Scheduled with Dr. Konior--3,000 to 4,000 grafts.

[CaliHairGuy]

Hello peeps,

 

So, I have been playing around the idea of getting an HT for close to 8 years. Have met with various doctors. THought about getting it done overseas. Even had an appointment right before Christmas with a Dr. recommended by this site, but cancelled because I couldn't find any recent reviews and some of the results didn't look great.

 

So, after seeing all the brilliant results from Dr. Konior's patients, I will become another one to receive the excellent work that Dr. Konior performs. You literally can not find a bad review from any of his patients, and unlike many other doctors, he does the entire procedure on his own. In fact, they wouldn't schedule me at the end of the week because mine will be a longer surgery, and Dr. Konior wants to make sure he isn't tired during the procedure.

 

Anywho, I will be posting updates once I am closer to surgery (end of April). A am 43, and I would say I am a Norwood 5...but I can do a decent job of masking the thinning hair. But I am tired of masking. I want to experience the full-power of a Konior HT

[NM156]

Congrats! Hope to see another masterpiece from Konior. Please keep us posted.

[1978matt]

Best of luck. Looking forward to the updates.

[1966kph]

Congrats Cali and the best of luck.

I presume this Fut ?

Have a nice day

[CaliHairGuy]

Correct. FUT. The small number of people at work that know say they don't think I need a HT, but there is A LOT of creative combing going on. When I get out of the shower in the morning and look in the mirror, I hear the music from the shower scene in Psycho lol.

 

I leave for vacation in a few days, so I don't know if I will be able to post pics until mid-April when I get back. Then 2 weeks later I see the doc. Even though I am almost 44 (will be when I get the procedure done), I only have a few gray hairs so hopefully my dark hair will help keep things hidden

 

I don't have any areas that are fully bald, but it can look that way under harsh light when I come out of the shower. You guys will see what I eman when I post pics. Maybe I'll have time this weekend.

 

Oh, and 1978 Matt, you're the guy that sealed the deal for me in going to Konior. Luckily I can stay with my cousins who live in the Chicago area. Best part is, I am using my week of sick days...so technically I am getting paid to get a hair transplant (minus the cost of course lol).

[fortune11]

Good luck with your procedure, you have made the right choice of surgeon and the procedure and the number of grafts should get you decent coverage in the front and mid scalp , assuming thats what you want to focus on. I personally hate trying to mask the thinning as well, as the mask / concealment tends to come off at the worst possible times and makes you more nervous about your looks than you need to be .

[CaliHairGuy]

I think we're going for the front and crown. Mid scalp is ok (for now). I am pretty sure a second HT would be needed for amazing, amazing results, but I know it will look good regardless with the good doc. That's why I'm trying to get as much done the first time. I started propecia 3 months out to limit any shock loss, but Konior is so good with his surgical work, I have seen many patients with what looks like a minimal scar after 2 weeks with no apparent shock loss.

 

For those who think Konior is out of their price range, he is very reasonable in his pricing. Not the cheapest, of course, but for those who are worried that he may be out of their price range, I'd advise them to contact Tom and Dr. Konior. You don't want to cheap out and become a forum horror story. Konior was about 50% more than the doc I was gonna see here in LA. And honestly, ever extra penny is worth it.

[Spanker]

Good luck! Keep us updated.

[CaliHairGuy]

So here's what it looks like on the front. My hairstyle is combed forward. There is no concealer or anything in this pic, but believe me, most of this hair is from 3 inches back.

 

EDIT: I'll have to fix this tomorrow as I am on my phone right now.

[Notsure89]

So here's what it looks like on the front. My hairstyle is combed forward. There is no concealer or anything in this pic, but believe me, most of this hair is from 3 inches back.

 

EDIT: I'll have to fix this tomorrow as I am on my phone right now.

 

 

Is he charging $5 a graft?

[Pete-from-Farjo]

Excellent choice. All the best with it.

[matt3480]

Good luck! My HT with Dr. K is next Tuesday....counting the hours!

