12,501 grafts / Dr. Felipe Pittella / Jan 2024

[YodaHead]

Quick Stats:

12,501 total donor grafts taken from back/side of head and beard. Around 5.5k of the total 12.5k taken from beard.

About me:

37 yo South East Asian man born in India, living in the US.

Hairloss history:

My hair loss began around the age of 16-17. There's a history of hair problems on my mother's side, while my father's side is average. The progression has been gradual, leading to reaching NW6/7 before I decided to explore hair transplant (HT) options.

I experience hair loss and thinning across the entire top region of the scalp (front, mid, crown) and possess a notably weak donor area, particularly on the sides. Premature graying has further added to my disappointment regarding the quantity and quality of my hair.

My beard grows like a bear! Plenty and thick. This probably is a plus, considering poor donor on my head.

I honestly don’t care much about my sides/back or even beard…I just want some density at the top of my scalp..so I have no issues taking whatever donor needed to achieve this.

Medications:

Taking Minoxidil oral 2.5mg daily since June 2023 (i.e. approx. 8 months prior to HT). Stopped 3 days prior to HT (as recommended by doc) and plan is to continue taking this.

Took Finasteride 1mg daily for approximately 6 months to see how i respond, then stopped it 2 months prior to the HT. I learned that it definitely works for me and did not present any noticeable side effects. I only stopped it because I wanted to show the “actual” situation of my scalp to the doctor, without Finasteride help. Plan is to continue taking this to retain native hair.

HT decision:

Started researching HT 12 months ago (early 2023), and before I stumbled upon this site, I was focused on Turkey option. ASMED/Dr. Koray Erdogan rejected me. Dr. Bicer said my “hairloss pattern is different” and so i should visit a dermatologist first. I respect both of these responses as I would rather hear truth than false promises. Many hair mills quickly sent me cost estimates and encouraged me to book dates before the end of the ”discount” period.

I saw a dermatologist and was told that my hairloss is typical male pattern baldness and I am a good candidate for HT. 

I learned that due to the nature of my hairloss (thinning all over the scalp) I was definitely going to need to cover pretty much the entire area of my head…that too with below average donor. Keeping in mind the cost, availability, and the scale of the HT, I shortlisted following two doctors:

1. Dr. Felipe Pittella
2. Dr. Das/Dr. Sethi (Eugenix) - I had even paid the booking fees.

I had online consultation with Dr. Das and Dr. Pittella, and had also met Dr. Sethi when he visited US. I know Eugenix has been doing great work, but I only have one head so I had to pick one doctor. I am happy to share specifics on what impressed me more about Dr. Pittella if anyone is interested. 

Thanks to this forum and to all members for being so active and upfront about their opinions/experiences. After months of going through various topics on this site, plus some additional reading, I felt well-informed prior to deciding on the HT.

Arrival in Vitoria, Brazil (Jan 22, 2024)

I was travelling from NY to Vitoria, Brazil (with a long layover in Rio). Dr. Pittella’s clinic had booked 4 nigths of hotel (5 mins from clinic) and had also arraged pick-up/drop-off to/from Airport, and to/from hotel for the entirety of my stay. This made life a lot easier—since this part of Brazil don’t really see much tourism and so not easy to communicate; however the area is really nice & safe, and people are all very helpful. Hotel was excellent (4-star) with breakfast included and front desk spoke English so no issues. I recommend learning few words in Portugese. People really appreciate trying. 

One Day before HT (Jan 23, 2024).

I was scheduled to meet with Dr. Pittella in the evening before surgery to to create a plan and mark the areas of implant and donor.

The clinic is neat & clean, and the entire staff is incredibly welcoming! From the moment I entered, everything appeared meticulously organized, and I never experienced a moment of uncertainty or worry. Although I had thoroughly researched Dr. Pittella through his interviews & patient reviews, and was convinced about him, I was still nervous about the rest of his staff. However, it turns out he has assembled a dream team! The entire staff works seamlessly, displaying high professionalism and organization. This immediately put me at ease.

