Dr. Konior 2100 grafts December 2020

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

My journey and how I got to decide on Dr. Konior

Started losing hair roughly 10 years ago around the age of 23. Finasteride worked really well but had to stop due to sides. Now I only use Nizoral/Minox but I don't think those are helping. Initially I decided to go with Dr. Diep but after reading @jimcraig152's post here and searching through other Diep's topics, I decided to shop around a little more and settled on Konior. Luckily due to Covid there was a cancellation very soon after I contacted him, so it all worked out.

Day of procedure

Got there at 6:30 am, filled out some paperwork and ordered the lunch (Jimmy John's) and then from 7am until about 8am we talked about the hairline and my plans etc. The procedure started around 8am-ish. I was given Valium so I slept through a huge part of the procedure. At 1pm they finished the harvesting and I got lunch, and then they continued implanting the grafts until around 7:30pm. I was able to drive myself home after the procedure (had to sign the waiver).

Below you can see the pics from before the procedure (6am-ish that day), one with my hair buzzed and the hairline drawn and also two pics after the procedure.

I will keep updating this thread as the time passes.

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by anotherhairlosssufferer

[DenverBuff1989]

55 minutes ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

Luckily due to Covid there was a cancellation very soon after I contacted him, so it all worked out

@anotherhairlosssufferer how long did you have to wait to have surgery with Dr. Konior? Jealous you didn't have to endure a year long wait and lucked out with that cancellation lol

[TommyLucchese]

3 hours ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

My journey and how I got to decide on Dr. Konior

Started losing hair roughly 10 years ago around the age of 23. Finasteride worked really well but had to stop due to sides. Now I only use Nizoral/Minox but I don't think those are helping. Initially I decided to go with Dr. Diep but after reading @jimcraig152's post here and searching through other Diep's topics, I decided to shop around a little more and settled for Konior. Luckily due to Covid there was a cancellation very soon after I contacted him, so it all worked out.

Don't believe I've heard the phrase "settled for Konior" before!

Congrats on choosing one of the best doctors around....I'm sure it'll be a great result. Good luck with the long road ahead.

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

6 hours ago, DenverBuff1989 said:

@anotherhairlosssufferer how long did you have to wait to have surgery with Dr. Konior? Jealous you didn't have to endure a year long wait and lucked out with that cancellation lol

I honestly think it was no more than two weeks?

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

3 hours ago, TommyLucchese said:

Don't believe I've heard the phrase "settled for Konior" before!

Settled on hahaa my bad

[hairlossPA]

awesome you got in on such short notice. will be following! was this FUE or FUT?

[giegnosiganoe]

If you could share donor area and hair per graft counts that would be great

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

1 hour ago, hairlossPA said:

awesome you got in on such short notice. will be following! was this FUE or FUT?

FUE

22 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

If you could share donor area and hair per graft counts that would be great

Still wearing the bandages, will update once that comes off and I get the grafts breakdown.

[Melvin- Admin]

Happy growing, great timing as well. I feel your hair is very similar to @1978matt 

[DenverBuff1989]

10 hours ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

I honestly think it was no more than two weeks?

@anotherhairlosssufferer nice thats crazy! Can't imagine only a 2 week wait for the #1 rated doc in the world. That's some A-list celebrity Brad Pitt Kim Kardashian level of service right there haha. I myself had an email consult with Dr. Konior at the end of July, and the earliest he could get me in was June 2022. I get that he's the best doctor out there, but even still, waiting a whole yr seemed ridiculous. 

Super lucky and definitely at the right place at the right time! If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? His quote for me was 1,500 grafts for $20k. Even taking into account, say, $500 for surgery costs, that was still a mind-boggling $13/graft. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by DenverBuff1989

[deitel130]

Dr. Konior has some excellent results. Looking forward to see your updates.

[aaron1234]

Amazing you got in with Dr. K so soon, count your lucky stars!  The recipient region looks like what we all have come to expect from him on a regular basis.  Eager to see the donor area as well!

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

I've been visiting Dr. Konior's office every day and they took good care of me - washed the donor area and reapplied the bandages.

