Hello everyone,

------------ PRELIMINARY --------------

So here I am, 2 surgeries later and my hairloss situation has improved a lot. But there is still more to accomplish. I said when I started that it would probably take about 3 surgeries, and here I am on the last.

Some of you might be wondering why I keep changing doctors and if I was satisfied with the first two, then why switch. I explained in my last post why I went to Dr. True and now I'll briefly state in this post why I am switching to Dr. Hasson. Ultimately, I have seen countless posts with nothing but satisfied patients coming from Dr. Hasson. Not to mention, the before/after transformations and the shear number of grafts that Dr. Hasson seems to be able to extract in a single session successfully, simply makes me have hair envy. I have been very impressed by what I have seen coming from Dr. Hasson over and over again and decided, that he has to be the one who does my third surgery. I'm going for the highest graft count possible at this point to try to complete my restoration as best as I can. The goal was projected between 3000-4000 grafts, but if he can extract more and still give me a thin scar, then I'm going to ask him to do it.

Hasson and Wong also suggested that I start doing scalp exercises ASAP and I have been doing them now for 2 months and will continue up to the day of my surgery. I am hoping that by doing this, my scalp will be lose enough to extract a high number of grafts. I have noticed a change in laxity from doing these exercises. I figure, at the very least, these exercises can't hurt.

So I've posted a few pics to begin with of the top of my head and then also my hairline progression. As you can see in the pictures, there has been gradual improvement from before any surgery to my 2nd surgery. I'm hoping that this 3rd (and hopefully last) surgery will extract at least the amount combined from both surgeries and that should dense me up a bit.

I am going to focus on thickening up the front half, however, asking Dr. Hasson to go back as far as he can to thicken up the crown a bit, making it even to minimize the appearance of loss. When it all finally starts to grow in, most likely I will grow it a bit longer than I've been wearing it, that is, if my hair is thick enough and looks good longer.

Please leave comments as you see me post my progress. Your encouragement means a lot to me knowing that we are all among friends and we can all support each other through this.

------------ MY EXPERIENCE --------------

My wife and I flew into Vancouver on Wed evening, arriving at 7:22pm (which is really like 10:22pm where I'm from). It was a long ride, but it went pretty smoothly. You all know how it is...long plan rides, little foot room, not much to do...my wife and I entertained each other, but it was basically an all day affair to get there. It was definately worth it though...as I'll explain.

Wed night we arrive at the Granville Island Hotel....very beautiful and their restaurant food and atmosphere is to die for....right on the beautiful lake with a nice view of the city and the mountains. This is probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen. So after my wife and I ate dinner, up to bed we went in prep for the long day. I must add that my wife coming a long was such a sweetheart thing to do. I told her she didn't have to come, but she chose to come because she wanted to support me. What a woman!

Thursday morning I wake up at 4:30am and can't get back to sleep...though I think I laid around pretty much the whole night without getting to sleep...maybe dozing off here and there. Watched TV, my wife got up too (remember the time difference partially through us off...it was already 7:30 here when we were getting up). But there was no need for our wake up call which was to come 2 hours later.

Surgery Day:

We arrive promptly at 7:30 for the consult. I fill out a long report of my family history, medical, hair loss, etc. At about 8:00am, I sat down wtih Dr. Hasson and he analyzed my scalp, noticed I had very good laxity on the sides of my head, but not nearly as much in the back. So the majority of the donor area was to be taken from both sides. Then he shaved my recipient area....I remember when I first started out doing research in HTs, I resisted this notion for a long time...one reason why I didn't go here in the first place (silly reason I know). But based on the superior results I've seen come from his office AND his explanation about why recipient area shaving is most beneficial, He was the doc I would go to. Anyway, I showed my wife my shaved recipient area, joked with her telling her that this was the look I should keep, and then off to work Dr. Hasson went on my donor. The most painful part were the few pokes in the back of the head with the anesthetic needles (which anyone who had an HT knows this is the worst part only to be followed by the second worse part...the tape being taken off your head later...which is funny that's the second worse part because it's not bad at all). And then out came the donor area. The donor strip was more difficult to remove in my case. I don't remember all the technical reasons, but I know Dr. Hasson said it was challenging....he labled it a 9 out of 10 in difficulty, but he said it was technical work, but there was no problems at all. So it took about 1.5 hours to remove the donor area....which when he was about half way done, he explained that if I had a virgin scalp it would have been out by now. Dr. Hasson and I talked the whole time which passed a lot of the time. He is very personable and knowledgable.

