~2600 FUT Grafts with Dr. Path, 8 April 2016

[finkfad]

Warning: The pictures are of very high resolution. I wanted to leave it as high-res as possible so that you could see more details.

 

Dear friends,

 

First of all, thank you for this wonderful site. It has allowed me to glean so much information from this community, bonded together by nothing more than a common lack of follicles .

 

I want to very briefly share some pictures of my first ever procedure, performed by the famous Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich, of DHT Clinic, Thailand.

 

I'll keep this brief, and you can look at my pictures instead. I told Dr. Path that I was aiming for a high number of grafts (close to 4,000 would have been nice), but before the procedure he couldn't be certain that it could be achieved. After I woke, he told me that he could harvest ~2,600 for this procedure, and he didn't want to proceed with more, because he wanted to "keep some in the piggy bank" as I'm fairly young, 33 years old, and the follicles could come in handy in the future.

 

Truth be told, I was initially disappointed that we couldn't get more grafts, but I'll let my initial pictures speak for themselves.

 

Pre-op picture of the drawn-up hairline:

 

 

 

Night of the op (don't be concerned by that red scar, I used to have a patch of seemingly dead skin there. Dr. Path told me it was an area damaged by the sun, so he cauterized it and didn't transplant any hair on that area):

 

 

Shock loss at the donor site (you can see obvious bald patches) was fairly serious, 21 days post-op:

 

 

End of the honeymoon period where most of the grafts are still in place, 23 days post-op:

 

 

Look at how well done the recipient site is! I kept marveling at the sight of a full head of hair in the mirror.

 

Sadly, right on cue, the grafts have started to drop and I've since lost >30% of the grafts, 28 days post-op.

 

Its a long waiting game now. I also apologize for keeping this so brief. There's a huge amount of information on this site already so I don't have interesting new tidbits to add.

 

However, if you have any questions, just post on here and I'll try to answer if I can.

Edited May 6, 2016 by finkfad

[finkfad]

Just wanted to add that my initial disappointment at not getting more grafts could be well unfounded, if the hair grew out like it was at 3 weeks post-op. I would be a very, very happy man if it did. Fingers firmly crossed!

 

I hope this would also help to convince readers out there that we may not necessarily need a huge number of grafts for success, even at a fairly advanced stage of hair loss such as mine. Let's see how this pans out.

[xdcs]

Just wanted to add that my initial disappointment at not getting more grafts could be well unfounded, if the hair grew out like it was at 3 weeks post-op. I would be a very, very happy man if it did. Fingers firmly crossed!

 

I hope this would also help to convince readers out there that we may not necessarily need a huge number of grafts for success, even at a fairly advanced stage of hair loss such as mine. Let's see how this pans out.

 

Hi finkfad,

 

Thanks for posting your pics. Please keep us updated on your progress. I think it speaks highly of Dr. Path to insist on not harvesting too much. He could easily make more money out of you by harvesting the maximum amount right now, but is thinking of your wellbeing and future needs.

 

I had an operation with Dr. Path about 12 days ago, and had about the same amount of grafts over a smaller area. Quite a similar hairline design to yours actually I think he favours the widow's peak.

 

I like the picture of your donor area scar. I can't see mine easily as my donor area is pretty thick. I hope mine is nice and subtle like yours.

[finkfad]

Hello friends, here's an update on my progress. Today (8th July) marks my 13th week post-op.

 

Most importantly: today is the first day that I'm going out hat-less!

 

You saw my first month post-op picture above.

 

My second month post-op (7th June) looks like this:

 

Today (8th July), the first day I'm heading out hat-less, it looks like this:

[finkfad]

I also did have quite severe shock loss at my donor site, one month into the transplant.

 

On 10th May (1 month post-op), it looked like this:

 

I panicked a fair bit and asked Dr. Path for advice. He told me not to worry, that the shock loss should recover within 3-4 months.

 

This is how it looks like today (8th July), 13 weeks post-op:

 

Recovering nicely indeed!

[finkfad]

I'm quite truly bursting with excitement, the first day going hat-less is a monumental milestone in this journey!

[home1212]

hey congrats, I truly understand how every little step in the recovery process feels gratifying, you've already come a long way since your surgery... even scar looks like its healing well, recovered from shock loss and improving day by day, congrats and continue healing well -

[finkfad]

hey congrats, I truly understand how every little step in the recovery process feels gratifying, you've already come a long way since your surgery... even scar looks like its healing well, recovered from shock loss and improving day by day, congrats and continue healing well -

 

Thank you! I'm super stoked, just 13 weeks in!

