Follow My Major Repair

[topccat29]

Hi all,

Here is my 10 month update, I`ve included a pre op picture for comparison.

Pre op

10 months post op

 

[Westcoaster]

The beard hair certainly seems to be maturing, whats the next plan?

 

[Optimist]

Looks like excellent yield! Seems like a lot of hair considering how few grafts were implanted.

Any chance we can get an after shot with the hair dry?

 

[topccat29]

The plan next is to use all the available scalp donor on the sides, which is not much. While also adding beard and chest hair. I still have quite a way to go, but as I have stated before just this initial procedure has made a world of difference while using a concealer.

Since about 50% of the fue's were body and beard hair they were mostly singles. With that being said, I would agree that the growth has been more than I expected.

Optimist, I will try to take some more photos with dry hair. I was so excited when I got this one picture because I thought it came out fairly clear. In fact I missed last month's update because it's been so frustrating trying to take a good picture. It usually comes out too dark or the flash is too strong.

Give me a few days and I will post another picture.

 

[janna]

Thanks for the update. It's been interesting following your progress for number of reasons. Your hairs just below the lateral humps look fairly thick. We had a fue patient who wanted some of his hairs in that region thinned out to use as donor hairs. Don't think it was as thick as yours. We didn't comply but has that ever come up for you? You mention taking from the sides but how high? Just wondering if we're referring to the same area.

 

[topccat29]

Hi Janna,

I had 2 hair lifts so that hair has been pulled up on the sides. Because of this it should be provide for stable donor hair. But I also have some scars that it helps cover so it has to be done carefully.

It really is almost too thick near the top and I would like to thin it out a little to also give my hair some balance. So I understand your point.

When you ask how high, I do believe it would be safe to take it anywhere on the sides, even at the very top.

 

[janna]

"Hair lift" as in scalp reduction? No wonder your sides and lateral humps look so thick. How many more procedures do you plan on having?

 

[topccat29]

Janna,

A hair lift is slightly different and actually very radical now that I look back on it. I speak to several other repair patients who have had the same procedure and we all realize we could have easily died on the table being under a general anesthetic. Too many clinics neglect to speak about all the problems with specific procedures and tend to focus on only the positive. Of course this has made me very hesitant with having further work done, and careful in my choices and why I have waited so long to improve my situation. Here is a link to information on the hair lift procedure. Obviously no one showed this to me at the time, I wonder why. http://www.angelfire.com/indie/hairtransplant/scalp.html

Please don €™t take my message here as being negative because actually I learned so much from all my experiences, especially on how the medical industry works and business in general. It has actually helped to keep me and those around me healthy and avoid doctors and not believe what they have to say just because they have a medical degree. I see it all around me, people take a doctor €™s word as gospel instead of finding out for themselves. And unfortunately doctors use this to their advantage. Okay I will get off my soapbox now.

As far as how many procedures I plan on having I would like to take it just one step at a time. But I also would like to take it as far as I can. This small procedure really worked out well for me and the growth was very good, so maybe several small procedures are the way to go. I have seen too many massive sessions that were complete failures and I don €™t think I would like to go there.

 

[bullitnut]

looking good tc...very happy for ya!!

 

[zionaxel]

Good for you Topcat , if anyone deserves a good result its you. Also good to post the link about scalp reductions and scalp lifts to show the horrific shit that used to go on.

This was the type of crap that was about when we were looking in H.T ´s.

 

[topccat29]

As you can see the hairlift is a pretty radical procedure. One might ask what exactly was I thinking at the time. I don €™t know what I was thinking. The doctor made it sound so simple and explained how it would really solve some of the problems I had with previous procedures. Like the majority of the population you become conditioned to believe that a doctor would always put the well being of the patient before any monetary gain. This of course is totally untrue and it took all these experiences for me to learn that lesson. This includes the old 4mm punch graft procedure and multiple strips.

