Starting month 5 and need a pep talk 😩

[Palmerplanet]

I've actually gotten the Charlie from Sunny comment a few times before! I guess there are worse people to be compared to, lol.

JAC, thanks for the compliment on the beard! I'm still trying to dial in the length that I like best. 

 

As far as the transplant: Any ideas on what went wrong? I've been on Min/Fin, Stemoxydine, Ketoconazole shampoo and have recently added in Fluridil to the mix. Personally I feel like most of my gains have been from those adjuncts instead the HT itself. Being a doctor myself that does a lot of grafting (dentist, bone grafting/dental implants) I understand that things happen. But I have to believe something was awry with the insertion of the grafts...I can't say for sure, but that's my theory. 

I'd love to hear some recommendations for doctors that could fix this and improve my situation. It's very frustrating to have spent every day for the last 8 months following a strict protocol, only to get poor results. 

 

Thanks again everyone! 

Aaron 

[Britanium]

3 minutes ago, Palmerplanet said:

I've actually gotten the Charlie from Sunny comment a few times before! I guess there are worse people to be compared to, lol.

JAC, thanks for the compliment on the beard! I'm still trying to dial in the length that I like best. 

 

As far as the transplant: Any ideas on what went wrong? I've been on Min/Fin, Stemoxydine, Ketoconazole shampoo and have recently added in Fluridil to the mix. Personally I feel like most of my gains have been from those adjuncts instead the HT itself. Being a doctor myself that does a lot of grafting (dentist, bone grafting/dental implants) I understand that things happen. But I have to believe something was awry with the insertion of the grafts...I can't say for sure, but that's my theory. 

I'd love to hear some recommendations for doctors that could fix this and improve my situation. It's very frustrating to have spent every day for the last 8 months following a strict protocol, only to get poor results. 

 

Thanks again everyone! 

Aaron 

So many choices you could consider for your next procedure, are you willing to travel ? Opens up some really good Drs/Clinics. 
As I mentioned at the beginning of the thread, it wasn’t enough grafts implanted and/or the growth/yield hasn’t been ideal. 
The med regime will have definitely helped as you rightly pointed out. The Dr you chose wasn’t the greatest, it most certainly was nothing you did. 

[Britanium]

Dr Konior is someone we spoke about earlier in the thread, definitely worth considering! 

[Palmerplanet]

Thanks for the encouraging words! I will check out Dr. Konior. I don't mind traveling, I would just rather not travel out of the country. 

[rob7331]

Some other good options if you don't have the money for Dr. K (and who would blame you):

Demirsoy
Eugenix
HLC
Rahal
Nadimi (Dr. K's disciple)
Mader

And lots more on this forum. Take your time and read as much as you can, there's no rush! Prices vary extensively and like the above poster mentioned, international travel opens up a whole slew of options.

[Dillpickle123]

Dr Cooley, hasson and Wong, Nader, dr mwamba for fue if you want to do a great fut again dr bloxham will do a great job as well he’s in NY I believe 

[SeanT1]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:39 AM, Melvin- Moderator said:

I think it looks decent for 5 months. Btw you resemble Charlie from It's always sunny. My fav character. 

It was 8 months in that image

[John1991]

On 4/12/2022 at 8:55 PM, J.A.C said:

Dr Konior is someone we spoke about earlier in the thread, definitely worth considering! 

He's amazing, but very expensive even compared to other top docs.  I think what's most annoying about results like this is that the explanation often seems to be that planting grafts too densely will result in poor blood supply and therefore poor growth.  While it is obviously possible to pack too densely, we can all see with our own eyes that good doctors can pack hairlines densely enough to the point that they look excellent.  This transplant was almost entirely in his existing hairline too - there was no lowering - and the doctor still wasn't able to make his hairline dense enough to be satisfactory.

[Palmerplanet]

Turns out my wife isn't crazy about the idea of going to Chicago. So I'm looking for someone in NY. I'll try Dr. Bloxham. Thank you all. 

I think the best part about this thread is confirming it's not "all in my head". Dr. Lopresti and co keep saying to give it more time, my wife says "it looks so much better than before". But I know something's not right. 

Thank you all for your replies!

[Palmerplanet]

Just another update: 

It's been 10 months now. 

Last month I reached out to Dr. Bloxham in NYC and had a virtual consult. I sent him my photos and we discussed his thoughts on my surgery with Dr. Lopresti. He agreed that the density looked inadequate for completely repairing the hairline, and wanted to see me at around the 12-18 month-mark for an in-person evaluation.

 

To quote his email: "It looks like the hairline height, shape, etc, was good, but likely will need a dense pack pass to get the density up to where it needs to be. However, it really does deserve the full maturation before making a final assessment."

My wife took a picture of me from a farther away angle to show how the hairline looks in natural lighting. I tend to be overly critical and take photos with harsh lighting, which gets me bummed out. She insists that the hairline looks better from social distance.

I'll continue to update periodically here, including after my in-person consult with Dr. Bloxham (who was really responsive, knowledgable, well-spoken and kind FWIW)

 

Happy Summer everyone!

