SIX month UPDATE Pics: 2nd HT - 1831 Grafts - With Dr. Roy Jones (San Jose)

[bayareaht]

I had my first HT on July 31, 2003 with Dr. Roy Jones --

 

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=5696015661&f=7466060861&m=3136076983&r=4746054884#4746054884

 

I had 1640 grafts (1200 in front and 440 on crown) -- and have been on Propecia all along.

 

However, to "fill up" the hairline part more and to finish the crown work since Propecia seems to have been holding on -- I decided a second procedure. I chose to stick with Dr. Jones since I was pretty much satisfied with the last work. My scar was, however, wider than I expected.

 

I just had a HT today. A total of 1836 grafts (around 800 1s, 800 2s and rest 3s) were implanted. Most of the grafts, around 1150, were used to add density to the front and finish up the "temple" work. 400 grafts went on to fill up the crown. Remaining were added to the mid-anterior part since I am not planning anymore HT anymore.

 

I am supposed to get the pics tomorrow. But here's how it was in nutshell. The procedure started at 10:45 morning and went up to almost 6 in the evening. It was fully "follicular" - there were three techs dissecting and two techs placing. The doctor took out the strip and made the sites.

 

However, this definitely seemed to be more painful than a visit to the dentist Well, the shots really hurt and like last time, the first shot made me very nauseating. Just a tip for would bes -- taking break between shots and lying back as much as you can if feeling "light" helps a lot!

 

Last time I had a nasty swelling issue. The doctor said he has given me some new meds. SO here're the meds I received --

 

 

-- Sleeping Pill (Temazepam 30mg) : Don't want to use it so far. Am trying to sleep on my recliner this time. Had a nasty swelling last time but I slept on bed with 4 pillows under my head.

 

-- MethylPREDNISolone - 4mg. It's a glucocorticoids (a kind of steroid). 6 on day one, 5 on day two and so on till it comes to 1 and then stops.

 

-- Painkiller (Acetaminophen 500mg/Hydrocone 5mg) -- taking 1/2 every 4 hours for now.

 

The donor area really hurts now

 

-- Another for swelling ( furosemide 40mg) Just 4 to be had tomorrow.

 

And the usual Anti-bacterial ointment, the copper shampoo and conditioner et al.

 

I do hope this HT turns out to be a very good one.

 

BTW, financially speaking, this was cheaper than last time - and I am, so far, happy witht he value I received.

 

I do hope the first five days will pass soon. I do want to see the pain gone and want to live with the grafts permanently placed onto the scalp!

 

I will post the snaps as soon as I get them in mail.

 

Thanks,

 

B.

[bayareaht]

I had my first HT on July 31, 2003 with Dr. Roy Jones --

 

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=5696015661&f=7466060861&m=3136076983&r=4746054884#4746054884

 

I had 1640 grafts (1200 in front and 440 on crown) -- and have been on Propecia all along.

 

However, to "fill up" the hairline part more and to finish the crown work since Propecia seems to have been holding on -- I decided a second procedure. I chose to stick with Dr. Jones since I was pretty much satisfied with the last work. My scar was, however, wider than I expected.

 

I just had a HT today. A total of 1836 grafts (around 800 1s, 800 2s and rest 3s) were implanted. Most of the grafts, around 1150, were used to add density to the front and finish up the "temple" work. 400 grafts went on to fill up the crown. Remaining were added to the mid-anterior part since I am not planning anymore HT anymore.

 

I am supposed to get the pics tomorrow. But here's how it was in nutshell. The procedure started at 10:45 morning and went up to almost 6 in the evening. It was fully "follicular" - there were three techs dissecting and two techs placing. The doctor took out the strip and made the sites.

 

However, this definitely seemed to be more painful than a visit to the dentist Well, the shots really hurt and like last time, the first shot made me very nauseating. Just a tip for would bes -- taking break between shots and lying back as much as you can if feeling "light" helps a lot!

 

Last time I had a nasty swelling issue. The doctor said he has given me some new meds. SO here're the meds I received --

 

 

-- Sleeping Pill (Temazepam 30mg) : Don't want to use it so far. Am trying to sleep on my recliner this time. Had a nasty swelling last time but I slept on bed with 4 pillows under my head.

 

-- MethylPREDNISolone - 4mg. It's a glucocorticoids (a kind of steroid). 6 on day one, 5 on day two and so on till it comes to 1 and then stops.

 

-- Painkiller (Acetaminophen 500mg/Hydrocone 5mg) -- taking 1/2 every 4 hours for now.

