My Experiences Losing My Hair Early, with Dr. Wasserbauer, with Dr. Diep and My Current State

[jjbluejeans]

Howdy all,

Obligatory long time lurker/first time posting disclaimer. I felt like, having read so many patient reviews and experiences and stories that I could do some good sharing mine, and also it's just always nice to know you're not alone : )

I will tell my story in a sets of posts to this topic that will go chronologically, more or less. I hope. I'm new to this, remember.

I began losing my hair VERY early, probably as early as fourteen or fifteen. I know I was already being teased about my hairline, mostly about the size of my forehead, at that age. I had always had a very classic widow's peak/dracula sort of hairline, even as a boy. 

 

(Me as a fifteen year old vampire. The low light helps hide how thin the front was...)

I managed to get a Propecia Prescription around the time I was 22 or so, and had been using the old standby Rogaine but this was back in the pre-foam days so using it was not a great experience always. See here a young Me rocking a very poor attempt at pretending I could keep my hair:


Either way, even the powerful Propecia/Rogaine duo didn't save me. This was me by the time I was in my mid-twenties:



I had decided to embrace it and just go for the whole young Bruce Willis/Budget Jason Statham thing. And it kinda worked for me! Oddly enough, and I hope this helps someone out there, I got a lot more attention with my head shaved. I started doing fitness modeling. I got a lot more roles as an actor for a while. I felt confident about my look with no hair, and people seemed to even prefer it on me in a lot of ways. 





 

[jjbluejeans]

Still, there was a part of me that just wanted the flexibility of knowing I could have hair if I wanted, and sport a variety of looks. I'd grown up wanting to be like Arnold or Sly or Tom Cruise, even. And I felt like, even if people thought I looked good with my head shaved, it limited my work as an actor a lot. I got roles, but it was always cop, highway patrolman, bouncer, security guy. No one ever wanted to let me play the romantic lead, or the funny guy (and I am much more of a weird, awkward person than a tough guy, but people always wanted "Tough Guy" from me) and I knew that, even if it's decades away, there's only so long you can keep playing Mr. Punches Things A Lot.

In short, there was a part of me that just felt like there was a Me that I never got to Be. Yet. 

So by this point I was making better money, and I felt like I was old enough to assume my hair loss had hit it's apex and I could look into surgical options. I opted for an FUE, because I knew I wanted the flexibility to still shave my hair off when asked. After looking at options I chose to see Dr. Wasserbauer in California. I had a great experience with her, she made me feel very comfortable and she gave me what I felt was a very realistic and honest idea of what was possible. There was no hyperbole. 

I apologize, I don't have any photos still from the time of that surgery and recovery, but I got around 1800 grafts, if I recall correctly. I remember being awake for the duration of the procedure, watching a few movies. Dr. Wasserbauer was there pretty much the whole time being very hands on. By my request we chose to preserve my natural "V" hairline because I didn't want it to be a dramatic change. Recovery went well, though I did experience pretty bad bumping that would burst and bleed for a months. There were definitely times that I worried I'd made a terrible choice and I would be disfigured for life, but you know what? In the end, no one ever noticed. The work was CLEAN. 

Here's some photos of me on set for a film not long after that surgery. I kept my hair shaved down for at least a year after that surgery because I wanted to wait for it to all grow in as "mature" hair and not have it grown out before it was out of its incubation phase. Also I kept getting roles that required me to have my "tough" look still. But you can see in these photos that the uninitiated would be hard-pressed to spot my surgery (of course to those of us who obsess over this sort of thing, I'm sure you can spot some of the redness )

 

[jjbluejeans]

I was really pleased with how "invisible" the work Dr. Wasserbauer had done was, so once I finished up some of my roles at the time, I decided to finally let it grow out. Moment of Truth. This time you get video!
 

It was... decent. Grown out. Not what I had hoped for. I definitely didn't feel like a guy in his late twenties. My whole life people had always assumed me much older than I am and part of me just felt like I was missing out on the experiences my peers were having. I'm trying to be very open with you guys, because I'm sure some of you out there get it. 

I decided I should give it some more time and kept letting it grow but honestly the more it grew the more it just depressed me. This photo is pretty blurry, sorry, but I think you can still tell how "transparent" my hair looked grown out. I didn't allow many photos of me at this time.


