Arocha 2357 grafts FUT/FUE combo with PRP 11/1/23: 2nd Procedure

[Gatsby]

Looking awesome @Steeeve. 💯 👊🏻

[Steeeve]

6 hours ago, Gatsby said:

Looking awesome @Steeeve. 💯 👊🏻

🙂thanks Gatsby! 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 7/3/2024 at 3:02 PM, Steeeve said:

Monday, the 1st, was 8 months post-op.

The hairs in the front have mostly sprouted and are currently growing out/still going through the maturation phase. At this point they are maybe an inch to an inch and a half long but while they are still very thin and wispy they add quite a bit of coverage along with everything else. 

As before, if I get out of the shower and brush my hair back, let it air dry, then the hair is quite curly. If I blow it dry then the hair is straighter.

I think overall the state of my hair is very good. It looks and feels very soft. It also looks very lush.

People I meet face to face have no idea that I have had anything done.

People who I’ve worked with for over a decade have no idea anything has been done but that is a testament to Dr. Arocha’s work. It makes that whole process of not having to shave your head very appreciated.

My crown has also made excellent improvement. When combed back there is almost no visible evidence that I’m a bald guy back there.

When I expose it for the camera you can see that there is still some room for improvement.

Compare that☝🏻to pre-op👇🏻

Lighting is different but I think that it’s fair to say that there is significant improvement.

I think that room for improvement should be expected at this point, though. I’ve still got months and months to go but I may be at the midpoint of this particular journey. I still feel a ton of stubble all throughout my scalp. In my crown, midscalp, even some in my hairline. So my assumption is that I still have quite awhile left to see even further improvement all throughout.

Overall I’m still very happy with how everything is going. I’m going to talk to Dr. Arocha next week for my 8 month follow up. If there’s anything significant to address afterward I’ll hop back into this thread to update.

Looks awesome. Crown is filling in nicely. Overall amazing results 👍🏼

[FUEtile]

How many grafts do you have left?

[Steeeve]

4 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

Looks awesome. Crown is filling in nicely. Overall amazing results 👍🏼

Thanks Melvin!

[Steeeve]

2 hours ago, FUEtile said:

How many grafts do you have left?

You know, I don’t have an exact number right now. When I went in for my first transplant the doc talked about it during the morning of but I was already getting pretty high from the Valium and I can’t remember.

When I went for this last procedure he told me I could easily get one more strip out of it before we moved into total FUE. My donor is still really strong. My lateral humps are still very high. I still have really excellent laxity. I’m not experiencing any sides from Fin.

I’ll bring it back up and find out.

[4chanhrn]

Superb results and you have a lot of donor resources to tap. The doc did a very good job managing your situation so well. I would be absolutely thrilled with where you ended up at. Also shows the value of strip if done right. You wouldn't have had as many high quality grafts if you had used FUE. Sure you can use beard or extend the donor area beyond the safe zone, but this is a better approach in lot of cases like yours.

[Steeeve]

Thanks @4chanhrn! I appreciate the love and I agree. Strip isn’t for everybody but it could be extremely beneficial for some guys in a situation similar to mine. 

[Steeeve]

I’m about 6 days early but this month was a big month. I would say I saw the most change this month in terms of the transplanted hairs thickening up. Still a long ways to go for the crown but in terms of where I started…holy moly. And the density in the front is truly amazing.

So.

Seeing as I don’t know how much will change in 6 days here’s a smidge early 9 month update.

I had my 8 month follow up with Dr. Arocha at the beginning of the month. They were really impressed by my progress. They didn’t think that my crown was quite at the halfway mark, however, it looked very good for where I’m at during this journey of growth. They felt the hairline and frontal third/midscalp was really thick and dense. I agree with all of it. 🤣 And I’m very happy.

Since my last update and even that FaceTime meeting my crown made significant change and is heading in a really good direction-not that I felt it was not moving in a positive direction before.

