Dr Diep MHTA Clinic (8/19/2022) FUT session 3500 grafts

[hair2022]

Hi all, I’m getting my procedure done in 2 weeks on 8/19/2022 which has been a 1 year wait and the earliest surgery date for FUT 3500 after first emailing Dr Diep MHTA Clinic on 7/5/2021 and having my Zoom consultation with Dr Diep on 8/12/2021. I have to arrive at 5:30 am on 8/19/2022 and was told my procedure will take 12-16 hours so should be done between 5:30 to 9:30 pm. I will have my sutures removed on 9/2/2022 which is 2 weeks after my procedure.

Surgeon: Dr Diep MHTA Clinic in Los Gatos, California

Surgery Date: 8/19/2022

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Southeast Asian

Age: 38

Norwood: 3 to 4

Hair-type: Straight black that is coarse but thinning

Procedure: FUT 3500 (initial estimate), #### (final graft count - will update after surgery with breakdown of graft count for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair)

Cost: $5.28 per graft ($18,500 total paid)

Finasteride: Started February 2020 (once daily 1 mg)

Minoxidil: Started February 2020 (twice daily to vertex)

Location: San Francisco Bay Area (50 miles from Dr Diep MHTA Clinic)

Additional Services: I’m not opting for the A-Cell ($600) and can’t get Amino Fill ($600) because Dr Diep MHTA Clinic said it’s on back order

My reasons for choosing Dr Diep is that I watched his YouTube channel which has impressive results, and he is great at achieving density (high yield) and frontal hairlines that are natural looking by taking into account facial proportions. I’m concerned about how visible the FUT linear scar will be (hopefully minimal) since I wear a shorter hairstyle and get my haircut with a 1 guard fade to a 2 guard, but I want to maximize donor supply.

I also read many reviews on here and Reddit, and acknowledge that Dr Diep is fairly controversial with the criticism (eg, intentionally implanting in cornrows as opposed to randomly which can look like a baby doll, left side is better than right side by starting left and moving right, could improve interlocking, appropriate angles, using fine singles in the front, having a more uniform extraction pattern on the donor, natural appearance, and donor management, etc). My preference is not to travel in the US or internationally to see other doctors. I ultimately decided Dr Diep is the best fit for me.

I’m going to document my surgery and results with Dr Diep MHTA Clinic so this information can hopefully help others going through this process because this forum and all the posts have been a very helpful resource for me to learn about all of this. I also know it’s a big decision for many of us due to finances, physical recovery, etc.

I plan to ask the Dr Diep MHTA Clinic technicians to take photos of me before the procedure where they cut my hair, after they cut my hair and before implanting the grafts, and after the grafts are implanted so that I can later post the photos here.

Thanks to @Melvin- Moderator@Skyb@Cahustler@WS2020@jac@shucity@jimcraig152 for all of the time and effort in their very helpful comments and posts.

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by hair2022

[TrustTheProcess]

2 hours ago, hair2022 said:

I also read many reviews on here and Reddit, and acknowledge that Dr Diep is fairly controversial with the criticism (eg, intentionally implanting in cornrows as opposed to randomly which can look like a baby doll, left side is better than right side by starting left and moving right, could improve interlocking, appropriate angles, using fine singles in the front, having a more uniform extraction pattern on the donor, natural appearance, and donor management, etc). My preference is not to travel in the US or internationally to see other doctors. I ultimately decided Dr Diep is the best fit for me.

 

At least you know what you’re getting into. Why are you apprehensive to travel, so much that you’re risking irreversible damage?

[AlexMeister21]

Hope you have a good result. I think it may be favorable if you mention to him that you are documenting the surgery on this forum, also if you are concerned about the scar or do not prefer cornrow implementation. 

[FUT4000]

16 hours ago, hair2022 said:

Hi all, I’m getting my procedure done in 2 weeks on 8/19/2022 which has been a 1 year wait and the earliest surgery date for FUT 3500 after first emailing Dr Diep MHTA Clinic on 7/5/2021 and having my Zoom consultation with Dr Diep on 8/12/2021. I have to arrive at 5:30 am on 8/19/2022 and was told my procedure will take 12-16 hours so should be done between 5:30 to 9:30 pm. I will have my sutures removed on 9/2/2022 which is 2 weeks after my procedure.

Surgeon: Dr Diep MHTA Clinic in Los Gatos, California

Surgery Date: 8/19/2022

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Southeast Asian

Age: 38

Norwood: 3 to 4

Hair-type: Straight black that is coarse but thinning

Procedure: FUT 3500 (initial estimate), #### (final graft count - will update after surgery with breakdown of graft count for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair)

Cost: $5.28 per graft ($18,500 total paid)

Finasteride: Started February 2020 (once daily 1 mg)

Minoxidil: Started February 2020 (twice daily to vertex)

Location: San Francisco Bay Area (50 miles from Dr Diep MHTA Clinic)

Additional Services: I’m opting for the A-Cell ($600) but can’t get Amino Fill ($600) because Dr Diep MHTA Clinic said it’s on back order

My reasons for choosing Dr Diep is that I watched his YouTube channel which has impressive results, and he is great at achieving density (high yield) and frontal hairlines that are natural looking by taking into account facial proportions. I’m concerned about how visible the FUT linear scar will be (hopefully minimal) since I wear a shorter hairstyle and get my haircut with a 1 guard fade to a 2 guard, but I want to maximize donor supply.

