Dr. Hasson FUT - 3,898 grafts on 16/05/16

[Tj287]

Hi Everyone,

 

Firstly, thanks to all the members for sharing all of your experience and advice, it's been a pleasure to read, and also a great help to me.

 

My hair loss began probably in my late teens, and was hardly noticeable at first due to my hair being so thick when I was young. By the time I was in my early 20's, my hairline had receded quite a way, and my hair at the front on the top was getting very thin. My hair loss shattered my self-confidence and i became extremely self-conscious about it. I would obsess over how my hair looked constantly, sometimes re-doing my hair over and over, trying to make it look ok before I left the house. Looking back on it I can remember how much it affected my daily life. It sounds kind of ridiculous now, but i remember doing things like only sitting against the window on one side of the train on the way to work so that the one side of my head (where recession was particularly bad) wasn't on show to everyone inside.

 

It got to the stage where, in December 2014, I told my mum I'd like to try out finasteride/propecia/proscar to see if it would help me. I spent a lot of time withdrawn from social situations and it was really getting me down. I was aware of the potential sexual side effects (which scared the hell out of me) but was willing to try anything. My mum works in medical field and she told me, if i wanted, I could try a hormone called progesterone. It works in much the same way as fin (5-ar inhibitor) and would negate the effects of DHT, but without the side effects. As my dad used to do bio-identical hormone replacement therapy we had progesterone in the house, and I started taking 30mg every other day, on 24th December 2014.

 

I have to say that progesterone did my hair so much good. I am not an expert and mostly went on what my folks told me as true (plus, my dad is also a GP) and it worked out well for me. From being wispy and thin at the front, much of the thickness in what hair remained returned. I could once again style my hair up (how i normally styled it in the past) although, where the hair had completely disappeared, there was no new hair coming through. I ended up with a Norwood 2/3, plus a pretty uneven hairline.

 

Despite the improvement I still wasn't really happy, so i started to look into hair transplants. I quickly established that the UK wasn't the place to go, so I would have to travel. After trawling the net and looking around I was particularly impressed with Hasson & Wong. Luckily, my folks live in British Columbia and would be able to help me through the post-op period which was a deal. I saw H&W were doing consultations in London so I booked a consult with David (great guy btw) who took my pictures to send to the clinic. They came back and told me I'd be a good candidate and would probably need 2,500 - 2,700 grafts. I booked myself a slot and was told Dr. Hasson would be my surgeon for the procedure. I was going to quit my job anyway and I saw this as a great opportunity to do the surgery as I would need time to recover. Before I left I lined up a new job to start in July. Having to explain to my new CEO and a room full of directors that I couldn't start for 2 months because I was having a hair transplant was an experience!! Thankfully they understood and I had my window.

 

On the 5th May flew out to the US for a golf trip and, on the return leg of my US trip, I went to Vancouver for the surgery. I planned to have the surgery, stay in Vancouver a week, then stay with my parents in Canada for just over two weeks. H&W include two nights in a (very!) nice hotel, but instead took what they would have spent on a room off my final bill, and I organised my own place to stay. I ended up renting a small apartment from airbnb in Kitsilano (close to the surgery) which was perfect for my needs and about $80 a night.

 

On the day of my surgery I was due in the clinic at 7:30am. I arrived and filled in some forms and they performed a few rudimentary health checks like blood pressure readings etc. I then met Dr. Hasson and we spoke about potential hairlines, what would look best etc. He was very interested to hear that I had been taking progesterone and asked me lots of questions about it. He said that many patients were completely put off by the potential side effects of fin and he actually did look at progesterone, but hadn't had any patients try it out as yet. He said my scalp was a little tight but that the donor looked good (I was very lazy with my laxity exercises). He then drew 2 different choices of hairline, plus the option to lower each one down, giving a total of four options. I opted for the flattest, lowest line, which he told me we should be fine with the grafts we could get. Some of my native hair was shaved at the front, some photos were taken,I was given a valium, then taken for the strip to be removed. The injections do hurt but it's not the end of the world and there was no pain after that. I was talking throughout the strip removal procedure and Dr Hasson was encouraging me to talk as he worked. When I stopped blabbing I realised why. You can hear the scalpel cutting as the strip is removed - it was a dreadful sound!

 

After they close the gap and staple you up, the technicians begin to remove the grafts. At this time, Dr. Hasson started to make the punches for the grafts to go into. He asked a technician to tell him when they were halfway done with the graft removal and how many they had gotten. After a while, she said something like 1,600 at halfway, so I knew we were looking good on graft count. Interestingly, during the whole process I didn't watch the TV once. Maybe it was the valium, but I was just happy to sit there as they worked and look out at the fantastic view of Vancouver from the OR. I just felt a sense of relief I suppose. That I was finally getting this done and I was pretty happy to be there. I ended up getting close to 4,000 grafts in the end. I can't remember exactly when we finished, but it was the evening - 7pm or something like that. They give you a loose fitting cap and a few pain meds and send you on your way. For me the first night was absolutely the worst in terms of pain. I think they gave me three percocet, all of which i took on the first night and they didn't really even touch the sides - the back of my head was reaaaallly tight and painful!

