Finally Did It! Dr Vories 10/10 & 10/11 4K Grafts

[elicash80]

My Story: You can skip to below, The Report if you just want to see how it went. So all I finally took the plunge and had a hair transplant with Dr. Mike Vories on the 10th and 11th of October. So glad I did after so long of waiting and so much research. I will try to make this succinct, but I want to share my experience. As I have a kidney transplant, this might be helpful for anyone else with major health concerns. I am 34.

 

Let me start before the surgery. I began losing my hair at about 17, but only ever so slightly and it was only noticeable to me. My father and stepbrothers were all bald by the time they were 22, but luckily I some how got a decent mix of Mom (thick Italian lifelong hair) and Dad's genes to make this a slow process. Quick might actually have been better as I wouldn't have been slowly losing the battle and would have had to deal with it early on.

 

Anyways, I got divorced early last year and said screw it. I started doing the things I never was able to or avoided due to familial pressure. One of these was fixing my hairline. This is just one major block of my plan to build my life for me, not for someone else.

 

My best friend (can you believe this? greatest friend in the world) donated his kidney to me six years ago. While it saved my life and literally changed the direction of my life immeasurably, my looks took a major hit. I was used to being thin with a decent amount of hair and what young women in their early 20s would consider 'cute', not handsome, but decent enough looks to catch and eye or two. With the strong medication, I put on about 40lbs, looked older, more tired and lost all facial definition due to the 'moon-face', a result of the prednisone.

 

My ex-wife before our divorce told me, she did not like the way I looked any more and although I thought it was somewhat shallow, I also kind of understood. I look like I had aged 15 years in 6. The final straw that is forcing me to get in shape, get back some hair and do what I can to look as good as possible came when I got a date with an attractive 20 year old woman I met online. No, I have no problem with dating women in their early 20s, just so it's out there. I am funny and can make people at ease, even in my online interaction. This is the only reason women are sometimes willing to look past the outside. We had a blind date as she was looking for someone older and more established (yes, part of it, I'm sure was about the dollars) and I was looking for a piece of arm candy.

 

I stopped into a gas station to take a piss right before I was going to meet her. I have avoided looking in mirrors for years since the transplant and weight gain, but this time I wanted to see how I looked. What I saw was someone that, in my mind, she would likely be repulsed by. Even if this was not true, this was how I felt. I cancelled the date 20 minutes before the meet up on a BS excuse.

 

The next day I decided to fix my looks by diet, exercise, surgery, secret Tibetan massage rituals - anything. I literally could not go on like this. A huge portion of the dissatisfaction with my looks is (was) my hairline. I developed some psychological body issues and confidence issues during my divorce that took me over a year to fix.

 

I was a lurker on this forum for about 8 years and just started posting a couple of years ago. My goal was to find the best bang for my buck, the best value so to speak. Like a lot of others on here I did a ton of research on this site and others and began making spreadsheets of different surgeons. I started with about 30 different doctors and would eliminate them based on criteria such as price per graft, ability to cover a large area with a small amount of grafts, general forum consensus on the doc., travel expense, response rate, FUT vs FUE, etc. I think I had something like 10 or 11 criteria on my chart.

 

I eliminated quite a few based on price per graft as I just could not bring myself to pay $30K for the procedure when I knew I could get it for $15K. When I started contacting international surgeons (please see another thread that I started at the beginning of my search), every one of them would not even consider me due to my kidney transplant.

 

This brought me down to two surgeons in my relative area. I am in Knoxville, TN. Those two were Dr. Cooley and Dr. Vories (I only considered recommended surgeons). After meeting with both surgeons I talked to my local kidney doctor to get clearance. The final decision came down to the fact that, for my situation, FUE provided a slightly less invasive procedure and therefor a slightly lower risk of infection. This was my major concern being on a cocktail of immuno-suppresive therapy.

 

Dr. Vories assured me that he has worked with organ transplant recipients before and he did his due diligence in contacting my transplant team to get full clearance. The other reason I chose him, and nothing against Dr. Cooley, his work and reputation speak for themselves, is that Dr. Vories was so involved in the process and that gave me peace of mind with my medical condition.