I also read many reviews on here and Reddit, and acknowledge that Dr Diep is fairly controversial with the criticism (eg, intentionally implanting in cornrows as opposed to randomly which can look like a baby doll, left side is better than right side by starting left and moving right, could improve interlocking, appropriate angles, using fine singles in the front, having a more uniform extraction pattern on the donor, natural appearance, and donor management, etc). My preference is not to travel in the US or internationally to see other doctors. I ultimately decided Dr Diep is the best fit for me.

I’m going to document my surgery and results with Dr Diep MHTA Clinic so this information can hopefully help others going through this process because this forum and all the posts have been a very helpful resource for me to learn about all of this. I also know it’s a big decision for many of us due to finances, physical recovery, etc.

I plan to ask the Dr Diep MHTA Clinic technicians to take photos of me before the procedure where they cut my hair, after they cut my hair and before implanting the grafts, and after the grafts are implanted so that I can later post the photos here.

Thanks to @Melvin- Moderator@Skyb@Cahustler@WS2020@jac@shucity@jimcraig152 for all of the time and effort in their very helpful comments and posts.

 

i got my procedure done by him, pretty happy with the results 9 months out. He didnt implant in rows for me, not sure why he did that for a while on some people? Just express to him what you are looking for. 

[follically challenged]

7 minutes ago, FUT4000 said:

i got my procedure done by him, pretty happy with the results 9 months out. He didnt implant in rows for me, not sure why he did that for a while on some people? Just express to him what you are looking for. 

Nice. Do you have a thread we can view to see the work?

[FUT4000]

2 hours ago, follically challenged said:

Nice. Do you have a thread we can view to see the work?

will be making a post at 1 year mark

[hair2022]

Appreciate the comments but my point is I reviewed both positive and negative feedback for Dr Diep, and made a judgment call that his overall great results would make him the best option for me.

[Z--]

Look, I think if you decide Diep is best in your case that’s one thing (yes, he is very controversial and for good reason…), but I don’t understand why you’d limit yourself on location, especially since in the US the flights might be short and given the importance of the surgery (e.g. cost, limited donor, your long-term appearance). If you’re looking at the Bay, Diep might indeed be the best; it’s still seems like an arbitrary limitation. 

Otherwise, wishing you the best. As much as I’m not a fan of the implant method/style, there’s no denying he’s got some stunning results. Hoping yours is great man. Keep us updated — it may help someone down the line!

[WS2020]

Good luck to your surgery. As long as you set a realistic expectation that things will not be perfect, you should be happy with the end results. Pro-tip: Ask the technician to shave off all the hair.

Edited August 10, 2022 by WS2020

[mister_25]

I would advise that you document your journey with Diep here and also alert him that you will be recording and more. I've noticed that clinics will put their 100% when they are being documented on by video/forum updates. 

Hair mills like HOI get celebrities and they give them the best technician teams. Not insinuating that Diep is a hair mill just saying that when they are being monitored by video or their results are going to be in the public eye like a celebrity they will put their A game in their work.

[A Fue Good Men]

I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and echo what many have said. You clearly pointed out some controversial topics that hold weight. Not only that but you’re also spending top $ for this procedure. Yet you’re going to take a gamble?

 

This is coming from someone who got screwed over by another doctor. Trust me, you don’t want to be in a scenario where you’re stuck with irreversible damage or become a repair patient.

[mister_25]

I will also add to this once again and say that you are a Norwood 4. As a Norwood 4 its possible to get a very good result, something that would look good even in the worst conditions. However if you are getting a large procedure 3500 Grafts that is almost half of a decent donor area. You are also getting a FUT procedure which can scar significantly worse and by a doctor who recently has had pretty poor FUT donor management.

I will also say that I do remember vaguely that Diep has fake accounts made under the guise of happy patients saying something on the lines of "yeah go get a procedure at Diep, changed my life for the better" copy-pasted on repeat.

Also you do not want to get this done wrong, cause your crown might be showing signs of miniaturization and moving to a higher Norwood. Could just be the lighting but who knows.

There are plenty of other US doctors that are significantly better than Diep. Konior, Panine, Cooley, Gabel, Bloxham, Nadimi etc. 

On a another negative thread on Diep recently, there was even a case of having freshly new technicians performing surgery on a patient. There was even a comment saying that the patients were washing the hair and placed the patients necks incorrectly cutting of blood-flow and making the patient pass out. 

If I were you, I would cancel and say goodbye to whatever deposit I placed. And search elsewhere.

[shadowcast]

4 hours ago, WS2020 said:

Pro-tip: Ask the technician to shave off all the hair.

Holy crap.

