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  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Jul 2012
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    402

    Default New user; 7-weeks post-procedure

    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.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Jul 2012
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    Default

    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.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
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    14

    Default

    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.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    545

    Default

    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.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Jul 2012
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    Default

    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!
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  6. #6
    Junior Member
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    Jul 2012
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    Default

    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.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    Dec 2008
    Posts
    409

    Default

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

  8. #8
    Member
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    Jan 2012
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    78

    Default

    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.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    402

    Default

    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.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
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    402

    Default 14 week update

    My digital camera ran out of batteries, so no pictures today; they'll be up shortly, though.

    My growth is pretty good, though I had a recent check-in with my surgeon and when I asked if most of the grafts had sprouted yet, he said "not by a long shot." Which is good news, because while I like what I'm seeing in terms of growth so far, it's not the density I'd hope for. But I'm not even at four months, so I know that most of the growth is yet to come.

    What concerns me is that I'm still seeing more shedding than I'd like to, even now that we're outside of what's considered the shock loss window. I posted earlier that I'd lost some density in the forelock area. On two follow-up appointments, the doctor said that will recover. I know that we always notice these things more than others, but it's thin enough there that I've been wearing my hair down over my forehead every day to cover it (that also covers the messy area where growth is starting). When I shampoo/condition, I'm seeing a varying amount of shedding--some days 15 hairs, some days 40. And they're not all miniaturized hairs, which is sort of alarming. The problem is that before my procedure, I wasn't really paying that much attention to my shedding and density, so it's hard to compare. I'd sort of glance at my hands to see how much hair was there, but I'd never count and pull hairs out of the suds. And I never paid much attention to density on the top of my head, and I'm concerned that it's thinning out now. It seems just a tad thing when I pull my hair apart and look through it, but I never did that before the surgery so I don't know if I've lost anything. I'm just very, very concerned that the surgery touched off shedding throughout the top of my head that didn't exist before. I asked the surgeon about the shedding by email yesterday, and he said any heightened shedding should resolve "within the next few weeks." How would he know that--and what if it doesn't?

    I also started Propecia one week ago at .25mg every other day. I really want to stabilize this shedding, because it's causing me lots of stress. I know the doldrums is a tough period and everyone goes through a rough time, but I just have this lingering worry about my shedding. And because my hair is pretty long on top, it's going to take the new growth longer to integrate. I'm just scared to cut my hair short for fear of revealing thinness at the top of the head.

    I've been trying to get in to see Dr. Gabel, but his staff doesn't seem to have any clue when he's going to be in his Seattle office next, which is a little frustrating. They told me September, then October, now they just don't know.

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