Dr Rafael De Freitas | 3027 Grafts | 12th and 13th December 2022

[ready4Hair]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:17 AM, drawdownfx said:

I had to dig deep into the Spanish forum to find a couple of temple cases. All of them looked natural so I took the leap of faith, especially since he does the implantation. He was also confident in the consultation that he could improve them so that helped. Hopefully they turn out good 🤞

Hey, hope all is coming along well.

I just got a 3k recommendation from Dr. Freitas, but he didn't mention temples (front, receding, midscalp) with crown later.

Do you mind pointing me to the spanish forums so I can dig into his temple results too? It is key/non-negotiable for me.

[ManCyprus]

Your choice with dr. Freitas is excellent.

I wish you good luck, and please keep us updated.

[Mars11]

Thank you for your kind words in my thread.

Your hair has improved a lot until the 3rd month. Could you post the update after 4 months? I would be really interested to know what stage you are at. All the best to you!

[andrus]

I too am interested to see your progress so far...

[duckling]

any update @drawdownfx ?

[Met]

On 12/15/2022 at 10:32 PM, drawdownfx said:

Thanks for your comment bro.
 

you think so? I felt like he was a bit conservative with the temples. If you have a look at the close up he pretty much chose to densify what I already had. I was hoping he could extend it (yellow line) but I wanted to leave it to him to decide and maybe this is better for me in the long term!

Couldn't he have done your yellow line? if you really wanted it??

[Melvin- Admin]

Would love to see an update.

[Big Rome]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Would love to see an update.

+ 1

[drawdownfx]

Month 5 Update

Apologise for the late one! Here’s month 5.

I’ve seen huge improvements the past 2 months, I no longer have a receding hairline and don’t have to worry about the wind blowing my face. Dr Freitas has done a tremendous job just as I had visioned.

The lagging points now is the density in certain areas, but I am seeing improvements every week so I am not too stressed about it. I am quite surprised with how laid back I’ve been throughout, compliments from friends and family definitely helps with that. My Aunty was telling me How she thought I’d be bald by now since she hasn’t seen me for a long time but she was surprised to see how good my hair was looking (she doesn’t know I had a transplant). 
 

So all in all with 10/10 being perfect with full density I think I am at a 7/10 atm at the end of month 5.

I’ve taken several pictures for you to enjoy in different lighting. Let me know what you guys think and any feedback is welcome!

 

[Big Rome]

38 minutes ago, drawdownfx said:

Month 5 Update

Apologise for the late one! Here’s month 5.

I’ve seen huge improvements the past 2 months, I no longer have a receding hairline and don’t have to worry about the wind blowing my face. Dr Freitas has done a tremendous job just as I had visioned.

The lagging points now is the density in certain areas, but I am seeing improvements every week so I am not too stressed about it. I am quite surprised with how laid back I’ve been throughout, compliments from friends and family definitely helps with that. My Aunty was telling me How she thought I’d be bald by now since she hasn’t seen me for a long time but she was surprised to see how good my hair was looking (she doesn’t know I had a transplant). 
 

So all in all with 10/10 being perfect with full density I think I am at a 7/10 atm at the end of month 5.

I’ve taken several pictures for you to enjoy in different lighting. Let me know what you guys think and any feedback is welcome!

 

coming in nicely now! 👏🏻

[TheGreatPretender]

1 hour ago, drawdownfx said:

Month 5 Update

Apologise for the late one! Here’s month 5.

I’ve seen huge improvements the past 2 months, I no longer have a receding hairline and don’t have to worry about the wind blowing my face. Dr Freitas has done a tremendous job just as I had visioned.

The lagging points now is the density in certain areas, but I am seeing improvements every week so I am not too stressed about it. I am quite surprised with how laid back I’ve been throughout, compliments from friends and family definitely helps with that. My Aunty was telling me How she thought I’d be bald by now since she hasn’t seen me for a long time but she was surprised to see how good my hair was looking (she doesn’t know I had a transplant). 
 

So all in all with 10/10 being perfect with full density I think I am at a 7/10 atm at the end of month 5.

I’ve taken several pictures for you to enjoy in different lighting. Let me know what you guys think and any feedback is welcome!

 

Dude, thats an insane amount of growth for 5 months. I think you are getting there little by little.

[jay80]

Looking great for 5 months mate

[ready4Hair]

2 hours ago, jay80 said:

Looking great for 5 months mate

Locking great for 18 yo

[Melvin- Admin]

Incredible for 18 months. I guess you forget about hair loss and this forum once your hair looks like this, totally normal. 

[ready4Hair]

Dr. Freitas has had a couple of knock it out of the ballpark results on here recently.

 

[Rossybop]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:33 PM, drawdownfx said:

Hello guys I am having my surgery tomorrow with Dr Freitas and it is only right to give back to this forum by Sharing my journey for anyone else in a similar situation. I was initially scheduled to go to a turkey hair mill clinic and I had my flights booked for April no joke!! Upon watching some videos on YouTube and coming across this forum I immediately cancelled my hair transplant and instead turned it into a holiday as I couldn’t get a refund for my tickets (lovely place and highly recommend visiting turkey). This is all to say if I didn’t find this forum I may not have been lucky with my scalp. I also want to emphasise not to blindly pick a doctor on the recommended forum list, you need to do your research and pick the one that has worked on patients similar to you.

About me

I am 27 years old and a NW3 with a little loss at vertex too. I started finasteride 2 years ago at 0.5mg everyday which I later turned to full 1mg after a year and a half for about a couple months before switching over to Dutasteride 5x a week. I also use topical minoxidil once a day, I know Dr Freitas prescribed oral minoxidil so I am open to this if the same is prescribed to me. 
 

