FUT Hasson Sep 19/20 | 6,094 grafts

[Twintwin]

Hey guys,

 

I thought this day would never happen but here we are, I did it!

Im 31 years old, started losing my age at the tender age of ~17. I immediately got on propecia, which considerably slowed my hair loss (I am currently a NW4 and would have been a NW6 by now without the meds). I have been lurking though forums since 2010 or so but I was a bit too young back then to do a HT.

Since 2012 or so, I have been using multiple methods to cover up my loss - more or less successfully - including good old combover, fibers and wearing hats a lot. Eventually, I got sick of these bandaid solutions and this summer I got serious about getting a HT. 
From my research 10 years ago, it seemed like Hasson and Wong were the best, especially for my case (diffuse hair loss that requires a mega session).

I wanted to do FUT as I wanted to preserve my donor zone for potential future touch ups. Dr Hasson agreed (yes, he still does FUTs occasionally). He estimated 4,500 - 5,000 would be necessary, over a 2 days period.

Here is a summary of my 2 days of procedure:

Day 1

I got to the clinic at 6:50. Signed a couple of paperworks. Chose my lunch and then met with dr Hasson. Lovely guy. He looked at my donor area, shaved my head (to my surprise) and told me 2 interesting things:

- I have great laxity, texture and density

- I have retrograde alopecia, meaning I am also losing my hair right above the ears and down in the neck.

based on these observations, he said I am the perfect candidate for a FUT because we can harvest the specific band of hair that are dense, and will never fall (basically a band between my crown and neck). Choosing FUE would have been sub par in my case (less grafts available). He then drew a hairline which I liked (not too aggressive).

So here are a couple of photos the morning of the day 1 surgery. 
the first part of day 1 went well, barely felt the anesthetic shots, and didn’t feel at all the strip removal. Then started the implantation. It was long, and I started to have a lot of neck pain. Also, at the end of the day my donor area started to be a bit painful and they re-injected shots of anesthetic. Those were really painful/uncomfortable.

We were done by 8:30 pm. 3,600 grafts were implanted in the front and mid scalp area. 

Back to the hotel. Donor area was a bit painful and couldn’t sleep more than 2-3 hours (I’m terrible at sleeping on my back)

attaching one picture post day 1 so you can see the new hairline

Day 2

Same routine as day 1. I felt the anesthetic shots a bit more that day. Got the same lunch as previous day.

2,480 grafts were implanted into the crown area.
by the end of the day I had some weird reaction to some local anesthetic shots.

started shaking heavily and feel super cold. Apparently normal if you don’t eat/drink enough sugar.

Day 2 ended around 5pm and now back at the hotel. Attached are some pictures post day 2. I will return to the clinic in the next 3 days for some shampoos.

i will upload new pictures this coming Sunday to show you the evolution.

Then week 2, month 1, month 2, month 3 etc

 

[Gatsby]

Thanks for sharing @Twintwin. I look forward to following your results!

[shiba1985]

I have never seen FUT done over two days. Do they take harvest a new strip every day? If so, is it done vertically (top of one another) or horizontal (one half and then the other half day 2)

 

[Twintwin]

Horizontally! 

[Tiger2050]

Looks really good. IMO any high norwood under the age of 30 should start with an FUT mega session at H&W for the best possible outcome.

[Fue3361]

That is a VERY nice looking strip scar.  You can tell they did a great job with it.

 

I think this will be an amazing result.

[Twintwin]

Fingers crossed! My only concern is that the bridge between the front and the crown is rather narrow and I fear the hair around that narrow corridor is continue falling, leaving me with a strange looking head of hair.

I might need a second transplant if/when that happens. 
I’m also wondering how much grafts I have left in my donor area. I am hoping somewhere around 3-4K. Thoughts?

[mister_25]

Following this because it looks like we have very similar problem areas (and have chosen the same surgeon). Work looks really good.

[Twintwin]

Day 2 post procedure update:

- I returned to the clinic twice for hair wash. They applied some ointment cream on the scar. Things seem under control. I completely trust the team. Going back tomorrow for another wash at the clinic.

- Huge swelling in the 2 days following the procedure. Now finally going away slowly. Starting to have some itchy sensation around the scar. I think it’s normal.

- Not much pain to be honest. Still taking some painkillers but less and less everyday. I still feel slightly dizzy sometimes but that’s also going away. 

- Talked to Dr Hasson earlier today. He mentioned that I was bleeding quite a bit during the procedure. If I wasn’t bleeding as much they would have implanted even more grafts (closer to 6,500 total ish). He said that my density will be 20% lower than what they usually do (they are known for high density transplants). The good news is that I still have roughly 4,000 grafts available for potential touch ups in the future (he would recommend FUE for touch ups)

Overall my plan is to wait a year to see the full result and if I need/want touch ups I would use the 4,000 grafts to 1) increase density in front 2) cover additional areas that received less grafts (mid scalp) 3) use ~ 300 grafts to implant in the scar so I can wear my hair very short if I want in the future.

Let me know your thoughts. I will be uploading new pics at week 1 post-op.

cheers

[Fue3361]

Wait, so if they used 400 less grafts than they had due To bleeding; what happened to those 400 grafts?  Thrown away?

[Twintwin]

No graft was “wasted”. But since it was a 2-day FUT procedure, they cut a slightly smaller strip the second day vs the first day (because I was bleeding so much the first day).