 

Finally - The Report: I went in about 15 minutes early on the day of surgery to finalize paperwork and go over any last minute questions I had. Dr. Vories always answers everything in a straight forward, understandable way and he is just a good guy that, is as cliche as it sounds, is NOT trying to sell you anything. It just seems he wants to help and likes doing great work.

 

We took pictures and the tech then washed and shaved my head to a 1 guard. I was a bit nervous, only for the numbing injections I knew were coming. Before the haircut, the doctor and I went over placement of grafts and possible hairlines. I have felt I have looked so much older than I am for so long, that I wanted at least a decent hairline that made me look youthful, not young.

 

The injections did sting, but the doc. placed a small vibration tool next to the needle site to distract me from the pain. Really not that bad, but your head does feel like it has a piece of buffalo hide super-glued to the top of scalp. Occasionally I would feel a tiny pinch during the extractions and he would just give me another tiny dose of local anesthetic right in that spot to stop the sensation. The extraction, hole punching around each donor hair and subsequent removal of those hairs, were all hand done by him. The worst part of this was having the turn my head at a 90 degree angle for about 45 minutes so he could access the donor area. My neck was sore for about 20 minutes after this.

 

We took breaks about every hour for hydration/restroom and to talk about any concerns or issues I might be having. The process the first day went very smoothly and lasted around 8 hours including breaks and a lunch. The first day he did 2000 extractions and placements with 1000 in the crown and 1000 in the front vertex/beginning of the forelock.

 

Once he got to the frontal area, I could tell that he was really densely packing that area with follicles. There are hundreds of follicles in an area that did not have them before and you can feel it. While not painful, it just feels very tight like it has been inflated.

 

No real pain started until about the last hour of the procedure when my donor area started to 'wake up' from the anesthesia. The pain built up over the next few hours until I was able to get my prescription from Dr. Vories filled. It took longer than expected as I was forced to take medicine that is different than most patients due to my kidney transplant. I drove around about an hour looking for a pharmacy that had it. When I contacted Dr. Vories about this (not his fault) he immediately turned around after being on the road for about 45 minutes and drove straight back to the office to write me a prescription for a medication they did have. I was glad I had picked a doc. that is accessible at any time for his patients, especially when they are in pain.

 

Day 2 was very much the same minus the paperwork and haircut. I was less nervous so the day, in my mind, went by relatively fast. Dr. Vories only does one patient a day and nearly everything is done by hand by the doctor himself. I liked that each graft was specifically being directed by the surgeon so that it would sit at the right angle. He is very fast, but you can tell he is putting thought into the extracting and the placement. He would sometimes put in a graft and then consider it and where his next move would be. He seemed very focused.

 

He did the final 2000 grafts the second day focusing on the hairline, rest of the forelock and the temples. It was relatively easy, and while not painful, I would say some of the time I was uncomfortable simply due to the sensations. I chose not to take the offered sedative because I am already on a lot of mediation, but if you can take the sedative and can get someone to drive you to your hotel, take the sedative. It will probably help a lot. Also, one last word of advise - If you are having a larger procedure, don't plan on driving a long way right after your surgery. Many people can and do, but it was such a relief to just be able to go back to the hotel, take my pain meds and then that night the prescribed sleep-aid and relax and sleep. I could not imagine driving a very long distance or standing in an airport line the day of surgery.

 

Some insane itch is starting to crop up along with a headache that builds up slowly during the day until bedtime. For the past couple of days all I have needed is the 1 tablet of the Vicodin and I am asleep about an hour later. I am glad I am not having to take them throughout the day (fingers crossed). The donor area is definitely sore and I have been applying triple antibiotic ointment to it about every 12 hours. Strangely, the actual skin of the recipient area is not painful. Dr. Vories let me know this would be the case. Sleep so far is still problematic as I am too paranoid to sleep without the travel pillow yet. Another day and I am going to return my normal sleep position. I pray I don't lose any precious follicles that are not embedded yet.

