1st FUE results - Questioning about the results

[Berba11]

Hi @Sbiza,

John has given some rock solid advice there. I agree it doesn't look like 5K grafts, and the hairline looks a little pluggy BUT... Four pieces of potentially good news:

1. Regardless of the result so far, there is a positive cosmetic difference now with the framing of the face

2. If 5K grafts haven't been extracted, hopefully your donor isn't too depleted

3. Looks like you've got a decent beard so you'll have some extra resources from which to draw

4. You've done the right thing by seeking additional opinions

If I were you I'd wouldn't be looking much beyond Eugenix. Yes, restrictions currently make it hard (I'm myself waiting for India to be removed from the UK's red list - so I fully understand!), but it's vitally important not to rush this - your next move is critical. Take your time!

How long did you surgery take from start to finish? We should be able to roughly calculate the grafts per second transplant speed and deduce how likely it was that 5K was actually transplanted.

[Sbiza]

 

4 hours ago, JohnAC71 said:

Your welcome 🙏 just take your time in making your next step. Research and consult as much as possible. You still have at least another 5 months for your current transplant to fully mature. 

I'm definitely going to take my time for the 2nd one, there's no doubt about it, thanks again! 🤝

3 hours ago, Egy said:

If @Sbiza asked about Serkan, I think his budget is not very high, am I wrong?

If the results will be good, I don't mind, however, I don't have a 10k$ budget for the 2nd one.

3 hours ago, Berba11 said:

Hi @Sbiza,

John has given some rock solid advice there. I agree it doesn't look like 5K grafts, and the hairline looks a little pluggy BUT... Four pieces of potentially good news:

1. Regardless of the result so far, there is a positive cosmetic difference now with the framing of the face

2. If 5K grafts haven't been extracted, hopefully your donor isn't too depleted

3. Looks like you've got a decent beard so you'll have some extra resources from which to draw

4. You've done the right thing by seeking additional opinions

If I were you I'd wouldn't be looking much beyond Eugenix. Yes, restrictions currently make it hard (I'm myself waiting for India to be removed from the UK's red list - so I fully understand!), but it's vitally important not to rush this - your next move is critical. Take your time!

How long did you surgery take from start to finish? We should be able to roughly calculate the grafts per second transplant speed and deduce how likely it was that 5K was actually transplanted.

Thank you for pointing the positive about my situation, I appreciate it!

India is on the red list for me too, so it's impossible to travel even if I'm fully vaccinated, so for now it's not an option.

My surgery was roughly around 8 hours including a break of 30 minutes ish, the grafting was longer than the extraction of course. so we're talking about 7.5 hours including the anesthesia and everything.

[Berba11]

9 hours ago, Sbiza said:

 

I'm definitely going to take my time for the 2nd one, there's no doubt about it, thanks again! 🤝

If the results will be good, I don't mind, however, I don't have a 10k$ budget for the 2nd one.

Thank you for pointing the positive about my situation, I appreciate it!

India is on the red list for me too, so it's impossible to travel even if I'm fully vaccinated, so for now it's not an option.

My surgery was roughly around 8 hours including a break of 30 minutes ish, the grafting was longer than the extraction of course. so we're talking about 7.5 hours including the anesthesia and everything.

So by my maths, that's an average of one graft fully transplanted (anaesthetic, extraction, sorting, incisions and implantation) every 4.8 seconds. 

5 seconds per graft seems to me to be very, very fast. I don't want to say it's impossible (it may or may not be), but at best it seems very rushed. More probably it wasn't really 5K grafts at all. You'd need to speak with a few of the endorsed surgeons on this site about the speed per graft and see what they think is possible and likely. I'm not a surgeon, so I can't say for sure, but I'd well imagine that any top doctor will say that 5 seconds per fully transplanted graft is very, very fast - maybe even impossible. Again, this may well work in your favour; if 5K grafts weren't extracted, then luckily you'll have more left to play with for HT #2. If 5K grafts were indeed extracted, that's more concerning, because it doesn't look as though 5K grafts have been implanted, so something has happened to those grafts.

[Britanium]

Way to fast a surgery even for automated FUE. I would say around 3500 grafts most likely. 

[Britanium]

Be interesting to hear @DrTBarghouthiopnion on the above. 

[Sbiza]

5 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

So by my maths, that's an average of one graft fully transplanted (anaesthetic, extraction, sorting, incisions and implantation) every 4.8 seconds. 

5 seconds per graft seems to me to be very, very fast. I don't want to say it's impossible (it may or may not be), but at best it seems very rushed. More probably it wasn't really 5K grafts at all. You'd need to speak with a few of the endorsed surgeons on this site about the speed per graft and see what they think is possible and likely. I'm not a surgeon, so I can't say for sure, but I'd well imagine that any top doctor will say that 5 seconds per fully transplanted graft is very, very fast - maybe even impossible. Again, this may well work in your favour; if 5K grafts weren't extracted, then luckily you'll have more left to play with for HT #2. If 5K grafts were indeed extracted, that's more concerning, because it doesn't look as though 5K grafts have been implanted, so something has happened to those grafts.