 

The donor area really hurts now

 

-- Another for swelling ( furosemide 40mg) Just 4 to be had tomorrow.

 

And the usual Anti-bacterial ointment, the copper shampoo and conditioner et al.

 

I do hope this HT turns out to be a very good one.

 

BTW, financially speaking, this was cheaper than last time - and I am, so far, happy witht he value I received.

 

I do hope the first five days will pass soon. I do want to see the pain gone and want to live with the grafts permanently placed onto the scalp!

 

I will post the snaps as soon as I get them in mail.

 

Thanks,

 

B.

[bayareaht]

Here are the pre-op photos. I will keep it updated with the progress.

[bayareaht]

Here's the crown

[bayareaht]

Hairline as it is after 1200HT on a NW 4(A)

[bayareaht]

Hairline from front ...

[bayareaht]

And here's the hairline on July 30, the day of 1st HT (1200 grafts put on front and 440 on crown)

[bayareaht]

Crown before 1st HT

[Smoothy]

I have been hearing some good feedback on Dr. Jones-- I think he and Docs like Dr. Lehr are slowly creating a good HT history with patients-- it is nice to see.

Your HT looks good and I'm sure you will be happy with your 2nd.

1 question: You stated you had 400 in the crown first procedure and 400 in crown 2nd procedure---will these 800 provide the crown coverage you want?

[bayareaht]

Thanks Smoothy.

 

About the crown - in 2003, I was like *really* bald there. But I was just started on Propecia and was skeptical to put grafts there. So thought Dr. Jones. But he gave an estimate of 800 grafts for the crown for a "thin coverage". I decided for 400 for an ulta-light coverage and prayed Propecia will work.

 

Before the 2nd surgery, my crown surely was in much better shape than in 2003. However, I still had an area like a tennis ball very very lightly covered. Dr. Jones thinks Propecia worked extremely well and the then coverage surely could not have come only from 440 grafts there.

 

Since I wanted more coverage in front, he advised a 400-500 grafts on the crown.

 

Before seeing Dr. Jones I also saw Dr. Rassman - who seemed to be less conservative than Dr. Jones on crown. He wanted to do 600 on crown, 800 for covering up the temples. Dr. Jones wanted 1200 for front and 400 for the crown.

 

I decided for putting 400 on crown. During last year, people have only commented positive about my crown saying how I've got "significant growth" there thanks to Propecia

 

Also, I want to keep another HT option open for future - I have had 2 HTs so far totalling 3440 grafts. According to Dr. Jones, they can probably strip off another 2000 grafts in future if they need to.

 

I am 30 and decided to keep that supply for my anterior- and mid- scalp rather than really thicken up the crown.

 

Thanks.

 

B

[Smoothy]

THanks for the reply...

Post pics of your crown over the next few months-- I would be very interested in seeing your before 1st HT and after 2nd HT on the crown results to see how 840 FUs did as well as coverage. I'm considering crown work in the future.

[bayareaht]

Here's 30 day update --

[bayareaht]

Here's 30 day update --

 

All these pics are taken in a *very well-lit area* with strong light focussing on my scalp. The bottom left picture is taken with my head down perpendicular to the strong lamp --and shows the crown + mid-scalp under the light. As As noticed, I still have thinning in my mid-scalp area. But under careful grooming and combing, that's almost invisble from front.

 

I've been losing most of the planted hair grafts over last 1-2 weeks. Hoping to regain them soon.

 

I've also started applying MEDERMA on the donor site scar 2-3 times a day -- just to see if I can minimize the scar this time. I do have a tendency to form keloids (raised scars).

 

The bottom-right is the accurate representation of my crown as seen from behind.

[bayareaht]

Here're my 4 month update photos -

 

1) SCAR --

[bayareaht]

2) Front Hairline -

[bayareaht]

3) Crown -

[Smoothy]

Congrats and enjoy your growth.

YOur hairline looks good, and the crown looks good as well. Your scar is a little wider than normal but some people have wider scars.

[bayareaht]

Here's 6 month update --

[bayareaht]

Tophair --

[Robert_]

Well it does appear much fuller. It's very difficult to determine the quality of work done by the inconsistency of the lighting, angles, and zoom of the camera angles. I'm not trying to be a downer, if you are happy then I am happy for you. I'm just saying that it is difficult for US to tell what is going on.

 

-Robert

[bayareaht]

Hairline a year from 2nd transplant -