2500 Grafts FUE - 18th December 2018 - Asmed Dr Erdogan

[DEB1982]

Hey guys, just finished my surgery and now back at the hotel recovering. You forget what a long tiring process it is.

As I previously explained I’m not going to go into any huge detail about the day as everything was pretty much the same as my previously experience apart from it being at the new clinic which I will talk about in a bit of detail. 

Arriving in Istanbul

I once again paid the little extra to upgrade to business class which is only the matter of a few hundred pound and I would highly recommend this. Especially if people are conscious about travelling with swelling on the return leg as you get your own closed off section. The big plus for me is the speed at which you travel through Atatürk customs. The queue must have been over a 1000 long but I was fast tracked through in less than a few minutes. I imagine it would have been near an hour wait in the standard queue. As before the Asmed driver is waiting in arrivals with your name on an IPad. You are then driven the half hour to the clinic or hotel where you are staying. The mini van you are driven in very plush and has all sorts of refreshments and Asmed reading material. 

 

The Hotel

I chose to stay at the Radisson again and I would do this again if I ever was to come back. It’s a personal preference but I like being able to get away from the clinic and order room service and relax. The new clinic is no more than 200 metres from the hotel and I walked to the clinic most days. This time round I used the gym and spa. One negative is they have stopped the pay per view film channels so bring an iPad. 

 

New Clinic / Consultation 

The new clinic is really impressive and much larger than the original building. Everything here is state of the art and no expense has been spared. If you had never been to the original clinic then you would be none the wiser but I did find that it has lost a little of its charm perhaps because this building is just so vast that it feels a little bit more like a hospital. One of the biggest positives for me with Asmed was the family feel they provided and although the people there still very much do this, the building maybe has to bed in a little bit yet. They have musicians playing in the lobby when you enter and a bar to relax in. They then have an entire floor for patients to stay on with 12 different rooms, which are beautifully decorated but again a little hospital like and also an eating / chill out area with a pool table. 

Then they have their staff offices on another floor, the surgery rooms on another and the patient consultation / preparation rooms. I will post some photos later for you to see each part but it is some machine they have there now. 

I believe the new building allows them treat 6 patients a day which is up from 4. I know that many of you will not enjoy this fact. 

So as before I had my photos taken, donor area evaluated, met with Dr Koray to discuss my results and my wishes and then had my head shaved and new design drawn on before returning to the hotel.

As you all are aware I had a fantastic result last time and Dr Koray completely agreed. Looking back at my pre op photos from 2016 was a real eye opener. He told me to forget about temporal peaks as he felt that at my age they would serve me well with their slight recession as I continued to age. He agreed to focus on the hair line and vertex and quoted me 2300 grafts which he assured me would allow me to style my hair back as I wished.  We also reshaped the right side of my hairline which I felt needed softening and we closed the temporal peaks a little. Hard to explain. I will let the pictures do the talking. Once I get home and have them all, I will upload them. Here a few photos from today to keep you going. Surgery day tomorrow! 

[DEB1982]

9 hours ago, Capote_Valente said:

Hi Deb, thanks for your great posts. Really detailed and informative. I've enjoyed following your progress. 

I'm a first-time poster but long-time reader on here and just had a quick question for you. I'm 28, just about to book in with Asmed for next Feb. My hair loss at the moment is a bit less (meaning I have a bit more hair) than yours was before your first transplant. I'm on fin full-time now and that seems to have stabilised things but I do have occasionally bad months that set me back a bit further. I have two crowns and there's definite thinning on both of them (nowhere near closer to bald yet though), but mainly it's the front for me, which obviously massively affects any hairstyle you might want.

Given that I'm financially in a place to afford it at the moment, and I'm about to change jobs, so would have a good 20 days in which to recover from the transplant, physically and aesthetically, do you think I'm in a good place to go for it?

I ask because at the moment I think I could still get by with concealers and a longer hairstyle for about a year, year and a half tops before it really becomes undeniably noticeable to everyone - and just like you were, I'm kind of sick of that life of self-consciousness and time spent concealing. But for some reason I also catch myself thinking that the longer I can hold on the better.

That was longer than I expected but cheers! And hope your next transplant goes well!

Different people on this forum will give you different advice. Some will say that you should wait until you are into your 30’s before considering a transplant because long term you don’t know what your future loss will be like and you need to plan ahead for your grafts. Having waited myself until my mid 30’s I wish I would have had it done a few years earlier. The amount of life I wasted with concealers and anxiety, what a waste of life. The difference following the procedure is something I can’t really put into words. 

If you have been on Fin for over a year and you feel like it has stabilised then in my opinion you should go for it. I’ve been on Fin for over 10 years and it’s still doing me strong. 