I want to be clear, though, that I do not fault Dr. Wasserbauer for that in any way. She'd given me a very clean and nice hairline that looked good shaved and was undetectable as surgically enhanced. Massively better than when you look at that photo of me in the first post where I had basically nothing. 
 

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[TrialAcc]

It looks like you have another post coming, so I'm eager to see how it turned out. Either way, you defiantly rocked the shave head look and it's great to see that you owned it and accepted it and approached the HTs from a place of acceptance. I'm hoping that if I go down the HT route it will be from the same place. 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by TrialAcc

[Melvin- Admin]

This is an awesome story man, I actually really like Rogue Wave too. Indie rock is my favorite. Looking forward to more of your posts. I have a few friends in the industry, I’m from LA lol figures.

25 minutes ago, jjbluejeans said:

Still, there was a part of me that just wanted the flexibility of knowing I could have hair if I wanted, and sport a variety of looks. I'd grown up wanting to be like Arnold or Sly or Tom Cruise, even. And I felt like, even if people thought I looked good with my head shaved, it limited my work as an actor a lot. I got roles, but it was always cop, highway patrolman, bouncer, security guy. No one ever wanted to let me play the romantic lead, or the funny guy (and I am much more of a weird, awkward person than a tough guy, but people always wanted "Tough Guy" from me) and I knew that, even if it's decades away, there's only so long you can keep playing Mr. Punches Things A Lot.

In short, there was a part of me that just felt like there was a Me that I never got to Be. Yet. 

So by this point I was making better money, and I felt like I was old enough to assume my hair loss had hit it's apex and I could look into surgical options. I opted for an FUE, because I knew I wanted the flexibility to still shave my hair off when asked. After looking at options I chose to see Dr. Wasserbauer in California. I had a great experience with her, she made me feel very comfortable and she gave me what I felt was a very realistic and honest idea of what was possible. There was no hyperbole. 

I apologize, I don't have any photos still from the time of that surgery and recovery, but I got around 1800 grafts, if I recall correctly. I remember being awake for the duration of the procedure, watching a few movies. Dr. Wasserbauer was there pretty much the whole time being very hands on. By my request we chose to preserve my natural "V" hairline because I didn't want it to be a dramatic change. Recovery went well, though I did experience pretty bad bumping that would burst and bleed for a months. There were definitely times that I worried I'd made a terrible choice and I would be disfigured for life, but you know what? In the end, no one ever noticed. The work was CLEAN. 

Here's some photos of me on set for a film not long after that surgery. I kept my hair shaved down for at least a year after that surgery because I wanted to wait for it to all grow in as "mature" hair and not have it grown out before it was out of its incubation phase. Also I kept getting roles that required me to have my "tough" look still. But you can see in these photos that the uninitiated would be hard-pressed to spot my surgery (of course to those of us who obsess over this sort of thing, I'm sure you can spot some of the redness )

 

You look sorta like Justin Chatwin 

[jjbluejeans]

I decided I wanted to give it another go. I was older now, and making better money, so I did my research and finally decided to give Dr. Diep a try. I, like many, had seen the videos and photos of the insanely dense looking hairlines he'd produced. I met with him and took every bit of his advice and let him steer the experience. I told him I'd give him my trust on what he thinks is best. We ended up scheduling an FUE of 2500 grafts for March 14th of 2019. 

I was kinda surprised, because I had been conscious and awake for my entire procedure with Dr. Wasserbauer, so I didn't expect, doing another FUE with Dr. Diep to not remember it at all afterward. I just know I got home, haha. 

I followed Dr. Diep's post-surgery instructions to the letter and then some, taking even more time off than was suggested from the gym, but as I began healing I felt that similar feeling again that I had ruined myself. I had very dense, black scabbing and in areas it looks like there was nothing but bare skin between the wounds. 

 

See that sorta lightning strike pattern that looks like absolutely hairless pale skin? That scared the hell out of me.

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[jjbluejeans]

I gave Dr. Diep a call and we chatted and I trusted in his assurances and lo and behold, this was me about two weeks out from my surgery with him. Everything was fine! Trust in the process, guys!:

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Btw I’m a fellow Diep patient, I know at least one other actor that Diep did surgery on 🤫 btw those cracks are totally normal

 

[jjbluejeans]

This time around, I felt much more confident letting my hair grow. It definitely had it's awkward phase, but this was me in the last year:



I definitely feel so much better. And I feel like myself again. Needless to say, I was impossibly impressed with Dr. Diep's results.

