FUT with Dr Jean Devroye - 3500 grafts

[darkandcumbrian]

I had 3500 grafts with Dr Devroye on 9th November 2017 and I have to say that it has already proven to be a life changing experience.

 

My hair began receding at age 18 and I am now 49. In my 20s I tried minoxidil but was allergic to it and began taking finasteride in 2004, which has worked well. By 2011, however, I began to research surgery as the frontal section of my scalp was continuing to recede and, after a couple of false starts with other surgeons, I finally booked a procedure with Dr Devroye after visiting him for a consultation in 2015 and being impressed with his

common sense advice, professional approach and willingness to answer all my questions.

 

I was feeling positive when I arrived in Brussels prior to my surgery as I had waited so long to finally rebuild my hairline and the pre-op consultation went well. We agreed on a new hairline which was age appropriate and Dr Devroye also suggested that the recipient area was shaved. I had originally planned to leave my hair as it was in the recipient area and ask Dr Devroye to work around it but when he explained that optimum density could only be achieved with a shaved recipient area and the practicalities of seeing where to place the incisions I decided to think it through overnight, he also gave me the option of cutting my hair short but not shaving, there was no pressure.

 

In the morning I decided that, for the money I was spending, it made sense to get the best result possible and so I went for the shave, it was an excellent decision in my view.

 

The surgery began with a large number of injections to numb the donor area but I can honestly say that I didn't feel pain during the removal of the donor strip, it was no different to being at the dentist, but much more exciting! Dr Devroye then made the incisions and this was also a largely pain free process although I did need a top up of anaesthetic at one stage. The planting of the grafts was done with military precision by his excellent team and the day flew by. I was given both lunch and an evening meal at the clinic and spent the night there with my girlfriend spraying the grafts every 30 minutes during the first night.

 

As I wasn't going back to the UK for another three days, Dr Devroye kindly allowed me to stay at the clinic which meant I received excellent after care and regular clean ups of my scalp, the whole team really incredibly helpful and I felt like part of their community rather than just a paying customer. The whole experience was an absolute pleasure and I would recommend Dr Devroye to anyone looking for a highly professional surgeon with a huge amount of skill in both donor removal and incision placement but most of all with patient care skills of the very highest order. I attach my photos and will post some more at the three month stage. The last four are around 1 week post surgery. I am now on the shedding phase but I am not concerned at all as everything so far has happened exactly how Dr Devroye had predicted and I am happy to trust in his instructions and experience and enjoy the growing phase rather than worry about it.

[TrixGlendevon]

Thanks for this. I am looking at Dr. Devroye myself and there is not much about him. How is your transplant looking now? How did he determine how good your donor area is?

[darkandcumbrian]

Hi Trix

 

I have nothing but positive things to say about Dr Devroye. I first had a consultation with him around 18 months before my surgery and he assessed my donor area at that point. He examined my hair hair, tested my scalp flexibility and noted that I had slightly curly hair which would give good coverage. We discussed a conservative hairline because of my age and I then went back to the UK to get funding sorted out before going ahead in November 2017.

 

I would recommend going for a consultation prior to making a decision, there are a few surgeons in Belgium with good reputations. I trusted Dr Devroye immediately, he's a straightforward and open person who answers your questions directly and honestly and his skill levels are extremely high, I never felt concerned at any stage of the surgery and the post surgery period has gone exactly like Dr Devroye told me it would. His staff are excellent too and the fact that you can stay overnight at the clinic (or for more than one night) makes a huge difference.

 

I am on week 9 and will post photos again at week 12. I can say, however, that I did go through the usual post operative shed as the transplanted hairs fell out but my new hairs are now starting to come through so I would say that I am on target to have noticeable growth at week 12.

 

D&C

[TrixGlendevon]

Thanks for the reply! I am between him and Dr Feriduni, I think. I will go over to Belgium later this year to have consultations with them both and some of the other usual suspects in Belgium (as you say, there are a number of good surgeons there). I want FUT (I think) but there are not many cases online for Dr Devroye (that patients have posted). My problem is that I do not want to take medication so if they say they can't do the surgery without me taking medication, I will just shave my head I think.