[2youngforthis]

Lol nice... Keep posted... And yes dr k not only reponds to emails he does the procedure.. I mean heck what other doc can say thta

[Notsure89]

How much is he?

[CaliHairGuy]

I think you could say that Dr. Konior is reasonable considering his artistry. I will leave it up to Dr. Konior's office to quote a price, but 3,000 is low 5 figures. I am just 5 days out from my surgery. I have taken some pics, but I will probably post them when I have a lot of time on my hands while recovering. I just wanted to point out a few things that aren't obvious in the literature or other patient reviews (or I'm a dummy and missed them).

 

1) Many people stay at the Comfort Suites, but I am staying with a relative. I saw in another thread where someone hinted an going back to see Dr. Konior frequently (like everyday they're in the office) to check on progress. I asked Tom about this, and he said yes, doc will want to see you every day. So this means I have to rent a car, since my relative lives about 30 minutes away. No biggie, but would have been an issue if I had gotten there and not known this.

 

2) Be careful if you take any weightlifting supplements. I just noticed this morning that there is actually vitamin E in my protein powder. Ack! So, no more protein powder after the gym for me. Be careful out there people, check that stuff for hidden ingredients and stay away from the fish oils and flax seed oils as well as multivitamins. They can thin your blood (good thing the powder only contained 12% of the recommended daily allowance).

 

3) Dr. Konior recommends a button up shirt, but I only have dress shirts. So Tom said bring a t-shirt you don't mind having to cut off.

 

4) It's weird how nervous you get, even with a brilliant surgeon like Dr. Konior. I'm excited too, don't get me wrong.

 

5) I sometimes have to do client presentations, so since I am only out of work for 1 week, I am going to meet with Dr. Konior to see if we can come up with a solution that works for me...leave the very front hairs, then shave the front 1/3 right behind it. This would allow me to comb forward the hair on my front and sides like I do now to mask things. I don't have the luxury of staying out for 4 weeks lol

 

I think that's about it. I think my hair is long enough on the sides to cover the donor region. My areas that need help are front scalp and crown. Mid scalp is passable. Kinda between a Norwood 4 and 5. I'm 44, so my hair has been like this for awhile. Even at 35, it was starting to thin, so after I will have the hair of (potentially) a 28 year old me

[Spanker]

Having been there and done that, I wouldn't want to drive the first day or two. Not saying you couldn't, but I just wouldn't have really wanted to. You'd be better off staying close at least for the following day it two. Also, if you're paying over ten k for a procedure, make the investment of some button down shirts. You'll be glad you have them.

[CaliHairGuy]

Having been there and done that, I wouldn't want to drive the first day or two. Not saying you couldn't, but I just wouldn't have really wanted to. You'd be better off staying close at least for the following day it two. Also, if you're paying over ten k for a procedure, make the investment of some button down shirts. You'll be glad you have them.

 

Ok, thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I could always use Lyft or Uber. Also, I have some button down shirts, I was just relaying what Tom suggested. But I'll bring the button downs

[ontop]

Can I ask you why wouldn't you wait another 9 mths to see Fin was working or not?

I'm sure you be in good hands & a good end result but just thought its best to try Meds first at least 12 mths then go from there.

 

Good luck & congrats.

[Durhamboy]

Good luck will be interested in your results as also thinking of seeing Dr K this summer.

[CaliHairGuy]

OnTop,

 

I have/had areas with almost no hair, so Fin won't be able to fix that. I started taking fun 3 months ago to help my results from surgery. Be using Rogaine foam for years.

 

Sitting here about to go to bed. Even though I look like Ed Asner with dark brown hair, I'm extremely happy I did this. Dr Konior is a perfectionist and I know my results will be good in a year.

 

He did my surgery like Matt. Too one strip of the right side. Grafted all the hairs. And then did a second strip procedure on the left side. Pain was minor at best. The anticipation fear was way worse than the actual procedure. Total grafts were spproximately 3800 grafts. 1111 on the crown and the rest in the front 3rd. Like 2700 or so. My mid scalp is good, he just put a few hairs there. Pics when I'm not on Vicodin and Valium

[CaliHairGuy]

Had my procedure done last Wednesday. It's funny going from being a guy reading the forums to actually being a week post surgery. Now I'm a guy that got a HT, and man, it feels f-ing good. Like seriously good. I don't even care about the ugly duckling phase. I know I have finally gotten an issue fixed which has bothered me for a long time by arguably one of the best HT docs in the world. So here's how it went...