Once the donor strip was out, it was time to start making the recipient insicions. Some were made when I was on my stomach, some my side, and some my back. This is contrasted with my previous docs who did the whole thing on my back. Since I'm curious I asked, and he explained that it was easier to make the proper angles. So I told him he's the boss and I went in whatever position they wanted me to.

The first 1500 incisions were made first because as about 10 techs were still cutting grafts he didn't have the final count. Before any grafts were inserted, lunch came...my wife and I were bought lunch and we ate in a separate room and joked about how I looked as well as having additional discussion.

After lunch, 2 technicians, both who I've asked how long they worked there, and have both been there 7 years + began to work on inserting the grafts in the 1500 sites. Jody and Slava were the two that worked on me. They were both very professional and very friendly. We didn't talk too much because it was obvious they were concentrating and were in a zone, so I let them concentrate and they put on a movie for me. Most of the grafts were put in while I was on my back but I did have to position on my side and stomach a few times. When they were almost done the 1500 grafts, Dr. Hasson came in with the final count and we went over the rest of the strategy. He asked whether I wanted to dense up primarily the mid region or whether or not I want to hit the crown. After careful consideration, I decided to hit the crown, but not neglect the middle, my goal in which was to make the crown and mid section be closer to equal density which might mean a slightly thinner mid section and thinner crown, but it's better than a completely bald crown. My theory is that most people will see me from the front, others will see me from the back...but very rarely will someone see me from the top. The goal of course is to get the most out of the donor supply, so this is the direction I went. Dr. Hasson agreed that if this was his head, he's probably do the same thing. So he made the remaining 2000 sites. This would only equal 3500, but what he did was for the mid section, coupled 200 of the single hairs and put 400 hairs in 200 donor sites. I asked him the benefit of this and he stated that the density in the mid section would be the same either way, but by doing it this way, he would cause less trauma to the scalp, he gave me the technical details which I know related to the incision size and number of incisions being less overall in that area, which makes sense that less trauma would be given to the scalp. Knowing his expertise, I told him to do what he feels is best, so he did.

Jody and Slava worked on me the rest of the time....maticulously placing all of the grafts in all of the incisions. The session was long...I finally got ot of there at 8pm or so, so unfortunately, we didn't have any time to walk around the city. My wife at least did while I was in surgery, so Im glad she had a good time.

Other things that happened during the day....there were before pictures taken by Dr. Hasson before my initial consult. I finally got to meet Jotronic who I've talked to on here a number of times (his hair looks amazing by the way). I met another Dr. Hasson patient who had come in for a 4 month post op consult....his head of hair looks amazing. He was completely bald and now after 2 procedures looks phenominal. I told him seeing his case gives me hope.

Because we were there so late, Hasson and Wong bought Cindy and I dinner too....so we had 2 meals on the house. That was nice of them. At the end of the day, the went over all my post op instructions, gave me medication, a hat, a bandana, and told me they'd see me tomorrow for the post op cleaning.

SURGERY NIGHT:

I started to feel a little bit of pain about 2 hours after I left, so I took my first pain medicine. I had very minimal pain on Thursday night as I slept, but again, I don't think I slept very well. I was up a lot of the night, not due to discomfort, but I think travel anxieties of the next day.

POST OP CLEANING:

That took a total of 10 minutes. Jody washed that donor area and gently sprinkled some water over the recipient area. Then they took some pictures. I hung around a little while as they put together a disc with all my before and after pictures and now I have it. Of course, I also brought my camera so some of the pictures are from my camera. At the end of the cleaning, I shook Dr. Hassons hand, told him and all the staff (particularly Jody and Slava) thank you very much and I'd keep in touch.

IMPRESSIONS:

I am really impressed on this one for a number of reasons:

1. It's the most amount of grafts I've gotten in one session. Dr. Hasson said I would have been an easy candidate for 6000+ if this was my first HT.

2. It's the cleanest my head has been right after surgery...the least amount of blood in the recipient area. Must be attributed to the fact that they probably make smaller sites in the recipient areas (as Dr. Hasson says...just big enough to fit).

3. There was no guess-work. Dr. Hasson specifically asked me what I wanted in terms of filling in the middle or the crown after we punched 1500 holes for the top 1/3 of my scalp....I chose to hit the crown and dense up the middle a little bit as opposed to densing up the middle fully and no crown. This is not to say that the other Drs did guess work...but there was something about how thorough Dr. Hasson was that jumped out at me. He was very maticulous, and that is obvious by the whirl pattern.

4. Out of the 3 surgeries, I'd say I have experienced the least amount of pain with this one....even post op donor area pain. Now, I'd say it's comparable to my second surgery in terms of pain...but maybe I think it feels a little better because I'm used to this feeling....this is, after all, my 3rd surgery. The first surgery, however, I remember feeling a lot of bad pain in the donor area for the first 2 days.

