maki 2000 grafts

hello everybody!

well its time to post some pictures of my progress here and i also have couple of questions aswell.
first,sorry for my bad english,im still trying to improve it!

well im 32 y old and had 2000 graft procedure 6 weeks ago.
Everything went fine,no pain and no shock loss in recipent area.

BUT,i have a lot of shockloss around donor area (scar) and its very visibile even with my long hair covering it.
Im very depressed cuz of that,but im hoping it will grow in next couple of months.

One year ago i visited my first HT doc who said i need 3000 grafts in front . and he guaranteed no shock loss!
i didnt decide to go with him.

My second doc said that adding 2500 in front will give me 3X more density.
I didnt go with him...

My third doc said that my frontal hair has about 1500 grafts and we can add 1500 on sides (pic 6 and 7) and 500 grafts to rest of my frontal area. (2000 total)

I decided to go with this option.

Now,its way to early to say about final result,but i hope i did right decision.

My questions for u guys are-

Looking at my pics,do you think 1500 grafts on sides and 500 in rest of my frontal hairline will make cosmetic difference? Will 1500 grafts on my sides match to my existing hair that i have in front?

I went to 3 different docs (they are all members of coalition) and they all told me different things!

If my hairlos progress in future,do u think my hair will look strange because of this transplant?
thanx in advance!

I hate to pile on, but 2000 grafts are not enough. You seem to be a diffuse thinner and you will need north of 4000 for a dense head of hair on top. Given the degree of thinning, it is very likely that whatever native hair you have on top will fall too.

What's done it's done now; no need to get aggravated over it since you can't change anything. Once this grows in, talk to another doctor who is not afraid of "megassesions" and provided you plan with future loss in mind, go for another one.

Hi Maki,
Congratulations on your hair transplant. Here's my take on you questions:

1) Cosmetic difference? - Yes, I think you sides will fill in nicely and blend well with you exising hair. The 500 in front - well, it'll add a little to the area.

2) Obviously if your hairloss progresses you'll need another procedure. It depends on how much it progresses. The only way to prevent this is to place about 5k grafts all over a NW-5 area, so that once your native hair falls out you'll have something still there. Different philosophy, different approach.

BTW - you might not have the density and laxity to get 5000 grafts in one session. So don't fret over it. Your donar area does not look very dense.

thanx guys for response

well first my donor area is not dense so i dont think i could get even 3000 gr from there.
second i dont think i really need more that 2500 grafts now.
I posted now my pre op pictures.
with any grafts more than 2000 i would have shock loss,according to my surgeon.

Post op pictures i posted before are with wet hair and sunny light,but i dont think i look so bad in real life.
thaths why i always asking here other people to post clear pistures with sunny light and same size of hair (post and pre op).

anyway,im not even thinking about second procedure,i can live with further hairloss,i just hope my transplanted hair will not look odd if i lose more hair!

here is first pre op front pic:

gggg.jpg (71 Kb, 82 downloads)

second pre op pic

gggggg2.jpg (160 Kb, 74 downloads)

third pre op pic

gggggg3.jpg (134 Kb, 80 downloads)

maki,

Dr. Keene is known to be an excellent hairline doctor. I would trust her opinions and let your surgery take its course. Don't listen to 4000+ suggestions... totally ridiculous!

I gues it's a matter of opinion. Personally, I would NOT be happy with just 500 grafts here (front area) http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=displayal...deshow&x_startwith=1

It also depends on expectations and downtime wanted. I would rather bite the bullet and assume that the very thinning hair does not exist and pack it. But I know that not everyone can wear a hat for a long time, or take off so...to each his own.

quote:

Originally posted by Midiman:
maki,

Dr. Keene is known to be an excellent hairline doctor. I would trust her opinions and let your surgery take its course. Don't listen to 4000+ suggestions... totally ridiculous!

Judging by his pre-op photos and diffuse thinning, an ethical doctor would be concerned with permanent shock loss to the frontal area, as illustrated by what has already occurred with his donor scar. His hair may be too weak at this point to accept anything more than her assessment. At 32, he still has a lot of years before his MPB will play itself out. Megasessions are NOT the answer to every hair loss case and in regard to your earlier post, Dr. Keene is not "afraid" of doing them.

Maki, I agree that a different approach or philosophy is being followed here. You look like you have some thinning throughout your Male Patter, so with meds and a 2000 grafts you should be ok, for now.
The only thing I am disturbed about is your comment that you can live with further hairloss and that the transplants will not look odd if you loss more hair.
You should be prepared for at least one more surgery, probably 2 more if your donor allows. Once you begin this process, you need to understand that you are sugned up for future sessions. That may or may not happen with your situation specifically, but NO ONE can forecast future hairloss, so we have to look at this like you will eventually lose all your hair on top.
Regardless of which way you choose to approach this, you need to plan on doing another surgery. I am sure Dr. Keene advised you of this before you went ahead with the surgery, but I just want to reiterate this.
I hope the 2000 and meds work for you buddy!!!! You are in good hands, so relax and happy growing!!!!

yeah midiman is right,my hair is very weak so i think 2000 gr is ok for now. my hair was very weak since i was 16.
and the B spot,i tought next procedure is not option in near future,later who knows...
im on proscar for 6 months and i noticed already that my hair is in better condition.
only thing is maybe i noticed my frontal area is more thin since im on proscar...

anyway,we will see what future brings,now is too early to say anything about final result.
i hope my hair around donor area will grow again!

hi all
well this is my 7 month update,and im sory i have only 2 (bad) photos,
this site was great to help me to choose a right doctor and i found many other things that helped me to improve condition of my hair.
now after 7 months i can say- it was really worth 7000 bucks how much i payed for surgery!
my growth started 2 months after surgery and lasted until month 5.
in that time after 5 mo i stopped using MSM so i dont know if that was reason,but i doubt it.
Anyway,growth on my sides (where i received 1500 grafts) was good but density is still low and does not match my existing hair.
But when i stile my hair (look at my pics) its not noticable.
I also recieved 500 grafts between my existing hair.
bottom line,transplanted hair mixed with my existing hair give me nice result, but i wonder if i didnt have any (or few) existing hairs in the front how result would be....
im taking proscar every 2 days now and hope to keep now what i have,and most important thing- i dont have any more people saying: dude you are balding....
maybe result would be better if i have received more grafts but my donor area was not really dense according to the doctor....

maki-

Thanks for the updats. Density may not be where you want it but it's a huge improvement and I think it looks nice. Way-to-go!

I think that looks good Maki. At 7 months you still have some thickening to do. The conservative approach taken in your case was a good choice.

Your other option would have been something like this patient
,but you would take the very real chance of shocking out your existing hair.

Instead you went with an approach like this patient.

These are examples of philosophical differences among the doctors.

maki,

Thanks for the 7 month update. I'm glad you are pleased with your results so far. The good news is, your HT is not yet at full maturity. Still thickening to come and possibly some new growth. Keep us posted my friend.

Falc