Ultimately you do what you feel is right for you. If you think you want to delay for another year then do that, or if you think now is the time to invest a transplant then do that. Remember everyone on here has a different opinion but that’s all they are, opinions. You do what’s right for you. 

Edited December 19, 2018 by DEB1982

[DEB1982]

Surgery Day - 2323 grafts

Up at 6am and downstairs for breakfast by 6.30am where Dr Umut had asked me to take my Xanax and antibiotic tablet. The antibiotic tablet is a new addition and you must take this for 3 days from the day of surgery and it is to ensure of no infections. I walked to the clinic and was changed into my Asmed robe and then taken to have my head reshaved. I do usually like speaking to the other patients at this point but as my luck would have it, I was the only English speaker for the day. There were five other people having their surgeries. Some on day 1 and some on day 2. Another new addition is that after the hair shave they then rub numbing cream on to your donor area which is supposed to assist with the pain. 

After this I was taken to my surgery room which as before was freezing cold and I met with my surgical team. I had requested the same team as before although there was a new lady who was counting / sorting the grafts. 

Another new addition is that you are now hooked up to an IV which allows you to self administer pain relief if you should need it. I believe Dr Umut told me that it was an Opiod of some sort. I used it a few times mainly out of boredom or because my back was hurting and it just made me feel sleepy. You are also hooked up to a heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and oxygen saturation monitor. All of which feed through to Dr Umut in a different office. 

I know lots of people get nervous about the transplant experience and to highlight this my blood pressure just as they were starting the injections was almost at 150/90 and then only half an hour later it was 115/78. You really do relax into it. It doesn’t hurt at all.

Okay well the initial anaesthetic shots do hurt but they are over within ten minutes tops. Once these are completed the extractions begin. They extract at about the speed of 800 grafts per hour and as such my extractions took around 3 hours altogether. You can monitor these on the screen to see the different hair grafts they are taking. I experienced no pain whatsoever through this and watched a film on the iPad they provided. 

Next Dr Koray came in and made the incisions. Again completely pain less and this part took around 45 minutes. He makes all the incisions whilst the ladies count for him and manouevere your head to different angles. 

You then stop for lunch for about 30 minutes altogether and then you back for the implantation. This is the hardest bit for me. Not painful at all but having to sit still for 5 hours without being able to do anything is very tiring physically and mentally. If you are having work on the vertex area then this takes a long time due to the swirl pattern they must follow. Dilek or Mrs Dilek as they call her came in to make an extra 23 incisions as I had spare grafts and once these were implanted I was done. Oh apart from the PRP which I had which they told me did nothing to help the grafts only to assist with my recovery. 

Upstairs to admire the work, get checked over by Dr Koray and then a quick blast under the laser hat thing. I was given ATO spray which you now only use for the first 24 hours and then told what time I would be collected for my first wash the next day. 

Sema and I went a played some pool and listened to the singer who is provided for the guests so stay at the clinic before I was dropped back at the hotel. 

The work looks very neat and dense and I’m hopeful that this will give me the density I was after and should be the last procedure I need for a good ten years or so. 

As for Asmed it is a little different from my first visit with them and there is a part of me that missed the smaller more personal clinic but at the end of the day the people are what make this place so amazing. Sema is a god send and Dr Koray should do all he can to keep this woman. She is a brilliant representative of Asmed and who they are. Dr Koray is one of a kind, made me feel welcome, at ease. He listened to everything I had to say. We spoke about some of the negative reviews on this forum and he takes them so very personally and it was quite upsetting. I will write a separate post about what Asmed had to say on these reviews as I’ve been writing for a while now and need to sleep. 

So surgery number two is complete. Let’s hope I get the same result as before. Here are some photos. I will upload the professional ones once I’m home tomorrow. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Thanks for your well thought out and comprehensive post deb, Everything is looking great. I must say you actually don’t look bad with a buzzed head. One of the very few that can pull off the look. I’m looking forward to your progress updates. I’m also looking forward to your next post. 

I don’t think Dr. Erdogan, wants anything else than for his patients to be happy. In the end, I’m sure the satisfaction he gets from changing someone’s life for the better is indescribable. Best of luck mate and happy growing 🙌🏼

[wheretogo]

Hey Deb,

everything looks great, you looked wonderful before this surgery and it's only going to get better.

best of luck.

one thing, didn't you concern about adding grafts in the front between hair transplanted a year ago?

[DEB1982]

1 day post op

So maybe don’t have as much sedation as I slept through last night and woke up without my neck pillow on and I had lost a graft on my normal pillow and there was some blood as well. I was annoyed about it but as Asmed explained to me in the grand scheme of things one graft isn’t the end of the world. Does the highlight the importance of sleeping upright though. 

