incredibly slow and abrupt. Funny enough I spoke to someone from the United Kingdom on the last day of my stay at the AHD clinic and he said exactly the same. Secondly I feel that he takes the “safe road” by working with a overestimation and usage of graft numbers.

 

On the other side the communication with Dr. Hakan Doganay was very good and quick. They answered all my questions in detail & transparency. Not only that they were very open to input from my side which I liked extremely much.

 

I had 2 important requests prior to scheduling my FUE procedure; First of all that is splitting the surgery in 2 days. They were open to that and it was no problem I liked that because especially with FUE when the grafts are extracted it puts a massive amount of oxidative stress on the hair follicles. The hair follicles reside in a generally moderate to severe hypoxic state (low oxygen) in your skin, removing them from that optimum environment is detrimental. Even if adequate mediums are used like hypothermosal with ATP, mixed with PRP etc. I still think the best option is to minimize the time the grafts are outside the body. Which can ultimately only help with achieving a higher yield. Aside from that there are other positive sides with it too as I experienced in during the 1st operation day which you will read further in my story. The 2nd request of me was that all implantations were performed by Dr. Hakan Doganay himself which they agreed upon too. So the choice was set; a surgery with Dr. Hakan Doganay.

 

 

Arrival 1st day;

 

Landed in the evening in Antalya was picked up by Muslum (representative of Dr. Hakan Doganay), plus another guy of the clinic forgot his name. All went smooth. Arrived at the private hospital, was escorted to my room and I went for a nap as it was becoming late and I had surgery the next day.

 

2nd day;

 

Was woken up quite early like 6:30 AM and a nurse came in to take blood of me. They measure your blood for around different values to make sure you are healthy etc. Then later I was supposed to have surgery that day but Muslum came to me that there was a problem. The problem was that a very good friend of Dr. Hakan Doganay passed away and if we could re-schedule my operation. I was fine with that, they gave me 2 options either do a 2x a session in one day. So extract half of grafts the first session, implant them take a break and then resume with the other half. This would still cope with my request of having the grafts stay the minimum time outside of the body. Or they gave me an option to stay 1 day longer and they would obviously compensate the new tickets I had to book. I chose for the first option. Dr. Hakan Doganay also drew my hairline this morning and said I needed 2500 grafts. I had enough donor but I have quite fine hair in the donor area, which I already knew. Dr Hakan Doganay doesn’t really speak good English but Muslum always made sure every question or request I had was translated correctly.

 

So there I was expecting to have my surgery that day, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible anymore. Muslum came to me and said don’t worry I’ll show you around Antalya today. He picked me up at like 12AM at my room and we went on a tour through Antalya. The weather was like 17 degrees really lovely. We had a drink, walked around the old & new city and enjoyed some Turkish cuisine later. I actually felt like I was on vacation instead going for a trip to Turkey for a hair transplant. Muslum is a really good host and really a relax guy to hang around with. At like 6PM we headed back after a nice day of sightseeing & relaxing in Antalya.

 

3th day (1500 grafts);

 

So I woke up in the morning and ate some breakfast. Muslum picked me up and brought me to Dr. Hakan Doganay. Again he inspected my hair, and started drawing the hairline again. We agreed upon 2.5K grafts and opt for a high density because of my thin hair. Then my hair was shaved, blood was taken for PRP etc. and I was brought to a room were the extractions began. All went smooth. They always made sure I was comfortable and Muslum was there often to make sure If I needed something or had some questions. After 1500 extractions there was a quick break and Dr. Hakan Doganay started to implant them all. However during the implantation (almost halfway through) Muslum said that my grafts were popping out too much if the Dr. tried to place the hair follicles in a high density. So I was like damn, and asked Muslum if after all I can stay one day longer and we can split the surgery in 2 days. Hakan Doganay agreed with me that this was the best option. I was quite happy anyway because of that, as you see such problems may also arise. Waiting an extra day would ensure the blood coagulated properly so that popping shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I still don’t know why it was an issue in my case, perhaps because I was a bit too excited and my blood pressure was higher than normal. Nonetheless it didn’t matter anyway. I felt great aside from a brief moment when my anesthesia worked out on my right temple. I stupidly didn’t ask for extra anesthesia but just bit through the pain which felt like a sort of burning coal on my temple for 15 minutes. The injections themselves were less painful for me. After everything was done I was a bit tired though so I just went to my room and relax to prepare for the next day.

