arocha Arocha 2500 grafts FUT with PRP 4/16/19

[Steeeve]

@Tbcruz thanks man sit was my goal to keep it longer but I guess I’ll have to start regrowing it back out. Maybe this cut will help it to lay better in the long run.

[Tbcruz]

Sucks to have to wait again for it to grow. But good thing is it will.

[Steeeve]

1 hour ago, Tbcruz said:

Sucks to have to wait again for it to grow. But good thing is it will.

Yeah, like, first world problems, amiright? I mean, I got butt-hurt because I didn’t get the haircut I wanted.

I can’t even remember the last time I went in for a haircut and got upset about it.

After reflection...it’s kind of awesome. 

[Mycroft]

On 3/11/2020 at 10:41 PM, Steeeve said:

Yeah, like, first world problems, amiright? I mean, I got butt-hurt because I didn’t get the haircut I wanted.

I can’t even remember the last time I went in for a haircut and got upset about it.

After reflection...it’s kind of awesome. 

True mark of success right here.

[Melvin- Admin]

On 3/11/2020 at 8:41 PM, Steeeve said:

Yeah, like, first world problems, amiright? I mean, I got butt-hurt because I didn’t get the haircut I wanted.

I can’t even remember the last time I went in for a haircut and got upset about it.

After reflection...it’s kind of awesome. 

LMAO definitely first world problem, back when we were below the follicular poverty line, we’d dream of the day we’d  have a bad hair day 😆 

[Steeeve]

Thanks @Mycroft. I appreciate your kind words.

@Melvin-Moderator “back when we were below the follicular poverty line.” That’s freaking hilarious. I’m going to have to steal that.

11 Months!!

I’ve almost made it to the big day. I can’t believe how much my hair has changed in these last couple of months. These waves and curls, man!! I personally love it! We’ll see how I feel after the next year, though. It’s a lot of work maintaining it but it’s work that I couldn’t be happier doing.

At the moment.

I posted last week that I got a haircut and I wasn’t the happiest with my barbers decision to cut off more than I asked for. I knew there would be a period of my getting used to it and I have.

There’s been some crazy weather here in Austin, which is following a crazy virus that is threatening the world’s population. It’s not raining but there is SO MUCH moisture in the air. I ask myself what would be worse; more sunshine that I can’t really go out and enjoy...or a bleak overcast day that just continues to get your morale down after dealing with the fallout of being told to stay home whether you’re sick or not.

Either way I’m enjoying my hair.

All that I really have to report on is that the texture of my hair still continues to change. The hairs are getting thicker and stronger.

Last week I had a pimple on my scalp, in the frontal third, so I pulled out my microscope camera and looked around until I found it But there were 3 little hairs sticking out of it. That would be crazy if it were a sprout at this point but stranger things have happened.

I grabbed some quick snaps of my hair yesterday When the moisture had really made it curly.

These next pics were taken this morning so my hair is a little more controlled  than yesterday.

These next few pics are under the ring light, as usual. These are a little incomplete as, for some reason, my camera didn’t process the images correctly. There was all this digital fallout-if anybody knows what that means-in a few of the pictures. My wife was called into work unexpectedly today so I was watching my babies and trying to grab these was a job all in it’s own. After I quickly grabbed the pics I put some minox in my hair and then checked the pics only to see that a few weren’t usable.

Oh well.

 

That’s all for now. I really can’t think of anything else but if I do I’ll hop back in here. Questions and comments are always welcome.

I’ll be around.✌🏻

[Steeeve]

Very favorable lighting coupled with pics that are bit potato-y and quite a bit of lift/bounce:

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[LonelyGraft]

Frankie Muniz is that you?

 

 

[Steeeve]

14 hours ago, LonelyGraft said:

Frankie Muniz is that you?