Day 2 - Major swelling and feeling feverish

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling super feverish and that is not a good feeling in the middle of pandemic. I freaked out, but I was able to go back to bed and in the morning they checked my temperature and it was fine and I also felt good so that was a major relief.

SWELLING - I also had MAJOR swelling that started at my forehead on day 0 but during day 2 it went into my eyes and I couldn't keep my eyes opened in the evening. You can imagine how that felt. The swelling moved down by the morning of day 3 so now I can see but still look like a monster. In retrospective I should have spent day 1 in my bed at a 45 degrees incline to make the gravity pull the swelling down and to the side - Dr. told me that but I didn't take it super seriously although I did try to keep my head tilted backwards often.

I sent a few emails to Dr. Konior regarding all these issues and he was very prompt in responding and telling me where I stand and what to expect. Five stars for patient care for sure.

Day 3

Today they washed my hair for the first time and removed the bandages so this is the first time I can see the donor area and you be the judge but it looks almost pristine. @jimcraig152 I'd like your comments on this.

Donor under bathroom light:

 

Donor in the car:

 

Two pictures of the recipient area under bathroom light:

 

 

 

 

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

On 12/2/2020 at 10:34 AM, giegnosiganoe said:

If you could share donor area and hair per graft counts that would be great

2120 grafts total

120 singles

1644 doubles

356 triples

 

[giegnosiganoe]

16 minutes ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

2120 grafts total

120 singles

1644 doubles

356 triples

 

Interesting, considering you had hairline work 120 grafts doesn't seem like enough so I think he must have split some of the larger grafts into singles. Would be cool to find out the final single graft count after splitting.

[TorontoMan]

That donor of yours has been touched by the gods 

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

24 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Interesting, considering you had hairline work 120 grafts doesn't seem like enough so I think he must have split some of the larger grafts into singles. Would be cool to find out the final single graft count after splitting.

Yes that's what I was thinking too - it's a small number of singles for hairline. I can ask him via email.

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

On 12/2/2020 at 2:12 PM, DenverBuff1989 said:

Super lucky and definitely at the right place at the right time! If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost?

As some other people said here as well he prices per procedure not per graft, but let's just say my per-graft breakdown was similar to yours.

[DenverBuff1989]

47 minutes ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

As some other people said here as well he prices per procedure not per graft, but let's just say my per-graft breakdown was similar to yours.

So Expensive! But pay top-dollar for top-results. Honestly super jealous lol. For me the 1 yr wait time was the reason I declined Konior, I do understand the ridiculous cost price given his reputation. Happy growing!

[aaron1234]

I can't believe that donor is only 3 days post-op.  It's immaculate! 

[Future Hair Doc]

On 12/2/2020 at 1:34 AM, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

My journey and how I got to decide on Dr. Konior

Started losing hair roughly 10 years ago around the age of 23. Finasteride worked really well but had to stop due to sides. Now I only use Nizoral/Minox but I don't think those are helping. Initially I decided to go with Dr. Diep but after reading @jimcraig152's post here and searching through other Diep's topics, I decided to shop around a little more and settled on Konior. Luckily due to Covid there was a cancellation very soon after I contacted him, so it all worked out.

Day of procedure

Got there at 6:30 am, filled out some paperwork and ordered the lunch (Jimmy John's) and then from 7am until about 8am we talked about the hairline and my plans etc. The procedure started around 8am-ish. I was given Valium so I slept through a huge part of the procedure. At 1pm they finished the harvesting and I got lunch, and then they continued implanting the grafts until around 7:30pm. I was able to drive myself home after the procedure (had to sign the waiver).

Below you can see the pics from before the procedure (6am-ish that day), one with my hair buzzed and the hairline drawn and also two pics after the procedure.

I will keep updating this thread as the time passes.

 

Thanks for sharing and happy growing! Have you considered topical finasteride? You won't get systemic side effects from it and it's still effective. 

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

On 12/4/2020 at 5:07 PM, Dr. Suhail Khokhar said:

Thanks for sharing and happy growing! Have you considered topical finasteride? You won't get systemic side effects from it and it's still effective. 

I would consider it if it doesn't have systemic side effects. I haven't done a ton of research but last I remember I heard Hasson & Wong were giving it out after their procedures and some people were just taking the tablets and mixing them with minoxidil and applying it that way. Is there a topical finasteride as a standalone topical product?

