first FUE, you can only hope you made the right choice in time

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
well its done.
7K
What started a bit over 1000 grafts quickly multiplied.
Its a funny thing listening to all these surgeons talk about grafts and hair counts. Some say a hair is a graft other say a full follicle is a graft even if it has 3 hairs, but then some will still slice that up into 3 separate hairs. I got all sorts of funny explanations.
To me this is such a weird medical field where the rules are only subject by the surgeons imagination.
As some may have read my write ups on the consults I finally did it.

I went on about half a dozen consults and kept going back to these guys
http://www.nehair.com/

Im glad I did BUT STILL the night before was torture.
Am I making the right decision?
Will I be happy?
Am I spending the money right?
Will this even help?
Will I end up WORSE off?
I mean we were even expecting a blizzard up here the day after my procedure (I dont like calling it surgery, getting a heart changed is surgery, this is a "procedure", no more than getting teeth veneers but on your head). Is that a sign?
I woke up at 4am, not that nerves actually let me sleep, to get ready and drive to MA for this by 7am. My GF opted to stay behind since she is terrified of driving in the snow and getting caught in a blizzard on the way home the next day. I dont blame her she would have just stressed me driving, her words.

I drove all the way there and still had doubts, still sat there holding the pen for signatures like I was signing away my kidney from a lost bet. I sat there for 45 minutes talking with Tan and texting my GF. There was this hesitation but also the knowledge I would always be pissed I didnt TRY to do something (finasteride was awful for me, check out the sides forum for something Im going to post there I think I have recently figured out). I signed, got changed and was off.

It started with Dr Tan and the medical assistant shaving my donor area conservatively so my overgrown hair would flap over the shaved spot hiding it.
He made two thinner lines across the back of my head. One above the other.
sorry image is to big to embed.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b3syIURhg...A-M/s1FzxCKpqH8/s1600/IMG_20140212_102716.jpg

this pic shows one of the two lines while the flap cover the other one.

after the removal they had me roll over and started insertion of the hairs in my temples.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SameG5MLn...A-c/6WfW_a2RK_g/s1600/IMG_20140212_152004.jpg

At this point it was mostly Dr Tan and his tech, who was very good herself. Then Doctor Welter comes walking in to assist (he periodically popped in between previous steps) and says "you know i like the way your flaps cover but if you let me block out the area (meaning shave a big block) I can get a TON more donor hairs for you"
In the moment I said "HELL SURE lets do it......" Granted this is WHILE Tan is injecting the grafts in my forehead, so in for a penny in for a pound i guess. They said my donor area was great for FUE (all of my consults were really). I have uber thick hair.

I now ended up with this lol
photo+4.JPG


Me and my GF (who went with me on the final consult) laugh our asses off because for some reason we found Dr Tan, who did my 2 personal consults, very convincing. I mean he does a GOOD consult, we joked at the thought of him at home during our phone conversations with a smoking pipe and jacket running his hands through his own naturally lush hair (and welter has a head of hair like a 12 year old, just insane thick). Hes super informative, honest, oddly charming and extremely laxed. Well Welter is the same way so OF COURSE getting more donor seemed awesome coming from him. HA HA I dont regret it but I may be calling out of work a day or two next week to let this grow in a bit to have my hair dresser fade it out, make a design in it or SOMETHING.

I mellowed out quite a bit throughout but let me tell you novocain does **** for me. If you are planning to do this and have a resilience to novacaine like myslef PLEASE start dermarolling first, and rolling HARD. This will give you an idea of what this feels like. Now dont get me wrong this is MY FAULT, not theirs. I know novocain does nothing for me and they advised they could only put so much by law in you so I kept my trap shut, grinned and beared it. Honestly Im a bit of a sadist so che sera.

Anyway as they removed the rest of the hairs in the back they kept bringing them in stocked for insertion .They use a micrografting syringe style inserter and TINY coring device for removal for a basically zero scar effect. Time will tell of course but really it leaves marks no wider than rolling and you dont get scars from that right? This isnt the exact one but pretty much. They are one of the few who use them over just cutting you with a itty bitty blade and dropping the graft in with tweezers.

trepan.jpg




We stopped for lunch, they were nice enough to treat but its pretty hard to enjoy a nice fat roast beef with blood and scabs all over your head lol.

We went back in and they were back to work. I will say it was the two doctors and one tech inserting these guys, THREE at once. They were really getting in there and saying they wanted density. They filled in my temples, the bridging I had from front to back and even into still populated areas so there will be hair there when even the old stuff starts thinning more. They were being proactive and I really liked that.

