Hair transplant did not grow. Any advice?

[AfterHair]

AfterHair,

Thanks for the kind words my friend. Most people dread the "C" word and most of the time, it's not easy for me to discuss. But I do so to give other people hope. You have no idea how many emails that I received several months ago when a sole poster was accusing me of being hypocritical with my motives for helping others. I am not being critical of him because I truly believe he was genuine of his convictions and a victim of poor HT work in the past. Actually, he's a good guy IMHO. The truth is that I spend far more time with volunteer hospice support than posting in these forums and unfortunately, most of the people referred to me do not survive. So although my hair thinned greatly from the chemo, I am very grateful for it but care far more about people than hair.

Most of these were men who are presently dealing with various cancers. I also heard from a few women with breast cancer and one with cervical cancer. It blew me away. It ended up to be more of a moral support and counseling exchange instead of recommendations. Most of them wanted advice in getting procedures to replace hair lost from cancer treatments like chemo. Some guys had both chemo and radiation and lost everything on their scalps. A few had more of a advanced thinning of their hair density/mass but I strongly urged them "not" to have any HT surgery.

They were not late stage or terminal cases like mine but still, it is ill-advisable to think HTs is the answer when losing hair to cancer treatments. If the individuals survive after treatment, the hair will grow back in most cases. So it's really a matter of waiting and nutrition.

As far as finasteride goes, I started consuming low dose in 1996 and to this day. Because of my health history of cancer and diabetes among other things, I have a complete blood work/labs done every three months like clock-work. Amazingly, my PCP tells me that I have great numbers in every category. My glucose is high sometimes but I watch what I eat and purposefully eat nutritiously. Finasteride is still to this day keeping my crown from thinning and spreading out. So honestly, to some degree I still do care about not being bald. I don't think we ever stop caring about that because we all once had hair and when we lose it, there is still a sense of loss.

I do exercise regularly with a cardio plan and light weight lifting for toning. I also earned a black belt in Taekwondo, Mudokwon style so I strengthen my body without any heavy weights. Not trying to gain muscle mass, just staying in shape. I am somewhat limited in jogging because I only have one lung, but there are many ways to skin the cat if you know what I mean.

BTW, my photo was taken at a studio just before the chemo started. My wife wanted a current photo in case that I did not survive the cancer. My hair density is thinner than that now but that's ok and not shaken by it. I had four separate FUHT procedures totaling 6900 grafts to get to the point in the photo.

Your pics are absolutely awesome and you obviously have experienced some great success and transformation. I am sure you are happy with your own results my friend...take care and thanks again!

Gillenator, wow what a story.
I already had respect for you based on your posts on hair loss forums.. but knowing where you have come from, and the place in your heart that your desire to help others comes from, I have even more respect for you.
Thank you so much for being a great guy. I've only read about how tough it is to volunteer or work in hospice, and most people couldn't imagine actually doing that.

Regarding your limitation in jogging, it reminded me of the movie Seven Pounds, where Will Smith's brother was jogging and said "I'm in the greatest shape of my life". At the end of the movie, we realized he was actually jogging and living with just 1 lung. I know its a movie, but it is nice to know that a person can be in good shape with 1 lung. Clearly, with your exercising and black belt in Taekwondo, you're an example!

I'm glad I got to hear about your nutrition and that you continue to take Finasteride. Honestly, your story was inspiring and got me thinking more about my poor nutrition habits. I think I need to follow your example of better nutrition and exercise, and will continue to take Finasteride.

We're all kind of in this together.. like it or not, we are a brotherhood of hair loss sufferers.. some people farther up on the path than others (you mentioned you've been taking it since 1996). I appreciate having the advice of people with more experience (4 HT's 6000+ grafts) and wisdom.

Thanks again pal..