AMA: Travelled to Turkey to get an FUE Hair Transplant: 5000 Grafts, Dr Koray (ASMED) - BaldTruthTalk.com
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  1. #1
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    Question AMA: Travelled to Turkey to get an FUE Hair Transplant: 5000 Grafts, Dr Koray (ASMED)

    Hi Guys (& Gals?),

    Just wanted to quickly thank you all for your contributions to these forums. You really made a huge difference to my journey.

    After over an entire year of research, here's my input. I've tried to make it short and precise to exactly what I would've liked to know as I was making this decision.

    Started losing my hair at 21, now 29. I live in Sydney, and flew over to Istanbul to get an FUE Hair Transplant done. It was last year that my hair loss kicked into overdrive, with that tingling/sensitive/burning sensation that many of you might already know (ask me for more info if interested).

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pictures:

    Pre-op:

    https://imgur.com/jKO02ZT
    https://imgur.com/wiSKWNo
    https://imgur.com/nBXjqiO

    1 day post-op:

    https://imgur.com/3sjG7XB
    https://imgur.com/IYrujam
    https://imgur.com/KImhO7e

    16 days post-op:

    https://imgur.com/dVmh7aU
    https://imgur.com/p9755Xh
    https://imgur.com/mm9aPgf

    (You can see that there is some redness, and the hair is overall pretty thin. A lot of the hair had fallen, which I understand is part of the process)

    I'll update with more photos if people are interested.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Definitions

    - Donor area: The back of my head (and sides), where there is no hair loss.
    - Recipient area: Where the grafts are planted (Balding areas)
    - Graft: This is a follicle unit, and it can carry multiple hairs (1 to 6)
    - Total Donor Capacity: This is the amount I could extract, while still enjoying a natural-looking donor area. No harvesting beyond this amount.
    - Dr Koray Erdogan: There is a wikipedia page on him.
    - Patient Coordinator: This is the person that coordinates for you both information and logistics. He/She is also a translator and will be by your side for most of the operation.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Basics

    Age: 29
    Norwood: Probably 4
    Total Grafts: 5000 Grafts, Yielding 10,400 Hairs
    Operation Date: 17/April/2018 - Today is 16 days post-op.

    Total Cost Breakdown:

    2.5 Euro Per Graft for the operation and 3 day accomodation (together) + Extra Accomodation for comfort recovery (around 80 Euro per night) + Economy Ticket + Pocket Money

    12,500 + 240 + 840 + 100 = 13,680 Euro

    Finasteride: Yes. Started 1 month before the surgery @ 0.5mg, and now on 1mg for the next 12 months. See Finasteride Section
    Total Donor Capacity: 8,400 (At the clinic, I've seen people ranging between 6,500 and 9,400)

    Total Days: 7:

    1: Arrival and Planning.
    2: First operation - 2500 Grafts (Includes all three phases: Extraction, Incision and Implantation).
    3: 2nd Operation - 2500 Grafts.
    4: Washing and removal of bandages.
    5: Recover/Wash at the clinic/Eat Turkish Kebabs all night.
    6: Recover/Wash at the clinic/Eat Turkish Kebabs all night.
    7: Self-Wash on Sunday and Fly.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Payment

    I'm not a rich person, and have been worried about this aspect throughout the entire process. I eventually decided to take out a bank loan of the total amount, and signed to pay it off over 2 years (with a 10% interest rate).

    I transferred the maximum amount allowed by the clinic (3,000 Euro) via WorldFirst, which had the best exchange rate. And I carried the remainder in cash (exchanged AUD to EUR via TravelEx - I actually negotiated a rate, just like a peasant. lol)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Operation

    The first day is all about planning. You get photographed, and then Dr Koray will study the degree of your hair loss and where the grafts would be best placed. He builds a strategy for you, and explains it in detail.