We were in there until 7:30 pm by the time they ran out of grafts, we started removing around 8:30 am, inserting was about 9:15-9:30. This was a long day and by the end of it my head was so raw on top even wind hitting it hurt but I kept telling them to keep going. Novocain was lasting me NO time at all by this point. As soon as they injected it if it lasted 10-15 minutes it was a lot. They were doing a technique called nerve blocking with it that helped a lot but really my body just rejects it way to fast. Even getting my wisdom teeth out in highschool they couldnt keep me under because the IV and gas couldnt keep me out.

I kept a small plastic tropicana bottle in my hand and was crushing it like a stress ball at the end due to the pain. Again I can NOT stress this, NOT THEIR FAULT. I probably had enough sedative in me to drop a horses legs. Dermarolling REALLY built me tolerance to head pain.
On a side note I mentioned the rolling to Dr Welter and he was super intrigued by it. He uses them for PRP procedures and really thought the theory behind doing it is very sound. He said he would reccomend it to people as a test if there werent so many possible chances for infections. He could not say enough be sure you disinfect everything because your head carries a LOT of bacteria even mrsa.

well in the end they went through their work with tiny forceps and checked everything, bandaged me up, gave me a goody bag, some info and sent me to my hotel. I say hotel because I HAD to stay the night. They have you come back the next day to go over all the grafts and see if any need fixing, which a few of mine did. They even gave me a small bottle of solution in case any fell out, to bring back to them the next morning to re insert. The morning of one did actually pop out and I placed it in the bottle and Dr Tan tweezed it right back in.

These two guys take a LOT of pride in their work, I can't stress this. Welter had a personal story behind starting it, not super crazy or tear jerking but he wanted to get into the business to help make it easier, better and more cost effective for the patient/consumer. They worried way more about making this first job perfect than charging me for every little graft. They made sure your expectations were realistic but still tried to go above and beyond. Im not trying to sell their service. But every time I come to a forum people say the same 6 names and are to afraid to step out of that comfort zone. Well I met with a few of those big names and honestly did not like them, I stepped out of the comfort zone and feel better right now for it.

Who knows maybe in 6 months Ill be throwing spaghetti at a wall mother f'ing them up and down, I highly doubt it but as stated in the beginning only time will tell. I say though if you are in the area and looking for this option give them a shot, they have NO shortage on business but I would like to see them get a shot next to names like Cohen in CT.
We even talked about piliofocus. He met that guy at the conference and said he knows him (dont know how well) and could honestly not say ENOUGH GOOD things about him. He said the guy is a genius in the field and would love to see the tech progress. I hope Im not saying to much to get anyone in trouble with anything but I just like to give a lot of details so people can see the genuineness I pretty much felt dealing with this facility and ALL its staff.

They said stay low stress to keep your blood pressure from popping the little guys out but try to drive home in a blizzard (check the snow the northeast got today) and see how your blood pressure holds up.

Wish my healing luck. I shed a tear earlier because I did lose one graft a couple hours ago which they said WILL happen but as long as I take it easy for the next few days I should be fine and if there are any issues call them and they will make it right. I honestly believe them and personally I will say that is a big compliment because I dont really "like" or trust anybody lol.

Heres some after pics. Its hard to see through the areas that actually have some hair left but they went all in.

photo+1.JPG


photo+2.JPG


photo+3.JPG


Im going to post this on my ****ty angry blog to as well in case any information gets removed by mods, which I hope it doesn't. Thats the reason I left bald truth, which NO surgeon I spoke with said anything highly about.... NONE.

I will also update as time goes by but Im sure Im not leaving the forum and will continue to dermaroll my crown as if there are positive results with that they really wanted me to let them know.

Thanks everyone.

Again as I started though

Am I making the right decision?
Will I be happy?
Am I spending the money right?
Will this even help?
Will I end up WORSE off?

as good as my experience was... you just will never know, life is always that way though......


Well from Feb 13th 2014 to today (June 2nd here is some updated progress pics)

right1 copy.jpgleft1.jpgright2.jpgleft2.jpg

You can see some of the new hairs. These things literally sprouted overnight. This is just the temples because you cant see anything in the center due to existing hairs but theyre there.

You can see the super thick pubie looking ones that snuck up on me and even the (hopefully) beginning of the VERY fine ones between ready to bulk up.