So this is all I have for now. Feel free to ask me any questions about the experience or make any comments about the photos or anything else. What do you all think of the hairline? The crown? The mid section? I'll be posting more pictures every now and again....in the beginning, I post them pretty regularly, and then again month by month. My goal is to keep a detailed progress report for 2 reasons:

1. I want and desire your support and feedback. This community is great because of everyone who participate and supports and educates one another

2. I want to encourage others, to show others what this experience is like, from start to finish.

Falc


Day 6 Update:

Shaved head last night to a 1 clip to even it out. It's not exactly fair because techincally Dr. Hasson used a 0 clip on top of my head for the recipient area...so it doesn't quite match...but in time, the match will be better. Still some scabs remaining but it seems to be healing up nicely. Some irritation in the donor area....sides and back still feel tight as expected. There's only been minor swelling so far the last few days. Today it's moved down a little toward my eyes...but nothing compared to the last surgery. Perhaps this is because they needed less anesthetic for this surgery? More to come!

Day 9 Update:

Not much new to report. I think I'll be taking out the staples on Sunday or Monday...but we'll see. Things seem to be healing nicely. Recipient area is experiencing some dry skin which all has been coming off when massaging in circle on the top of my head in the shower. I've been adding Aloe to my recipient and donor area (only occasionally on the donor) to soothe the skin....which has been working tremendously. Reshaved the sides and back to a 1 clip...top has yet to catch up. I don't think I'll go any shorter than a 1 clip though. Other than that, still taking Propecia and MSM. The last few days I've actually showered twice a day trying to gently remove the remaining scabs. Seems to be working. No blood though some hair shafts have been in the dead skin...and as I've been told, this is perfectly normal! This is truly the best I've looked 9 days post op!

Day 11 Update:

93 Staples removed! That's GOT to be some kind of record!!! Let's be honest...removing staples isn't a walk in the park. Some were ok...some hurt like a b#$%^. Some didn't bleed at all...some bled more than I thought it should. Either way...it's over, and my scar feels GREAT. It doesn't itch anymore like it was the last 3 or 4 days. See the pictures in the album section of the scar and the staples. I grouped the staples in groups of 10. That's a lot of staples!

Other than that, still experiencing some dry skin flaking off on the top of my head....most of which I get off after I get out of the shower. The water and shampoo loosens the skin and while my hair/head is still wet, I'll use my fingers and run them in circles over my head and watch the dead skin flake off. So far, only a few of the hairs have fallen out...most are still holding on strong...but I will expect them to go bye bye over the next few weeks. That's the depressing part of the HT and then into the doldrums I go, most likely expecting shock loss to happen like it did the last 2 surgeries. Eesh! If all goes as the last 2, by about 5-8 weeks I'll start experiencing nasty shockloss, and by about week 10-12 I'll start to experience ever so slight growth.

Day 13, 16, 21 Update:

Not too much to report during this time. I'd say by about Day 13 to Day 16, I've felt relatively comfortable walking around at work without a hat on. A few people have commented on my buzz cut, and I did have one person ask me about my scar. I simply told them it was from surgery a long time ago. She didn't ask questions. People don't tend to ask detailed questions. And if she did, I would have said I didn't feel like talking about it...and that would have been the end of it . Showing the scar really doesn't bother me like it would bother some I'm sure...but it's up to each person.

Basically I still am experiencing some redness, some itchiness in the recipient area and donor areas...but nothing major. Some tenderness still exists above the scar all around, but it has improved signifincantly even between Day 13 and day 21.

Not much else to report

I actually will be on day 28 as of tomorrow...but I probably won't report anything new until 1 month and then I'll post 1 month pictures.

1 month update:

Nothing new to report. Still some pinkness and some itchiness. Donor area feels much better over the last couple weeks...still some tenderness...a little bit of numbness, but significantly less. I have been working out at the gym, but doing mostly light weights. I only finally started to lift a little heavier the other day, but still not doing bench press free weights. Doing hammer strength and focus exercises to stay in shape

3 month update:

Some new, but very minor growth...not much visual difference between month 2 and 3. The fun is just beginning!

Falc

You are choosing a great doctor. Since joining this site I have come back to your pictures and think the transformation has been really good for you. You are definitely going to be even more ecstatic about your results from this third HT.

My concern has always been having to have more than one surgery. That is ust another reason for holding me back from having one. I am sure though that you are starting to get excited as it is less than one month away....

Hi falceros,

Looking at where you started Im suprised that you opted for 3 procedures rather than 2. Was there any reason for this or was it just your personal choice?