 

 

🤣😂 C’mon! That’s not even a close comparison!!😂

[Cahustler]

Actually that’s a little bit similar lol 😂 

lonely graft has got one of them eagle eye

thanks stevo for leaving some feedbacks on my thread. I also have been following your thread and I just want to thank you for your opinion... I think we will end up with similar hair styles ... god damn it I wish the crown was covered up a bit more ... as I didn’t think they really worked on my crown as much as I wanted 

o

Edited April 9, 2020 by Cahustler

[LonelyGraft]

1 hour ago, Cahustler said:

Actually that’s a little bit similar lol 😂 

lonely graft has got one of them eagle eye

thanks stevo for leaving some feedbacks on my thread. I also have been following your thread and I just want to thank you for your opinion... I think we will end up with similar hair styles ... god damn it I wish the crown was covered up a bit more ... as I didn’t think they really worked on my crown as much as I wanted 

o

Hope @Steeeve’s acting’s career doesn’t go in the same direction as Frankie Muniz!

[Steeeve]

1 hour ago, Cahustler said:

Actually that’s a little bit similar lol 😂 

lonely graft has got one of them eagle eye

thanks stevo for leaving some feedbacks on my thread. I also have been following your thread and I just want to thank you for your opinion... I think we will end up with similar hair styles ... god damn it I wish the crown was covered up a bit more ... as I didn’t think they really worked on my crown as much as I wanted 

o

🤣

Yeah, man! You bet. It’s just an opinion. That’s all I have to offer but I do think you’re headed in a good direction. I purposefully asked my doctor to hold off on my crown but, honestly, I can’t wait to close it in!!

[Steeeve]

19 minutes ago, LonelyGraft said:

Hope @Steeeve’s acting’s career doesn’t go in the same direction as Frankie Muniz!

You and me both!

[Melvin- Admin]

Your hair looks 100x better than Frankie Muniz, he’s got significant  hair loss now

[Melvin- Admin]

Any plans of doing anything the crown when we’re off lockdown. Wait times should be significantly reduced.

[Steeeve]

25 minutes ago, LonelyGraft said:

Hope @Steeeve’s acting’s career doesn’t go in the same direction as Frankie Muniz!

Considering that I’m about 6 and a half inches taller than the guy and probably outweigh him by roundabout 40 lbs...I feel pretty safe. 😂

I’ve been compared to other actors my whole life. I’ve been working at this since I was 14. I’ve never been compared to him so that’s a first but my whole life people have said, “oh you look like ‘this guy’”, or, “you remind me of ‘that guy’”, and the gamut runs wide. I’ve always been very slender and fit so as I got older and my hairline really started to recede I would get Michael Fassbender a lot. When I was younger and my hairline was still soft and boyish people would tell me I resembled a young Michael Douglas. None of it has ever bothered me but I have always found it interesting what people see.

Im going to have get an overhaul on my hairline and not post it here! Just put a good hairpiece on my crown! Haha!! The members of this forum really are eagle eyed! We can spot something off a mile away OR you guys could potentially see me on the screen one day 🤞🏻🤞🏻and go, “hey wait a minute”.

Or maybe I’ll just brave through it and post a picture. I’m not brave enough yet, though. 😬🤷🏼‍♂️

[Steeeve]

7 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Any plans of doing anything the crown when we’re off lockdown. Wait times should be significantly reduced.

I absolutely am going to continue on with my hair journey! I honestly don’t know when anymore. I was laid off from my job on the 18th last month and I don’t know when I’ll go back or if I’ll even have a job to go back to.

Thank you for the compliment, though. I really appreciate it. 

[Melvin- Admin]

3 hours ago, Steeeve said:

I absolutely am going to continue on with my hair journey! I honestly don’t know when anymore. I was laid off from my job on the 18th last month and I don’t know when I’ll go back or if I’ll even have a job to go back to.

Thank you for the compliment, though. I really appreciate it. 

Yea man, it’s difficult especially for the service industry, from what I recall you lived in Austin right? 