 

2 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Way to fast a surgery even for automated FUE. I would say around 3500 grafts most likely. 

Thanks! that's reassuring. I had pimples during month 1 and 2, do you think that can kill the grafts? I was worried about it and I took care of it with antibiotics, they told me that it's one of the common side effects and I don't have to worry about this side effects.

For some reasons, I had them even if I followed the instructions post-op and I have good hygiene in general. I'm worried that when they implemented the grafts, it was too deep so that caused the pimples as well.

[Britanium]

Just now, Sbiza said:

 

Thanks! that's reassuring. I had pimples during month 1 and 2, do you think that can kill the grafts? I was worried about it and I took care of it with antibiotics, they told me that it's one of the common side effects and I don't have to worry about this side effects.

For some reasons, I had them even if I followed the instructions post-op and I have good hygiene in general. I'm worried that when they implemented the grafts, it was too deep so that caused the pimples as well.

Absolutely normal and very common to get pimples. No you won’t have damaged any grafts. 

[Britanium]

Looking at your day 15 pics it looks very clean and was healing perfectly fine. No matter how well we follow post op instructions we cannot prevent pimples from occurring. 

[DrTBarghouthi]

7 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Be interesting to hear @DrTBarghouthiopnion on the above. 

Thank you for the mention. I agree that it doesn’t look like 5000 grafts- which I hope is the case as this means there is some donor left. 5000 in 7 or 8 hours is quite difficult. Might be possible but certainly will  be quite rushed and hasty and that will affect quality. Also 5000 grafts will mean grafts staying out of body for longer hours and that can affect overall survival too. I personally cap our day at 2000-2500 grafts maximum. 

[Sbiza]

5 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Absolutely normal and very common to get pimples. No you won’t have damaged any grafts. 

 

Just now, JohnAC71 said:

Looking at your day 15 pics it looks very clean and was healing perfectly fine. No matter how well we follow post op instructions we cannot prevent pimples from occurring. 

ok good, I was really worried about it! I didn't had that much pimple in my life even while I was a teen! lol

I think that they simply inflated the number (I hope). 

1 minute ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

Thank you for the mention. I agree that it doesn’t look like 5000 grafts- which I hope is the case as this means there is some donor left. 5000 in 7 or 8 hours is quite difficult. Might be possible but certainly will  be quite rushed and hasty and that will affect quality. Also 5000 grafts will mean grafts staying out of body for longer hours and that can affect overall survival too. I personally cap our day at 2000-2500 grafts maximum. 

 Thank you Doctor, I really appreciate your opinion!

[Britanium]

1 minute ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

Thank you for the mention. I agree that it doesn’t look like 5000 grafts- which I hope is the case as this means there is some donor left. 5000 in 7 or 8 hours is quite difficult. Might be possible but certainly will  be quite rushed and hasty and that will affect quality. Also 5000 grafts will mean grafts staying out of body for longer hours and that can affect overall survival too. I personally cap our day at 2000-2500 grafts maximum. 

Thanks for responding to the tag 🙏 would you be able to approximate how many grafts could be there ? I know it’s very difficult to tell, just curious 🤨 

[DrTBarghouthi]

Just now, Sbiza said:

 

ok good, I was really worried about it! I didn't had that much pimple in my life even while I was a teen! lol

I think that they simply inflated the number (I hope). 

 Thank you Doctor, I really appreciate your opinion!

Pimples can occur after a transplant in both donor and recipient areas. Usually Sporadic  and non painful. 

[DrTBarghouthi]

1 minute ago, JohnAC71 said:

Thanks for responding to the tag 🙏 would you be able to approximate how many grafts could be there ? I know it’s very difficult to tell, just curious 🤨 

Probably around 3000 imo. 

[Britanium]

Just now, DrTBarghouthi said:

Probably around 3000 imo. 

Yup I was being generous in 3500 max. Most likely anywhere between 3 -3.5 at best. 

[Sbiza]

1 minute ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

Pimples can occur after a transplant in both donor and recipient areas. Usually Sporadic  and non painful. 

 

1 minute ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

Probably around 3000 imo. 

 

1 minute ago, JohnAC71 said:

Yup I was being generous in 3500 max. Most likely anywhere between 3 -3.5 at best. 

I really feel better.. thank you so much for helping me! I started REALLY to be worried as my 7 months mark is next week, it affected my sleeping cycle and I was anxious, especially that I was living (and still) having a hard time with my hair loss.

I feel kind of released, but still not happy that they lied and set my expectations too high.