I still see others being misled in this industry. All it takes is a little hype and it draws all the desperate prospective patients in very fast, with little regard for the any possible consequences. This is why I was so deeply offended when HTN banned me from posting on their forum. Their explanation that my promotion of fue being dangerous left me dumbfounded. I think we could all agree that I have been through some very dangerous procedures and at this point I would know the difference. The truth is fue in the right hands is the least dangerous of all the HT procedures. But my being banned has nothing to do with promoting a dangerous procedure at all. It has to do with protecting their list of doctors that pay a fee and to keep promoting strip. To make myself clear I am not against strip if that is what one chooses, what I am against is the suppression of information all in the name of profit. I find this total disregard for the patient to be completely despicable. Patients don €™t need to hear about the adventures of Balding Bob, they need honest and accurate information to make good decisions.

But I also know this same mentality is pervasive throughout the medical industry, all one needs to do is a little reading. So the same system of limited information and trying to sway patients in a specific direction will also come back to haunt them when they in turn need any sort of medical intervention.

I should correct myself here. I wasn't told that the fue procedure itself was dangerous, but that my promotion of the procedure was dangerous.

 

[topccat29]

Optimist wrote:

Looks like excellent yield! Seems like a lot of hair considering how few grafts were implanted.

Any chance we can get an after shot with the hair dry?

Hi Optimist,

Here is a 10 month picture with dry hair.

 

[topccat29]

Optimist you can easily see several of the beard hairs toward the back as a good percentage of them were gray. I was asked about the texture on another forum and it all blends in very well for me. One of the great advantages of fue in my opinion is that you can start out with a small session, just add a little hair and you will not have any regrets. No scars to hide or anything to feel ashamed about.

Of course it €™s too late for me as I have several scars, but it €™s really something someone with a virgin scalp needs to consider.

 

[Optimist]

Topcat,

thanks for posting the new pic. I think it looks like a lot more hair when it is dry. Seems like BHR is getting excellent yield.
I agree with your thoughts on FUE. It allows you to test the waters with minimal commitment.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed re the recent developments with Acell, especially because of what it could do for guys like you.

 

[topccat29]

Optimist, thank you.

The Acell thing would be nice, but so far I have seen too much hype with no photographic evidence. Just being a realist here. How hard is it to pluck a small sq cm area bald and place those hair in a similiar area that is completely bald. Take photos of both the growth and regrowth and present several cases.

I have not seen this yet, but I do see larger procedures being performed or offered already. That's a giant red flag, with bells and sirens going off. But this is just my opinion from what I have seen over the years.

Best of luck to those that decide to jump in, those days are over for me. I would rather go with something that has proven results with people who care about what happens to their patients.

 

[martinvain]

Hi Topccat,

The 10 months pics look really good and given the amount of FUE placed over the area I think its turned out well for you.

Any chance I can be a best and ask what your hair looks like now with concealer?

Did BHR give any indication how much beard hair they would be willing to harvest from you? Would you be willing to max this out?

Cheers.

 

[topccat29]

Martin no problem with posting a picture using a concealer. I sent one to Big Mac and I am sure he will have it up soon. I have gotten much better at taking pictures which makes it easier. I remember from setting up dart boards that florescent lighting was important in preventing shadows. I now use the same lighting to take pictures and don €™t need the flash. The pictures come out much clearer and maybe this information will be useful to others.

I €™m not sure how much beard hair I can use on the next procedure. I have no problem having it all harvested but I €™m not sure if that is possible and certainly it probably would not be something that could be done in one procedure. I am content with just making small improvements over time. It makes everything less stressful and affordable at the same time.

My weekend job requires me to be in front of hundreds and hundreds of people. As you can see, especially with the extra hair it's not even an issue.

 

[Sparky]

topccat29 wrote:

One of the great advantages of fue in my opinion is that you can start out with a small session, just add a little hair and you will not have any regrets. No scars to hide or anything to feel ashamed about.

Of course it €™s too late for me as I have several scars, but it €™s really something someone with a virgin scalp needs to consider.

This is very well put and exactly how I feel about this.

 

[topccat29]

Here is 10 months using a concealer.

 

[topccat29]

I think the previous picture was a few months after the procedure. Here is a picture from this week.