[Cahustler]

3 hours ago, Steeeve said:

I absolutely am going to continue on with my hair journey! I honestly don’t know when anymore. I was laid off from my job on the 18th last month and I don’t know when I’ll go back or if I’ll even have a job to go back to.

Thank you for the compliment, though. I really appreciate it. 

I feel you there Steve.. I’m still paying my HT now with what? The stimulus package? 😂 can’t wait for us to get back on our feet that is if there is even a ground to step on

[Steeeve]

48 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Yea man, it’s difficult especially for the service industry, from what I recall you lived in Austin right? 

Yeah, I’m out of Austin. It’s difficult everywhere. I don’t envy first responders, people in the medical industry... We’re just trying to wait it out. My wife is working. She’s a surgical assistant for an animal hospital and still considered essential. My job, currently, is just keeping toddlers busy. I’m looking out for other work. Lol Too bad it doesn’t come with benefits.

@Cahustler, that’s the truth! 😂 apparently some people are getting stimulus checks paid by direct deposit but I told my wife if we get a paper check i’m using it to wipe these kiddos @sses after we deposit. Since we can’t find baby wipes or toilet paper I’ll find another use for this check!

[Steeeve]

Two days ago, on the 16th, I hit

1 YEAR!!

1 year. It’s hard to believe. What a ridiculous year it has been. My twins turned 1 year old. I turned 40. The world continues to fight an ongoing pandemic. I lost my job. My wife and I haven’t split up due to ALL the continued time we are around one another-I mean, you know, we like each other. 

OH YEAH!! I had a hair transplant!

Let’s talk about that.

I believe these hairs are continuing to mature. I noticed a little bit of shed of the transplanted hairs last week. Just a little. They were so much thicker than the natural hairs. Those hairs are a little thinner. The interesting thing about the transplanted hairs that broke off is that they weren’t that long. When I get my hair wet and let it fall in front of my face they come down below my brow. The broken hairs were 2 and a half, maybe 3 inches long.

There was a difference in what my hairline looked like last week versus this week. It’s thicker, obviously, and I believe it will continue to get thicker over the next few months. I don’t expect a lot of change during those months but I’ll still post an update every few months or so until the 18 month mark.

PICTURES!

Always pictures. I have a few. Different lighting, as always. Dry hair, wet hair, scar.

Let’s start off with the scar and then move on the the good stuff.

That right side reeeeally widened up. I can still hide it with a grade 5 on my clippers. I haven’t tried with a 4 but those hairs are so thick back there. I feel like I could but if you’ve been following along with my journey you know I typically like to keep my hair longer. It does not bother me and I plan to have one more strip. At least

Moving on.

Bathroom lighting really shows that the center of my hairline didn’t thicken up the way I was hoping it would and honestly I plan to readdress the whole right side of my hairline at some point. I don’t mind the asymmetrical shape of my hairline. I just want it to be stronger. It’s still great post transplant but, you know, hair greed.

As always, no product is in my hair. I’m going to post a separate update with both dermmatch and hair fibers...cause holy crap...It makes a difference. Not the kind I’ll go out of my way very often for though.

This isn’t how I typically have been styling my hair. It’s got some length on top and I’ve been letting it fall over to one side. All I did here was smooth it back with my hands to get it out of my face. This is how it normally falls.

Either way, I won’t complain.

A few months ago I went to what was once one of the 30 popular watering holes around Austin and I jumped in the water. When I came out a friend who knows I had a hair transplant said, “Holy Sh*t, dude! Your f@cking hair is like a wall!!” I didn’t believe it. They took some pics but they didn’t really turn out well so I did what I could to recreate it. What I got was a little potato-y but here you go.

It looks nice. Solid. Then I run a brush through it and it’s like, “oh yeah. That’s more like it...”

I mean, look at where I started from. Is it as thick as I would like? Nah. But I look at the gains compared to where I was pre surgery. It’s there. I’m happy. I’ll address it down the line.

