2061 FUE with Dr Serdar Caglayan - Michigan

[Brad189]

Had an FUE procedure done with Dr Serdar Caglayan back in September.  2061 grafts were completed after an all day procedure.  Their whole staff were very friendly and welcoming. 

Overall, my experience was mostly positive.  Mainly using this as a blog to track my progress and see how things shape up over the coming year.  I'm currently taking finasteride and biotin and also use biotin shampoo.

Graft breakdown:

1 (181), 2 (688), 3 (828), 4 (207), 5 (101), 6 (56), total hairs 5710.  When I initially got the breakdown, I was a little surprised with the number of 4s, 5s, and 6s grafts because from what I read around here, most patients have 1-3 hairs per graft with some 4s.  I hope this doesn't result in a 'pluggy' look.  Additionally, I did get pitted depressions in the recipient area which can be viewed in the 1 month photo below.  I've read this can be the result when a larger # of hairs in a graft are transplanted.  Keeping my fingers crossed things are just early and still healing.  When I reached out to the clinic about this, I was instructed to apply iodine 3x a day for 3 days. 

Pre surgery: hair how it's normally styled (dry)

Pre surgery out of the shower, damp/wet

After Surgery:

 

 

About 2 weeks out, scabs mostly gone.  The hairs in the hairline go in a very straight side by side line.  Hoping this doesn't look unnatural when it grows in.  What are your thoughts on this as well as the angle of the hairs? 

 

1 Month shows a lot of shock loss.  I was ready for this but in addition to the transplanted hair, a lot of my native hairs from an earlier transplant are also gone.  Hopefully they come back if they weren't damaged by the current transplant.  The picture that shows the circling on my left area is the best picture i could get to show the pitting I mentioned earlier.  This occurs in many areas throughout the recipient area but is hard to capture.

Donor area after 1 month.  Looks pretty good in my opinion:

I'll keep this updated each month and answer any questions you may have! 

 

[Wicky]

Hey! @Brad189Hope it is going well. how is your progress now that you are at the 2 month mark?

[anker21]

How many grafts did you have from your first procedure? Your scar hides well even with short hair. How are things now?

[Brad189]

On 11/26/2020 at 10:12 PM, anker21 said:

How many grafts did you have from your first procedure? Your scar hides well even with short hair. How are things now?

For my first procedure, it was probably close to 10 years ago and I think it was around 2300 grafts and I did luck out with a narrow scar! 

At the two month mark, things are going ok... it's the ugly duckling stage as they say so I'm just trying to stay positive for the next couple months.  I had a lot of shockloss to my existing hair in the front 3rd of my scalp.  Most (if not all) were transplanted from my first surgery 10 years ago and I'm hoping these return soon.  If anyone has a comeback story or knowledge of transplanted hair suffering from shockloss coming back, let me know!  Like I said, most of these shocklossed hairs were transplanted so I don't believe they'd be miniature hairs on their way out. 

I trimmed up my sides today (#3 guard) and haven't touched the top since surgery.

New hairs have begun to appear, which can be seen in the pics below and is encouraging.  Hoping for many more to be sprouting soon! 

 

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

Following, we got a similar number of grafts, eager to see how this turns out

[JayLDD]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:16 AM, Brad189 said:

Had an FUE procedure done with Dr Serdar Caglayan back in September.  2061 grafts were completed after an all day procedure.  Their whole staff were very friendly and welcoming. 

Overall, my experience was mostly positive.  Mainly using this as a blog to track my progress and see how things shape up over the coming year.  I'm currently taking finasteride and biotin and also use biotin shampoo.

Graft breakdown:

1 (181), 2 (688), 3 (828), 4 (207), 5 (101), 6 (56), total hairs 5710.  When I initially got the breakdown, I was a little surprised with the number of 4s, 5s, and 6s grafts because from what I read around here, most patients have 1-3 hairs per graft with some 4s.  I hope this doesn't result in a 'pluggy' look.  Additionally, I did get pitted depressions in the recipient area which can be viewed in the 1 month photo below.  I've read this can be the result when a larger # of hairs in a graft are transplanted.  Keeping my fingers crossed things are just early and still healing.  When I reached out to the clinic about this, I was instructed to apply iodine 3x a day for 3 days. 

