2,381 FUE procedure by Dr. John Diep on May 23rd, 2018

[FrontalHT12]

Hello everyone. I have been meaning to make this thread but have honestly been both busy and lazy. I have been scouring this website for a few months now and have been checking out a lot of peoples progress and completed work. I am glad this exists and want to share my current experience with the community.

I am 34 years old and had a FUE done in Las Gatos, California (near San Francisco) by Dr. John Diep on May 23rd, 2018 to the frontal 1/3rd of my head. I began noticing my hair loss slowly when I was 27 years old. I started receding slowly and then the crown started going fast. I used minoxidil from 2011 to 2013 but I kept losing hair but not as quickly as before. I got tired of it and stopped. I started randomly searching on youtube about hairloss solutions and disguises and that eventually lead me to toppik. I started using toppik to cover my crown and i was okay with it. Then when my hairline started disappearing, I would start adding toppik there. It was good for some time and then the hairloss was too drastic. I now started noticing people looking at my hairline when they were talking to me and I felt like they knew something was up. It looked clumpy instead of like real hair strands. So then I began buzzing my hair with a 2 guard and developed a light sprinkle technique to give the illusion that I had a full head of hair with the buzz cut. I eventually got tired of it because like all of you know, it became a daily worry with all of environmental elements and with people wanting to run their hands on the buzz cut. I also got tired of always wearing hats when I didn't have the toppik on my head. 

I then started doing some serious research for the last 4 years before I actually pulled the trigger. I was choosing between Dr. Lindsey (he is 45 minutes from me in Virginia), Dr. Feriduni ( in Belgium), Dr. Koray Erdogan (Turkey) and Dr. Diep. I ended up choosing Dr. Diep mainly because of his amazing fue hairlines and for that fact that he is in the US.

I am not going to type a write up about the day of the procedure because its exactly like what most people have described in their Diep threads. I will say that everything went well and I was pretty much knocked out for 10 hours minus lunch.

I was initially told that he would be able to get 2,500 grafts but he ended up extracting 2,381. He was going to do some temple work but since he didn't get the 2,500 grafts, he ended up not doing it. I didn't know this until after the procedure but that makes sense since I was pretty sedated. I also opted to get the A-cell done.

I am currently at 6 months and am a bit nervous with the progress  (I know this the time where everyone tends to get anxious according to the forums). I know I am a slow grower on the top of my head because I was the same way when I had a full head of hair. There is definitely significant improvement of my hair line, its actually quite dramatic. My only issue is that I don't see a lot of density and I see a lot of big spaces where grafts initially seemed to be placed. I am not going to freak out or anything until after 1 year. I have read on this forum that some people saw a lot of new growth at around 9 months and on. I know the hair also begins thickens up then so I'll just wait and see and post monthly progress pictures. Side note, I know I am going to need 1 or 2 more HTs for full coverage on the rest of my head.

I am not on any medication other than daily biotin. I wanted to get yalls opinion on Propecia and your honest blunt opinions about my progress so far. Thanks a lot and I am excited to be a contributor to this forum and of course experience my progress and results with yall.

Top 3 pictures are pre op

 

Top 4 pictures are 2 hours post op

 

1 day post op after a cleaning at his office

 

3 days post op and my face is swollen

 

9 days post op with scabbing

 

10 days post op

 

12 days post op. All the scabs have fallen.

 

6 months. Pictures taken this morning. I was buzzing my hair until the first week of October. This is my hair growth since then, about 6 weeks. I am not cutting my hair until the year mark.

 

Hair at 18

 

Hair at 22

 

Hair at 28. You can see the front receding.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by FrontalHT12

[hairlossPA]

thanks for sharing your experience man. It’s definitly framing your face very nicely. honestly it looks like it’s going to turn out great. You’re half way there and I would expect you’d see more density in the next 3 months.

As far as finasteride goes... I’d jump on it asap to save what you have in the mid section. All BS aside, finasteride saved my hair. You can search for my thread I made about it and I plan to post a 6 month update in a month.

Good luck and hang in there 

[FrontalHT12]

12 hours ago, hairlossPA said:

thanks for sharing your experience man. It’s definitly framing your face very nicely. honestly it looks like it’s going to turn out great. You’re half way there and I would expect you’d see more density in the next 3 months.

As far as finasteride goes... I’d jump on it asap to save what you have in the mid section. All BS aside, finasteride saved my hair. You can search for my thread I made about it and I plan to post a 6 month update in a month.

Good luck and hang in there 

Thanks for the response. Hopefully it does turn out great. I will definitely look at your Finasteride thread. I spoke to Dr. Diep and he as a prescription waiting for me, I just have to figure out if I want to pursue it.

[Melvin- Admin]

Looks very promising, happy growing. Please keep us updated with your progress : ) 

[FrontalHT12]

14 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Looks very promising, happy growing. Please keep us updated with your progress : ) 

Thank you. Will do.

[JohnCasper]

Hope you continue to see progress beyond the 6 month mark and I hope your hair loss has stabilized at your age.  My hair loss and recession leveled off about the same time (35 years).  I had my first surgery at age 50.  Good luck to you and stay in touch with us with more photos in a couple months.

[FrontalHT12]

3 hours ago, JohnCasper said:

Hope you continue to see progress beyond the 6 month mark and I hope your hair loss has stabilized at your age.  My hair loss and recession leveled off about the same time (35 years).  I had my first surgery at age 50.  Good luck to you and stay in touch with us with more photos in a couple months.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll definitely post monthly updates!

