TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp (1yr Update)

[theanimator]

Hi Everybody,

I'm intending on putting up a blog that tells about my experience and has a lot more pictures (I've been taking them every week).
But until then I thought I'd put up some progress pictures at 4 months. I'm very happy with the results so far!

I got my hair transplant from Sharon Keene, Jan 15. 1500 grafts into the temples and 600 into the crown.
Also...the "drawn-in" hairline isn't from the doctor, it was one I did a few months before surgery to get estimates from other doctors by email.
There isn't much noticable difference in the crown so far, so I didn't see any need to post pics of it.
Any questions, just ask.

 

[Hans Gruber]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

hey man

looks so far so good,how would you rate dr keenes surgery and practice?

 

[theanimator]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

I can't really imagine having things much better the day of surgery. Everyone was nice, courteous and accomidating. Dr. Keene even had mistaken and thought I was only going to have 1500 grafts in the temples and none in the crown. I think everyone was expecting that too, but they corrected it and did the crown too. I'm sure that added an hour or two to the surgery...but nobody complained.

When I need to get my next hair transplant in the future I'm definitely going back to her. If she's out of the business, then I'll go to her mentor Shapiro.

On another note, I started noticing growth at 2 3/4 months. It's all been uphill since then.

 

[nilla]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

Looks good bro.
Very similiar to my own hairline, the "before" pics :mrgreen: .

 

[metalheaddude]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

Hey man! Looks pretty good so far. I appreciate the effort involved in keeping a blog and progress pics and reports. I wish there was more stuff out there like this, it would really help people considering a hair transplant exactly what they are in for.

Few questions


I notice many hair transplant patients have grafts placed in front of the forelock hairline area as well when it often looks like this area is not balding or receading, then the grafts sweep around to the temples. But why do they do place grafts in front of the forelock hairline when it doesnt appear to be receading?? :dunno:


Also any pics of the crown?

How long did it take for the redness to die down? This seems to vary from person to person.

Thanks.

 

[theanimator]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

Hey,

A few more days and I'll have a website up.

As far as forelock graft placement, I discussed this a little bit with Dr. Keene. She said that you get the most "natural" look by having hairs transplanted completely accross the front of the hairline. I agree and think that at the very least this strengthens your hairline for future hairloss.

For me, the redness is kinda still there, just barely going away. I wore a hat constantly for the first 3 months...mostly BECAUSE of the redness. I didn't use any makeup to hide it because I could wear the hat to work. But if you can't wear a hat to work...you should look at buying some makeup because the redness does make your head look odd.

Here's a few pics from my crown. I had 600 grafts placed. The first was taken a few days after the surgery, the second at about 5 weeks, and the last was taken today.

 

[nilla]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

And, how much did you pay?

 

[Guest]

Re: TheAnimator 4 Months PostOp

Regrowth in the crown takes longer for most patients.

 

[theanimator]

1 Year Update

Well, it's been a year since I had my hair transplant from Dr. Keene. And let me tell you that I couldn't be happier! I look like I did when I was 18. I've heard nothing but compliments (from the people who know).

At around 9 months, it looked like I had started losing a buch of hair again. I would count 20-30 hairs in the sink at night. I started taking a multivitamin and Fish oil every day. But what I think was the problem is that the Fincar I was ordering off the internet wasn't very effective. Maybe I just got a bad batch, or maybe it wasn't even Fincar. In anycase I got a real prescription and bought the 5 mg Finasteride from Costco. So, I want to say this to everyone who's ordering their fincar off the internet. Go see a Dermatologist and get a Prescription! An 8 months supply at Costco was only $40! And you don't have to be a member to use their pharmacy. So, all in all, Costco is just as cheap if not cheaper than the internet.

Now, I'm only noticing a couple hairs each night. Nowhere near what it was in September.

Here are a few pictures of what I look like now:

 

[monitoradiation]

An 8 month supply of finasteride... Costs 40 dollars at costco?! O_O How can this be? A 4 month supply in Proscar would run me about 70-80 dollars... Maybe I ought to take a trip to costco and go to their pharmacy, since I'm not going to need the card, as you say. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, do you have any pictures of your crown? The front looks really really good; I can't even tell that there was an hair transplant done...

 

[theanimator]

By an 8 month supply, I mean 60 tablets of 5 mg. Then you cut the tablets into 1/4's. So 60x4=240...240/30 = 8.

The price is soo cheap (1/3rd) compared to other places like Walgreens. Give your local Costco's a call and ask what the prices are.


Here's my crown. The Flash doesn't help.

 

[monitoradiation]

Yes, I understand. Thanks for that! That's just awesome.

And yah, the flash makes it less flattering, for sure. But it doesn't lie, that's the good part :3

Edit: Oh my your crown pic was included 5 posts back... Did not read as clearly as I should've. Apologies.

 

[Petchsky]

Very nice work from Dr Keane. so, you had 1100 grafts in the front? it went a long way...do you know what your cm2 graft placement was?

 

[theanimator]

I got 1500 in the temples and 600 in the crown. Dr. Keene has a price break at 2100 grafts....so that's what I got. Sorry, but I don't know the density of cm2.

 

[Petchsky]

Thanks Animator, going for surgery on Monday, probably get 1500 in front like you, but my hair is quite fine so may take more to get the same effect.

Not many people seem to know their cm2, guess the Docs know what they are doing and match it to the thickness of your existing hair.

 

[theanimator]

Good Luck then Petchsky!

It's really exciting when you come home after the surgery and you get to look at your new hairline....then it's a little dissapointing when they fall out a week later. But at around the 3 month mark when they start to grow back, it'll be really fun to look in the mirror everyday.

The only thing I didn't like was the shots to numb my head...those hurt :crazy:

 

[Petchsky]

Thanks man. Yeah, i hear that's the worst part, but i'm okay with needles. Not looking forward to the downtime and hat wearing, hopefully i'll be able to cover it up quite quickly without the use of a hat, never liked wearing them, even when I was losing lots of hair.

:beer: Here is to hoping i'm a fast healer and quick grower.

 

[srod]

I'm looking at using Dr. Keene. I have my consultation scheduled next week. Can you give me any info on the scarring left behind? I generally cut my hair in the back to a 3 and I'm concerned that people would be able to see the scar left behind. Do you have any pics showing how that scar looks now after about a year?