 

Luckily, after that first night there was never pain that bad again, although sleeping upright for 5 days with staples in your head isn't very pleasant. I went in to the clinic every day over the next three days and had H&W wash my hair, which was a pleasure - the staff there are all fantastic and everyone has such a pleasant disposition. My entire face swelled up CONSIDERABLY on the third day as the solution they put into your scalp to plump it up during the procedure worked it's way down my face. On the Friday I flew to my folks' place (going through the airport wasn't great, I was still pretty swollen), and was there for a couple of weeks. I applied vitamin E oil on my scalp, day and night, which helped the scabs to come off just shy of 10 days. Having the staples taken out was absolutely amazing - being able to sleep on my side again was nice!

 

I am now back in the UK and exactly 2 months on from surgery. I am happy I took so long off work (9 weeks) as the redness was very apparent for over a month. I am also blonde and have fair hair, which I don't think helps the redness situation. Pretty much all transplanted hair has fallen out and I am now trying my best to to be patient - it's very tough!

 

Sorry for the large amount of text - I am trying not to miss anything out!

 

Here's a breakdown of my 3898 grafts from the clinic:

 

1040 singles

2737 doubles

121 multi’s (3 and 4 hair follicular units)

 

I've included pictures of:

 

Hairline before the procedure (Top & Front x2)

1 day post (Angle, Top, Front)

6 day post closeup (Left and Right)

13 day post front

15 day post from

1 month post

2 months post (Today)

 

EDIT: I mixed up the number of grafts on the main title - it should read 3,898 - not 3,989. I am not sure how to change this.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Tj287

[DavidAnderson]

Congratulations on your recent procedure with Dr Hasson and for the detailed write up. Work looks very impressive as always and thanks for my mention it was a pleasure to deal with you. That was a serious number of grafts you got and should give you an excellent outcome.

 

Good growth to you and keep us all posted.

[TakingThePlunge]

Thanks for taking the time to share a detailed account of your experience! Dr. Hasson does excellent work. I've edited your title to reflect the correct graft count.

 

Best of luck!

[trashpanda]

Congrats on your procedure and it looks like you are healing well! Your redness is lingering but that's more normal for people with fair skin like you. That's a nice number of grafts for that area, what was your donor capacity? This will be a great result and you are right around the corner from seeing some early growth!

[Tj287]

Hey Panda,

 

Thanks for the encouraging words! Yes, my redness was apparent for a long time, the fair skin in definitely a factor, as is the light hair. I'm not sure about donor capacity. It wasn't something I asked about as my loss stabilised after taking progesterone and I just had an issue with my hairline and the density at the very front.

 

II was told my donor is very good and I'm hoping to only need the one pass. By all accounts I got a very large number of grafts for an area of that size - over a thousand grafts (an extra 44%) over the top estimate I was given after my consultation. I see guys who are NW 4/5 having a similar number of grafts and my area was very small by comparison.

 

We will have to wait and see how it turns out but I am holding thumbs and touching wood like you wouldn't believe. My 3 month update is due next week and it's starting to get exciting - new pics will be up then

[mosd]

Congrats on operation. Did they say why they used so many grafts on that area? Maybe it's the norm?

[Ernie]

3900 grafts -- hoowee! This should come out very nice. Congrats on getting the procedure behind you.

[Tj287]

Mosd - I'm guessing they just used all the grafts that the strip they took yielded. Perhaps the density was higher than was originally anticipated, hence the higher number of grafts. It was also an extra $3k more than I thought! That being said, I was still happy to spend the money and get the extra grafts,

 

Ernie - thanks for your kind wishes. and congrats on your procedure. You're a little ahead of me on the timeline, and with some early success I might add! Best of luck and happy growing!

Edited August 11, 2016 by Tj287

[Tj287]

Hey guys,

 

Today is exactly 3 months (13 weeks one day but hey, who's counting!?) since my HT, so I thought I would post an update. I'm pleased to report there is a fair amount going on! I started to notice tiny hairs just after the 2 month mark and I'm seeing improvement from week to week.

 

Despite there being progress I must say that the wait is absolutely excrutiating!!! I suppose it's natural but I really had no idea about how difficult the mental side of the recovery period was before my HT - it's vey tough!! That being said, I do feel like i've turned the corner in that I am now getting more hair with each day rather than less, which is a welcome change! I think blonde hair makes the process even tougher - it's so hard to see!

 

All the pictures are labelled in the title and i've taken from the same angles with and without flash with dry hair, as well as combed back wet. I also took two outside in natural light. The stacked picture is months 1 (top), 2 (middle) and 3 (bottom).

 

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts/opinions!

[trashpanda]

wow, its looking good TJ! It looks like you have passed the most difficult part and are on your way to a great head of hair. Congrats!