I went in to see him around December of 2020 for a check-in and to discuss a future procedure. He said he almost never gets to see patients who grow their hair long so he was pretty excited to see how it looked, too!

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[jjbluejeans]

Final update, I ended up doing what I hope to be a final session, at least for a long time. I went back to Dr. Diep because of the phenomenal results and we placed, if I recall correctly, just shy of 1900 new grafts. Right now I'm in week 2 of recovery and I've had extremely little scabbing or discomfort. I definitely feel like almost all of the grafts took.

 

 

[jjbluejeans]

That's my story so far. My recent surgery was only two weeks ago and I'm feeling good. 

If anyone is interested, I have a pretty hefty regimen of supplements that I take because of my stunt work and fitness goals, which I think may have helped with my recovery. On a daily basis, I take a superfood mix, vegan protein, an amino acids drink, and a scoop of collagen mixed in. Along with that is a standard multivitamin, fish oil, Calcium with D, biotin, and GABA. 

I've also continued taking generic finasteride and oral minoxidil. 

I know it's pretty late so not a lot of folks are online but let me know if you guys want me to keep this updated. And if you have ANY questions I will be totally transparent and honest with my answers.

I'll also accept any offers for future film and tv roles if you have one of those for me

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[jjbluejeans]

@TrialAcc Definitely, friend. I don't know if you've been back to this post now that I finished the story, but I have a lot of flexibility now letting my hair go long or keeping it shaved. No one's ever looked at my shaved head even after having two FUEs and remarked on anything about it. Sometimes I think it'll be ironic if I am now able to grow my hair but casting directors just prefer me bald, haha. 
 

[jjbluejeans]

@Melvin-Moderator That's awesome! I take it we must be in the same areas and probably have some mutual friends, haha. And yeah, I used to get compared to both Justin Chatwin and Aaron Paul a lot, especially when he was rocking the shaved head Jesse Pinkman look  Thanks for reading!

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[TrialAcc]

9 minutes ago, jjbluejeans said:

@TrialAcc Definitely, friend. I don't know if you've been back to this post now that I finished the story, but I have a lot of flexibility now letting my hair go long or keeping it shaved. No one's ever looked at my shaved head even after having two FUEs and remarked on anything about it. Sometimes I think it'll be ironic if I am now able to grow my hair but casting directors just prefer me bald, haha. 
 

I just saw it right before you replied! Thanks again for sharing the story, I always find it great to see complete comebacks from people who were already in a good spot mentally but wanted to see what they could do. Bonus points that you have very minimal scaring and can still shave it no problem. I hope you update the thread as it grows in because it looks like itl be great, and already was. 

A few more quick questions; How old are you now and when you got the first procedure? How was your donor supply in total? Lastly, was any work done into your crown? I find it very surprising to see that you were NW4~+ in your mid 20s and that the loss seems to have just stopped there. 

And lastly lastly, an ex-girlfriend of mine worked in make up in the film industry and told me that hair pieces were very common even on big actors. Was this ever a consideration of yours? Do you see a lot of it in the industry?  

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by TrialAcc

[jjbluejeans]

@TrialAcc I am currently 39, about to turn 40. I forget my exact age when I did my first procedure, the one with Dr. Wasserbauer. I was maybe 27 or 28?

I'm not sure how to assess my donor supply. There's a photo of the back of my head and sides from just this week in my last update in the thread, though. I know that originally my latest surgery with Dr. Diep was planned for only 1500 grafts originally but he managed to work a lot more in. He had been honest with me prior to surgery though that he didn't want to do much more than that because he wanted to leave "Something for later." So I don't know if that means my donor is still good? 

As to my crown, my very first surgery with Dr. Wasserbauer kept my hairline very close to what it was, even though it was more or less gone. Instead I asked her to focus on keeping a nice, consistent density all throughout my scalp, so she definitely kept the distribution of graft equal between "reinforcing" my hairline and filling in the rest. 

Lastly, on the topic of "hair systems," yeah, those aren't uncommon, but I knew that for me I wanted the real thing. I do a lot of action roles and I didn't want to be in a position of constantly running back to hair and makeup for touchups. 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[TrialAcc]

2 minutes ago, jjbluejeans said:

@TrialAcc I am currently 39, about to turn 40. I forget my exact age when I did my first procedure, the one with Dr. Wasserbauer. I was maybe 27 or 28?