Im keeping in touch with the Doctor and fingers crossed that it just keeps coming.
If this works Im already looking at filling in the crown in another year or so when this is paid and my finances are better (technically it is paid but Im cheap as ****e)


update :6/23/14
Okay, just adding to this post so I dont bump my thread.

Noticed my bridging from my front to my crown has been getting smaller, whether this is the FUE coming in, the topical finasteride or both I dont know but I like it!
 

Attachments

  • photo+4.JPG
    photo+4.JPG
    84.2 KB · Views: 948
Last edited:

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
Yeah I am still using my minoxidil and nizoral. I know I'll need another in years to come. Hopefully something new is out. Either way I guess I'll be shaving. It was over 1000. It was supposed to be about 1000 with the conservative strips but they said they were able to get more by squairing it out.
100O grafts at 7$ a pop is normal here in the states, cheap by some who still do 10-12$ but that was their minimum to stay fair I presume. They made a point to say they more charge for the surgery first time and try to get everything they can and go as long as they can no number on how high (I'm sure within reason) the graft count can get. They have told me there were cases they've stayed until 10 at night to make good. I found this a very fair reasoning behind the charge since the price was competitive, their utensils were far superior to other I saw even the big names and since many grafts can actually pop or die without knowing further down the line and you are still paying for them.

You will never know if its the right choice if hair loss bother you, some don't care.
But if you do you may still be unhappy and if you don't you always wonder what if until it eats your soul. Just depends on what bother you more.
10 days ago?
I remember a post from months back where you also said you canceled on a Doctor? Are these legit or do you just keep canceling appointments. Also my thinning is bad, my hair is just so long now and thick it hides it
Also your not n6. I've seen your pics and you look no worse than me but again as I have stated you always look like the worst ever cases to yourself.

Thanks fred
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
sure.jpg


This was 8 months ago. Not worse than you, you're sure about that? Hiding my hair loss is something I've never been able to do because my hair loss was diffuse all over the NW5 area, so no combing forward possible. I do not look as one of the worst cases ever to myself, this was stated by one of the best hair restoration surgeon in the world (Dr. ********).

What I meant is that if I hadn't cancelled in December, I would have had my surgery 10 days ago.

I think you're right, maybe this is a better path for someone who really feels crippled by his hair loss. But right now, being bald isn't "eating my soul" so I'm trying to postpone an eventual FUE for as long as I can.

yeah your front looks thinner than past photos youve shown but again if I shaved down like that you wouldnt see a massive difference plus my crown is pretty bad now.
I would not say I felt crippled but man it did eat at me making me angry, tho I have a sort fuse to.
I also think we live in different parts of the world that still treat hair loss different.
Its the comparison between US and European television. In the european countries they dont fill their screens with the hottest people ever like they do in the US.
I know I will never have my brothers hair but just somewhat better off would be nice.

If it wasnt eating you why would you have made multiple schedulings then?
It must eat at you to some degree. I would say the money is gone, I cant whine about that. But I used a 401K loan to pay half and the rest oop so it wasnt a huge thing. I did tell myself from now on Im dumping money into paying off my school loans tho. The pain isnt even a huge ordeal, I havent even popped an asprin since I got back but my tolerance for physical pain is pretty high. Right now my biggest concern is figuring out what the hell im doing with this empty patch in the back of my head. I DOUBT its going to grow enough to fade in by even Tuesday. Cant stres myself tho cause lord knows ill bubble up shooting these little buggers out like BB's.

Im sure youll figure out what you are going to do eventually.
Do you take finasteride, i cant remember?
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
Hey guys
to anyone else who may have had an FUE done have you experienced shock or shed within the healing time of the first week or so?
There is a small area on the left temple near where the existing hair is where I see the scabs but can not see nor lightly feel the hairs any longer.
I do not believe the follicles popped out as I have been monitoring that super close and have had about 3 or 4 full on follicles pop out which I hear is normal if they just dont take.
Im basically wondering if the new hairs can be shocked out in the first week or 2 and then still grow back.
The doctor said yes this is possible and its also normal to lose some hairs but I am still paranoid of course.
thanks
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
Well Fred you should be glad just like Finn backfiring so did this. I am the one in a million people with sides to an fue.
My temples are covered in horrible folliculitus. My immune system is going nuts trying to push the hairs out.
The Doctor said the grafts and follicles are still there and should heal and grow fine but who can tell. He said he would fix up anything that gets messed up, which I do believe but you only have so much donor and then what's to say the next fue won't do the same.
The areas they filled that still have existing hair are fine but the temples that have been bald a while are covered in white heads, scabs and pain.
I've read online and this does happen but it's SUPER rare so lucky me like usual. My donor healed better than anyone he's seen but the spot that matters is wrecked. This isn't surgeon error just my awful luck.