Pre surgery: hair how it's normally styled (dry)

Pre surgery out of the shower, damp/wet

After Surgery:

 

 

About 2 weeks out, scabs mostly gone.  The hairs in the hairline go in a very straight side by side line.  Hoping this doesn't look unnatural when it grows in.  What are your thoughts on this as well as the angle of the hairs? 

 

1 Month shows a lot of shock loss.  I was ready for this but in addition to the transplanted hair, a lot of my native hairs from an earlier transplant are also gone.  Hopefully they come back if they weren't damaged by the current transplant.  The picture that shows the circling on my left area is the best picture i could get to show the pitting I mentioned earlier.  This occurs in many areas throughout the recipient area but is hard to capture.

Donor area after 1 month.  Looks pretty good in my opinion:

I'll keep this updated each month and answer any questions you may have! 

 

This is really, really, really low level work. I would brace for the worst and heavily research on forums like this for potential future surgeons if you require repair work. This surgeon is a nobody that shouldn't be in the industry within serious retraining to lift his standards. 

Best case scenario in my opinion is it will look very thin but natural. Worst case is a low growth rate with a pluggy appearance. At least your donor doesn't look terrible but I hope you have enough grafts to correct the situation. 

[Brad189]

3 month pics below.

RE Jay's comment, I had consulted with the only top doctor within my travel range, Dr. Nadimi, but she was pushed out till 2021.  If I was going to have the procedure done at all, I wanted to get it done before my Covid work from home period was over.  Because of this, I went with a local Dr (Caglayan) and understood they weren't a doctor on this forum.  It was a risk I was willing to take since I wouldn't consider the procedure at all, had I not had the downtime from work.  If this procedure provides a result I'm not happy with, I'll likely buzz my head and be done with any procedures. 

The pictures were taken under bright lights and new hairs are beginning to sprout.  It's still a bit early so I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Gasthoerer]

45 minutes ago, Brad189 said:

I had consulted with the only top doctor within my travel range, Dr. Nadimi, but she was pushed out till 2021.  If I was going to have the procedure done at all, I wanted to get it done before my Covid work from home period was over.  Because of this, I went with a local Dr (Caglayan) and understood they weren't a doctor on this forum.  It was a risk I was willing to take since I wouldn't consider the procedure at all, had I not had the downtime from work.  If this procedure provides a result I'm not happy with, I'll likely buzz my head and be done with any procedures.

Why? What? 

You did research and know which clinics are good and which not...and you throw all this away and go to a no name clinic? Just to gain a few month (it is already December 2020!). With an unnatural recipient you cannot even buzz your hair and look normal (I am not saying this will happen, but this is what you risked and there are some warning flags which you already mentioned yourself).

I usually do not say this so early in the process, as everyone is very nervous and sensitive at this stage, but this is exactly how it should NOT be done. 

Of course, I still wish you the very best, but as @JayLDD just said: The area appears huge for the amount of grafts. 

[Brad189]

1 hour ago, Gasthoerer said:

Why? What? 

You did research and know which clinics are good and which not...and you throw all this away and go to a no name clinic? Just to gain a few month (it is already December 2020!). With an unnatural recipient you cannot even buzz your hair and look normal (I am not saying this will happen, but this is what you risked and there are some warning flags which you already mentioned yourself).

I usually do not say this so early in the process, as everyone is very nervous and sensitive at this stage, but this is exactly how it should NOT be done. 

Of course, I still wish you the very best, but as @JayLDD just said: The area appears huge for the amount of grafts. 

To answer your question, again it was because I didn't want to go back to work with my head freshly operated on.  It being December now has nothing to do with anything.  Regarding the buzz comment, my hair prior to this procedure was already spotty.  To sum it up, I wasn't going to get any procedure unless I was able to do this during lockdown and any top level doctor was booked outside this period.  I understand the risk I took and was simply looking for some improvement over where I was previously.

[DenverBuff1989]

you're gonna get a lot of flak on here for not waiting 6 months to a year to get in with an elite doctor. I do understand your reasoning tho. I can't comment on the prognosis but I hope it turns out well. 

Regarding the transplant shock loss question, I am not an authority on the matter, but I would say transplant hair shock loss has a much stronger chance than native hair to come back. However, there is always the chance shock loss hair does not come back. 

Also be cautious on claims of shock loss. It of course is a real condition, but just saying in my own narrow personal experience, "shock loss" is an easy excuse for doctors to use, to cover up a mistake on their end, such as underestimating the # of grafts needed, transection of grafts, or some other human-error cause. 