The hair in my hairline throughout my frontal third is a little over 4 inches long so that pretty much means it started growing around the 1 month mark. The hair in my crown is a little over 3 and a half inches so it seems that it started growing around 2 months. This is all give or take. None of the hairs are the same length and I still have sprouts all throughout that still have yet to take flight. They’re just sitting there, resting and feeling spikey.

Everything is blending very well.

Crown is first here. I blew my hair forward with the blow dryer to give you a good look at how it is blending. This is straight out of the shower and blown dry. There is no product or concealer in my hair.

Here the hair is pushed back followed by me parting it to better expose the grafts growing in the crown.

Overall, I’m really happy with the direction my crown is heading. I don’t think I’ve had that much hair in my crown since I was a teenager. That would mean it’s been about 25 years. My crown went first and I noticed it around 18 years old going into 19.

They say the crown takes longer to mature. Depending on your genetics and blood-flow to the crown. 18-24 months so maybe I’m halfway there?

Looking at my hairline is a different story. This could be my final result and I would be happy. I’ve still got months to go for more growth and maturation but…I’m there.

This is how I style it. 👆🏻The hair is long enough that it falls on my face and I’m constantly brushing it away. It’s an emotionally good feeling. 

Here I’ve got some more images of it styled.

Lastly I would like to address my hairline. 

I’ve had some private messages asking questions about the line, while everyone has been very respectful, things I have read are people saying that it’s “not very aesthetic” and that “I would need additional work to address it”. “The hairline is not as pristine as it could be”. I don’t think that’s an unfair assessment. It’s the opinion of someone(s) other than myself looking at it.

I will say that since this last transplant my confidence has gone through the roof. I’ve found work acting again with one project in reshoots and 2 projects coming in the very near future. Having seen myself moving around on camera I can objectively say that only your keen eyes are going to be able to tell the difference. No one in my every day to day life can tell about what they are looking at.

I will also say that more work in my hairline is not on my radar just yet in terms of further work I would like to have done. I would like to wait to see how this turns out and from there address further filling in throughout and then throwing some grafts into my scar.

I would like to give a huge thanks to Dr. Arocha and his team. They’ve helped me feel very very good about the future.

That’s pretty much all for now, per usual.🙂 If anything changes in a week I’ll update again. I hope all is well with everyone ✌🏻

Edited July 26 by Steeeve

[Al - Moderator]

10 hours ago, Steeeve said:

I’ve had some private messages asking questions about the line, while everyone has been very respectful, things I have read are people saying that it’s “not very aesthetic” and that “I would need additional work to address it”. “The hairline is not as pristine as it could be”. I don’t think that’s an unfair assessment. It’s the opinion of someone(s) other than myself looking at it.

 

Seriously? What is wrong with this hairline? It looks pretty natural to me. I can see some people thinking it should be lower, but not everyone has the luxury of having enough donor to do everything.

 

[Berba11]

26 minutes ago, Al - Moderator said:

 

Seriously? What is wrong with this hairline? It looks pretty natural to me. I can see some people thinking it should be lower, but not everyone has the luxury of having enough donor to do everything.

 

Was wondering the same thing. I can't see any issue with the hairline. Soft, natural looking, subtle irregularities and nice connection with the temple corners. Looks terrific!

[Melvin- Admin]

15 hours ago, Steeeve said:

I’m about 6 days early but this month was a big month. I would say I saw the most change this month in terms of the transplanted hairs thickening up. Still a long ways to go for the crown but in terms of where I started…holy moly. And the density in the front is truly amazing.

So.

Seeing as I don’t know how much will change in 6 days here’s a smidge early 9 month update.

I had my 8 month follow up with Dr. Arocha at the beginning of the month. They were really impressed by my progress. They didn’t think that my crown was quite at the halfway mark, however, it looked very good for where I’m at during this journey of growth. They felt the hairline and frontal third/midscalp was really thick and dense. I agree with all of it. 🤣 And I’m very happy.

Since my last update and even that FaceTime meeting my crown made significant change and is heading in a really good direction-not that I felt it was not moving in a positive direction before.

