Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 28, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2019 (edited) Hi all, This forum has been a great resource for me so I want to update you with my experience. Just had my surgery on 12/27/2019, still in Istanbul. Muzaffer is Dr. Demirsoy's coordinator and he takes great care of you throughout the trip (airport/ clinic pickup dropoffs, questions about where to go and things to do etc.) He speaks great English and is a very nice guy. Dr. Demirsoy speaks limited English but is also friendly and likable. Muzaffer translates throughout the consult. The plan was to do 3500 to 4000 grafts but when I arrived to the clinic, Dr. Demirsoy felt my donor area wasnt very strong. Ive never had a transplant before so I was surprised to hear this. I was bummed since I'm pretty bald and was hoping for max possible grafts. But I appreciated the fact that he was concerned about my donor and wanted to stay conservative. He told me preop it wasnt going to be 4,000 grafts, would be somewhere between 2500 and 3500 depending on how it looked during surgery. We ultimately ended up with 2950. Originally I was hoping to reinforce the hairline without lowering it at all- and use the remaining grafts to fill in the top. Since we had less grafts to work with than originally planned, Dr. Demirsoy decided to leave the front forelock alone(since i still had hair there) and begin placing grafts directly behind it (where i was completely bald) Fingers crossed, hopefully turns out well (iA) Photos below: first two are pre transplant unshaved, next 2 are pre transplant shaved, and last 2 are post transplant. Note: I tried propecia 8 years ago and had terrible sides (never again). Now I use rogaine once daily. Will start biotin as well and maybe saw palmetto but I'm weary of anything that affects testosterone after my experience with finasteride. Any feedback is appreciated! thanks again to this forum! Edited December 28, 2019 by texasranger2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member ITA Posted December 28, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted December 28, 2019 good luck @texasranger2003 it seems a very "clean" surgery, the surgeon's strategy seems right to me. Now you just have to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 28, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2019 thank you much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Future Hair Doc Posted December 28, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted December 28, 2019 6 hours ago, texasranger2003 said: thank you much appreciated Good luck and please keep us posted on the results. Just be patient, which I know is hard to do at this point. My advice does not constitute a patient-physician relationship nor as medical advice and all medical questions/concerns should be addressed to your medical provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 29, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 29, 2019 Thank you. I definitely plan on posting updates until the 1 year mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 147break Posted December 29, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted December 29, 2019 Great write up! Do you have any photos of your donor area prior to surgery? I'm curious to see what was considered not very strong. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 29, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 29, 2019 See the donor pics below. I did shave down the sides with a two guard about 5 days prior these photos being taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member ITA Posted December 29, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted December 29, 2019 7 hours ago, texasranger2003 said: I definitely plan on posting updates until the 1 year mark Thanks @texasranger2003 , Even if, however, it is after two / three years that the transplant recipients have to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 29, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 29, 2019 Postop day 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 30, 2019 Donor pics from postop day 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted January 2, 2020 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 2, 2020 Post op day 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 Hey guys so on postop day 8-9 (depending on turkey time versus USA time) wanted to sleep well so I took and Ambien and then accidentally removed all of my scabs in a semi conscious state. I don’t take ambien usually and I did not intend to remove all the scabs. I’m worried I damaged some grafts because I saw some hairs with the scabs and some appeared to have bulbs. I didn’t see any bleeding. There is a photo right after scab removal and another photo from the following morning. what do you guys think?!? Feel sick about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 147break Posted January 5, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 If you're 8 days post-op, there's no way removing the scabs could have damaged the grafts. Especially if they came off easy with no bleeding. Try not to stress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 According to this article, grafts are fully secure on day 9. I recommend everyone read this article and not attempt scab removal until post op day 9. My surgery was complete on Friday at 5 pm Turkish time. I removed grafts on Sunday 6 am turkish time. So technically it was 9 days postop but had I read this article earlier, I would have waited at least another 12-24 hours. i hope this is beneficial to others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member paddyirishman Posted January 5, 2020 Senior Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 @texasranger2003 good post. The post concluded that crusts were a major factor in losing grafts. I didnt see anything mentioned in the article about spraying saline spray on the crusts. Since the reason we spray saline is to keep the crusts moist , and help aid removal of them , which would prevent the grafts from becoming dislodged when removing the crusts. All the best on your HT. ....Paddy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 What do you guys think? Should I be convened? I’ve been pretty bummed out al day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member texasranger2003 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 *concerned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member paddyirishman Posted January 6, 2020 Senior Member Share Posted January 6, 2020 No need to be concerned whatsoever, it was 9 days after your HT you removed the crusts. Your grafts were well and truly anchored. I removed my crusts after 7 days and there was no issue. I wish you happy growing. .....Paddy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 147break Posted February 27, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted February 27, 2020 Hey mate, I was there 10 days after you. Hope it's going well! Do you have any updates on yours? If you're like me then I'm guessing they have all fallen out for now 😅 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member juancbz45 Posted March 26, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted March 26, 2021 @texasranger2003 hey dude, any update? , I'm planning in going to Demirsoy too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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