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3051 Grafts FUE - 17 Dec 2018 - ASMED Dr. Koray Erdogan


LordBaldwin

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10 hours ago, Craig2412 said:

Thanks for the advice. You’ve raised some good points and I haven’t even thought about touching the headrest on the flight back home. I’m going to stay at either the clinic/hotel for an extra night I think and also arrive the day before my consultation. 

My flight home would be 4 hours so not a long flight. 

How is your donor area now? Do you think you could get away with having your back and sides shaved down to a number 1 or even have a skin fade without the tiny scars/redness being noticeable to most people? 

Thanks mate 

 

Hey man, glad I could be helpful.  

As far as my donor is concerned, I haven't buzzed my hair that short (1 or less) since the procedure, so it's a little difficult to say with certainty.  Redness of the donor goes down and the punch scabs fall off within a few days to a week (unlike in the recipient area, which takes a lot longer for normal color to return).  I did just get a number two on the back and sides the other day at the barber and it looks fine (in fact, I recommend getting the sides and back cut short within a couple of months of the procedure to help blend them with the front); don't use any kind of trimmer on the top (and this is something the clinic will tell you) -- scissor cut that part only for the first 6 months.  I've noticed a couple of pimples on the back of my head, but that's really the only issue I've had in the donor area.  Additionally, Erdogan uses a small punch size (about 0.7 mm), so evidence of the surgery in the donor area (in the form of scarring) is pretty hard to find.

 

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20 hours ago, LordBaldwin said:

Hey Craig,

As far as timing for leaving Istanbul is concerned, there are different schools of thought.  Some people advise leaving the day after the surgery (i.e., as soon as possible) given that a lot of folks swell up pretty badly for days following the surgery.  In my case, I opted to stay a couple of extra days in the hotel because:

- I didn't want to go through the airport and a long flight when the grafts were still vulnerable; I felt that traveling increased the risk of accidentally hitting my head and damaging grafts (after the first few days, the risk of damage drops considerably).

- I wanted the pain to ease up a bit before my 14 hour flight to LA.

- I wanted to be close to the clinic for a few days in case there were any complications.

- I wanted to give my donor area the opportunity to heal before I pressed my head up against the headrest in the airplane (which so many other things and people touch).  The last thing I needed was to travel home and then get an infection.

- I wanted my redness and swelling to go down a bit before I traveled so it wouldn't look as bad.

- The clinic will do your wash in the morning every day you're there -- I trusted them to do this more than I trusted myself for the first few days.  It's very important that the washes be done correctly and that the crusts be removed in a timely manner.

I was fortunate in that the worst of my swelling was gone on the third day, right in time for me to leave.  I think I made the right decision with respect to timing, and think it would probably not be a bad idea if you did the same (though, again, it's possible that your swelling may last a bit longer than mine did, as I seem to have deviated from the norm a bit in terms of recovery time).

I'll also note that you do have to pay for any extra time you spend in the hotel (the first couple of nights are covered in the package), but it's really not that expensive (about 80 USD / 62 GBP per night) and the hotel is pretty nice.  You have the option to stay in the clinic instead, which some people prefer.  I opted to stay in the hotel for the 24 hour room service and because I thought the clinic rooms looked and felt a bit too much like hospital rooms.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll be happy to share my thoughts/experience.

 

2 hours ago, LordBaldwin said:

Hey man, glad I could be helpful.  

As far as my donor is concerned, I haven't buzzed my hair that short (1 or less) since the procedure, so it's a little difficult to say with certainty.  Redness of the donor goes down and the punch scabs fall off within a few days to a week (unlike in the recipient area, which takes a lot longer for normal color to return).  I did just get a number two on the back and sides the other day at the barber and it looks fine (in fact, I recommend getting the sides and back cut short within a couple of months of the procedure to help blend them with the front); don't use any kind of trimmer on the top (and this is something the clinic will tell you) -- scissor cut that part only for the first 6 months.  I've noticed a couple of pimples on the back of my head, but that's really the only issue I've had in the donor area.  Additionally, Erdogan uses a small punch size (about 0.7 mm), so evidence of the surgery in the donor area (in the form of scarring) is pretty hard to find.

Cheers Buddy,

Thanks for the info. Be sure to upload your progress.

I always get the top scissor cut anyway. I’ve just booked with the clinic today and booked my flight too. 

Just another question, how many days after the surgery do they advice before you can put your head under the pressure of the shower normally? 

Thanks 

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3 hours ago, Craig2412 said:

 

Cheers Buddy,

Thanks for the info. Be sure to upload your progress.

I always get the top scissor cut anyway. I’ve just booked with the clinic today and booked my flight too. 

Just another question, how many days after the surgery do they advice before you can put your head under the pressure of the shower normally? 

Thanks 

10 days.  Until then, you do special washes with a lotion and shampoo that they give you.  After 10 days, you can wash your head normally in the shower.

