Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 13, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) I am 28 years old and have been using Minoxidil for 6-7 years and Finasteride for 3ish. It has been 7 days since I had 2263 grafts transplanted into my hairline and front of my scalp. I had the procedure done in Austin, TX by Dr. Dan McGrath. The photos are below this post. Surgery - Dr. McGrath & his team were very professional and helped calm my nerves the day of the procedure. I chose Dr. McGrath because I had read good things online and he seemed very competent. The convenience of the location (8 minutes from my house) and quality of the surgeon were my biggest deciding factors. Pain - I have had very little pain and have not had to use the prescribed Tramadol. The last couple days the donor area has had a little bit of pain, but I imagine that's because the numbness is wearing off. I took Tylenol instead of the Tramadol and was able to sleep fine. I get nauseous from pain pills, so I am glad the Tramadol isn't necessary. Other Meds - I was also prescribed Prednisone for swelling and Cephalexin as an antibiotic, although I have been finished with those for a couple days now. I was also given 4 bottles of SurgiHEAL Pro antimicrobial formula to spray every hour on my head. The red bottle is a thicker formula that is for the donor area, and the blue bottle is for the recipient area. I think they have helped with healing. https://surgihealpro.com Swelling - My upper forehead was swollen on day 2. The area above my eyes and my eyebrows were swollen days 3-4. Under my eyes were swollen day 4-5. Swelling was gone by day 6. Showering Routine - On day 2, I went back to the clinic and they cleaned my head for me. On day 3-6 I was instructed to pat baby shampoo on the recipient area, let sit for 3 minutes, and use a large cup or bowl to pour water over it to rinse. I faced the shower head down and did this in the shower rather than at the sink. Although today (day 7), I was told I could stop using the cup/bowl method, I am going to continue until day 9 or 10 to be safe. At that point I will gently shampoo the recipient area and rinse normally in the shower. Concern - My only real concern at this point is that I did not use enough grafts or cover enough of the balding. I told Dr. McGrath that I wanted as many grafts as he deemed necessary, and after examining my head pre-op, he determined I needed 2000. They gave me 2263 during surgery, but I am concerned they didn't go far enough back, especially on the right side. The last photo with the red arrow is the area I'm referring to. I'm sure it's mostly paranoia and while it's too early to tell, I believe that Dr. McGrath & his team did a good job. My other concern is returning to work and dealing with the ugly duckling phase. I will be back in the office next Monday (day 12). Dr. McGrath said wearing a hat is no problem by day 12, and while I'm technically not allowed to wear one at work, I am going to anyway. I feel like I had a strange balding pattern that I could pretty easily cover up with hair fibers. I am concerned that once I begin my shed, I won't be able to cover any of my frontal scalp up with fibers and will just look completely bald there. Has anyone had success covering up the ugly duckling phase? What do y'all think? Any comments, thoughts, or suggestions are appreciated. Before FUE Right After Procedure 1 Day Post-Op 1 Week Post-Op Edited January 18, 2021 by Saul Goodman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member caricatura Posted January 13, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) Looks clean, and to me, the right number of grafts, relatively densely packed, for the area. Plus, as this is your first procedure, it's probably best to be somewhat conservative, see how you heal, grow, and all that. How does your donor look? Keep us updated! Edited January 13, 2021 by caricatura 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 13, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 13, 2021 19 minutes ago, caricatura said: Looks clean, and to me, the right number of grafts, relatively densely packed, for the area. Plus, as this is your first procedure, it's probably best to be somewhat conservative, see how you heal, grow, and all that. How does your donor look? Keep us updated! Thank you for your thoughts! I plan on updating this post as I go through the recovery journey. Here's the donor area... I also just realized my head looks like a thumb from behind. The buzzcut look is not for me. haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Style22 Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 Been searching for a McGrath FUE result. Very interested to follow! Live here in Austin as well. Do you mind sharing some details on the procedure? Was McGrath the one doing all the extractions? How many Techs worked on you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 14, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Style22 said: Been searching for a McGrath FUE result. Very interested to follow! Live here in Austin as well. Do you mind sharing some details on the procedure? Was McGrath the one doing all the extractions? How many Techs worked on you? There were 4 people assisting in addition to Dr. McGrath. I believe it was 3 techs and then a main nurse who did all of the extractions from the donor area. Dr. McGrath told me that the nurse has been trained specifically for the extraction part. If I recall correctly, Dr. McGrath then "created" the area in which the grafts would be inserted. The 3 techs did a lot of the placing of the grafts. I arrived at 7am, we got started around 830am, and I was out of there