[hair2022]

Thanks again for all the comments and helpful feedback. I followed up with Dr Diep MHTA Clinic earlier in the week and then had a 1 week pre-procedure call with Dr Diep yesterday where he and I talked about some of my most important goals such as a frontal hairline that is natural looking which includes single grafts in the front, density (high yield), no cornow implementation, and an FUT linear scar that is as minimally visible as possible because I wear a shorter hairstyle. I also told Dr Diep that I'm documenting my surgery, experience, and results on this forum and Reddit so I can use this information to hopefully help others going through this process.

Dr Diep seemed to me to be genuinely empathetic to my concerns and goals that I told him during the call, said he is going to do the best he can for me with my procedure, and was friendly and positive. He also said it would be best for us to discuss again my concerns and goals on the morning of the procedure.

Edited August 14, 2022 by hair2022

[Skyb]

Dr Diep is the real deal and a very nice guy. I had two fut procedure by him the First was 5k grafts which completely changed my life. Two years later I went for a second pass just because I was having the “Hair greed” lol and did another fut 3k grafts.  My biggest fear was the scar and that it would look unnatural. The scar is barely visible and I get compliments on my hair all the time. 

You are in great hands with the clinic. Good luck with your procedure!

Edited August 14, 2022 by Skyb

[Skyb]

Good luck on your surgery tomorrow! Make sure you set your alarm clock 😂

[hair2022]

I appreciate everybody's insight and want to give back to this community so I'm making this post after I had my surgery earlier today. My main goal is resting and recovering as best possible to maximize the results but will try to post regularly throughout the week with my progress so it can help others.

Below are some of my initial notes.

4:30 am (updated arrival time instead of 5:30 am): arrived, signed paperwork, and changed into medical gown
5 am: met with Dr Diep to discuss my main goals and concerns, Dr Diep drew my frontal hairline, and then Dr Diep gave me a concoction of 3 pills that I took
5:30 am: started surgery (I don't initially remember much after this because I was asleep most of the time from the medication)
12:45 pm: lunch
1:15 pm: resumed implanting grafts
4 pm: finished procedure and cleaned up
4:15 pm: discharged

My procedure took about 10 hours (FUT 3100 grafts estimated) and I was initially told it would take 12-16 hours (FUT 3500 grafts estimated). I was the only procedure for today and understand that Dr Diep MHTA Clinic regularly does 2 procedures per day. I can't remember the exact number of MHTA Clinic technicians that were there today or working on my procedure but it seemed to be about 6-9 total technicians which I was told by MHTA Clinic is about the total number of technicians they have staffed on their team. Other than the 2 technicians working on me (one for the left side, one for the right side), it seemed like that I may have benefited from having more technicians than normal work on my case in terms of extracting the hair follicles from the strip. My total procedure time was likely less by about 1 hour because about 400 less hair grafts (10%) were harvested and implanted (3100) than initially estimated and planned (3500). Dr Diep MHTA Clinic will refund me the difference from the $18,500 initially paid which likely will be a final total of about $16,400.

Dr Diep said he would provide me with a final graft count the week after my procedure and I will update this with a breakdown of the graft count for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair. Dr Diep said my scalp is on the tight side as opposed to loose which is average so he cut less for safety reasons and because one of my main goals was a minimal FUT linear scar. Dr Diep also said the number of grafts that are able to be harvested are based on the density with how many hair follices per square inch.

I was asleep for the first half of the surgery due to the medication and was awake at random times during the second half of the surgery. For the times I was awake, I remember Dr Diep coming into the room about 2-3 times to check on the implanating work the techncians were doing on me and make helpful recommendations. Also, the technicians working on me seemed to be extermely meticolous about their implanting, and were very nice and caring.

When I met with Dr Diep before starting my surgery, I requested to shave my head based on information from past patients but Dr Diep said I didn't need to if I didn't want to and it may make sense not to based on my hairstyle and procedure I was getting for a frontal hairline and filling in to the middle section so I chose not to shave my head.

Edited August 21, 2022 by hair2022

[Skyb]

loving what I see! Dense pack in the frontal band of the hair line and filling in the rest. Rest up my man! Make sure you use a donut pillow and sleep upright. I was so afraid of bumping my head for the first 3 days lol. You’re results are going to be incredible!

[John1991]

Looks quite dense. I’d guess this is 4000 grafts. I’d be interested to hear how many it ended up being. If it grows well this should provide a substantial improvement. 

[WS2020]

Any update?

[Gatsby]

Following.

[hair2022]

Update as of 2 months or so. Just shedding and waiting.

Photos are for:

• 10 days (front, back)
• 1 month (front)
• 2 month (front, back, sides)

[Skyb]

Looks like everything is going as planned in the healing process. Once you get passed the first 3 months it’s all up hill from here on out! Dr Diep delivers on the density so I can’t wait to see your progress month to month 

[AlexMeister21]

@hair2022 How's this looking? You're coming to your 5-month mark, so I'm assuming you've seen some growth by now.

[Steeeve]

I would also love to see an update!