[Spidey]

this is going to be slam dunk for sure!

[Tj287]

wow, its looking good TJ! It looks like you have passed the most difficult part and are on your way to a great head of hair. Congrats!

 

Thanks, Panda - I certainly hope so! The next few months should hopefully be the good part, fingers crossed!

 

 

this is going to be slam dunk for sure!

 

Let's not talk too soon, Spidey! Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep everyone updated as time goes on. Your result was fantastic btw. I see you, me and Panda are all Dr Hasson patients! It's very reassuring to see the results of his work on others and it's also remarkable how consistent he seems to be with his hairline design with different patients. Panda's hairline stepping on the right side of his head is basically identical to mine. I guess you get what you pay for, I certainly hope so!

[Tj287]

It's been a week since my last post and I thought I'd update you guys on what everything looks like in somewhat favourable lighting. I can only upload one picture at a time, so here's the right side

 

Any feedback welcomed

[Tj287]

Attached

[trashpanda]

Looking awesome TJ, by the time the transplanted hair reaches the length of the hair behind it and you get a cut to blend it in, everything is going to look as you probably imagined it before surgery. Congrats!

[Tj287]

Looking awesome TJ, by the time the transplanted hair reaches the length of the hair behind it and you get a cut to blend it in, everything is going to look as you probably imagined it before surgery. Congrats!

 

Thanks, Panda! I'm seriously considering shaving it to a 3 or 4 guard like Ernie did. The new hairline is pretty far forward and it shows in certain lighting and looks quite silly with two such different lengths. The only problem is I'm chicken - I've never shaved my head in my life and I'm worried how it's gonna look. How good everything looks is also very dependent on the lighting - it's still pretty sparse in reality.

 

I'll upload pics from my computer in a sec - I'm on iPad and can only go them one at a time here. You'll see what I mean about the lighting. I'm also not sure if I still have lingering redness - even 3+ months later - or if it's just the base of all the new hair coming through. I know redness can linger for a very long time, especially if you're fair skinned, but it is a long way in by now. If it's redness, this will also be so obvious if I shave my head as the rest of my hair is pretty thick.

[Tj287]

The first few pics look better than it really does and the last pic is more accurate. Let me know thoughts on redness!

[DavidAnderson]

Thanks for the updates, it looks very promising at this stage. As for the redness you can try some aloe vera to bring that down but in your case of pale skin and so many incisions into that area it is just going to take time.

 

Worth giving aloe vera a try though.

[Tj287]

Thanks for the updates, it looks very promising at this stage. As for the redness you can try some aloe vera to bring that down but in your case of pale skin and so many incisions into that area it is just going to take time.

 

Worth giving aloe vera a try though.

 

Hi David,

 

Thanks for the tip. I did get it cut pretty short in the end. Turns out it's hair and not redness

[Tj287]

It's been 4 months since my HT, or 17 weeks and 4 days to be more exact. The past month has gone well and there is definitely progress. My right side is lagging a little behind my left (as you'll see in the pictures) but it's no big deal at this early stage. My hairline is definitely visible and i have to say i'm very pleased with it! Dr Hasson does a great job with his zig-zags and I am a fan of his chevron shaped hairlines, which are rounded off just enough in the middle so as to not be pointy at the front.

 

On the mental side it's a very strange feeling because it feels like time is going both quickly and slowly. You want to see good results and they seem far off, but at the same time i can't believe it's already been 4 months.

 

My pictures have all been taken with flash except one, which i've labelled as such. They are side by side with my 3 month pics which are on the top (hopefully that's pretty obvious!). I've tried to get the angles and lighting as similar as possible.

 

I'm getting a haircut tomorrow and will post some pics in good lighting without flash when i can in the next few days. Autumn is definitely here and it's usually too dark to take photos outside by the time i get back from work, but i will try get some on Sunday.

 

As always, happy to answer questions and hear feedback

Edited September 16, 2016 by Tj287

[trashpanda]

TJ, definitely an improvement from month 3 to month 4. Thanks for the side by side pics, it really helps show the difference. I'm jealous you are out of the ugly duckling stage, I still have a few more months to go. Keep us updated, looking great so far!

[Tj287]

TJ, definitely an improvement from month 3 to month 4. Thanks for the side by side pics, it really helps show the difference. I'm jealous you are out of the ugly duckling stage, I still have a few more months to go. Keep us updated, looking great so far!

 

Hi Panda, thanks again for your kind words. Yes, thankfully no more ugly duckling for me, I would say it probably lasted until just after 3 months in.

 

As promised, I have some pictures taken inside under normal lighting conditions. I am on mobile at the moment so have to upload them one at a time - apologies for this! Here's the front:

[Tj287]

Left side

[Tj287]

Right side

[trashpanda]

Thanks for the new update TJ. Looking real solid right now. I'm just curious as I couldn't find it in your original post, when did your hair shafts start to shed after surgery?