Met Dr. Pittella for the first time and immediately you get a very positive vibe. The guy is very humble and great communicator. He took his time in taking pictures of my head from all directions and upload into the software he uses to design everything including density, graft estimates, etc. Dr. Pittella took his time looking at my scalp and hairline very closely and kept me involved in the process. He marked my scalp and beard with a marker (dang! I was planning to go to town for a dinner but it looked like my 3 yr old niece went wild with a marker while i was asleep..so idea dropped). I left his office feeling very good about the decision I had made. Fyi, according to his software my precise baldness grade is 7.35.

HT day 1

Arrived at the clinic at 6:30 AM, they trimmed my head and beard, gave me some medications, and provided a room for me to change into comfortable clothes and keep all my stuff. This is where I would come during bathroom breaks and for lunch/dinner.

At around 7 AM walked into the operating room and met with the entire team. Everyone welcomed me with happy faces and the vibe was so positive and ensuring that it immediately put me at ease. I slept for most of the procedure and got a break during lunch (you can ask for break whenever you want). The lunch was ready in my room exactly as i selected from the menu a couple days in advance. The day ended at around 7PM with 6k grafts extracted/implanted and the dinner. I was pretty happy that Dr. Pittella was truly involved throughout the day. Surprisingly, I did not feel any pain at any point during the entire process. Dr. Pittella said I had very high pain tolerance, but I give a lot of credit to his team for putting me at ease and taking good care of me.

HT day 2

Day 2 was no different than the first day. Same process. Same routine. Additional around 6k grafts were extracted/implanted! Both days, I had to be very careful not to touch the bandage once at hotel and had to sleep in a sitting position with a neck pillow. Because there was no pain or discomfort, this was not a huge problem for me. By the way, they had even trained my driver to keep reminding me when getting in/out the car to watch my head (talk about attention to details!). 

Post-op (day 3, 4, 5).

Every day until my flight back, the team ensured I was picked up for a careful head wash. Dr. Pittella personally visited me each day, engaging in discussions with both me and my wife about any topics I wanted to address. They provided me with a post-op care kit, including painkillers, antibiotics, baby shampoo, etc., along with precise instructions on what to do and not to do for the next two weeks. Dr. Pittella wrote a letter  attesting that I was fit to travel…just in case if airline staff were worried with anything (i had some swelling as expected and was advised not to wear hat or anything for two weeks). I was travelling with my wife, who is also a Physician in US so the entire journey was completely worry-free for me.

Thoughts on Dr. Felipe Pittella and his team:

Dr. Pittella is everything I wanted in my HT surgeon. Experienced, skilled, knowledgeable, patient, honest, humble, and detailed oriented. You can tell that he loves what he is doing and his positive attitude has trickled down to his team. Every single person on his staff—whether a receptionist, account manager, anesthesiologists, technician, or a nurse—they all treated me very well and were very accommodating of anything i needed/asked. Everyone looked happy to be there and seemed to know their role very well. 

I am still months away from seeing any results, but regardless, I think it is only fair that I express my appreciation for the services and hardwork of this clinic now rather than waiting 6 months.

———

If you have any questions/comments or even any type of criticism for me, please do not hesitate. This forum has given me a lot of good information and it is only fair that I give back. 

I will continue to report on my progress!

[BaldReaper]

Good luck, definitely following this one

[wembley]

Good luck! 12600 grafts in just 2 days is impressive.

Other clinics still struggle to extract these extra large number of grafts, while dr pittella has solved this problem and his patients do not have to do 2,3 surgeries but they get full coverage with just 1 hair transplant. 

[Melvin- Admin]

How many grafts from the beard? Was it 5.5k? This is incredible in one surgery 🤩

[YodaHead]

8 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

How many grafts from the beard? Was it 5.5k? This is incredible in one surgery

Yes, 2.5k on day 1 and close to 3k on day 2. Incredible indeed! 😀

[Al - Moderator]

5500 grafts from the beard? That's a lot of beard grafts with almost a 50% mix of beard and scalp. Do you know if they used beard and scalp grafts in different areas? Or did they just mix them all together? 