 

So, I will say the day I was leaving for Chicago I had a moment of feeling panicky...where my mind was like, "You don't have to do this. You don't have to cut your head open just to solve your insecurities." But then I took one look at my scalp and cooler heads prevailed. I think this is all pretty normal, especially if you haven't gone through something like this before.

 

I got into Chicago late Tuesday, and Tom picked me up from the Comfort Suites to fill out some paperwork. I thought I could come up with some hybrid shaving/non/shaving routine, but in the end I had to put on my big boy pants and get shaved (however, I will say that hanging out with relatives for the week after my surgery made me a lot less sensitive to having my scalp exposed...the support of loved ones and all that). Normally being surrounded by people at the security line at O'Hare would have freaked me out, but it ended up being a non-issue. I say this for all the people who have read these forums in abject horror regarding having to bear your funky post-surgery scalp to the world. Personally, for me, once I did the surgery I felt so good that it got way smaller in significance. Of course, I still wore a baseball cap at the airport, but if it had come off, I wouldn't have felt like dying. That's all I'm saying

 

I don't want to minimize having a 12"+ strip of skin cut out of the back of your head, but really the surgery was a breeze. But of course, you need a talented doc to make it a less than worrisome issue...Konior, Shapiro, Hasson and Wong, etc.

 

So, not sure how some people get 4,000+ in the FUT and some get less. Don't know if the doc cut a smaller strip for me (approx 1.5cm wide for me, maybe others who had more grafts had a wider strip or maybe it's a density thing...Dr. Konior said my density on the back was about 80 per sq cm and 60 on the sides).

 

Anywho, Dr, Konior put 2700 grafts on the front 1/3 and 1100 on my crown. I am 44 and a class 5, but luckily I still have a solid strip across the mid scalp and some hair in the front with a hint of my old hairline. Dr Konior said my scalp elasticity was in the top 80 to 90% of patients. However, my hair is relatively fine. But even though I was a little disappointed in total graft counts, check this out:

 

Total grafts: 3801

 

1's: ~540

2's: ~1880

3's: ~ 1400!!!!

 

1400 3's? Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe that when I head it. Seems super high. Anywho, I'll be posting pics over the next few days.

[CaliHairGuy]

BTW, do not ever do this to the good doctor's work. Ever. Seriously.

 

Good thing was it only cost me 14 grafts. But be careful out there people. It does happen. Happened to me in the shower because my relative's shower doors were extremely low and I was focused on something I forgot to bring with me in the shower, and not keeping my darn head down.

[Squatch]

BTW, do not ever do this to the good doctor's work. Ever. Seriously.

 

Good thing was it only cost me 14 grafts. But be careful out there people. It does happen. Happened to me in the shower because my relative's shower doors were extremely low and I was focused on something I forgot to bring with me in the shower, and not keeping my darn head down.

 

I feel for ya! It seems that I bumped my head more since I had my transplant than I did in the last ten years. It's like your head is a magnet. I don't think my HT was hurt..... But yours certainly was.

Good luck! Dr. Konior is one of the best.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Squatch

[TakingThePlunge]

Ouch! I know I never had a harder time of protecting my head than right after surgery.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Best of luck!

[CaliHairGuy]

Dr. Konior looked at it yesterday morning and said in his opinion, it really wasn't too bad (once you get all the blood away), and that it wouldn't make a difference in my results (although he offered to fix it right there on the spot). We are going to take a look at things in 7-8 months when everything has grown in. He mentioned he can do any fix up work with a few FUE's and no need to shave. I said "deal." Dr. Konior is the best

 

I wanted to relate my story so people can be super careful at all times...I thought I was and this still happened. More emotional damage than physical

Edited May 7, 2015 by CaliHairGuy