 

Below are different pics. These are not that great of quality and Dr. Vories has more professional ones which I am sure he will share at our 6 month or 1 year follow up. These are just taken with my cell phone, so sorry if the angles and lighting is crap. Let me know what you guys think. I truly could not have done all this research or made this happen without this website, the forum and most importantly everyone that makes contributions here.

Edited October 15, 2016 by elicash80

[Melvin- Admin]

Congrats on your procedure, you will look completely different once everything grows in, happy growing:)

[spyk777]

Looking good. Congrats. Join the bandwagon.

[ModernHair]

Awesome write-up...thanks for sharing! It's going to turn out great!

[ontop]

Great post & excellent hairline/temples.

 

Congratulations i look forward to follow your journey.

[elicash80]

Hey guys, quick question. In the recipient area the hairs are beginning to grow, but they are growing unevenly. What I mean is, that some are (two weeks post op) at about a quarter of an inch, some are at an eighth of an inch and some look like that have not grown at all (same length from the start of the surgery). Are the ones that are not growing going to be failures?

 

I know I am coming up on the 'ugly duckling phase', but has anyone else had uneven growth during the first month post op? Did the hairs that did not grow the first 3 weeks eventually turn into real hairs after the shedding period?

[ontop]

From my understanding all newly grafted hairs will go through different growth cycles upto 18/24 mths.

[elicash80]

Thanks ontop. Did you go through this particular situation? I understand that not until 1 year to 18 months will I really see a full result, but I am worried because I am assuming, no growth in the first two weeks, equals no blood flow.

[ontop]

Hix

No it don't work like that buddy.

from my understanding & I'm no Doctor by the way is when they take out a graft from your donor at that time it was going through a cycle unlike the folical next door so to speak, so I guess its the timing of it & also a folical could be broken of the growth cycle also, hence you shed the graft but the seed is firmily imbedded in the soil, a bit like puting a new plant in a different location, sometimes it blooms straight away without any issue's, sometimes it looks like it dead in the water, but come spring it blossoms, same type of thing.

anyways thats my take on it, maybe im right or wrong again im no doctor.

 

Acting like a spaz especially this first few months is naturally normal for the majority of HT patients.

[elicash80]

Yeah, I have been worrying a bit too much. Will post pics at month intervals. Thanks a lot for the thorough answer.

[getting4000]

hey elisha any updates?

[getting4000]

sorry I meant elicash80

[arussell]

Congrats! I know you will be happy. I did want to clarify that Dr. Cooley is very involved in all aspects of the transplant surgery. He does not do dissection or trimming or separation of the follicles (1's, 2's, 3's etc.) but he does all the extraction in an FUE and works with our transplant Team Supervisor Brandi in placement. We use microscopes to separate and trim all grafts regardless of harvesting method so they can be implanted appropriately.

[elicash80]

hey elisha any updates?

Going to post in a few days, when it is exactly two months. In the worst part of the ugly duckling phase right now.

 

Also, to Dr. Cooley's rep. - Dr. Cooley is a great doc, but it came down to personal preference and other subjective factors. I am sure it is the same for all patients deciding between the two docs. I encourage all those in the southeast to check out both doctors.

[Bald36]

I look forward to seeing your update. I have more hair loss than you do but that is a lot of hair spread over a lot of areas of loss so I am curious how this turns out. Good luck and thanks in advance for the updates.

[elicash80]

2 months and 5 days since procedure. Still about half as red as it was right after the transplant, so it is slightly noticeable. Hope that will be gone by month 3.

 

The back of my head looks moth eaten, but this is strangely only when it is 1/4" to 1/2" long. Longer or shorter than that and the back of my head actually looks thicker. I think it is because I had not showered in about 12 hours and the hair was long enough to 'clump' together.

 

I am shaving it about once every 2 weeks. I will continue to do this until I start to see some real growth. All of the transplanted follicles fell out and about 5% or less have started to regrow now. Other than the two weeks of scabs, this is the ugliest time, hair wise, of the whole experience. Excited to see what happens.

Edited December 17, 2016 by elicash80

[FakePlasticTrees]

I have a late June appointment scheduled with Dr. Vorhies. I would love to hear an update. Thanks in advance.

