New user; 7-weeks post-procedure

[win200]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys; like everyone else, the waiting is killing me, and the paranoia isn't fun (did my transplant fail? etc.).

I'd love a little reassurance re: shock loss, even though I know most of the info. I'm at 8 weeks now, and I'm definitely experiencing a little shock loss. Before my HT I would find about 10-20 hairs on my hands between shampooing and conditioning, and now I'm at about 30-35, although it varies a little every day. It's not freaking me out, but it does make me a little uncomfortable, and there's that nagging worry in the back of my head that, although I know native hairs typically regrow after exiting the resting phase, I'll somehow be the exception and end up worse off than before my HT. I'm a little reassured about the shower loss because my hair is pretty long and thick (see original pictures), so when I shed the normal ~100 hairs throughout the day, most don't leave my head and just stay trapped by the bulk (I also use a sticky molding paste). My hairline had been receding at the temples very, very slowly over the past few years (I'd say 3 millimeters tops since about '04).

Anyway, I know that every says shock loss occurs within the first three months, but does that mean it usually stops in its tracks at three months, or that it should be tapering off around two month-ish? I.e., when does most of the shock loss typically occur within that window?

As always, I really appreciate encouragement/comments/etc. You guys are great, and I'm thankful every day that I found this forum.

[kd]

All I would say is after 7 weeks you can not even tell you had anything done, like scar or mark wise.

7 weeks is way to early to tell. I am still in the waiting game. Cant wait to see your results.

[J_B_Davis]

It’s just a waiting game now. The placement looks ok so things should work out.

[bigonefive]

The post-op photos look fine. It tends to take most people a good 3 months to begin to see some of the transplanted hairs to grow back in, and you may not see significant results until the 6 month mark. I wouldn't worry too much yet...it's looking fine to me.

[win200]

Thanks to both of you--I really appreciate it. Like I said, there's really no objective reason to be worried. Both the doctor and his office have been very responsive to calls/emails (including giving his home number), and I got a very nice call today from his assistant, who told me that 7-8 weeks is when lots of patients get antsy/fearful because they haven't seen growth, and they like to check in and answer questions or provide reassurance.

I also liked Niedbalski because I walked into his office for my consult wanting to completely cover my receded temples and push towards a quasi-juvenile hairline, and he talked me out of it and into a smaller, more conservative procedure. He said that he prefers to move incrementally to let people adjust to a new hairline rather than installing a drastic change that someone might regret. I really appreciated that, because he essentially turned down graft proceeds and accepted the possibility that I'd be happy with a smaller procedure and never return. (He also gave me ~250 free grafts, for a total of 1450 instead of the contracted-for 1200) I know that that kind of honesty doesn't necessarily translate into surgical competence, but I think it probably has some correlation to caution and genuine care about a patient's welfare, which probably leads to better handling of grafts and lower likelihood of transplant failure.

I've attached a few more postop pics that show the grafts. I think these are about seven days out, so not immediate post-op pics, but better than nothing. Thanks!

[Delphi]

It’s really hard to tell what’s going on at this point. Dr. Steve Gable is actually an incredible hair transplant surgeon and he’s an IAHRS doctor in Seattle and of course as you mentioned there is Hasson and Wong, so if you are concerned you should go see one of them to have them check you out. They might make you feel better about your decision. Even though it was a very small amount of grafts it looks like the skin is healing well so I’m sure you’ll come out fine.

[bigonefive]

It's hard to tell during the doldrums, since the transplanted hair is resting, but I'm very curious to see how things develop. Definitely post some pictures down the road once the transplanted hair begins to poke through. Do you have any immediate post-op pics? That would give us a better idea.

[win200]

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I'm particularly curious if anyone has any experience or familiar with Dr. Niedbalski. Again, I have no reason at all at this stage to suspect that I didn't receive good work, but obviously finding out about IAHRS after the fact is a little confidence-shaking.

[win200]

Hello, all. I've been lurking around here for a few weeks and figured it was time to introduce myself. I'm a 29-year-old in Seattle, and had 1450 grafts via strip with Dr. Niedbalski exactly 7 weeks ago, including PRP and ACell. I consulted with two docs in Seattle, which probably was a bit light, and I'm kicking myself for only discovering Drs. Hasson and Wong AFTER my procedure (they're only 2 hours away in BC). But I was generally impressed with Dr. Niedbalski, and at 7 weeks I obviously have no results yet, so no reason to suspect a bad outcome.

Prior to surgery I had a mild NW3 with miniaturization only at the hairline; Niedbalski used a scope all over my head and found no miniaturization anywhere but the edge of the frontal hairline. Both docs predicted that I'm programmed for a NW3 pattern. Neither doctor recommended Propecia, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable taking it, regardless. I'm not using minoxidil.

Pictures are attached; the first three are before surgery, 'Postop' is about a week after the operation, and '7weeks' were taken a few minutes ago. Thoughts/comments welcome. I'm obviously at the depths of the 'ugly duckling' phase and had a little shock loss at the forelock, but nothing that I felt was alarming and based on the number of hairs on my hands following shampooing, loss has subsided to pre-op levels.