No pain whatsoever and haven’t had to take any pain killers. Do have some swelling appearing but am flying home this afternoon so hopefully I will be home before it gets any worse. 

Been into Asmed to say goodbye and have my first wash. They have changed the foam part of washing your hair and replaced it with Bethanapol which is a lotion. 

I’m not going to update quite as often as I did previously but will update every week to start with and then once a month thereafter. 

 

Here are are some photos now the bandaging has been removed and the area cleaned. 

 

[DEB1982]

1 hour ago, wheretogo said:

Hey Deb,

everything looks great, you looked wonderful before this surgery and it's only going to get better.

best of luck.

one thing, didn't you concern about adding grafts in the front between hair transplanted a year ago?

Cheers appreciate it.

I spoke to Dr Koray about this and apparently it’s all to do with the angle the incision is made at. He uses his lateral technique and he explained you can achieve the highest density by doing this. I’m not the first to add density to a previous transplant. 

Whilst on the subject they used a punch of 0.6 this time for extractions and I was told I should be able to maintain my short back and sides that I usually have.

[wheretogo]

9 minutes ago, DEB1982 said:

Cheers appreciate it.

I spoke to Dr Koray about this and apparently it’s all to do with the angle the incision is made at. He uses his lateral technique and he explained you can achieve the highest density by doing this. I’m not the first to add density to a previous transplant. 

Whilst on the subject they used a punch of 0.6 this time for extractions and I was told I should be able to maintain my short back and sides that I usually have.

Thanks.

fast and pain free healing mate!

[VicTNYC]

Hey @DEB1982 

Another great write-up! 

Your hair looks fantastic in the pre-op pics at the new clinic, congrats on going thru it once again and good luck! Will definitely be following your new progress.

Question though....I have noticed that many clinics in Turkey are now utilizing a new needle-less anesthetic tool that is suppossidly faster and even more pain-free and administers the anesthetic trans-dermally...With all the money and tech spent on the new clinic, why hasn’t ASMED & Dr Erdogan followed suit and started utilizing that as well instead of just numbing cream pre-needle injections, given that many fear the needles and the pain?

thanks.

Edited December 19, 2018 by VicTNYC

[cali101]

Thank you for such a great write up on your experience and new clinic. I had seen new clinic when I walked past in July and heard some of the details. Look forward to hearing Dr Koray's  response to the criticism he's been getting on some of the results. I got the impression from him and all the staff that he is so caring for his patients and their results that no matter changes he would not sacrifice patients results/experiences.

Quick question--Were you able to request your same techs/ surgery team before you arrived or is this something you did during your consultation. I really liked my surgery team and If I have to go back for a touch up I would want them again.

[DEB1982]

21 hours ago, VicTNYC said:

Hey @DEB1982 

Another great write-up! 

Your hair looks fantastic in the pre-op pics at the new clinic, congrats on going thru it once again and good luck! Will definitely be following your new progress.

Question though....I have noticed that many clinics in Turkey are now utilizing a new needle-less anesthetic tool that is suppossidly faster and even more pain-free and administers the anesthetic trans-dermally...With all the money and tech spent on the new clinic, why hasn’t ASMED & Dr Erdogan followed suit and started utilizing that as well instead of just numbing cream pre-needle injections, given that many fear the needles and the pain?

thanks.

I don't know the answer to that I'm afraid. I don't work for the clinic, I'm just a patient so I have no understanding of their anesthesia criteria selection process. What I can tell you however is that they now offer pain relief via an IV drip which I know is a needle but it was pretty cool being able to press the button for a little hit of pain relief when you needed it. You'd need to e-mail the clinic and ask them that question. Wasn't an issue for me as needles don't bother me in the slightest. Regardless of anesthetic and pain relief there is always going to be a certain amount of pain involved though. It is certainly not a pain free process despite what people may say. 

17 hours ago, cali101 said:

Thank you for such a great write up on your experience and new clinic. I had seen new clinic when I walked past in July and heard some of the details. Look forward to hearing Dr Koray's  response to the criticism he's been getting on some of the results. I got the impression from him and all the staff that he is so caring for his patients and their results that no matter changes he would not sacrifice patients results/experiences.

Quick question--Were you able to request your same techs/ surgery team before you arrived or is this something you did during your consultation. I really liked my surgery team and If I have to go back for a touch up I would want them again.

I was able to request the same team via my patient co-coordinator prior to my surgery. I think it is a given that you have the same team as it was explained to me that they try to do this anyway as the previous technicians will know your hair and skin type and your medical history.  