 

4th day (1335 grafts)

 

Same story, I ate some breakfast and was brought to a room where they started extracting. They extracted 1335 grafts instead of 1000 grafts to my surprise but I didn’t care. We took a break and then Dr. Hakan Doganay started implanting them. There was no problem of graft popping now, which was obviously very nice to hear. This day was very comfortable, I learned from the first day and asked for some extra anesthesia on my right temple after the initial one when I felt the burning again. It immediately relieved the pain and the operation day was comfortable for me. When all grafts were extracted I headed to my room again for some rest and Muslum kind as he is ordered a big pizza for me and him. After that I just laid down and went to sleep.

 

5th day (washing day and leaving)

 

Woke up had some breakfast again. Went downstairs to have a wash of my hair. They basically explained post operative care and gave some stuff. Paid the remaining of the surgery and was brought to the airport later.

 

Conclusion

 

They handled the problems extremely well and always provided me enough options. They refunded all extra costs I had to make because of this and to my surprise I did not need to pay for the extra 335 grafts, extremely kind. I can really recommend Dr. Hakan Doganay and his staff. Special thanks also to Muslum, he is really a relax kind guy who took care of me and had a real fun day with him in Antalya. I felt they all tried to put their maximum effort into obtaining the best possible result for me.

 

That was my story guys, I didn’t go over to much detail because the story would have gotten way too big for that. If you have any questions about anything, shoot them and I will respond to you. I’ll be also updating this topic with pictures. Hopefully my result will turn out to be to my expectations.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Graft breakdown

Single: 835

Double: 1200

Triple: 800

Total: 2835

 

Punch size: 0.7mm , 4mm length

 

Implantation: Choi pen 0.6 & 0.8mm

 

Hakan_preview_big.jpg

 

 

I'll update this topic with pictures constantly and have more pre-op and post-op pictures taken myself etc. Just watch this first or 2nd post for updates ;).

 

Thanks for reading, comments are appreciated! Again if you have any questions shoot them, whatever that may be!

Edited by Swooping

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 66
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Senior Member
Nice detailed review, and super work, very neat!:rolleyes:

Where were you staying during your procedure? Any Hotels recommended By doc? and was it near the clinic?

 

Hey Rawkerboi,

 

I was staying at the private hospital where the clinic is located. It's not too big of a private hospital. I had my private room there. I took a picture of it;

 

room.jpg

 

Was a pretty big room, high hygiene standards obviously. You don't see it on the picture but on the left I had a private bathroom which was very big. It isn't really cozy as you see but that is the least priority I would think of when you go for a hair transplant ;). In the room there was a TV and WI-FI. They bring enough meals through the day. There is a cafeteria in the hospital where you can get free drinks, snacks and toasts. I liked to stay close because you are just a few meters away from where your operation happens. After the operation you just want to leave as soon as possible to your room to have some rest, at least that is what I have experienced. The adjustable electrical hospital bed is a real plus in my opinion.

 

When I was touring through Antalya with Muslum he told me that they cooperate with a hotel called Madison Blue I think. That hotel was really close by. There are many other hotels close by too as Antalya especially in the summer is a pretty popular tourist place for foreigners. It's just a individual preference I guess. Hope that answers your questions!