Just wish me luck and hope this money didn't go down the toilet. I'll keep this thread updates.
 

SayifDoit

Experienced Member
Reaction score
111
You payed 7k for 1000 grafts.
Interesting, it looks so thick.
I always thought that amount was quite low, i'm happy for you BTW.

One day i will have a hair transplant.
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
You payed 7k for 1000 grafts.
Interesting, it looks so thick.
I always thought that amount was quite low, i'm happy for you BTW.

One day i will have a hair transplant.

They actually charge per surgery in the beginning (like Leanord in MA as well). I pretty much found this more honest then all the docs who kept promising me exact counts for so much with NO way to truly show me. Not like Ill count the dots.

Do you mean my hair or grafts look thick?

1000+ was a low ball estimate, mind you they search for the follicles with more hairs for the front.
When they blocked out the shaved part it pretty much skyrocket in graft count. The entire 1/3 front of my head was basically done. It was pretty much the entire area Fred shows in his pic above this.

Thanks, it appears the antibiotics and such cleared the folliculitis and oddly the hairs that were pushed out already seem to be growing and the ones that stayed are almost doubled in length. I still expect them to drop out but this entire thing has been so weird for me I dont know what to expect.

Even with my foliculitus outbreak I still reccomend checking these guys out. It wasnt their fault my immune system goes crazy over stupid stuff and they were super great during the whole thing.
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
The folliculitis is an excuse in my opinion. They may have done a half-assed job that caused a sort of infection.

I hope everything turns out well for you.

Actually it was me that diagnosed before I even went to them. Had you seen it you could see it was my body trying to push out the new hairs causing issues. Each little follicle was like it's own little infection. Only in the bald areas though which is weird because usually from my research it's the areas with hair that are more prone to infection but we were fine on me.
Pretty gross, then it just got worse from there. The place was very sterile and professional.... Not like I went to Leroy's back alley barber and fue

But leave it to Fred to rain on my parade , your like the negative anti version of my own freind Fred
Skinny, negative, bald and white lol
 

SayifDoit

Experienced Member
Reaction score
111
I was talking about your grafts.
Time will tell though, you'll have to wait many months for any actual progress :wacko: and to know what it looks like
I don't understand Hair Transplants, apparently you get a limited amount of grafts you can get from the back, why is that?
Can't you just keep taking hairs from the back, with obvious times to wait for healing in between each procedure IDK....
Does FUE and FUT affect the number of graphs?

Btw dude I was looking online about FUT's, I know, I know, that stupid smiley face scar that appears is ****ing revolting and the last thing you want to do yourself even if it means more hair but I was reading on-line about this thing called Scalp micro-pigmentation where you can essentially hide the scar making it complete invisible even with your hair at a really short length. Just a thought, I'm considering getting a FUT given how cheap it is....
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
I was talking about your grafts.
Time will tell though, you'll have to wait many months for any actual progress :wacko: and to know what it looks like
I don't understand Hair Transplants, apparently you get a limited amount of grafts you can get from the back, why is that?
Can't you just keep taking hairs from the back, with obvious times to wait for healing in between each procedure IDK....
Does FUE and FUT affect the number of graphs?

Btw dude I was looking online about FUT's, I know, I know, that stupid smiley face scar that appears is ****ing revolting and the last thing you want to do yourself even if it means more hair but I was reading on-line about this thing called Scalp micro-pigmentation where you can essentially hide the scar making it complete invisible even with your hair at a really short length. Just a thought, I'm considering getting a FUT given how cheap it is....

You can only take so much because you have limited hairs in total.
I could not do fut when really in the states fue is not much more expensive.

Where are you from
 

SayifDoit

Experienced Member
Reaction score
111
Yeah I'm from UK and FUT's are extremely cheap in Europe from what I can tell compared to FUE's. You ahead definetly try and restore your temples, man the worst thing is loosing your temples, completely ****s how you look. Made my forhread look massive.
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
I didn't mean to sound negative. I guess it's automatic with me.

The surgeon I would trust for my own FUE (that I'm delaying for as long as I can bear) had chickens running around outside his house where he does his surgeries.