[JohnCasper]

Keep posting photos on this website but if you want to see what to expect going forward, I’ve chronicled my whole experience since 2012 with before/after photos, videos, and narrative expectations.  Website is posted below.  Best of luck and keep us up to date with any changes and progress over the next few months. 

[Legend007]

What’s the update ?

[FrontalHT12]

1 hour ago, Legend007 said:

What’s the update ?

I will post the 7 month update in 10 days.

[FrontalHT12]

Hello everyone, I am posting my 7th month update. I haven't really noticed any new growth from last month to this month but maybe you guys can tell me if you see any new growth. The hair has grown out a little bit but very slowly but like I said before, I am a slow grower. I am still concerned about the growth in the middle of the frontal 1/3rd of my head. Still seems very light based on the grafts that were initially placed there.

I looked into propecia but I am taking another medication and the combined effects of both drugs didn't seem worth it to me. I guess I will just let the hair loss continue and go in for a 2nd or 3rd procedure. I have been doing research about that and I've liked Dr. Koray Erdogan's work. Maybe do a big session and knock out the middle and the crown, but of course that will be in the near future.

Here are the pictures

Edited December 21, 2018 by FrontalHT12

[FrontalHT12]

Side note. My father got his HT done the day after me on May 24th, 2018 and had a FUT done. He was 62 at the time of the surgery and is now 63. Unfortunately, his growth and density seem to be severely lagging. I don't want to say it is a fail yet since he is also at only 7 months. He has a some definition but nothing great. He was also left with a dent along his entire suture line. I will try to get some before and present pictures when I see him next.

Let me know if I should start a separate thread for him or just post his updates here too.

[hairlossPA]

there is improvement in your case. hang in there. it’ll get better. 

 

who was was your dads surgeon?

[JohnCasper]

I would suggest keeping your dads photos in this thread so we can see some growth comparisons.  A relatively rare father/son transplant pictures would be interesting to see....and compare, regarding growth rates.  Sorry to hear about your dads FUT scar and "dent".  I'm also curious to know why you chose FUE and he chose the strip surgery?

[Melvin- Admin]

It's improving, but slowly. Don't lose hope, there is still plenty of time.

[FrontalHT12]

On 12/21/2018 at 10:29 AM, hairlossPA said:

there is improvement in your case. hang in there. it’ll get better. 

 

who was was your dads surgeon?

His surgeon was also Dr. Diep.

 

On 12/22/2018 at 9:11 AM, JohnCasper said:

I would suggest keeping your dads photos in this thread so we can see some growth comparisons.  A relatively rare father/son transplant pictures would be interesting to see....and compare, regarding growth rates.  Sorry to hear about your dads FUT scar and "dent".  I'm also curious to know why you chose FUE and he chose the strip surgery?

He had a previous FUT done about 7 years ago that yielded a low outcome. It wasn't done by a reputable HT surgeon and not much research was done before that transplant. Dr. Diep didn't really excise the old scar because he went lower than the first fut, just a fyi.

 

On 12/22/2018 at 12:33 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

It's improving, but slowly. Don't lose hope, there is still plenty of time.

Thank you. I am trying not to although I havn't noticed any new growth. I will post the 8th month update in 10 days.

Edited January 11, 2019 by FrontalHT12

[FrontalHT12]

Have I posted on the correct sub forum. Doesn't seem like many people have seen this topic. I have noticed a lot more opinions on other peoples post. Just wondering.

[hairlossPA]

7 minutes ago, FrontalHT12 said:

Have I posted on the correct sub forum. Doesn't seem like many people have seen this topic. I have noticed a lot more opinions on other peoples post. Just wondering.

might have better luck in one of the the results posted by patients or surgeon review sub forums. those get the most traffic 

[FrontalHT12]

10 minutes ago, hairlossPA said:

might have better luck in one of the the results posted by patients or surgeon review sub forums. those get the most traffic 

Thanks. Do I have to create a whole new post or can i re tag it in one of those forums. Not sure how to do it since this is the first forum I have ever created on any website.

[hairlossPA]

27 minutes ago, FrontalHT12 said:

Thanks. Do I have to create a whole new post or can i re tag it in one of those forums. Not sure how to do it since this is the first forum I have ever created on any website.

@Melvin-Moderator can help

[Melvin- Admin]

I can move this thread, if that’s what you want, but please don’t create a duplicate thread. 

[John Doe]

Definitely lacking for 7 months imo

[FrontalHT12]

4 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I can move this thread, if that’s what you want, but please don’t create a duplicate thread. 

Yes, could you please move it. Don't worry, I won't. That's why I asked. 

 

1 hour ago, John Doe said:

Definitely lacking for 7 months imo

Yeah, that's what I feel too. But hopefully I get lucky and get more growth and thickness in the next 4.5 months.

Edited January 11, 2019 by FrontalHT12

[Sean]

Honestly, lacking at the stage but hoping it turns around for you in next 2 months.  Working in between native hair is very risky.  yaar I hope things go good for you and your dad.  Best of luck but definitely continue to post for your own record as well.  Give it another 2 months to see if significant differences start occurring.

[FrontalHT12]

7 hours ago, Sean said:

Honestly, lacking at the stage but hoping it turns around for you in next 2 months.  Working in between native hair is very risky.  yaar I hope things go good for you and your dad.  Best of luck but definitely continue to post for your own record as well.  Give it another 2 months to see if significant differences start occurring.

Yea let's hope something happens, if not, then it's time to plan for another one.