The hair in my hairline throughout my frontal third is a little over 4 inches long so that pretty much means it started growing around the 1 month mark. The hair in my crown is a little over 3 and a half inches so it seems that it started growing around 2 months. This is all give or take. None of the hairs are the same length and I still have sprouts all throughout that still have yet to take flight. They’re just sitting there, resting and feeling spikey.

Everything is blending very well.

Crown is first here. I blew my hair forward with the blow dryer to give you a good look at how it is blending. This is straight out of the shower and blown dry. There is no product or concealer in my hair.

Here the hair is pushed back followed by me parting it to better expose the grafts growing in the crown.

Overall, I’m really happy with the direction my crown is heading. I don’t think I’ve had that much hair in my crown since I was a teenager. That would mean it’s been about 25 years. My crown went first and I noticed it around 18 years old going into 19.

They say the crown takes longer to mature. Depending on your genetics and blood-flow to the crown. 18-24 months so maybe I’m halfway there?

Looking at my hairline is a different story. This could be my final result and I would be happy. I’ve still got months to go for more growth and maturation but…I’m there.

This is how I style it. 👆🏻The hair is long enough that it falls on my face and I’m constantly brushing it away. It’s an emotionally good feeling. 

Here I’ve got some more images of it styled.

Lastly I would like to address my hairline. 

I’ve had some private messages asking questions about the line, while everyone has been very respectful, things I have read are people saying that it’s “not very aesthetic” and that “I would need additional work to address it”. “The hairline is not as pristine as it could be”. I don’t think that’s an unfair assessment. It’s the opinion of someone(s) other than myself looking at it.

I will say that since this last transplant my confidence has gone through the roof. I’ve found work acting again with one project in reshoots and 2 projects coming in the very near future. Having seen myself moving around on camera I can objectively say that only your keen eyes are going to be able to tell the difference. No one in my every day to day life can tell about what they are looking at.

I will also say that more work in my hairline is not on my radar just yet in terms of further work I would like to have done. I would like to wait to see how this turns out and from there address further filling in throughout and then throwing some grafts into my scar.

I would like to give a huge thanks to Dr. Arocha and his team. They’ve helped me feel very very good about the future.

That’s pretty much all for now, per usual.🙂 If anything changes in a week I’ll update again. I hope all is well with everyone ✌🏻

With all due respect to those users, your hairline looks exceptionally natural. It looks textbook to me. 

[Gatsby]

@Steeeve your hair from start to finish (with still more growth to come) looks incredible man. 💯👌🍾

[BaldReaper]

Idk who these comments come from but your hairline is really good

[Steeeve]

Thank you everyone. I do appreciate the love. Truly.

Honestly, the comments caught me off guard.  I didn't see them as mean as much as I felt my growth was moving in a positive direction (Like, really positive. Lol) And it seemed out of left field. @Al - Moderator I agree, maybe it could be lower and maybe I can achieve that one day (maybe I won't be able to 🤷🏼‍♂️) but as it is I'm really happy with the placement and how full it looks. And I also agree with @Melvin- Admin that it looks very natural.

All in all, I just wanted to address the comments aloud here to anyone who had lurked and maybe hadn't spoken up. I'm very happy with how everything is progressing.

 

[Al - Moderator]

There will always be some people who try to put you down in life no matter what the issue is, whether it's hair, weight, income, whatever. You should assess all opinions, both good and bad. Some people will give you good advice and others won't, and what's good advice to one person may not be for another person because everyone has their own idea of what their life should be. With all that, you make your own honest decisions on what you feel like you should do based on what you want in your life.

 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

@Steeeve, I saw people saying the same thing about MTB's case. I did a podcast with him and showed his hairline in a video; it looks fantastic. Sometimes, when a result is as good as yours, people naturally feel the need to nitpick. You have a fantastic result, and you've done an amazing job sharing your experience transparently, parting your hair, and showing it in different angles and lighting. This is why you're a valued contributor. I'm happy for you man 🙏