Anticipation

[Wantitback]

Hello,

Today I have reached the 4 week mark since my Ht with Dr. Epstein.(Miami)

Scabs came off in 8 days, never got red, never swelled up.

Just slightly tender in spots for 3 weeks not bad at all.

Scar was sore but healing OK, the area never got numb.

A little over 2100 grafts in the frontal area, about 1/3 they way back from the front. He was looking to build density.

Anyone get the front done like this?

 

The anticipation is going to drive me crazy.

How will it look?

 

Thanks

[Wantitback]

Hello,

Today I have reached the 4 week mark since my Ht with Dr. Epstein.(Miami)

Scabs came off in 8 days, never got red, never swelled up.

Just slightly tender in spots for 3 weeks not bad at all.

Scar was sore but healing OK, the area never got numb.

A little over 2100 grafts in the frontal area, about 1/3 they way back from the front. He was looking to build density.

Anyone get the front done like this?

 

The anticipation is going to drive me crazy.

How will it look?

 

Thanks

[Phillyhair]

I am 5 days post op with Epstein, and my pictures are under the following link.

How was it with you past tthe 8 days, did it look like you had something done to the frintal area?

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=5696015661&f=2566060861&m=241102768&r=241102768#241102768Check out my pictures

[Hair Apparent]

A little over 2100 grafts in the frontal area, about 1/3 they way back from the front. He was looking to build density.

 

Anyone get the front done like this?

This is the usual recommendation by HT surgeons for graft placement, especially if the patient is in one of the higher Norwood classifications.

 

The goal is to "frame the face" and break up that expanse of skin. The expectation is, if the patient so desires and if there is sufficient donor hair remaining, that a follow-on HT will address the crown.

 

I was a Norwood VI and that was Dr. Cooley's initial recommendation. I had decided, though, that I couldn't live with a bald spot in the back, and opted to disburse the 2,500+ grafts of my first HT over my entire scalp.

 

There are some trade-offs with this approach, of course. My frontal hairline was designed with more temporal recession than usual, and there will be thinner density overall. I understood this. I'm pushing 50, and at that age, a thinner look is perfectly natural looking and I saw that more tolerable than a denser front and a stark bald spot in back. My follow-on HT will then address overall density, rather than a specific location.

 

That said though, there is nothing "wrong" about filling in the front with the first HT and filling in the back later. It's a matter of personal preference and age appropriateness. When Dr. Cooley knew that I understood the trade-offs involved, he was completely on board with my wishes and did a masterful job. Any good HT surgeon will work with the patient's desires, as long as the patient is realistic about what can be achieved.

 

Most patients go the route you did, though, and that is perfectly fine.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>The anticipation is going to drive me crazy.

 

How will it look?

Ain't that the truth? The fact is, nobody can know for sure how his HT will look at the end, since each patient is different, and there are so many variables--quality and amount of the donor hair, the skill of the surgeon, vascularity of the scalp, and how well the patient heals.

 

I do think that reasonable approximations can be foretold. Here again, there must be a keen level of understanding between patient and surgeon. Most HT surgeons will, naturally, be reluctant to pronounce how a patient's hair will look, out of concern that the patient will take that as a "guarantee". There are no guarantees. But if the doctor is satisfied that the patient has a firm grasp of the variables and is not looking for a guarantee, I think a reasonable estimation of how the new hair will look is not out of the question.

 

That is one of the things that sold me on Dr. Cooley and his staff. Like all of us, I had scanned hundreds of photos of HT patients, and in the cases of patients with my Norwood classification and having received in the neighbourhood of the same number of grafts I was going to receive, I noticed wide discrepancies. Some had excellent results; others had acceptable ones; and still others showed results completely unacceptable to me.

 

By that time, I established enough trust with Dr. Cooley and Ailene that I was able to ask for their best guess at what my own outcome would be, and they knew I wasn't asking for a guarantee, and I got a tangible answer. (That was one of the things that sold me on Dr. Cooley.)

 

But, that's all it is--a best guess. So, like you, my anticipation is almost overwhelming. So I know exactly how you feel. All I can offer in the way of advice is--patience.

 

I just went over the three-month mark since my HT, and I was lucky enough to experience early growth. My new hair started to grow in about seven weeks ago. Be prepared for some highs and lows. Even though I knew it would happen, after the hairs attached to grafts fell out and I was bald again, it was hard to get past the feeling of "What the hell did I spend all that money on?"

 

Once I saw the new hair start sprouting, I was thrilled. But that bloom will come off the rose after a bit, too, after the first couple of weeks. The new growth isn't cosmetically significant yet, and you start thinking "Gee, I hope this isn't as good as it gets." Again, intellectually, I know better, but it's a human reaction.

 

Just hang in there, friend, and try not to be too anxious. All of us, your fellow HT patients, are going through it, or have, so we know what you are going through.

 

Best of luck on your new hair!

[Telephone Man]

Wantitback

 

That should turn out wonderful, I had 2140 across the entire top of my head and it has filled in wonderfully. You having that much at the front should provide excellent density.

 

Good luck, keep posting.

[Wantitback]

My hair on top was thinning, compared to what it was, along with the sides and back it was thin. Dr. E said I had good hair quantity.

Alot of people, (my wife for one) said that it was not bad, sure it looked OK when I hair it combed right. when the wind blew you could see my scalp. Now even though it was thin on top I wanted to stay ahead of the problem.

 

Every one out there knows, it just kept slowly going back little by little.

 

Dr. E said what you see up front was from the hair on top hanging down towards the forehead. So he bulit up the hair line to about a little more then a third way back, and lowered the hair line on the left to match the right side.

 

I have seen alot of photos of HT's with 2100 grafts on the entire top, some look really good. So I guess if this comes in good it should looks nice. Dr. E said that the density should almost double what I had up front. I will be happy. Then I will be back for more in a year or so.

 

One thing though, were he worked on my hair, I had hair and it is going through shock loss. How soon will that come back?

 

Any one have photos?

 

Thanks

Ron

[Guest]

Wantitback... I had a 2870 session with Dr. E on 11/11. 6 weeks later I am just now starting to see new growth. I was prepared for the shock loss and looking less full then before surgery due to all the research I did, but it still is disconcerning.

 

Dr. E. put about 1600 grafts in front and used the rest to do the front 1/3 of my crown... the crown hairs seemed to have stayed (maybe due to propecia and rogaine), but the front shed at about 3 weeks. I am looking at my old hairline currently, but the sprouts have started.

 

We just have to be patient as we are the next group to graduate. This forum seems to go in waves (new surgeries, similar stories, then 9 month pics).

 

Hang in there.