[elicash80]

I have a late June appointment scheduled with Dr. Vorhies. I would love to hear an update. Thanks in advance.

The last post was my update, just did it yesterday.

[FakePlasticTrees]

Any surprises? I am still trying to decide if I should have the recipient area shaved. What are your thoughts?

[Fizac]

Congrats on your procedure!

[elicash80]

Any surprises? I am still trying to decide if I should have the recipient area shaved. What are your thoughts?

 

I mis-spoke. I do not 'shave' my head, I have the barber buzz the hair on top of my head down to a 1.5 on the buzzers and the sides a 0.75 (I have to ask for this specifically at the barber). They do a nice face.

 

If I had let me hair grow from the transplant on, then the original hair would have continued to grow while the transplanted hair would either not grow or fall out. This would have looked strange. I keep it buzzed so that it all looks even and so that the redness sort of just looks like a sunburn because my hair is so short now.

 

If you have long enough hair or a very low Norwood number, then you could probably get away with letting it grow after the transplant and then just do a comb over, but the redness, scabs and differences in hair length made the transplant immediately apparent to anyone who knew me well.

 

If your recipient area has redness after the transplant, you can either cover it up with a hat or say a sunburn or just own up to it. Luckily I am self employed and work from home. For anyone that has a no hats allowed job, be aware that this may be noticeable up to two months later. This whole thing about 'two weeks later and no one will no' is garbage.

 

The best thing to do is save up a lot of vacation time and then have the procedure at the very beginning of it.

 

My head is shaped well for a very short hair cut and it makes me look thinner. I prefer a few inches of hair though and can't wait until it starts filling in.

 

Lastly - If you have the money, are in decent health and your hair loss has stabilized - DO IT! ***Make sure you find a great surgeon (don't go to a mill or someone who is not reccommened), but DO IT! I would go through a much more arduous and painful procedure just to get my confidence back and luckily it was easy and only painful for about a 5 days. It was only really painful because I tried to take as little pain medication as possible due to my condition. If I was completely healthy, I would have been poppin the valiums like they were M&Ms.

[elicash80]

A few days late, and sorry for the terrible pics, but here is my 3 month update - I am on the road for work in a dimly lit Red Roof Inn.

 

I liked to believe that nobody was on to me, but it's been 3 months and the recipient area is still slightly redder than the rest of my head. People have to know when you have had a deep receding hairline for 10 years and all the sudden one-third of your scalp is a pinkish hue and sprouts new hair by the day. They can talk all they want. Sounds corny, but my confidence is growing in tandem with my new hair.

 

Anywho, I think it is looking good. Really started to take off about a week ago. The back vertex (terrible pic attached) is looking a lot more full. Even better, I believe that the previous moth-eaten look of the donor area was due to shock loss which has now subsided somewhat.

 

Let me know what you guys think.

[ontop]

I like the way this is going for you at just 3 mths mark.

crown is doing remarkably well for such a short time also:)

 

Seems like your making good progress there buddy

Soon enough you won't be canceling any blind dates

 

Have you still got any numb feeling on your head still?

[elicash80]

Forgot to mention, that in the pics, I had just applied some Minox. and this is why I have that wet look.

 

Yes, I think it will look good. 1000 in the vertex, 2500-2600 in the forelock and front most crown, and 400-500 in the temples is, from what I have seen with other posters, a good amount for not too many square centimeters - i.e. a decent amount of density.

 

ontop - The numbness was gone about 6-8 weeks after the procedure. Don't exactly remember now, but it took a while. I kept thinking, will the front of my head forever feel like a piece of thick leather has been sewn onto my bald patch?. So for guys worried about that, it may take longer than you anticipated.

 

The new hairs growing in are a bit rougher and courser than my usual hair, but I have read that this is to be anticipated for the first year.

 

Will get some better pics at month 4.

[elicash80]

Here is my 4 month pics. The only issue now is letting it grow. There are a few bald spots in the recipient area on the front left side that are about a centimeter square that are still not sprouting hairs. I hope these will fill in soon. Once again, sorry for the terrible pics. I only have a crappy phone and no tripod.

Edited February 12, 2017 by elicash80