I think you have a great plan moving forward. The work is in place now you just need a good fill in.

Thanks everyone,

Eman,

Thanks for your encouragement. Yeah, most people, especially people with more hairloss need more than one surgery

JakeVig,

I'm not sure I know what you mean. Are you suggesting I stop now? Or are you suggesting that I got 2 larger sessions to accomplish my goals? If your comment is regarding the latter, looking back, I would have preferred this to...but starting out, I really didn't know, truth be told, that 1600 grafts wouldn't be enough. Then it was simple...when I did more research, I knew I needed more, but Dr. True said he could only get 2249 grafts. So now I'm going to Dr. Hasson who has been famous for the largest graft extraction while still creating a thin scar. So I'm hoping this one will be it.

Troy,

Thanks man...I'm pressing forward and hope this surgery fills in a lot!

Falc

Hi falceros,

Yeah I was thinking that because you needed the optimal no of grafts that you probably could've got 2 large megasessions rather than 3.

Well it doesnt really matter now, you are well educated and from what I hear have got your scalp excercises going for the grand finale HT that will give you the result that you want.

Good luck with the Scalp excercises and your max graft HT with H&W!

Hey Falc,

I'm with you...............you've had some great work done, expecially the framing with Dr. True, but now you want to add density to finish things off!! Well, you're going to the right doc if you want high numbers, for sure. Since you've been doing the scalp excercises, it should help the harvest. If you get anything over 3000 grafts I think it will greatly increase your density.

Thanks for posting the updates in the past, they've been a big help to many. Looking forward to seeing your results. Keep us posted!

Thanks for the support guys. I'm satisfied with the position of the hairline at this point, so I'm basically just going for density now....and tweaking the hairline (not the position, but the feathering effect and density). My goal is to dense up the front as much as I can and then go back as far into the crown as possible, making for a natural look. I want to cover the whole crown too, but I know it just won't be as thick as the rest. I'm ok with that...but I definately want some crown coverage in this run.

Falc

Falc

Falceros, the greatest of luck in your upcoming surgery! During the next two weeks go crazy with scalp exercises. Every 15 minutes you spend can yield you another few hundred grafts!

I've been looking at your before and after pics. If Dr. Hasson can pull off a biggie (between 4 and 5 k) you will have awesome coverage! Also, Dr. Hasson will refine your hairline and it will become even softer. My second HT hairline is now really showing and it is even superior to Dr. Hasson's first!

hlcomp.jpg (88 Kb, 2935 downloads) Bushy's hairline comparison

Hey Bushy,

Thanks for your support and encouragement my friend. I have been doing at least 30 minutes a day with these exercises and I'm to the point where I can't wait to be done with them. They are easy enough to do, but it puts a little strain on my neck and tires out my arms...but my scalp is feeling good...I think.

Oh man...if Dr. Hasson can get 5K, I tell him to go for it. I'm happy with the position of my hairline, now I just needs some density and as you say, refinement.

Nice pictures man...your results make me excited to get this show on the road!

Falc

Falc, dude if you get 5000, your going to be one hairy man!!!!!
BTW, are you going to lower your hairline at all? Or are you just going for maximum density???
Either way, good luck!!!!!

I think if you bought and used Toppik, you wouldn't need another surgery. Your hair looks pretty good/natural.

Thanks for the comments guys.

B Spot,

I will not be lowering my hairline...I'm satisfied with it's position. I do want it to be refined, softened and of course, thickened with density...so I'll lave that to Hasson. But I think my hairline is in a good and natural position and figured there is no point to lower it.

dhuge67,

That might be true. I've tried Dermatch, but haven't tried toppik. BUT, to me, the point of these surgeries is so that I don' thave to use products like that. I prefer to have a thicker more natural head of hair that I can just wash, come out of the shower, dry and leave...you know? Plus, with Dermatch and Toppik, it's not only some work, but I can never quite get my hair color quite right, plus, I may have to wash out and repeat if I mess up.

Falc

Good luck Falc. I agree with you on the toppik and other products. I don't want to have to use them either. I think you'll have the density you desire after this one. I look forward to watching your progress.

Good luck brother - you are in the best of hands! Keep us all in formed on your experience!

Regards
Spex

Falceros, when do you leave for your surgery? Where do you live? Good luck with everything. I can't wait to read your updates. You're a good guy and deserve the very best, which you certainly will get!

Thank you all for the encouragement. I really appreciate it. Having a community like this is what it's all about.

Bushy,

I lave on 10/18 and have surgery on 10/19 returning home 10/20. I imagine I'll be posting some pictures by 10/21 or 10/22.

Thanks again guys!

Falc