[darkandcumbrian]

No problem at all. I think it's sensible to have a trip to Belgium and see two or three surgeons. Dr Devroye has a lot of photos on his website (you may have to become a member to get access) and if you begin with an online consultation I am sure he will send you more. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the fact that you can stay at Dr Devroye's clinic for one or two nights makes a lot of difference and takes a lot of the stress away.

 

Is there a particular reason why you don't want to take medication? I've been on finasteride for around 13 years without any problems and it has been very helpful. Having said that, I am sure that Dr Devroye would do the surgery if you weren't on meds as I'm allergic to minoxidil and he was quite happy for me not to use it even though it is recommended on his website.

 

D&C

[TrixGlendevon]

I have seen the photos on his website. The problem with those photos, and the ones he uploads on this website, is that there is the risk these are just cherry picked cases and are not indicative of the average outcome/result of his work (or any other surgeon for that matter). The problem is, as I highlighted earlier, there are very few patients that upload work done by him.

 

I don't want to be dependent on medication for the rest of my life. What happens if there are unknown long-term consequences? 50+ years is a long time to take medication. What happens if they stop producing it? Or if it stops being as effective so I need to take something else then? If the surgeons think I can get a good result (I do not need to have my 18 year old hairline for me to consider the procedure a success) without having to take medication, I will go ahead with it. If not, I will cut it all off.

[darkandcumbrian]

Hi, I agree that any website photos can be cherry picked and it is difficult to know the average outcome of any surgeon's work but I think it is fair to say that hair transplants do work in the vast majority of cases. I think it's also reasonable to suggest that the better results come from the surgeons that are considered to be the best across the various forums and that there are several surgeons in Belgium and the USA who appear to fit into this category. Also, forums tend to attract unhappy customers more than happy customers and this can distort the view of how successful HTs are.

 

As for my thoughts on medication, I've been taking finasteride for around 14 years and I have never regretted that decision. I do need to urinate more than I did prior to taking it but I can live with that as my goal has always been to keep my hair as long as possible and certainly whilst I am young enough to enjoy it. It did take me a long time to actually go ahead with surgery, over 10 years, but once I made my final decision to take the plunge I was happy. I am not concerned about the long term risks as the boost in my self esteem in the short and medium term is worth it for me and there are so many other risks in life that I could worry about. I am comfortable with the possibility of long term consequences if I can achieve a good result with a combination of medication and surgery now. However, I appreciate that everyone has a different take on risk and you seem to have made a decision that you are comfortable with in terms of medication.

[fortuneplant]

darkandcumbrian, how's the color of your donor and recipient area? Are they still reddish? Looks like you and I did FUT almost on the same period. =)

[darkandcumbrian]

Hi, yes both recipient and donor are still reddish but a lot better than they were and fading by the week. I will post more photos at week 12 and you can take a look.

 

Are you pleased with your progress so far? I've been through the shed I expected and am now starting to see some growth, but trying not to look in mirror too much at the moment!

 

D&C

[fortuneplant]

Can't really comment yet on the progress as I promised myself I'll only look critically on week 16. Surprisingly, while I look forward to what my hair will be in the future, I only took cursory glances ever since. I just cover my head most of the time.

[darkandcumbrian]

You're asking me to comment on my redness in the donor and recipient areas but you're not prepared to comment on yours until you're 16 weeks in? That's a shame. Do you have any pre and immediately post-op photos that you can post?

[fortuneplant]

If I start analyzing my hair, I'll unhealthily obsess about it. Since I have no general data on what a normal post-ops growth look like, it'll be a frustrating exercise. I thought I'll just save myself the time and emotional swings and just stick to a scheduled post-ops analysis at 16th week.

 

Yes, I did post some pics of my ops - same section as you. (http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/188831-fut-philippines.html)

[darkandcumbrian]

Sensible thinking. I've scheduled 12 weeks as Dr Devroye has requested that I send him photos at that stage. It is difficult to avoid the mirror in the early stages but I'm getting better at it!

 

Your photos look great, I'm sure you'll get a fabulous result.

[sloppos]

an update on this would be much appreciated