by 3pm, although I opted not to stop for lunch despite it being provided in order to be done sooner. I'll be diligent in updating the OP so you can follow along. I'm new here - is it preferable to update the OP with progress or just make a new post? Edited January 14, 2021 by Saul Goodman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted January 14, 2021 Administrators Share Posted January 14, 2021 Looking good man, never heard of this doctor before, but thanks for sharing. Happy growing, please keep us updated on your progress 🙏 1 I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TorontoMan Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 46 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said: Thank you for your thoughts! I plan on updating this post as I go through the recovery journey. Here's the donor area... I also just realized my head looks like a thumb from behind. The buzzcut look is not for me. haha Lol I actually think your head looks good buzzed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member caricatura Posted January 14, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 2 minutes ago, TorontoMan said: Lol I actually think your head looks good buzzed. Was going to say the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 14, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 5 minutes ago, TorontoMan said: Lol I actually think your head looks good buzzed. 2 minutes ago, caricatura said: Was going to say the same. Thanks guys. Maybe I'll try it out once I have a decent hairline! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 Looks like nice and clean work. Happy growing ! 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member UnbaldEagle Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 Good luck and happy growing! Just started following your thread, looking forward to updates. By the end of this, you will Un-GeneTakavic yourself to a young luscious-haired Saul Goodman! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member UnbaldEagle Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 10 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said: Looking good man, never heard of this doctor before, but thanks for sharing. Happy growing, please keep us updated on your progress 🙏 I wouldn't know him either, not a lot of results from McGrath here. However I've been following this hair loss advisor guy Youtube celebrity/musician called David DiMuzio, and he had a phenomenal transformation via a few McGrath surgeries. What I find interesting about McGrath: - He's using the old "outdated" minigrafts for added density (just behind, hairline would still consist of refined FUs). - Among the very few surgeons advocating and offering exosomes and posting a few great results with it. - Prescribes a combination of finasteride, oral minoxidil and biotin that he compounds himself to his patients. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 14, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 4 hours ago, UnbaldEagle said: - Prescribes a combination of finasteride, oral minoxidil and biotin that he compounds himself to his patients. I switched over to this in November of '19 from generic fin. I didn't notice much of a difference, but the photos at the 1 year mark may have shown a little improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted January 14, 2021 Administrators Share Posted January 14, 2021 5 hours ago, UnbaldEagle said: I wouldn't know him either, not a lot of results from McGrath here. However I've been following this hair loss advisor guy Youtube celebrity/musician called David DiMuzio, and he had a phenomenal transformation via a few McGrath surgeries. What I find interesting about McGrath: - He's using the old "outdated" minigrafts for added density (just behind, hairline would still consist of refined FUs). - Among the very few surgeons advocating and offering exosomes and posting a few great results with it. - Prescribes a combination of finasteride, oral minoxidil and biotin that he compounds himself to his patients. Interesting I thought David went to the guy who called himself jesus, he got arrested and lost his medical license. 2 I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member UnbaldEagle Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 9 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said: Interesting I thought David went to the guy who called himself jesus, he got arrested and lost his medical license. Oh, that's Dr. Brett Bolton, very notorious surgeon. Started dressing up in white and claiming he was Jesus. Imagine if he actually told that to his patients.. "I'm Jesus and I'm gonna perform this .. khm.. hair transplant miracle!" Oddly enough he's got the same approach as McGrath. Both surgeons have coined them as their own, as if they invented micro- and mini grafts. 😁 Dr. McGrath calls it UltraDensity and ex-Dr. Bolton the BoltonBundles™. Guy was quite full of himself: "While other doctors are transplanting grafts one hair at a time, we are loading up patients with a special mixture of one hair grafts in the frontal hairline, two and three hair grafts just behind the hairline and our special 4-8 hair slit grafts we call Bolton Bundles™ in the vertex and crown for density that will make your head spin!