[Twintwin]

Little update on day 5-6 post procedure (since it was a 2-day procedure):

- scabs and crusts have formed over the last few days but should go away in the next 6-7 days. Seems to be healing quite nicely

- the scar is also healing nicely and hoping it will be minimally visible with hair growth soon

 

let me know what you think!

[Fue3361]

Man…. I’ve always really liked Dr. Hasson’s hairline designs.  Looking like a great transplant.  If the grafts grow in well, and the scar heals well, you’ll be one happy dude!

[Twintwin]

Quick question for you guys:

- On the below picture of the front there seems to be some scabs coming off looking almost like peeled skin and no hair underneath it. I had the procedure done on Monday and it is now Sunday. Is this a bad sign? (E.g., have I done something wrong with the after care?)

[Gatsby]

No. As long as you follow there post op instructions to the letter you are fine. That scar is going to be pencil thin. H+W are renowned for their FUT scars and I like how they generally go high and right around over the ears to get the most grafts in one hit! 👌

[Twintwin]

Thanks, Gatsby!

- On a different note, I am now 1 week post procedure and I am still feeling a bit weak and dizzy / light headed when I am standing or walking more than 5-10 minutes. Is this normal?

[Gatsby]

3 minutes ago, Twintwin said:

Thanks, Gatsby!

- On a different note, I am now 1 week post procedure and I am still feeling a bit weak and dizzy / light headed when I am standing or walking more than 5-10 minutes. Is this normal?

Are you on oral minoxidil? I would speak about this with H+W. All the best. 

[Twintwin]

On 9/27/2022 at 1:08 AM, Gatsby said:

Are you on oral minoxidil? I would speak about this with H+W. All the best. 

I am not. But the good news is that the dizziness is now completely gone. Will post my 2-weeks update shortly!

[Twintwin]

Today marks my 2-weeks post op so I thought I would post a quick update.

1) Suture removal happened today. Surprisingly 2 doctors at CVS type of clinic turned me down saying they aren’t comfortable removing staples on the head as they feared they would lose their license if something went wrong. I thought this was a very sad reflection of their confidence in their skills (I mean, even friends/family are supposed to be able to do it) and the current state of the healthcare system in the US. Anyway I ended finding a brave cityMD doctor to remove the staples. It wasn’t a pleasant experience as he struggles with one of them and it was slightly painful.

2) all scabs are now gone. Took some time and energy. I feel like a forced a little bit too much in the very last scab today and it is slightly red/bloody as you will see in the pictures. I would love to get your opinions on whether or not that might have dislodged some grafts?

3) Pictures as of 2 weeks post op

- top

- front

- crown

- scar

 

please let me know your thoughts on overall progress!

[Vann]

1 hour ago, Twintwin said:

Today marks my 2-weeks post op so I thought I would post a quick update.

1) Suture removal happened today. Surprisingly 2 doctors at CVS type of clinic turned me down saying they aren’t comfortable removing staples on the head as they feared they would lose their license if something went wrong. I thought this was a very sad reflection of their confidence in their skills (I mean, even friends/family are supposed to be able to do it) and the current state of the healthcare system in the US. Anyway I ended finding a brave cityMD doctor to remove the staples. It wasn’t a pleasant experience as he struggles with one of them and it was slightly painful.

2) all scabs are now gone. Took some time and energy. I feel like a forced a little bit too much in the very last scab today and it is slightly red/bloody as you will see in the pictures. I would love to get your opinions on whether or not that might have dislodged some grafts?

3) Pictures as of 2 weeks post op

- top

- front

- crown

- scar

 

please let me know your thoughts on overall progress!

Interesting case, do you happen to have the graft breakout? I havent fully read everything yet so sorry if you already posted it.

Also I think that bump looks like an ingrown hair? I think it may resemble a pimple popping since the top looks like its surfacing the skin from the inside out.

[Twintwin]

4 minutes ago, Vann said:

Interesting case, do you happen to have the graft breakout? I havent fully read everything yet so sorry if you already posted it.

Also I think that bump looks like an ingrown hair? I think it may resemble a pimple popping since the top looks like its surfacing the skin from the inside out.

I don’t think it’s an ingrown hair because it appeared right when I removed (with a bit of force, but no fingernail) the last scab. I also think it’s a bit early for ingrown hair.

 

Graft breakout:

1s: 2142

2s: 3841

3s/4s: 111

[Twintwin]

Week 3 update:

Not much to report on except for the fact that shedding has yet to happen, although I feel like I have seen slightly more hair coming off in the shower in the past 3-4 days. Is there a correlation between how early/late you shed and how early regrow is happening?

I also feel like I am not experiencing too much shock loss around the scar, which is slowly becoming more difficult to see through the slightly longer hair.

let me know you thoughts!

 

[Ryan Daniel]

Beautiful work.  All hairs moving in the correct direction. This is what alot of clinic lack, it's not always just about throwing in grafts and covering an area

Youll have a full head of hair after this no doubt.  No sure what will happen regarding that scar but guaranteed it will not be a problem at medium length hair

[Vann]

It just takes time to see what happens, for now just expect to lose hairs within a short time. It’s completely normal. 
 

you’ll probably look the same for the next 3-4 months, and usually start growing at the later end of 4 months (Not always the case but “usually” it’s around that time).

[Twintwin]

1 month update!

- shedding has started and is noticeable but I feel like I still have a good 50% of the transplanted hair. Do you guys know if lower amount of shedding affects the regrowth speed? (I.e., should I expect it to be slower?) 

- scar is becoming harder and harder to notice and is healing well. No stretching.

- no pain, no itching, no pimples. Very lucky in that department!

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Twintwin