[Future Hair Doc]

11 minutes ago, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

I would consider it if it doesn't have systemic side effects. I haven't done a ton of research but last I remember I heard Hasson & Wong were giving it out after their procedures and some people were just taking the tablets and mixing them with minoxidil and applying it that way. Is there a topical finasteride as a standalone topical product?

I personally use Morr F, which is a combo minoxidil and finasteride solution. I am not aware of a stand alone finasteride product. I can personally vouch for the efficacy of Morr F. 

[jimcraig152]

On 12/4/2020 at 12:32 PM, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

@jimcraig152 I'd like your comments on this.

 

On 12/4/2020 at 12:45 PM, anotherhairlosssufferer said:

2120 grafts total

120 singles

1644 doubles

356 triples

Your donor gets the same reaction that I gave @MagnificentAl, "2120 extractions? From where? Your body parts clone growing in the bacta tank?"

Thanks for the details on your procedure. I always wondered how much time must be put into the extraction process to produce that untouched-Like-a-Virgin-look. 5 hours for 2120 FU' excisions; from 8am-1pm. Sounds about right. Similarly, the best hair transplant I've seen since I've been on this forum is @timcfc's 1200 FUE procedure from Dr. Reddy. He mentioned that they started extractions from one side at 10am, broke for lunch at noon, then extracted from the back after lunch. So 2.5-3 hours for what must have been around 700 units. Then they came back and extracted the remaining 500 or so units from the other side after they implanted those grafts later in the procedure. The uncompromising benefit to the patient is obvious. You both could wear 90's boy band mushroom cuts and no one would even dare to say you've had a hair transplant by looking at either of your donors. You and @timcfc win the "Most-Desirable-Virgin" Donor award (presented by Adriana Lima):

Another thing I've noticed about Dr. Konior's work is that he achieves high density with far fewer grafts. In comparison area-wise to other surgeons' work, your procedure looks closer to 2500 grafts. In looking at @MagnificentAl's procedure compared to mine, we have very similar hair loss patterns and area-wise, things look similar. His procedure was 1700 grafts, mine was 2332. So I think it evens out dollar-wise if you go with Dr. Konior over a less expensive surgeon. Of course, quality-wise it is a landslide if you get work done by Dr. Konior.

Natural placement of hair grafts is a huge huge huge benefit for transplant patients, in particular during the early recovery months. Trust me on that one. You'll suffer through the ugly duckling stage, but as you rebound from it, you'll just look like you have naturally thinning hair. If you cut your hair length all around low to match recipient length, you'll just look like you have a buzz cut. When you go to the market and you notice the cute girl looking at you, you won't worry if she is staring at your hairline or not. Makes recovery that much less painful. I expect you are in quarantine like the rest of us. When you are rebounding from from that stage in the March time frame, hopefully the rest of the world will start to rebuild and we can return to normal about that time. So when you do return to your professional setting, no one will be wise that you've had any work done. They will just think you look great!

I had no idea you were in Chicago. You stated that you drove home and you've visited the clinic for follow-up care? You mean all this time, Konior was in your backyard, and you didn't consider him? Like I said, as a brother in the struggle, I'd just want the best for you. But damn, you lucky sonuva.......managed to get slotted in with Konior. You should have went out and bought a lottery ticket the moment the bandages came off to harness all that good fortune. Congrats. Will follow your procedure closely.

Edited December 7, 2020 by jimcraig152

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

10 hours ago, jimcraig152 said:

I had no idea you were in Chicago. You stated that you drove home and you've visited the clinic for follow-up care?

No I am in your backyard and I flew to Chicago. I guess I referred to the AirBnB as "home" as it was a condo nearby and not a hotel.

10 hours ago, jimcraig152 said:

When you are rebounding from from that stage in the March time frame, hopefully the rest of the world will start to rebuild and we can return to normal about that time. So when you do return to your professional setting, no one will be wise that you've had any work done. They will just think you look great!

Yeah I am still in the very early stages, still have the scabs and all so there's a long way ahead. Agree, the timing of this is great just as you said so hopefully by the time everything goes back to normal the hair starts growing back!