 

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On 2/19/2019 at 12:40 AM, LordBaldwin said:

10 days.  Until then, you do special washes with a lotion and shampoo that they give you.  After 10 days, you can wash your head normally in the shower.

Cheers buddy, 

Keep us updated on your progress and thanks for your advice. 

I fly out next week and having procedure done on the 1st March 🤞🏻

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Senior Member

3 Months

Over the course of this month, I've continued to see significant sprouting (many small hairs visible when I spread the longer hair apart), as well as the growth of the existing hair.  I should note that I've been having the top scissor cut every 2 weeks or so, so that it doesn't get unruly.

It actually feels like the path of my hair loss is in reverse (since I was suffering diffuse thinning since the beginning) -- as though someone is holding the rewind button down and it's moving backward at 12x speed.  So far, I feel like the clock has turned back on my hair about 3 years.  I'm hoping I can get to what my hair looked like at least 8 years ago as my ultimate result.

I've included some additional lighting scenarios to provide a more complete picture of what I'm seeing right now.

20190317_100511.thumb.jpg.14d5564306c4febd7837f4cb3d231930.jpg20190317_095650.thumb.jpg.e6a03a5f6bc91c832a2f5e058b50e70d.jpg20190317_095643.thumb.jpg.b5e3aa3f171b46ef57afd6f21abce10f.jpg1974865220_20190317_100605FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.38ea2747cf61ca9934f3b932a0ce6803.jpg1501557454_20190317_100531FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.40d7b6244a3e703720e697d2492144f7.jpg1021040719_20190317_100548FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.0df2d102d2bb4063575277d6573dd2de.jpg1989648900_20190317_100656FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.9d40ffad64500cdc1af7476e78e64a9b.jpg

1813279649_20190317_100623FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.aebeb3a25328b6a4ed78bb251c27f13e.jpg1361844646_20190317_100640FaceBlocked.thumb.jpg.3b11e5a96c4933157bdf3451a733ddfc.jpg1045765088_20190317_100731FaceBlocked.jpg.5948bca57a4851a0af76a3ceba0d2be8.jpg

Edited by LordBaldwin

 

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Looking good....Your hairline looks pointier (more "V" than "U" shape) than most ASMED hairlines including mine.  Did you have to ask him to do it this way or did you redraw it that way?  I think it looks very natural.

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3 hours ago, xadiohead said:

Looking good....Your hairline looks pointier (more "V" than "U" shape) than most ASMED hairlines including mine.  Did you have to ask him to do it this way or did you redraw it that way?  I think it looks very natural.

Thank you.  I had brought photos of what my hairline had looked like before it degraded beyond recognition to Turkey with me and asked the doctor to use them as a reference (which he was cool with).  I also asked him to adjust the line a couple of times so it would be exactly what I wanted.  My widow's peak is a bit more pronounced now than it was originally, but I like it that way.

 

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Thanks for keeping us updated, the best is yet to come 😬


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20 hours ago, CosmoKramer said:

Your growth looks real good for 3 months. 👍🏻

Thank you, buddy.  Yeah, I'd agree that the trajectory looks pretty good so far, though I'll admit that, for whatever reason, I do still have moments of paranoia (however unjustified) when I worry that things will just stop improving.  I don't think I've ever seen a case where things stalled at 3 months and didn't pick back up again.  

 

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5 hours ago, LordBaldwin said:

Thank you, buddy.  Yeah, I'd agree that the trajectory looks pretty good so far, though I'll admit that, for whatever reason, I do still have moments of paranoia (however unjustified) when I worry that things will just stop improving.  I don't think I've ever seen a case where things stalled at 3 months and didn't pick back up again.  

You’re welcome!

I think the best thing to do is not over-think and over-analyze the progress at the early stage, I occasionally did and it just leads to doubt and unneeded stress. Now, if this was the result at month 9 or 10,  then I would have major concerns, but it’s just beginning at 3 months.

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40 minutes ago, CosmoKramer said:

You’re welcome!

I think the best thing to do is not over-think and over-analyze the progress at the early stage, I occasionally did and it just leads to doubt and unneeded stress. Now, if this was the result at month 9 or 10,  then I would have major concerns, but it’s just beginning at 3 months.

Yeah, I agree with you; I'm not worried right now since I seem to be on target for three months (or even slightly ahead of others I've seen at this stage).  I guess a good way to describe it would be like the "seven minutes of terror" on Mars when a probe is entering the Martian atmosphere and has gone radio silent.  Signals sent during initial atmospheric entry were good but you have to wait for the signals that come after landing to know if the probe survived or not.  It's kind of nerve-wracking.

 

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So curiosity ended up getting the better of me and I bought one of those digital microscopes to get a closer look at my scalp.  I noticed a lot of colorless, fine hair; I'm not sure if these are miniaturized native hairs on their way out, or if they're transplanted hairs that are set to thicken in the coming days.  Obviously, I'm really hoping it's the latter, but time will tell.