 

[John1991]

My honest assessment is that in order to see the lacking density you (and you may be correct) perceive is there, we'd need to see closer up.  From this distance it appears there are a few hairs that are more anterior than the rest, but that's actually quite natural.  I'm not saying more grafts couldn't give you a denser look, but simply that what I'm seeing at this point looks natural and appropriate.  As in the below picture - the front right portion (right to the viewer) is slightly more forward than the rest of the hairline - asymmetries are normal.  Random, one-off single hairs in the front exist (as shown below) in non transplanted hairlines without much loss.  That being said, I do think Bloxham is particularly good at dealing with cases such as this - where the hairline is in need of "beefing-up," but you have to ask yourself if the recovery time, cost, etc. is all worth it when your hairline already looks quite good.  

Edited June 11, 2022 by John1991

[NARMAK]

1 hour ago, Palmerplanet said:

Just another update: 

It's been 10 months now. 

Last month I reached out to Dr. Bloxham in NYC and had a virtual consult. I sent him my photos and we discussed his thoughts on my surgery with Dr. Lopresti. He agreed that the density looked inadequate for completely repairing the hairline, and wanted to see me at around the 12-18 month-mark for an in-person evaluation.

 

To quote his email: "It looks like the hairline height, shape, etc, was good, but likely will need a dense pack pass to get the density up to where it needs to be. However, it really does deserve the full maturation before making a final assessment."

My wife took a picture of me from a farther away angle to show how the hairline looks in natural lighting. I tend to be overly critical and take photos with harsh lighting, which gets me bummed out. She insists that the hairline looks better from social distance.

I'll continue to update periodically here, including after my in-person consult with Dr. Bloxham (who was really responsive, knowledgable, well-spoken and kind FWIW)

 

Happy Summer everyone!

 

The #1 thing to remember is that we're always the most hypercritical of ourselves compared to everybody else. 

Your wife is right. That picture at a typical social distance under normal lighting looks like a normal everyday person. Nothing sticks out as a negative at all. 

Yes, hair transplants aren't unfortunately perfect as the hair we had before MPB but, if you want a 2nd pass for density, Dr Bloxham is a great guy from what i've seen of him but they are usually one of the most insistent on almost always starting out on FUT. 

[John1991]

1 hour ago, NARMAK said:

The #1 thing to remember is that we're always the most hypercritical of ourselves compared to everybody else. 

Your wife is right. That picture at a typical social distance under normal lighting looks like a normal everyday person. Nothing sticks out as a negative at all. 

Yes, hair transplants aren't unfortunately perfect as the hair we had before MPB but, if you want a 2nd pass for density, Dr Bloxham is a great guy from what i've seen of him but they are usually one of the most insistent on almost always starting out on FUT. 

"Your wife is right. That picture at a typical social distance under normal lighting looks like a normal everyday person. Nothing sticks out as a negative at all. "  This.  Based on that photo, this looks like a guy with a good NW2 head of hair.  Could it be better?  Perhaps.  Should it be lower?  In my opinion, absolutely not.  Unless this picture just isn't accurately portraying something, I don't think another procedure will be worth his time.

[Palmerplanet]

2 hours ago, John1991 said:

"Your wife is right. That picture at a typical social distance under normal lighting looks like a normal everyday person. Nothing sticks out as a negative at all. "  This.  Based on that photo, this looks like a guy with a good NW2 head of hair.  Could it be better?  Perhaps.  Should it be lower?  In my opinion, absolutely not.  Unless this picture just isn't accurately portraying something, I don't think another procedure will be worth his time.

 

6 hours ago, John1991 said:

"Your wife is right. That picture at a typical social distance under normal lighting looks like a normal everyday person. Nothing sticks out as a negative at all. "  This.  Based on that photo, this looks like a guy with a good NW2 head of hair.  Could it be better?  Perhaps.  Should it be lower?  In my opinion, absolutely not.  Unless this picture just isn't accurately portraying something, I don't think another procedure will be worth his time.

Thanks for the response! I appreciate your thoughts. I’ve gone ahead and added my original pre-op photos taken at my consult and pre-surgery. 

My main concern is adding density to the mid frontal region. I’ll post a pic at my next month mark of an up-close wet, slicked back look. 
 

I think a lot of my gains have been from the Min/Fin/Stemox

[Palmerplanet]

A few updates: 

 

First of all, these are my 17 month follow-up photos from my initial surgery with Dr. Lopresti. The rest of my hair has gotten a lot thicker from the Min/Fin, but my hair transplant obviously didn't give me the greatest results. 

Taking the advice from this thread, I contacted Dr. Bloxham and have a second surgery scheduled for Monday! I'm nervous to start this whole journey over again, but excited too! 

Sorry about the weird photos, I'm really not great at this, lol

[mr_peanutbutter]

13 minutes ago, Palmerplanet said:

A few updates: 

 

First of all, these are my 17 month follow-up photos from my initial surgery with Dr. Lopresti. The rest of my hair has gotten a lot thicker from the Min/Fin, but my hair transplant obviously didn't give me the greatest results. 