 

[YodaHead]

31 minutes ago, BeHappy said:

Do you know if they used beard and scalp grafts in different areas? Or did they just mix them all together?

From what i understood, the beard hair were mainly used in the mid-scalp region along with some mix of head donors. Hairline is predominantly from scalp donor. Dr. Pittella mentioned that he ensured to spread out all hair in a manner that would look natural. In my case, due to my weak side head donors, I did not have much choice. I don’t like keeping beard and not planning to..so I was fine with this plan. 

[Broni]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Admin said:

How many grafts from the beard? Was it 5.5k? This is incredible in one surgery 🤩

How is it possible in the first place? It's equal to the total number of extractable scalp grafts for many people

[YodaHead]

Here is the breakdown. Blue = day 1 and black = day 2. 

[Melvin- Admin]

49 minutes ago, YodaHead said:

From what i understood, the beard hair were mainly used in the mid-scalp region along with some mix of head donors. Hairline is predominantly from scalp donor. Dr. Pittella mentioned that he ensured to spread out all hair in a manner that would look natural. In my case, due to my weak side head donors, I did not have much choice. I don’t like keeping beard and not planning to..so I was fine with this plan. 

I think you’re a good candidate for this, your beard looks straight and its also salt and pepper. 

[YodaHead]

1 minute ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I think you’re a good candidate for this, your beard looks straight and its also salt and pepper. 

Yes, exactly!

[Belve]

Happy growing. That’s an interesting case with a huge amount of grafts. 

[A_4_Archan]

This is unbelievable stuff...dr pittela is just tearing the limits...you have chosen a great doctor for giga+ session....really excited to follow your journey...Happy growing and keep updating brother...

[YodaHead]

1 hour ago, A_4_Archan said:

This is unbelievable stuff...dr pittela is just tearing the limits...you have chosen a great doctor for giga+ session....really excited to follow your journey...Happy growing and keep updating brother...

Thank you! I will continue to post the updates. Cheers!

[YodaHead]

Fyi, Dr. Pittella posted my case on his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2lS_36uVDA/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Edited February 3 by YodaHead

[Rose17]

This is insane. Congrats on the result, it’s gonna look great I’m sure.

 

is there any doctor out there who can even do this besides maybe Zarev? Truly insane 5K grafts from beard and over 12K in 2 days!!

[hairman22]

12.5k in one procedure. That could be a record for one surgery.

Pittella is doing amazing work

[Gatsby]

Great write up @YodaHead. Dr Pittella has fast become my favourite Norwood 7 surgeon. Happy growing! 👊🏻

[Al - Moderator]

46 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Great write up @YodaHead. Dr Pittella has fast become my favourite Norwood 7 surgeon. Happy growing! 👊🏻

 

Yeah you're not kidding. I wish this type of procedures was available years ago when I needed it. That would have changed my life completely.

[Gatsby]

2 hours ago, BeHappy said:

 

Yeah you're not kidding. I wish this type of procedures was available years ago when I needed it. That would have changed my life completely.

Same here. 

[mtb]

Incredible!

[pullinyourleg]

Great write up! Wishing you the best in your hair restoration!

 

[omarca]

Hi you seem to have a lot of hair on top of scalp maybe miniaturized! Does the dr implanted new grafts on top of all thise native hairs? Or around them? The existing hairs may be damaged by the new grafts or insicions ?

thanks 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 2/3/2024 at 1:45 PM, YodaHead said:

Fyi, Dr. Pittella posted my case on his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2lS_36uVDA/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

I wish IG would embed. You healed incredibly well. I always trim the cheek hair. I wouldn’t mind using that as donor. How does it look now?

[YodaHead]

6 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

You healed incredibly well. I always trim the cheek hair. I wouldn’t mind using that as donor. How does it look now?

It’s only day 14 and honestly, i don’t even see a single mark on my cheeks or neck. Also, it still looks like i can grow beard if i really wanted to. 

The density seems pretty good too. Of course, all this will start shedding soon…