Brief History

I started losing my juvenile hairline (loss at temples) at 13 and still remember the sad look on my face at the barbers lol. Since then I’ve lost more ground on my temples till now at a slow pace. I also started thinning at my crown a couple years ago. This is the whole reason I started finasteride couple years ago. I actually started finasteride for about a week at 19 but stopped due to the horror stories (I wish I had not because I didn’t get any side effects at 25 when I did start).

 

Reasons I went with Dr Freitas

1. Great portfolio

2. Great preservation of donor area

3. Love the hairline work

4. Homogeneous extraction

Consultation process

I initially messaged in May (I think) but heard nothing back for 3 months. I messaged again and finally got a response with an apology and a quote for 2800 grafts. After my research here and also Spanish forums I decided to go ahead with Dr Freitas but arranged a face to face which they gave me for September. He went through the process with me thoroughly in person though I do wish he was a little bit more thorough with my hair by using microscope etc. I expressed my desire to do temple work to which he agreed after looking at my hair and changed his quote to 3000 grafts and also said it will probably end up being a bit more but if it does I won’t be charged extra for it. 
 

The Dates

I was initially scheduled to have the surgery in feb 2023 which was pushed to Dec 2022 after cancellation. I was pushing for cancellations as my sisters wedding is in June 2023 and I wanted to have some growth by then! 
 

P.S. I understand hair transplant is not an exact science and even the best doctors can have mediocre cases. I have done my due diligence in my research process and hopefully have done everything from my side to achieve a good result. 🤞 

Final Thoughts (I AM NERVOUS ARGHH)
I am currently in my hotel room a day before and although I am excited I am also nervous as hell! I was a bit bummed out that Dr Freitas didn’t speak English so I am hoping that I am able to translate my thoughts across well tomorrow 🤞

I may have missed some details so if you have any questions feel free to ask. Please also let me know what are some good questions to ask before the surgery

I am attaching some photos and videos below of my current situation.

Did you notice any difference between finasteride and dutasteride?

[andrus]

Btw, can you share how you've been following his post-operative instructions? Ie. comment on the following:

- Application of Clobetasol Propionate

- 5mg of oral minoxidil

- 1mg finasteride daily, alternating with 0.5mg dutasterida every 3 days

- Daily intake of complidermol

Thanks!

[Met]

On 5/29/2023 at 3:13 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Incredible for 18 months. I guess you forget about hair loss and this forum once your hair looks like this, totally normal. 

you mean weeks?

[GioLam]

Amazing results. Congrats bro 

[HHH]

3 months from now it will be 10/10 if it looks this good already pal.

[Observatory40]

6 hours ago, HHH said:

3 months from now it will be 10/10 if it looks this good already pal.

Agreed. Looking on point! I think this will turn out to be a great result.

[drawdownfx]

 

On 5/28/2023 at 2:35 PM, TheGreatPretender said:

Dude, thats an insane amount of growth for 5 months. I think you are getting there little by little.

Thanks man. I know you are nervous about yours but you are in good hands Goodluck!!! 

 

On 5/29/2023 at 4:23 PM, Rossybop said:

Did you notice any difference between finasteride and dutasteride?

Shedding has gone very minimal, apart from that not much. No side effects thankfully

 

On 5/30/2023 at 12:30 PM, andrus said:

Btw, can you share how you've been following his post-operative instructions? Ie. comment on the following:

- Application of Clobetasol Propionate

- 5mg of oral minoxidil

- 1mg finasteride daily, alternating with 0.5mg dutasterida every 3 days

- Daily intake of complidermol

Thanks!

5mg oral minoxidil everyday 

0.5mg dutasteride 5x a week (I chose to do this).

1-3x nizoral a week.

no complidermol but I have biotin , vitamin d and ashwagandha as supplements.

 

 

[drawdownfx]

Thank you everyone for the comments. Keep them coming I like the attention

Month 6.5 update coming hopefully tonight or tomorrow. I am extremely happy, Dr Freitas has changed my life. 

[TheGreatPretender]

Just now, drawdownfx said:

Thanks man. I know you are nervous about yours but you are in good hands Goodluck!!! 

Yep, lots of sleepless nights and lot much more to come. But it has to be worth it, after all we have been through, everything we've done. It can't be for nothing!

Thanks for the heads up bud. We got this.  

[Kraki77]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:32 PM, drawdownfx said:

Thank you everyone for the comments. Keep them coming I like the attention

Month 6.5 update coming hopefully tonight or tomorrow. I am extremely happy, Dr Freitas has changed my life. 

I would love to see an update, it seems to me that De Freitas rarely misses, that's one of the reasons why I've also chosen to go with him. And my surgery is scheduled exactly 1 year after yours which makes your case especially intriguing to me. I know that you don't care too much about this forum anymore but you can still make impact with your testimony for others that are waiting for the operation. 

Can you elaborate further about positive changes in your life? Do you think that something could have been done differently during the process or everything went smoothly? 

Interesting to hear that you've left Valencia as soon as possible, what was the feeling on the plane because of the pressure and your still swollen head? 

Would like to hear if doctor checked your donor area by microscope on the day of the surgery and if estimate of graft availability in your donor area was made. How much time did you spend on hairline design before the surgery, is it something that lasts 30 minutes or we are talking about brief discussions where doctor quickly chooses his ideal concept. Would like to hear this tiny important pieces of information, if the distance of the glabella from the hairline is taken into account, for example, was he speaking about frontalis muscle and rule of thirds.

Thank you in advance.