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Mixed Feelings after First HT (FUT)


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  • Regular Member

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to @Melvin-Moderator and other contributors on this forum to help me to make an informed decision and finally gave me the courage and confidence to go for my first HT (FUT - 2999 grafts - July 2020) surgery. I decided to go with FUT first thinking I could do a second HT (FUE + BHT) in the near future. I went with a local surgeon in Virginia to take advantage of the COVID lockdowns and work-from-home situation.  I am currently 9 months Post-Op and having mixed feelings about the results so far. There are days I question my choice of surgeon and the surgery itself.

I am back here for three reasons:
1) Get your valuable opinion on the FUT results so far and what improvements I can expect over time. Also if anything can be done to improve the results.
2) My options for the second surgery possibly FUE + BHE and the timing suggested grafts etc.
3) Suggestion on if SMP help in any ways between the two surgeries and the timing of it.

I am also confused about what hairstyle (or shaved) to keep to go out, now that everything started to reopen. May be out of the confusion, I trimmed down to guard 0 yesterday. Posting some pictures.

Thank you as always 

Link to Details of my surgery at the end. 
 

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Edited by elicochin
Added Links surgery details
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  • Regular Member
27 minutes ago, Helios said:

 

elicochin Could you name the surgeon that did your transplant and could you tell me what led you to choose fut over fue? Just curious. Thanks 

It was Dr. William Lindsey. I just now added links to my earlier posts about the surgery.

Many on this forum recommends an FUT first that can yield more and will give you the flexibility to do an FUE later on.

Edited by elicochin
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16 minutes ago, elicochin said:

It was Dr. William Lindsey. I just now added links to my earlier posts about the surgery.

Many on this forum recommends an FUT first that can yield more and will give you the flexibility to do an FUE later on.

My opinion of him from what I’ve seen and heard (Which is limited) is that he’s a professional and reliable doctor so will be interesting to see what he says

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Hi @elicochin, I can understand your frustration and I hope things turn around.

For one, the post operative pictures you provided look a little suspect to me, in terms of the number of grafts and the wide spacing between them. I know it was a large surface area to cover, but it doesn't look close to the number of grafts necessary to give you an aesthetically significant result.  Perhaps @Melvin-Moderator can chime in and give his opinion. 

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The good news is that a close up look of your donor reveals that it still looks pretty good. I think you can definitely get a good FUE result should you choose to undergo another procedure. 

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@elicochin

Can you please send me your full name and date of surgery via pm. I will be reaching out to Dr. Lindsey for you. 

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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.

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Honestly this does not look great in terms of results. The post op looked a little suspect so that’s why I commented on your other post to see the updates.

I believe there are positives,

Donor looks good

Scar looks good

Might want to consider another FUT and then go FUE to conserve but that’s more of your preference as well as dependence on laxity.

I think you should be fine as long as your next result is solid. Have you considered any other surgeons for your next procedure? 
 

Curious to hear @Melvin-Moderator thoughts on the results.

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1 hour ago, asterix0 said:

Hi @elicochin, I can understand your frustration and I hope things turn around.

For one, the post operative pictures you provided look a little suspect to me, in terms of the number of grafts and the wide spacing between them. I know it was a large surface area to cover, but it doesn't look close to the number of grafts necessary to give you an aesthetically significant result.  Perhaps @Melvin-Moderator can chime in and give his opinion. 

I don’t think they’re post op pics, look at the date and look at the (healed) scar. Pretty sure he took pics, shaved his head and took more, although I could be wrong 

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He’s always seemed like a competent surgeon, the only thing that made me question him was a week or two back when he was warning people off having their upper sideburns done, I was a bit perplexed at that because the issues he raised really shouldn’t be deal breakers for a highly skilled surgeon, but in all honesty I’ve not seen that many of his results to comment

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I have reached out to Dr. Lindsey, he’s a very ethical surgeon. I’m positive he will address your concerns. That said, he may respond on Monday after the weekend. Patience is key. 

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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.

 

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17 minutes ago, Aftermath said:

I don’t think they’re post op pics, look at the date and look at the (healed) scar. Pretty sure he took pics, shaved his head and took more, although I could be wrong 

@Aftermath , I think @asterix0 is referring to the post-Op picture I had posted immediately after the surgery as part of an older post. You may be referring to the one I posted today as part of this post. Just to be clear. 

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3 minutes ago, elicochin said:

@Aftermath , I think @asterix0 is referring to the post-Op picture I had posted immediately after the surgery as part of an older post. You may be referring to the one I posted today as part of this post. Just to be clear. 

Yes, I was referencing the pictures in the other thread.

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I can't tell anyone how bummed this makes me.  Unfortunately privacy laws do not let me discuss things in detail. 

BUT, I'd gotten a concerning email from the patient about an hour ago while on a walk.  I responded with concern and an offer to see the patient this week and that I want both of us to be pleased...and then I get a notification from the forum that rather than discuss this in a private doctor patient manner working toward a good result, that I'm now the subject of scorn.

The patient can certainly publish my email response but I can't go into this further and find this to be a bummer for both of us.  As I can't really respond and expect the sharks to start to feed, I'll simply say that I want every patient to be satisfied and have a 24 year track record of working with patients, who remain cordial and not confrontational, to get results that we're both satisfied with.

Posting a one sided topic is not what I'd call remaining cordial.

 

Dr. Lindsey

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William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS

McLean, VA

 

Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

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You should be able to get another FUT of about 2500 to do another pass through the area that was already transplanted. You may be able to get away with 2000 over the previous area and then add 500 to lift the sides of the crown up slightly. Then I'd go for a 3rd session of 1500 FUE or BHT to fill in the crown. That would put you at 7000 grafts which is what an area your size will usually require to get good results.

 

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Al

Forum Moderator

(formerly BeHappy)

I am a forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here.

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