[DEB1982]

Here are some of my official photos from Asmed. 

 

[FarsanUk]

How many grafts did koray say you have left remaining . Don't get off finesteride take care of all what you have !

[DEB1982]

8 minutes ago, FarsanUk said:

How many grafts did koray say you have left remaining . Don't get off finesteride take care of all what you have !

I've been on Fin for 12 years. I don't intend to ever come off it. 

Approximately 2000 grafts left. I'm hoping I don't need to touch them now for the next 13 years when I'm 50!

[FarsanUk]

46 minutes ago, DEB1982 said:

I've been on Fin for 12 years. I don't intend to ever come off it. 

Approximately 2000 grafts left. I'm hoping I don't need to touch them now for the next 13 years when I'm 50!

Yeh keep those 2k incase something goes wrong don't use them for minor imperfections. I'm at 2.5 months Post op from asmed going through period where it's all shed but nothing much is happening how was your thinking on your progress at this stage. Sometimes I look at it and think is this really going to improve so much ?I'm going to post photos later today before my first haircut since ht.

[DEB1982]

13 hours ago, FarsanUk said:

Yeh keep those 2k incase something goes wrong don't use them for minor imperfections. I'm at 2.5 months Post op from asmed going through period where it's all shed but nothing much is happening how was your thinking on your progress at this stage. Sometimes I look at it and think is this really going to improve so much ?I'm going to post photos later today before my first haircut since ht.

Don’t worry about your growth at 2.5 months. You are right at the start of your growth journey. Could be another 6 months before it’s anywhere near where you want it to be. Be patient, it takes time. 

I wasn’t completely happy until around the 9-10 mark stage. 

[Melvin- Admin]

16 hours ago, DEB1982 said:

Here are some of my official photos from Asmed. 

 

Man I’m envious of your hair in your pre-op I can’t imagine how it’s gonna look after this procedure grows out.

[LonelyGraft]

Great story. Do u have any pics of your donor shaved down prior to this second op? Also, did they do a count to see ur survival rate for the first procedure?

[DEB1982]

5 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Man I’m envious of your hair in your pre-op I can’t imagine how it’s gonna look after this procedure grows out.

Here’s hoping! I have quite thick hair which I think helps with the illusion.

2 hours ago, jj51702 said:

Great story. Do u have any pics of your donor shaved down prior to this second op? Also, did they do a count to see ur survival rate for the first procedure?

I do and will upload next week as on my work computer and I’m off now for Christmas. They didn’t count. I’m not sure how they’d be able to do that. How would they distinguish between what was mine and transplanted? I think it would have been fairly high looking at the different between my two pre op photos. 

[DEB1982]

Day 3 Post Op

Had some odd sensations this time round like I have fluid leaking from my head and then slowly running down it. Spoke to Asmed and they’ve said it will just be anaesthetic working it’s way out. Sent them photos and they say everything looks healthy and well.

As before my redness is subsiding really quickly which I’m happy about again. Been washing a little more thoroughly this time round, amazing how bedded in the grafts are already. Still have some forehead swelling. Hides my wrinkles well though. 

 

[VicTNYC]

52 minutes ago, jonyny said:

Hi, i'm back from Asmed and yes they use new needles with vibrations,  less pain, no need to worry now about anesthetic at Asmed, i felt pain only behind ears. I think they have all the new technology on the market and the clinic looks amazing just not enough words for the way it looks,very clean and lovely staff

Good to know, do you have a progress thread of your own to fallow?

[VicTNYC]

This is the pain-free anesthesia tool (looks like a large marker pen) that several other Turkish clinics are utilizing that provides less injections and less pain, that I mentioned, but don’t think ASMED does...yet, hopefully they will, as needles can be a big phobia for many.

[VicTNYC]

8 minutes ago, jonyny said:

I don't know how it looks but is way much less pain, and for sure is a new tool,  my daughter she watch peppa pip and she did jump and jump on my laptop :)))) i will wait 2 more days and i will go shoping to update my posts. thanks for sharing  your story DEB

Good to know, thanks. Happy growing!

[DEB1982]

Day 5 Post Op

The dreaded itch. So annoying when you can’t do anything about it. Pain is improving and seems to come and go throughout the day. Redness is again much improved and I think it’s getting close to not being able to notice that I’ve had any work done already. 

Upon closer inspection, the hair line and vertex look much denser now so I’m really pleased. 

Edited December 23, 2018 by DEB1982

[DEB1982]

On 12/21/2018 at 7:52 AM, jj51702 said:

Great story. Do u have any pics of your donor shaved down prior to this second op? Also, did they do a count to see ur survival rate for the first procedure?

Here you go. Don't think it looks too bad myself.