    I have to mention that Finasteride was part of this strategy for me, since I agreed to stick to it. This means that the Dr would focus on the areas where I've completely lost my hair, and go easy on the areas that are simply thinning. As he explained it, after 1 year, Finasteride would've hopefully done it's magic on the thinning areas, and the bald spots would simply grow the implanted hair. He also shared with me some examples of what the result should look like (where a person didn't transplant hair into a thinning area, and it was pretty dense eventually). Naturally, if you decide you don't want to take the drug, I'd imagine the strategy will be different.

    I had to do the operation over 2 big sessions, 2500 grafts each. Each session is 3 parts: Extraction, Incision and Implantation. Both the Extraction and Implantation parts are conducted by a team of surgeons dedicated to you, and the incision session is conducted by Dr Koray himself. Just like many on these forums, I've criticised this method, as I wanted to work with a clinic where the Dr does all the stages himself. When I went to the ASMED clinic, I realised that you're paying for the methods, tools and process, and not for who does the work. The extraction and implantation sections did not seem super technical, as the entire team were relaxed and even chatting/listening to light music while conducting these parts. I trusted this, since the Doctor was checking in on the team every few hours, and then does a final check in the end.

    Dr Koray conducted the incision session himself, surrounded by the entire team.

    While I was there, I verified my understanding of the process, and requested to see each tool being used. Everything on their website is true, including the punch tool's diameter (which is designed to leave really tiny holes in your donor area).

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Talk to me about Pain

    Of course it's painful! What did you expect? It's surgery! lol I personally underestimated how painful this operation would be. Here's what you need to know:

    They use local anaesthesia to the area where they want to operate, and THAT part is painful. Also, as the anaesthesia wears off, you'll start feeling the stings depending on the session. You will need to notify the team when this happens, so they can re-inject that area. The other patients spoke about different levels of pain (either more or less), so I'm guessing my experience is not consistent.

    While sitting, I experienced some lower back pain, which is the same pain I get when driving long distances. You can ask for a pillow to help.

    1 day post-op, my recipient area was really painful (as the wounds were healing). And the inability to sleep (due to the pain, jet-lag and required awkward sleeping position) did not help at all. The post-surgery pain went away at around day 8.

    Worth mentioning that the clinic has an anaesthetist who checks on your every half an hour during the operation. He has given me all kinds of drugs to help with my pain. I caught him for some painkillers every day before leaving.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Patient Coordinator

    There are several patient coordinators at ASMED. They are probably assigned based on what language you speak (and there are quite a few that speak English). I worked with the coordinator Esen, whom I highly recommend. She had answers for me before I asked the questions, and is still evaluating progress to this day.

    I've observed the other coordinators while I was there, they were OK! But all the other patients agreed that I had hit the jackpot with Esen being my coordinator. If you're doing this at ASMED, and you're an English speaker, I recommend you ask for her.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Other Patients

    There will be other patients while you're there. I have to admit, it was refreshing to meet people who are in the same boat as me. It was like going to an AA meeting for baldness (lol ok bad joke, but you get it). We spent time together at the hotel, and at the clinic. I highly recommend you mingle and get to know these guys. We discussed things like: Expectations, Finasteride Side Effects, Do's and Don'ts, Pain, etc. Me and the group eventually started a whatsapp group to share progress. I honestly found that this made the entire thing easier for me.

    What surprised me though was that some of the other patients were rather careless. Some were smoking straight after the operation, others didn't come wearing the correct clothing (a buttoned shirt) and some hadn't done much research. But anyway, each to his own.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Work Leave + Planning the stay

    I booked 3 weeks of annual leave, and told my boss that I'll be getting an operation done. I was honestly not comfortable sharing this information, but the team would've known anyway because I expected some redness for at least 2 months after the operation. My boss requested that I take my surgery time as Sick Leave, which was awesome. They also agreed that I work from home for 2 weeks after I'm back from leave - How awesome is that? I figured that was definitely sufficient time for me to get back on my feet, and almost fully recover (and not still look like a patient).