[makehairgreatagain]

@Brad189I'm rooting for you to have a great result. You're still very early for results which can take up to 18 months to fully mature. It helps that you did still have some hair remaining in the transplanted area pre op.

[Britanium]

Any chance of a update @Brad189 ? Please let us know how it’s progressing. Thanks 🙏 

[Brad189]

Hi John,

Here's 4 month progress and just short of 6.5 months.  The 6.5 month pics were taken with slightly damp hair.

4 month:

 

Nearly 6.5 Months:

Edited April 7, 2021 by Brad189

[baseplate]

 

@Brad189 can you provide a 1 year update. thanks

Edited October 28, 2021 by baseplate

[kk23]

@brad189

I had my surgery with them 20 days ago, can you please provide a 1 year update?

[wz0918]

@Brad189 I just booked for the same doctor. Do you have any more updates you can share?

[THE TRUTH]

It's a decent result for only 2000 grafts.

But it still looks pretty thin. Although better than before

[mdg8736]

Hello OP... Any updates on your journey? I have an appointment scheduled for Dr. Caglayan in a month from now. I am really anxious to hear about your overall experience... Some of the ppl on this thread are freaking me out saying that it was bad looking work judging from the first pics you posted. Please help me out if you could!

[Pbaird98]

10 minutes ago, mdg8736 said:

Hello OP... Any updates on your journey? I have an appointment scheduled for Dr. Caglayan in a month from now. I am really anxious to hear about your overall experience... Some of the ppl on this thread are freaking me out saying that it was bad looking work judging from the first pics you posted. Please help me out if you could!

I can see why you would be a lil freaked out, how comes you ended up choosing this Dr? Looking here I can’t say I’m impressed with the work, 2 unfinished journeys which isn’t a great sign. Sorry but I would be considering choosing a proven/elite Dr instead, when you say you’re booked for a month do you mean appt or actual transplant? 

[mdg8736]

Hey there, I already had the consultation and then waited like a month and then finally made the appointment because they were booking up fast. I have a wedding at the end of august I want to look good for. I'll be honest, at 8000 dollars and proof that the doctor has been doing 3-5 a week for the last 25 years I figured I would give it a go. It is frustrating that people would start a post and not finish it. 

I feel like the OP 6 month results looked decent. Also, he didn't appear to have the greatest hair thickness / skin contrast as well as a prior transplant from back in the day.. All those factors and it still looks pretty decent. I've been told from multiple places that I'm a good candidate to receive 2k grafts / 6k hairs.

I guess the clinic did a good job convincing me that they do a ton of these and the doctor seemed real legit in person. How hard can it be to if you've been doing it for 25 years? lol

 

Thanks for your reply btw and any help is welcome.

[Pbaird98]

You have to be wondering though, why not more results being posted if he’s been doing hair transplants for so long. Who else did you consult with? I don’t want to derail this thread too much Incase the op does come back. It’s not great at 6 months, but would be interesting to see how it ended up. Have you seen any patient posted journeys that are complete? 
Would you be able to start a new thread? 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Pbaird98

[mdg8736]

I could start another thread… I haven’t been doing this whole posting thing for long at all so apologize if not following the normal process. I honestly don’t know what other thread title I would start though that would be more applicable to this particular surgeon. I feel like the OP would welcome any and all convos regarding this surgeon onto his thread. 
 

I agree 100% with you that it is super odd that not one person would choose to post their journey here from this particular doctor. If I did end up going to this doctor I would track my progress here for others to see just in case. 

[Chetman2112]

Honestly the post operative pics both immediately and months later do not look good to me at all, and the graft placement looks unnatural, I would run away from this clinic and never look back, do more research to find yourself a proven doctor, waiting period means nothing in terms of the rest of your life, I am almost one month out and you couldn’t tell I had anything done after 7 days, I did my research for a year and found an amazing doctor with a proven track record, highly recommend you do the same. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Chetman2112

[mdg8736]

@Brad189 Have you any updates on your results nd how you feel about them?

[mavigo]

@Brad189

Any Updates since? 

His office not too far from where I grew up. I used to go that Craft Brew pub that's a half a mile down Orchard Lake rd. 

I will also say that there is another good doctor in Chicago: Dr. Panine; I recently just had a procedure by him. 

Really anxious to see how things are going. Hope you're doing well too. 

Thanks, Brad.