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Curious25 Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 5 hours ago, UnbaldEagle said: What I find interesting about McGrath: - He's using the old "outdated" minigrafts for added density (just behind, hairline would still consist of refined FUs). - Among the very few surgeons advocating and offering exosomes and posting a few great results with it. - Prescribes a combination of finasteride, oral minoxidil and biotin that he compounds himself to his patients. -wore toppik in both a photo and video claiming it to have been his own response from exosome treatment. He just strikes me too much as being a second hand car salesman. Maybe it’s the difference in culture between NA and Britain, I don’t know. That David guy gives me creeps Aswell. Anyway, work looks good at this stage OP, I wish you well! I agree with others about you suiting the buzz cut also .. you have a good head shape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member UnbaldEagle Posted January 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Saul Goodman said: I switched over to this in November of '19 from generic fin. I didn't notice much of a difference, but the photos at the 1 year mark may have shown a little improvement. At least you're maintaining though, you've got a fair amount of native hair. Are you still using topical minoxidil too? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 14, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) On 1/14/2021 at 10:54 AM, UnbaldEagle said: At least you're maintaining though, you've got a fair amount of native hair. Are you still using topical minoxidil too? I haven't used it since my surgery -- I'm not sure when I can start using it again, but I will. Prior to the surgery I used topical minoxidil foam twice a day. It generally allowed me to somewhat style my hair and was easy, so I figured "why not" despite not seeing much in the way of results. It supposedly only works in the crown anyway, right? It's not a large expense and it's easy, so I will continue my regimen of minoxidil & the fin combo pill. I may switch back to the generic fin at some point because it was super cheap in comparison, but I haven't thought about it much. Edited January 19, 2021 by Saul Goodman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 15, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 15, 2021 I only found this forum after my HT. I had seen a couple other forums with much less activity and had browsed Reddit, but just recently stumbled across HRN. I wish I had done so sooner because I now have a lot of anxiety about my FUE after reading some negative things on here about McGrath. Not much I can do at this point but hope for the best. I guess it's promising things look normal to this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 15, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 15, 2021 5 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said: I only found this forum after my HT. I had seen a couple other forums with much less activity and had browsed Reddit, but just recently stumbled across HRN. I wish I had done so sooner because I now have a lot of anxiety about my FUE after reading some negative things on here about McGrath. Not much I can do at this point but hope for the best. I guess it's promising things look normal to this point. I can totally understand what your feeling. I too only stumbled on the forum after my 1st HT (+10 years ago) and then I really started to learn who to go to, and how little I knew about the process. I think you will be fine, is he a elite dr ? No, will you get a good result ? Yes in all likelihood you will. IF going forward you need to get another Ht then you would be much better informed and could chose better. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 15, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 15, 2021 13 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said: I can totally understand what your feeling. I too only stumbled on the forum after my 1st HT (+10 years ago) and then I really started to learn who to go to, and how little I knew about the process. I think you will be fine, is he a elite dr ? No, will you get a good result ? Yes in all likelihood you will. IF going forward you need to get another Ht then you would be much better informed and could chose better. The good news is that I only used 2263 grafts, so if I need to go again with another doctor, I should have donor hair left. It sounds like Arocha is the board's favorite as far as Texas docs go, but I would do much more research here if that time came. I REALLY hope I don't have to do another one, at least any time soon, because this has been a difficult process as all of you know. I will say, my concern about not going far enough back on the right side seems more valid now. I definitely didn't do myself any favors by using the search feature here retroactively. haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 15, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 15, 2021 That’s most likely about a third of your available donor, so your good 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 16, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 16, 2021 All you can do is wait for the 12 months and reassess? Keep updating here on a monthly basis if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Saul Goodman Posted January 16, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 16, 2021 48 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said: All you can do is wait for the 12 months and reassess? Keep updating here on a monthly basis if possible. Will do. Thanks for the words of encouragement! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 16, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted January 16, 2021 58 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said: Will do. Thanks for the words of encouragement! Your welcome 🙏 stay positive ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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