 

Here's a quick snap that I took 'in the wild' of my first hat-less day. Can't wait for it to really come in!

 

 

For all my follicle-challenged brothers out there, hang in there.

[finkfad]

As for my post-op care, I'm doing nothing really extraordinary. I'm using Rogaine Foam twice a day, copiously on the recipient site, and Finpecia 1mg once every night. I also use Nioxin as my shampoo twice daily.

[Thetoofhurts]

Fellow Sgrean and patient of Dr Path's over CNY 2016. Recognized a local HT doc who was interning with him there, Dr Tyng Tan. Extremely pleased with my experience although I didn't document my progress. ?

 

Hope to see more of your results in this thread!

[finkfad]

Fellow Sgrean and patient of Dr Path's over CNY 2016. Recognized a local HT doc who was interning with him there, Dr Tyng Tan. Extremely pleased with my experience although I didn't document my progress. ?

 

Hope to see more of your results in this thread!

 

Hello! Nice to meet another Singaporean who is Dr. Path's patient. You should be several months ahead of me in terms of recovery then, hope it's been and will continue to be life changing for you! Even at 17+ weeks into the procedure, I'm quite at the stage where I'm very comfortable heading out everyday and not too concerned about my appearance (unlike when I was facing bad hair loss pre-HT).

 

Here's my progress on 5th August 2016 (17 weeks post-op).

 

 

To my fellow Singaporeans, have a great National Day and majula Singapura!

[finkfad]

The donor site looks like this 17 weeks post-op.

 

[Thetoofhurts]

Ahhhh coming along nicely.

 

Regarding the graft count you had, scalp laxity may have been a factor. A wider wound may have led to a wider scar, esp if laxity is limited.

 

I was aiming for 2000 grafts myself but only had just under 1600 grafts transplanted. Didn't get any pain even without painkillers though, and was fortunate enough not to get any shock loss at the donor site either.

 

I'm at 6 mths now. Pleased with the results so far but harsh lighting can sometimes reduce my satisfaction level and make me think abt HT part 2.

 

Oh and Happy National Day!

[finkfad]

Hey guys! Back with updates on Week 22.

 

Here's a picture of the hair still wet (after showering and applying Rogaine Foam):

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Here's a close-up of the transplant after the hair dries and I ruffle it a little bit, week 22 post-op:

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Here's how it looks from the front, week 22 post-op:

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Another snap of how it looks 'in-the-wild', this was taken at Week 21.

 

There's a few strands of transplanted hair that's already white

[finkfad]

Dear friends, a quick update for today (Week 24)!

 

Under the lighting that I usually take (hair dry, with no Rogaine):

 

Under the morning sun, bright and shiny (after applying Rogaine):

[home1212]

looking really good! congrats

[TakingThePlunge]

Looks like your progressing normally and ehttp://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/183417-%7E2600-fut-grafts-dr-path-8-april-2016-a-2.htmlverything is looking great. Congrats!

[finkfad]

Thank you all

 

Like @Thetoofhurts mentioned above, I will tend to think it looks really good, until I see myself until harsh lighting. That gets me thinking about HT 2 as well!

 

I had a brief chat with Dr. Path and his advice is that for this op, he grafted for 35% density at the frontal area and didn't touch the crown. For HT 2, which can be done in a year after HT 1, we could shoot for another ~1,600 grafts at the frontal area (bringing it to 50% density) and 1,200 grafts for the crown area to bring it to 40% density.

 

Seeing my current results, I can't even imagine how good HT 2 may turn out

[finkfad]

Here's how it looks from the front, 24 weeks post-op:

 

[Thetoofhurts]

:D

Well you are alr seeing a discernable difference between yr pre and post-op photos, cheers to that!

 

I'm at 8 mths and happy with my own results (started off as Norwood 2). If i'm ever in BkK in the coming year i'll prob look up Dr Path and team for a review, and oh yes to get nicely-priced Finasteride from the pharmacies

 

 

Thank you all

 

Like @Thetoofhurts mentioned above, I will tend to think it looks really good, until I see myself until harsh lighting. That gets me thinking about HT 2 as well!

 

I had a brief chat with Dr. Path and his advice is that for this op, he grafted for 35% density at the frontal area and didn't touch the crown. For HT 2, which can be done in a year after HT 1, we could shoot for another ~1,600 grafts at the frontal area (bringing it to 50% density) and 1,200 grafts for the crown area to bring it to 40% density.

 

Seeing my current results, I can't even imagine how good HT 2 may turn out

[finkfad]

Hi guys, quick update for week 30.

 

[ConfusedRose]

hey! great results, how much was the grafts per cm2? 30?40?50?