    So..1 Week (Sick) + 2 Weeks (annual leave) + 2 Weeks Work from Home. Try to pull this off if you can, for maximum comfort.

    For the surgery, I arrived on a Monday, and left on Sunday. This worked really well for me, because I didn't want to fly straight after the operation looking like an alien (and dealing with the pain on the plane). Also, if you stay, the clinic will give you a wash every day, including Saturday. Which I thought was a no-brainer, because I was too paranoid about touching my head myself.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Emotional Aspect

    I wasn't too anxious about the operation. I felt that I had done enough research and planning that I was ready and excited. Everyone at the clinic is very warm and welcoming.

    After I was done with the operation, I went back to my hotel room, and was in a lot of pain. I looked at myself in the mirror, and wept a little. Yes. The whole thing had hit me like a raging truck - The whole hair loss journey had been painful, and horrible. And look at what I'm doing to fight it! Look at how I've put myself in financial jeopardy, just to fix this stupid-ass DHT sensitivity gene that I'm carrying. It's horrible, everything about it is horrible! How much valuable time did I spend on my hair loss problem? It's incredible. I used to be at least 10 times more confident with a full head of hair. And I've spent every day in the last 9 years looking in the mirror, and thinking.."****! It's happening!".. but acting like it's all "good in the hood". No, it's not good! It's awful! And I could not believe how far I was willing to go to fix it. There I was, in my hotel room, with a burning scalp, a hole in my pocket and looking a lot like ET.

    I then got it together and ordered a tub of chocolate ice cream to make me feel better.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finasteride

    Of course I was going to have a section for this drug. I was absolutely terrified when I started researching it, and I found it very odd that the clinic recommended this drug before even meeting me.

    I started using a generic Finasteride brand 1 month before the operation (@ 0.5mg), and for some reason, I lost a good 30% of my hair during that period. I found that very strange, but there have been people online reporting the same thing.

    The clinic was disappointed that I had gone for a generic finasteride brand, and that I only took 0.5mg. Everyone in the clinic emphasised that I stick to the products produced by Merck. I had an argument with the anaesthetist about this, and I presented my research and why I felt generic finasteride was exactly the same. He agreed with me, but explained that his experience with patients of the clinic showed that both Propecia and Proscar (Merck) have yielded the best results and least side effects - But anyway, why take the risk and go for a generic brand? Also, they weren't happy with the 0.5mg, and insisted I go for 1mg.

    The clinic provides you a year's worth of Finasteride, btw.

    I have had no side effects from the drug so far, other than the sudden hair loss at the very beginning.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Why I chose Turkey?

    After all the research I've done, it became clear to me that some of the top surgeons reside in Turkey. There isn't really a #1 surgeon out there, but I know quality when I see it! And Dr Koray's work has fascinated me every single time. There are a lot of examples of his great work, and I have literally found no poor results so far. I even translated Turkish forums to see how he's performing from their perspective, and it's all nothing short of excellence.

    For the price, and what you're getting in quality, Turkey was definitely the best option for me.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Logistics in Istanbul

    This was all arranged. A fancy mini-van picked me up from the airport, and transported me back and forth from the clinic everyday. I stayed in the Radisson Blu Hotel, very close to the clinic. Breakfast was provided, and I used google translate to order food online (via yemeksepeti.com)

    I didn't get to go out much, although I really wanted to explore Istanbul, but I was too jet-lagged/in pain. There was a point I even got dressed and went out for a few minutes, but decided to go back to my room in fear of fainting.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Other Matters

    - I've done some research on what to take that could help with recovery. Here's what I'm on:

    - Vitamin D
    - B-Complex
    - Biotin (2000mcg minimum)
    - Omega 3-6-9
    - Magnesium Threonate (Not Citrate or anything else)
    - Zinc
    - Aloe Vera (on my donor area once a day, starting day 8 post-op)
    - Finasteride 1.25mg (Because of Proscar)

    I buy all my supplements in Australia from iherb.com - I'm pretty sure it's the cheapest out there. If you're buying supplements, my advice would be to consider quality. A good way is to use the website Labdoor.com to see independent product research.

