2500 FUE with Dr. Diep 1 year post op

[Harrison L]

I first noticed my hair loss shortly after graduating college. It was not very dramatic in the beginning, so I dismissed it. However, as time progressed, it became worse and worse. My crown and vertex lost so much density that I felt and looked 10 years older; I was only 25 at the time. Hair means something different from one individual to the next. For me, it felt like I was losing a part of myself (quite literally, I suppose) and my identity and confidence took a hit. I thought I was doomed to suffer this fate, being dealt a losing hand in terms of the genetic lottery, until I stumbled upon hair transplant videos on YouTube. I fell down a rabbit hole, and thus began my hair transplant journey. I scoured the internet – forums, reviews, reddit, you name it – for potential doctors that I felt comfortable with. After all, this was going to be a big investment.

Fast forward, and I eventually decided on Dr. Diep. This was due to several reasons. Firstly, he was one of the few doctors who had posted videos of his work before surgery, 6 months post-surgery, and 12 months-post surgery. If they say pictures are worth a thousand words, then videos are like full blown novels. Secondly, Dr. Diep seemed to have worked with a wide variety of hair types in his YouTube videos – Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics; this was a definite plus. I am Asian myself, so my hair is thinner, and it was very important to me that the hair transplant doctor knew how to work with my hair type. I finally took the plunge and scheduled a consultation. I was classified as having a Norwood 3A hair loss pattern. Much to my surprise, he was fully booked and the earliest date they could squeeze me in was April of next year! I was a bit bummed, but I guess all good things are worth the wait.   

During my time leading up to the surgery date, I corresponded with the office regarding paperwork, payments, and any general questions. For the most part it was fine, a bit disorganized at times, but nothing major. It was mostly repeated questionnaires or notifications, but hey over communicating is better than under communicating right?

So, on the big day, I arrived for my 2,500 FUE procedure bright and early. The office was clean and tidy, and the receptionist was very warm. She had me fill out any remaining paperwork and asked me to select my lunch option from restaurants nearby, which was quite unexpected since it was on the house. After a short wait, I met with Dr. Diep to go over the procedure details. He had excellent bed-side manners and was very thorough. He took the time to listen to my concerns and made it a point to ask what was most important to me when drawing up the lines for where to place my transplanted hair follicles. After I took my pre-op medication, we started the procedure. I was partially sedated but still semi-conscious. Dr. Diep personally extracted all my hair follicles (which I read is the most important part), and continuously monitored my pain level throughout. If I started to feel pain, he would reapply the local anesthesia. We took a break for lunch, and in the afternoon, several technicians implanted the extracted hair follicles per Dr. Diep’s design. After wrapping up, the office gave very specific post-op care instructions and sent me home with some meds, gauze, liner pads, and a hat to cover up my scalp. Overall, I was very satisfied with my experience and even more so with the results. I highly recommend Dr. Diep to anyone who has been thinking about doing a hair transplant but is on the fence; it changed my life. I can go on and on, but it is much easier to just show the results.       

[Melvin- Admin]

Great results man, thanks for sharing. Your donor looks immaculate. 

[HTHope]

This is your first post after joining so I doubt you’ll be back but do you have immediate post op photos of your recipient and donor?

[Harrison L]

2 hours ago, HTHope said:

This is your first post after joining so I doubt you’ll be back but do you have immediate post op photos of your recipient and donor?

Yeah I managed to take a few. They’re quite bloody, so instead of posting the pics directly, I’ll put it in a link - just for those who don’t want to see it. 
https://imgur.com/gallery/4j4SDP5 (hopefully this works, relatively new to this posting business) 

 

[CosmoKramer]

Coverage and hairline looks great and natural for the amount of grafts you got. Congrats!

[ITA]

3 hours ago, Harrison L said:

Yeah I managed to take a few. They’re quite bloody, so instead of posting the pics directly, I’ll put it in a link - just for those who don’t want to see it. 
https://imgur.com/gallery/4j4SDP5 (hopefully this works, relatively new to this posting business) 

I can not see the photos of the link, but as for those published directly on the thread, in my opinion they are injudicable.  You should do it in sunlight or at least in a more illuminated environment.

[Harrison L]

Odd, I just tried the link and it worked. I even signed out of imgur to see if it'll load for someone who does not already have an account. Anyway, I'll just post them directly to the thread for those that are curious. 

[Melvin- Admin]

I think the area that was covered has massively improved, looks like the crown improved a bit too. Did you recently get on finasteride? Thanks for following up too, glad you’ve shared with us.

[Harrison L]

20 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I think the area that was covered has massively improved, looks like the crown improved a bit too. Did you recently get on finasteride? Thanks for following up too, glad you’ve shared with us.

I started finasteride 1.25 mg (split the 5 mg into quarters - it was much cheaper) right after I got the HT. I’ve been on it for over a year now, luckily with no side effects. I used to use Rogaine foam as well, but my scalp had a reaction, so I stopped it. Plus I didn’t like the sticky residue it left behind. 

[Goodvibes]

On 7/15/2020 at 8:35 AM, Harrison L said:

I started finasteride 1.25 mg (split the 5 mg into quarters - it was much cheaper) right after I got the HT. I’ve been on it for over a year now, luckily with no side effects. I used to use Rogaine foam as well, but my scalp had a reaction, so I stopped it. Plus I didn’t like the sticky residue it left behind. 

thank you for your photos,  do you have more photos to show us ?  with better light?