2019-03-23-154627.thumb.png.8dbd3c97ded39ed8f36579716f61aba5.png2019-03-23-154413.thumb.png.8046a1643830acb03cc3fa579a86a9a9.png2019-03-23-154519.thumb.png.5cb87d3c85b5a4d826b857ae11bf06f8.png2019-03-23-154313.thumb.png.b59d76d2632ae76a5d196ac4407e28c5.png

2019-03-23-154600.png

 

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3 hours ago, HairDew said:

Yup. That's mostly how your HT hair will come. They start as colorless wispy hair and turn into normal over time :) 

Well, if that's the case, that's really good news, as there are a lot of those kinds of hairs there.

 

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3.5 Months (approximately):

It still seems that things are improving a little bit each day.  I've included pictures from various angles and with different types of lighting before and after a haircut I had today.  The hair definitely looks better when it's shorter, for now, IMO.

Before Haircut:

1871493406_20190330_185515PreHaircut.thumb.jpg.1191549c24a22a7c4195f04949bb55d3.jpg

2008856424_20190330_185436PreHaircut.thumb.jpg.6b627b380cdb97043748815a93a9be02.jpg

1900948004_20190330_185453PreHaircut.thumb.jpg.c5fe894babd1116ee1acbe54a5fcc51a.jpg

915693156_20190330_185710FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.e985aadd9b58c9116821293363ce9aa5.jpg

2005765130_20190330_185637FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.b2d80d1613bece569afb7af99e60fce0.jpg

1917234371_20190330_185652FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.e565d94a61c0aee1ed85ac2d4cfe30f0.jpg

220085486_20190330_185611FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.1cdee651762a3eb95f7e13e17c3c234d.jpg

466370215_20190330_185536FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.971062e68cd97e7353276ed34362dcf7.jpg

1892170888_20190330_185555FaceCoveredPreHaircut.thumb.jpg.263f443e806fe7e8a6332d534bb27001.jpg

 

After Haircut:

1770258207_20190330_184924PostHaircut.thumb.jpg.b0decc4cccedf0d440883b487cff15f9.jpg

2003667186_20190330_184854PostHaircut.thumb.jpg.4ab453c1751124d25c176d7ad7fc7f74.jpg

703792906_20190330_184909PostHaircut.thumb.jpg.8a04fe99af0e79900f7c8e0b893bf266.jpg

134786173_20190330_185245FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.43885697a191c371c70b169350a7cd5b.jpg

816120532_20190330_185210FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.9676d8a3265cf983f166c12b10502600.jpg

77343121_20190330_185224FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.fac058ad081ea8b052c1fdcd3ecf1469.jpg

948381402_20190330_185151FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.95fbc7abd15d9e3db6d9e26179464c5f.jpg

373894594_20190330_185022FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.203bdad83765ad84513c7cef30153bcc.jpg

675471106_20190330_184950FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.11edc818abacdb03de23a9eec1293f94.jpg

392823556_20190330_185414FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.2ad3d81c54b66d37735c1fd6a6b49d8c.jpg

603709634_20190330_185308FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.2472be2045852ff484ec0365879d0d94.jpg

1207344673_20190330_185323FaceCoveredPostHaircut.thumb.jpg.9c2ba91c20199856c25bf0089e97b834.jpg

20190330_185245 Face Covered Post Haircut.jpg

Edited by LordBaldwin

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Looks like you are progressing quite well. You are a ray of hope in these times where several patients from ASMED 5-6 months in are showing very slow and poor growth rates.  I'm thinking to send my deposit to ASMED any day now.. and your photos keep me optimistic.  look forward in checking back. 

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8 hours ago, therealmvp2016 said:

Looks like you are progressing quite well. You are a ray of hope in these times where several patients from ASMED 5-6 months in are showing very slow and poor growth rates.  I'm thinking to send my deposit to ASMED any day now.. and your photos keep me optimistic.  look forward in checking back. 

I'm not the only person who has had (apparently) good results/progress recently.  I have a list at home with users I could reference for you (I did this to figure out what the clinic's success rate was/is when I was researching for my own procedure).  Some of the ones I can remember offhand were vchorro, Jammerz, HairDew, SomeLad55, Panos1982, redlord, grantleebuffalo, etc.  Nb98, heckenpenner, and markymark look good so far, as well, though in their cases and my own, it's a bit early to call it.  Several of the guys who are complaining on here are only 6-7 months in, so I don't know if we can draw conclusions about them yet... especially since a couple of them had not been posting their results since the beginning and thus might be self-selected unhappy cases (in other words, they posted when they realized things were not going as well as they thought and started getting worried, so I don't really think we can necessarily consider them part of a representative sample).

Edited by LordBaldwin
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