Here’s under the ring light with the over head light on and the shades open.

 

Wet under the ring light.

So, here’s the deal. I’m not happy with how my density is when my hair is wet. Will I ever be, though? I’m destined to to be a Norwood 6 one day. All I can do is chase it at this point. I can throw more grafts in there to fight it but I think my next step is to address my hairline again and fill in my crown.

These next pics were taken a month ago to the day, and I believe that the weaker hairline here has really worked itself out, but my hairline is still a little weaker on my right side versus my left. This is what I would like to address along with my crown so that the density in my hairline matches a little closer to my right moving forward.

I would just like to add that this is not something I blame my doctor for. I was considerably thinner on my right side than on the left. I had an idea that I would need a second pass to address this, however, the optimistic side of me did hope that it could be fixed in the first pass. I was working with 2500 grafts though. Filling in (or closing in) my crown to give it some nice bulk and another pass to my hairline are my next moves before worrying about density because at the end of the day I don’t get in water all that much. How most people will ever see me is with my hair dry. I want to save as many grafts for future hair loss as I still started with quite a bit of hair.

This is my opinion. When my hair is dry and styled it is amazing and I know with time and future transplants it will only get better. I plan to get more work done in the future but as it stands who knows when that will be.

I consider this to be a total success and one hundred percent recommend Dr. Arocha. I think my hair is incredible. I will go to him for another strip. I plan to utilize SMP, as well, to help further camouflage as I believe that this will help, along with further transplants. Once I feel I’m done with strip I’ll move on to FUE.

Google Dr. Arocha’s website. Look at his gallery of of FUT patients. I’m patient 80.

I plan to update again in three months and then again in 6 months at the 18 month mark. Unless by some miracle I’m able to have moved forward with another procedure.🤷🏼‍♂️

I hope this post finds everyone healthy and, somewhat, happy. There’s a lot going on in the world right now. I personally know 6 people who’ve contracted Covid-19. Here in Texas and in NYC. Another friend passed away two weeks ago. He was young. I’m sure that number will rise. I know that hair can be all-encompassing important to this community but don’t do anything to jeopardize your health. Your hair is not worth it.

As always. I’ll be around. Be good people. ✌🏻

Edited April 19, 2020 by Steeeve
Internet hiccups

[Mycroft]

I think you've given a pretty fair and honest analysis of your transplant. I totally understand what you mean about wanting the appearance of more uniformity in the hairline because my natural hair has the same issue, but props for recognizing that this can often require a second pass. I'm confident that you're going to be able to hit that goal in the second pass. You'll probably only need a 700 or so additional grafts in the hairline to get there. Give or take. Until then I think it looks great.

On a health note, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Things are still on severe lockdown here in Dallas and it seems like social distancing mandates are getting more stringent even as the office is starting to talk about re-opening. Seems crazy.

 

[Steeeve]

1 hour ago, Mycroft said:

I think you've given a pretty fair and honest analysis of your transplant. I totally understand what you mean about wanting the appearance of more uniformity in the hairline because my natural hair has the same issue, but props for recognizing that this can often require a second pass. I'm confident that you're going to be able to hit that goal in the second pass. You'll probably only need a 700 or so additional grafts in the hairline to get there. Give or take. Until then I think it looks great.

On a health note, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Things are still on severe lockdown here in Dallas and it seems like social distancing mandates are getting more stringent even as the office is starting to talk about re-opening. Seems crazy.

 

Thanks for all the compliments. 🙂 It’s crazy all over, for sure. My parents live closer to Houston and they say within the city it’s a relative ghost town but in the more rural areas people just don’t seem to care.

Thank you, again, for your kind words. I really do appreciate it.

[Melvin- Admin]

This picture says it all

[Melvin- Admin]

I feel like you definitely have more of the Zach Braff hairline now