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

Good luck swooping. AHD Clinic work improved a lot since moving to their new location in a professional hospital. I feel that this patient will have very good result. Dr. Hakan is very well known of his generosity and free services, that I truly admit. Muslum and Mustafa are continuing to give great customer service. Keep it up Dr. Hakan :-)

Plug removal + Strip scar revision - Dr. Ali Karadeniz (AEK)- May 23, 2015

Plug removal + 250 FUE temple points- Dr. Hakan Doganay (AHD)- July 3, 2013

Scar Tricopigmentation- Dr. Koray Erdogan (ASMED)- May 3, 2013

2500 FUT (Hairline Repair)- Dr. Rahal- July 26, 2011

 

My Hair Treatments:

1- Alpecin Double Effect Shampoo (Daily)

2- Regaine Solution Minoxidil 5% (2 ml once a day)

3- GNC Ultra NourishHair™ (Once a day)

4- GNC Herbal Plus Standardized Saw Palmetto (Once a day)

 

My Rahal HT thread http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/164456-2500-fut-dr-rahal-hairline-repair.html[/size]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

Thanks guys!

 

did he say how many grafts u have left from the donor zone?

 

Hey Busa,

 

1500 at least, but it's way too early to speak how much really perhaps it's more. Depends on the healing of my donor too..Unfortunately my mid and upper donor on the back isn't that suitable for extraction because the density isn't as good & there is more thinning, weak hairs! The punch diameter on my donor side was 0.7mm with a length of 4mm. Hope that answers your question!

 

Thanks for the detailed answer!! Are you on any medications?

 

I actually had a pretty big shed and loss of density & thickness because I dropped my medication 3-4 months before the surgery. I was on a topical anti-androgen + minoxidil. I restarted the topical anti-androgen now , won't restart minoxidil though. My hairloss is stable and because I restarted now I should expect some gain of quality of my hair as before (hopefully) :)!

Edited by Swooping

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
In most cases of Dr.Hakan, I see patients staying only for 3 days, Is it ok if we stay for 7day atleast or may be 10, so that all follicle are permanently dug up !

Do the Clinic have any issue regarding stay?

 

I don't know obviously but I am sure they could arrange that :), you would have to ask. 10 days isn't needed though, most are secure in place at 6-7 days. Also the choi pen assures that the grafts are pretty firm in place immediately and harder to dislodge. I had a very loose fisherman hat which the clinic gave me when I traveled back, no problems at all. Aside from looking a bit goofy :P.

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
I don't know obviously but I am sure they could arrange that :), you would have to ask. 10 days isn't needed though, most are secure in place at 6-7 days. Also the choi pen assures that the grafts are pretty firm in place immediately and harder to dislodge. I had a very loose fisherman hat which the clinic gave me when I traveled back, no problems at all. Aside from looking a bit goofy :P.

 

Any problems in security checks? :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

Congrats on your surgery, the work looks great and I wish you the best for the final result.

---

Former patient and representative for Hasson & Wong.

 

Dr. Victor Hasson and Dr. Jerry Wong are esteemed members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

 

My opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hasson & Wong.

 

 

My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Hasson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
Any problems in security checks? :rolleyes:

Hi mate , i went to Dr Hakan last year and flew in and out Antalya ....no trouble with checks at all , they are used to it I'd say (booming industry for Turkey ) . The only issue to be aware of is the after op kit they give you , i only had hand luggage so the shampoo had to stay behind as the bottle was too big ...got away with the pot of lotion though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
How's the back looking?

 

I'll shoot some pics at the 1 month mark in a few days, also of my donor progression!

 

Any problems in security checks? :rolleyes:

 

Just had to take my hat off briefly once at a security check for like 1 sec. No problems at all really!

 

Congrats on your surgery, the work looks great and I wish you the best for the final result.

 

Thank you sir!

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
Hi mate , i went to Dr Hakan last year and flew in and out Antalya ....no trouble with checks at all , they are used to it I'd say (booming industry for Turkey ) . The only issue to be aware of is the after op kit they give you , i only had hand luggage so the shampoo had to stay behind as the bottle was too big ...got away with the pot of lotion though.

 

Thanks mate

That look from crowd when you remove your hat!!!:confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

So is this called the ugly duckling phase :):o? I guess so haha. Anyway 1 month pictures. Recipient area still some redness, most hairs are shed. Donor area some shockloss and redness too.

 

recipient1month.jpg

 

Donor1month.jpg

Proud to be a representative of world elite hair transplant surgeon Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic.

Hairtransplantelite.com

YouTube

Online consultations: damian@bhrclinic.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...