Taking the advice from this thread, I contacted Dr. Bloxham and have a second surgery scheduled for Monday! I'm nervous to start this whole journey over again, but excited too! 

Sorry about the weird photos, I'm really not great at this, lol

best of luck and ask dr bloxham about verteporfin

 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Is Dr. Bloxham testing Verteporfin? 
 

OP your hair actually turned out pretty good. 

[mr_peanutbutter]

1 minute ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Is Dr. Bloxham testing Verteporfin? 
 

OP your hair actually turned out pretty good. 

i heard he wants to do a test in march, maybe op can confirm in 2 days

[Palmerplanet]

I'll ask him tomorrow at the surgery! Thank you everyone!

[Palmerplanet]

Hello again! 

Yesterday I had my surgery with Dr. Bloxham. I asked him about the Verteporfin - he said he was cautiously optimistic about it, and was starting a trial in March and April if he can get his hands on it. 

The surgery went very much like other's experiences on this forum - very professional, technician's were experienced, I was kept comfortable the entire time. Honestly, night and day from the Dr. Lopresti experience (Leonard Hair in Boston). 

Another thing that was interesting: 

After the strip was taken and harvested yesterday, there was much less grafts than expected (only 850, we expected 1200). Dr. Bloxham had to go back to the strip site and extend it further to get the additional grafts). Dr. Bloxham guessed that this also happened with my surgery at Dr. Lopresti's - which is why they never told me how many grafts, and also why my density was very low for my first surgery. 

I'm not upset or anything with Lopresti's office, but I will say the professionalism, skill level, communication and level of care was far superior at Dr. Bloxham's office. 

Here are the pictures from yesterday post-op. Dr. Bloxham said the graft placement looked 'phenomenal', which made me feel really hopeful

 

Also note that they did shave the frontal area - My prior hairline was approximately where the grafts are placed currently. They are not not attempting to lower my hairline

Edited February 21, 2023 by Palmerplanet

[John1991]

On 2/21/2023 at 9:36 AM, Palmerplanet said:

Hello again! 

Yesterday I had my surgery with Dr. Bloxham. I asked him about the Verteporfin - he said he was cautiously optimistic about it, and was starting a trial in March and April if he can get his hands on it. 

The surgery went very much like other's experiences on this forum - very professional, technician's were experienced, I was kept comfortable the entire time. Honestly, night and day from the Dr. Lopresti experience (Leonard Hair in Boston). 

Another thing that was interesting: 

After the strip was taken and harvested yesterday, there was much less grafts than expected (only 850, we expected 1200). Dr. Bloxham had to go back to the strip site and extend it further to get the additional grafts). Dr. Bloxham guessed that this also happened with my surgery at Dr. Lopresti's - which is why they never told me how many grafts, and also why my density was very low for my first surgery. 

I'm not upset or anything with Lopresti's office, but I will say the professionalism, skill level, communication and level of care was far superior at Dr. Bloxham's office. 

Here are the pictures from yesterday post-op. Dr. Bloxham said the graft placement looked 'phenomenal', which made me feel really hopeful

 

Also note that they did shave the frontal area - My prior hairline was approximately where the grafts are placed currently. They are not not attempting to lower my hairline

The density front-to-back as seen by the different color of scabbing looks very similar to mine and my surgery was good. I think you’ll be happy. 

[newuser198484]

On 2/21/2023 at 9:36 AM, Palmerplanet said:

Hello again! 

Yesterday I had my surgery with Dr. Bloxham. I asked him about the Verteporfin - he said he was cautiously optimistic about it, and was starting a trial in March and April if he can get his hands on it. 

The surgery went very much like other's experiences on this forum - very professional, technician's were experienced, I was kept comfortable the entire time. Honestly, night and day from the Dr. Lopresti experience (Leonard Hair in Boston). 

Another thing that was interesting: 

After the strip was taken and harvested yesterday, there was much less grafts than expected (only 850, we expected 1200). Dr. Bloxham had to go back to the strip site and extend it further to get the additional grafts). Dr. Bloxham guessed that this also happened with my surgery at Dr. Lopresti's - which is why they never told me how many grafts, and also why my density was very low for my first surgery. 

I'm not upset or anything with Lopresti's office, but I will say the professionalism, skill level, communication and level of care was far superior at Dr. Bloxham's office. 

Here are the pictures from yesterday post-op. Dr. Bloxham said the graft placement looked 'phenomenal', which made me feel really hopeful

 

Also note that they did shave the frontal area - My prior hairline was approximately where the grafts are placed currently. They are not not attempting to lower my hairline

Any updates?  I'd like to know more about your experience with both doctors..

[visitor3]

Hey, thank you for sharing this journey. I'd also like to hear your current updates. a dermatologist in greater Boston wrote Leonard's number and gary mendese and I'm doing research and hopefully just have one and done surgery. How many grafts did Dr B do and what were the costs? I would drive for a good experience. Hoping to find a more local version of Dr B though.