It's just that I know for a fact that my surgeon is quite admired on the hair loss forums and allowed a clinic in Antwerp to rise to the top.

I just wound't trust a surgeon unless he has a very positive reputation online, like ******** or Feriduni for example. Well, I may be too much an aesthete.

The thing is maybe its different in the states. Most of the "big names" I spoke with actually turned me off in one way or another.
I just didnt trust my gut with them.
 

HardlyHair

New Member
Reaction score
3
The first few months are the toughest. Looks like a lot of dots for just 1000 grafts. Maybe they're spaced a little bit.

Initially I had about 80% of the transplanted hair all fall out in the first few weeks. Fortunately, I had my hair grow back almost completely within 4 months and peaked density wise at about month 5/6. Not sure why it happened so fast, but I went nuts taking supplements, using a laser comb, putting creams on my head, as well as the big 3. I even had a series of colonics (for general health reasons) which I'm wondering whether they did anything for healing and growth. I'm quite bemused as I got a lot of regrowth of my native hair during that time. Sadly the native hair has been gradually shedding since about month 7 despite continuing with the big 3 and I'm not sure what's going on. Getting a hair transplant is certainly an emotional roller coaster ride and not for the faint-hearted. Good luck!!!
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
The first few months are the toughest. Looks like a lot of dots for just 1000 grafts. Maybe they're spaced a little bit.

Initially I had about 80% of the transplanted hair all fall out in the first few weeks. Fortunately, I had my hair grow back almost completely within 4 months and peaked density wise at about month 5/6. Not sure why it happened so fast, but I went nuts taking supplements, using a laser comb, putting creams on my head, as well as the big 3. I even had a series of colonics (for general health reasons) which I'm wondering whether they did anything for healing and growth. I'm quite bemused as I got a lot of regrowth of my native hair during that time. Sadly the native hair has been gradually shedding since about month 7 despite continuing with the big 3 and I'm not sure what's going on. Getting a hair transplant is certainly an emotional roller coaster ride and not for the faint-hearted. Good luck!!!

Thanks man
I have just been in contact with the Doctor who is in Greece at a convention right now.
My area is STILL REALLY red. It looks like it may scare a bit. It was def more than 1000. 1000 was the starting estimate. Even they keep saying they have never seen anyone heal this way. My donor site healed super insanely fast but the recipient site is still red irritated and completely shed (only 1 month in though). I have a whacky immune system.




photo 2.jpgphoto 1.jpg


Im worried its scarring but I have also seen "some" pics online of people a couple months in with this kind of redness to. Weird

also the scabbing is some really big pimples/ingrowns that had to be popped literally that day right before the pic. there really isnt any more infection/folliculitis left.
 

badwabbit

New Member
Reaction score
0
How long are they saying that the scarring and redness will be there? I'm asking because, when I looked up the FUE procedure, it seems like the average amount of time it takes to heal is 3-5 weeks... right? But I guess we all heal differently and at different rates.

I've read a few pages online, and looked a few videos of the procedure... for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSSTm0RYBow . I liked this vid because not only did it show the procedure, but it also showed a few pictures of the patient after 3-4 weeks to show to healing process. Anyway, let us know when you get a moment. Thanks.
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
How long are they saying that the scarring and redness will be there? I'm asking because, when I looked up the FUE procedure, it seems like the average amount of time it takes to heal is 3-5 weeks... right? But I guess we all heal differently and at different rates.

I've read a few pages online, and looked a few videos of the procedure... for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSSTm0RYBow . I liked this vid because not only did it show the procedure, but it also showed a few pictures of the patient after 3-4 weeks to show to healing process. Anyway, let us know when you get a moment. Thanks.


when i recently spoke with the Doctor about it he said to start using some neosporin on the area. It actually seems to be helping (whether its that or just the timing).
The docs have been really good at getting back to me. I have read some people can have redness and bumpy inflammation for months after depending on how you heal.
Just keeping my fingers crossed the new hair starts coming in in another month or so when its supposed to.
 

dreamermerlin

Established Member
Reaction score
40
Have patience, redness can remain in the recipient area up to 4 months, and even after that, for 1-2 month it may become red when washing with hot water.
 

swingline747

Senior Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1,380
seems almost all my redness has pretty much gone away. Im thanking the neosporin honestly.

Just keeping the fingers crossed.
Ill pop pics up as soon as it starts (hopefully) coming back in
 
Top