    - A super high quality neck pillow is your best friend if you're getting a hair transplant. Trust me.

    - Not many people speak English in Turkey. For example, the drivers don't speak a word of English. Would be good to have translation app handy. But, you don't have to worry about this at the clinic, since your coordinator will..coordinate..everything for you.
    Funny, I got a consultation in Australia for a hair transplant a few months ago. They recommended 2,000 grafts, at a similar price to my 5,000 grafts at ASMED. I confessed that I'm going for a 5,000 graft surgery and was just comparing. They would not believe that and said it was too much.

    - Expect some swelling after the surgery. Oh yes! I spent a day or two looking like ET.
    The maximum I've seen someone do in one session (over 2 days) is 5,500 grafts. Might want to ask the Doctor if you wanted to go beyond that.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Conclusion

    Overall, I'm very happy with the result. I still have some speculation about how well Finasteride is going to work for me. But I'm just keeping my fingers crossed as there is not much I can do beyond that.

    If my result turns out to be successful, I plan to coach people around me on this whole process.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Anyway, I hope all this was useful. If you would like to donate to help me repay the surgery loan, that would be crazy awesome:

    Bitcoin (BTC): 3HKyJZcxcNtxhH69ifedVSUG4zHorv9Rhq
    Ethereum (ETH): 0x15F72fa0B3B184251f57763dD081C4eBA2CD23e2
    Ripple (XRP): rUH3ZB7DsDCo9eU33ovUeWKwjqp61HEsCz



    Fire away! Ask me anything.

  2. #2
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    Default

    1 Month Post-Op (Shot last week):

    https://imgur.com/OLQvPPF

    https://imgur.com/jX6QXKH

    https://imgur.com/GbjRt3Q

    An incredible amount of shedding in the 3rd and 4th weeks. This is what's the left as the shed effectively stopped at day 33.

    In my mind (and according to all my research), the shedding is due to both the transplanted hairs going to sleep, AND because of the use of finasteride. I know this because I started shedding when I first got on finasteride (a while before the surgery).

    Anyway, so, no more shedding. Only 3-4 hairs in the shower.

  3. #3
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    I am not a candidate for surgery but thanks for posting. Looks good so far, hopefully it will thicken up in a few months and you can put this hairloss nightmare behind you.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by mrclean View Post
    I am not a candidate for surgery but thanks for posting. Looks good so far, hopefully it will thicken up in a few months and you can put this hairloss nightmare behind you.
    Why are you not a candidate? Was that something you decided yourself?

  5. #5
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    Donor area is too thin for FUE and I will not do strip. I research it for years and found the best guy I could and he told me the bad news.

    I still have a lot of hair but want to fill in the hairline.

  6. #6
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    Bro, I really recommend you contact Dr Koray. Just take some high quality photos and send them to him. What have you got to lose?

    Have you lost much of the hair recently? Finasteride could help in those cases.

  7. #7
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    I went to the one of the best guys in the world so if he wasn't willing to do it I'm not having it done. You have to have a physical consultation to determine if you are a candidate...photos only show so much. I'm on avodart and rogaine and with some hairspray looks like i'm a norwood 2-3.

  8. #8
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    Awesome Post. I'm booked with Dr Erdogan in December with Esen as well!
    Do you have an updated pictures?

  9. #9
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    I'm in the process to have a surgery in the same clinic. My coordinator told me that most patients are flying home after 1st hair wash. Would you recommend to book extra days for recovery? Was it worth it?

  10. #10
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    Default Any update

    Thanks for the info. I am also considering dr Erdogan but read about a few conflicting reviews. Are you happy with the results? Any pics to post?

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