Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

14 Months Post Op Wel, its now 14 months since the procedure. What a difference a year and a bit makes. It seems so long ago I was on the plane to Vancouver for the procedure, shitting myself about what may happen. Looking back now, its been a great ride and I don't regret it for a minute. The hair has all grown in well and the scar has shrunk a fair bit. Its still a little visible in places at a #3 but thats fine and was to be expected. The density on the top which was the problem area is much improved and hopefully if I need to go back in for another procedure in the future the good Dr Wong or Hasson will be able to get another 3-4000 grafts out to fill it in further. I cannot recommend Dr Wong enough and I'm sure Dr Hasson is the same. The results speak for themeselves and I'm very very happy with the way its turned out. Do your research and find the right Doc and its a great expirence. This will be the last update for me but I want to thank everybody for their support. This place is a great resource and was a huge source of encouragement and advice when I was looking at taking the plunge. Thanks all!

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

8 Months Post Op Well I'm now 8 months post-op and I'm happy to say I'm reasonably pleased with the way things have gone. There is a marked improvement between the before and after shots which at the end of the day is always the objective. I would love to have gotten an extra 1000 grafts out of there, but there's nothing that can be done now. The biggest improvement so far has been a mental one.  I no longer spend every day worrying about hairloss. I know that its a little thin, I know it always will be a little thin, but I'm happy with where its at and am pleased in the knoweldge that at some point in the future I'll get another procedure done that will top up what I've already had.  I'm still ocasionally using some Nanogen or Toppik but only if I'm going out with friends or family. This is a big change from before where I wouldn't leave the bathroom without something in there. I've attached some 8 month pics. Its a little overcast and you can just see drops of rain on the ends of the hair but this is about the length I normally wear it. The back is about a #4 - I buzzed it to a #4 a week ago.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

6 Months Post Op Well its the big six month mark. They say most of the growth happens around this time so I'm hoping for some more sprouts soon. Looking at my hair on a daily basis I've noticed it does appear a little thicker. Its when you compare to the pre-op photos you realise that its quite noticable. What I've come to accept is that my hair on top will always appear a little thing - I'm ok with that. What I hope is that these new grafts Dr Wong has given me will be enough to keep enough coverage on the roof to continue to make use of Nanaogen or Topik effective. So far so good. For these pics I got a #3 on the back and sides and the top is cut down to about 1 inch - much shorter than I usually go. It wasn't really my intent, but I went to a new hair dresser and she just decided to go on a  bit of a rampage. Anyway, it serves the purpose of showing what is and isn't growing. Thats all for this update. Hopefully I'll continue to see some growth past the 6 month mark. Fingers crossed!

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

4.5 Months Well its just under 4.5 months now and although its slow progress, I think I'm begining to see some growth. I had a haircut today, including a #3 on the back and sides. I was curious to see how visible the scar is. The barber didn't seem to notice it which is nice, but as you can see from the pics its still somewhat visbile in the right lighting. Hoping obviously for more growth in the coming months. I think my native hair has grown out quite a lot which gives the appearnce of thinker hair. I'm using a bit of Nanogen at the moment to help conceal and after the cut today I'll probably have to put a bit on the scar as well. Looks like a #4 is probably the best I can hope for on the back and sides - which was to be expected.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

3.5 Months Post Op Hey y'all I meant to do an update at 3 months but has travelling through the USA so didn't have the chance. In any event, I've just taken a bunch of photos to show (lack of) progress to this point. I've just buzzed the sides down to a #4 for these pics and the sides where a little wet. My hair has pretty much returned to its pre-op condition and length. Given I still had a bit of coverage on top its very difficult to see if any new hairs are growing yet. I've spent ages with a comb in the mirror moving hair asside to see if I can see any sprouts but alas I don't see anything yet. That said, it would be pretty difficult to spot them anyway. I guess I'll just have to look at the photos each month to see how progress is going. The scar is fine - I've had a couple of sores along it but I just ignored them and they went away in a week or so. I've started using Revita which is great - I don't know if it has any effect on the hair growth/loss, but it feels really good. I'm also in a position now where I can use Nanogen which is much better than the Toppik I've been using for years. Anyway, I'll try and do a couple of images at the fourt month mark and get a haircut to keep some consistancy as well.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

2 Months Post Op Well not a great deal to report at the 2 month mark. Shedding stopped a few weeks ago which was nice. No growth to report as yet but that is to be expected - another couple of months to wait until I see new shoots. I've had a bit of shockloss to the native hair in the recipient area and a small amount along parts of the scar on the left side as well. Still, hopeful that this will all grow back in the coming months. I've uploaded a few pics of the scar mostly just to show how different light can make it look more/less obvious. I clipped down to a #3 today for the pictures. All pictures are taken in natural day light and without flash.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