I'm not sure how to assess my donor supply. There's a photo of the back of my head and sides from just this week in my last update in the thread, though. I know that originally my latest surgery with Dr. Diep was planned for only 1500 grafts originally but he managed to work a lot more in. He had been honest with me prior to surgery though that he didn't want to do much more than that because he wanted to leave "Something for later." So I don't know if that means my donor is still good? 

As to my crown, my very first surgery with Dr. Wasserbauer kept my hairline very close to what it was, even though it was more or less gone. Instead I asked her to focus on keeping a nice, consistent density all throughout my scalp, so she definitely kept the distribution of graft equal between "reinforcing" my hairline and filling in the crown and rest. 

Lastly, on the topic of "hair systems," yeah, those aren't uncommon, but I knew that for me I wanted the real thing. I do a lot of action roles and I didn't want to be in a position of constantly running back to hair and makeup for touchups. 

 

Right on man, yeah I guess you still have some grafts in the donor area if he wanted to "leave some". Normally I thought you'd get a hard estimate from the doctor (I havn't had one done so I'm not sure). Thanks again! Definitely update as the new work grows in!

[AB2000]

Glad it worked out for you after so many years.  You are fortunate with your hair loss in that your crown didn't open up like it does for many men when they go bald.  That means a less amount of transplanting needed to catch up.

[jjbluejeans]

13 minutes ago, AB2000 said:

Glad it worked out for you after so many years.  You are fortunate with your hair loss in that your crown didn't open up like it does for many men when they go bald.  That means a less amount of transplanting needed to catch up.

@AB2000 thank you for the supportive words, friend; the hair at what I like to call my "nubs," basically where the Wolverine horns would be if I had Wolverine hair, has always been remarkably dense compared to the rest of my hair. I think they could probably harvest it a time or two more before it ever goes "normal." The tradeoff, though, being I always had a massive amount of real estate on the ol' forehead and any kind of backlighting lit my thin frontal hairline up like a halo. 

I could do some mean pigtails in my day, though...

[Gatsby]

What an excellent write up @jjbluejeans! Yes you do look good with the shaved look but I also love to see hair transplants that are grown out! Yours looks excellent as well. Do you know how many grafts you have had in total over the three procedures? Happy growing and I look forward to you future updates. All the best!

[champybaby]

Great write up man. Keep us posted.

[Britanium]

Very interesting journey you have been on. Thanks for posting a very detailed write up. Going back to Dr Diep was the right thing to do ! Can’t wait to see how the final stage ends up 🙏

[jjbluejeans]

3 hours ago, Gatsby said:

What an excellent write up @jjbluejeans! Yes you do look good with the shaved look but I also love to see hair transplants that are grown out! Yours looks excellent as well. Do you know how many grafts you have had in total over the three procedures? Happy growing and I look forward to you future updates. All the best!

I would estimate around 5700-5800 total between the three surgeries? Of course the most recent one I don't know how it will look yet, so the 'long hair' photos are the result of just the previous running total of around 4000? I don't know for certain anymore exactly how many I did in my very first surgery because it was a decade ago at this point.

Edited April 1, 2021 by jjbluejeans

[Melvin- Admin]

12 hours ago, jjbluejeans said:

This time around, I felt much more confident letting my hair grow. It definitely had it's awkward phase, but this was me in the last year:



I definitely feel so much better. And I feel like myself again. Needless to say, I was impossibly impressed with Dr. Diep's results.

I went in to see him around December of 2020 for a check-in and to discuss a future procedure. He said he almost never gets to see patients who grow their hair long so he was pretty excited to see how it looked, too!

Wow it’s incredible how much hair changes your appearance. This story and write up has been fantastic. Thanks for sharing such a detailed review. I look forward to seeing your updates. Thanks for joining the forum 🙏🏼

[SLA]

Thanks for sharing this incredible story @jjbluejeans.

Looking forward to witnessing your transformation during the course of the coming year.

 

[RandoBrando517]

Do you have any more pictures with long hair? I always thought long hair and short hair needed more density.   Your hair looks great, wondering how many total grafts you got?

Edited April 2, 2021 by RandoBrando517