1 Month Post Op Well its now been a full month since the procedure. On the positive side I'm rather pleased with the scar so far. Its a little red and visible on the left side above the ears but asside from that its not too bad at all. I've had my hair at a #3 since the procedure and whilst its occasionalyl visible it doesn't really both me. I'd hope that it continues to fade as time goes on and I'm sure that it will. On the negative side all my transplated hairs have pretty much fallen out. Whilst I knew they would. its horrible to see them go. I've never had my hair short on top (well, always been at least 2 or so inches) so having it down at about a #3 at the moment has fully exposed me and at this length with this amount of coverage theres no way even the wonders of Toppik or Nanogen can help me. I have a feeling I've suffered a little shock loss to the native hair but its very difficult to tell. In any event, I'm now just going to have to play the waiting game and hope that all of the little guys grow in the next few months.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

2.5 Weeks Post Op Well, just a quick update. Had the staples taken out at 14 days post op and never felt a thing. Very easy. Scar so far seems to be healing ok. I've kept the hear down toa #3 guard and its visible as you can see below but it does appear to be settling down and everybody who's seen it comments how thin it is/will be. I'm seeing a lot of hair in the shower now so figure most of the transplanted hair is falling out. Its tough to tell if any of my native hair is also falling due to the fact I was a diffuse thinner - we'll just have to wait and see I guess. I've been taking 6000mg of MSM, 2500mcg of Biotin and 300mg of Silica each day to try and speed up hair growth, we'll see how it goes. In any event I'm facing the world  without a hat now so thats a positive thing. I'll post more at the 1 month mark. Cheers!

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

5 Days Post Op Just a few photos to update. I was going to try and keep this up to date, just as much for my benefit to see how its all going as much as everybody else. Had some swelling a few days post op - started in the sides of the forhead and then made its way down to under the eyes. All gone now for the most part.  No pain at all from the grafted area. The staples are a bit of a bitch to sleep on but I'm just following the instructions given. Still using the travel pillow plus two pillows underneath. No real pain from the donor area at all. Most of the redness on the grafted area seems to have gone. The scar area feels fine if just a litte tight. Not much else to report at the moment - its too early to tell much.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

3 Months Pre Op There are a couple of the photos I sent to H&W along with others I took that day.  As you can see, there is still a good chunk of hair along the hairline thats helped me conceal for a while, but the top is getting a bit too thing to do much work with. You can see the front hairline is still acceptable but behind that it goes to hell.

Airbumps

Bald class: 4

Procedure 1

Day of the HT I had arrived at H&W for a quick consult with Dr Wong the previous evening. He had examined me and determined that my laxity was good as was my density.  We discussed what I wanted down and he determined we should have no problems getting 4500-4800 grafts. Dr Wong examined me again on the morning of the procedure and again stated my laxity was good and getting the required grafts would not be a problem. It was with great sadness then that half way through cutting my scalp he indicated my laxity wasn't as good as he first thought and we might not be able to get the required number of grafts. This really surprised me. I'd been doing the laxity exercises for about 2 months solid and to be honest was very disappointed. Given my laxity, Dr Wong also indicated he was only going to be able to do the tricho closure on parts of my scar, not all of it. It was at this point I started to have some negative feelings and images of 1cm scars. Had I made a horrible mistake? The feeling of helplessness crept in because it was too late to turn around now…. As for the procedure itself, well, all of you guys who say you didn't feel a thing are full of shit. It hurt, not excoriatingly so, but certainly enough. The initial anaesthetic  is the most painful, but even after the strip is taken I found the process of the incisions and placement of the grafts rather uncomfortable. That said, the girls doing the work where fantastic and made it clear to tell them when I felt pain. All in all it wasn’t too bad, but I must say it wasn’t the walk in the park some of these blogs seem to make it. After it was all said and done, we got 3999 grafts out which I guess isn’t too bad. I was a bit disappointed because the online consult I had indicated a need for 4000-4500 and I personally had been hoping to make it closer to 5000. Given I had travelled from Australia for the procedure it was a long way to go to return not completely satisfied. Still, I’m hoping that 4000 grafts is enough to complement my existing hair. I returned the following two days for a wash/pimple of prior to the very long journey back to Australia. The first night was a bit of a bitch for sleeping but buy the second it wasn't too bad. A little bit of blood on the pillow cover they gave me but all good.