# Hair Transplants > Hair Transplant: Start Your Own Topic >  10 months post-op with Dr Feriduni

## clee984

Im now 10 months out from my hair transplant procedure with Dr Feriduni. I wanted to add my story to these boards, because I relied on other peoples experiences so much when making my decision, and very much enjoyed some of the more sardonic posts (hi Fixedby35! *waves, blows kiss*), and I would like to make my own small contribution.  

This is going to be looooong. Sorry. 

First things first, my story, which I am certain is not unique. I first noticed my impending baldness in a weekend in June 2002, the weekend of the Queens 50th anniversary, when I was age 21. It was the second worst day of my life (topped only by the day my mother died). I was devastated. Because, to quote the Smiths, I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar, I could not believe that the universe would be so spiteful as to rob me of my hair as well, taking me from socially awkward to complete recluse. Why me? Why not an Italian footballer, or a guy in a boyband? And so on, and so forth. 

Fast forward to 2010. I had decided to have an HT. Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, and all that. I had been researching baldness cures with increasing desperation in the intervening years, reading peoples stories on the forums. I had narrowed my choice down to Hasson and Wong, and Dr Feriduni. I had a number of online consultations, and I met with Dr Wong when he was in London, and I met with a few former patients (thank you very much for your time, guys). 

In the end, I decided to go with Dr Feriduni, purely for geographical reasons  Belgium is nearer to the UK than Canada. 

Dr Feriduni himself is thoroughly charming, and put me in mind of a better-looking version of the French actor Jean Reno (the guy from Leon). He has a very reassuring bedside manner, and his English is word perfect. His assessment of me was exactly the same as Dr Wongs, almost eerily so, they even used some of the same phrasing (beautiful donor, and you have a lot of hair).  

I had 4000 grafts via strip. Because of the lovely drugs they give you, I spent the operation in that soft twilight that will be familiar to anyone like me, who grew up in Manchester and had a teenage interest in recreational pharmaceuticals. In fact, I felt rather like a Raj, kicking back in the Lay-ze-boy, while the experienced technicians attended to me.  

I returned to my hotel, and had a glass of red wine and watched Curb your Enthusiasm. 

After a brief checkup the next day, I returned to London. 

The first fly in the ointment. On the (I think) third night, my post-op discomfort became actual pain, leaving me unable to sleep. I think this was a combination of it being unusually sweltering in London, my having drank too much beer that evening, and not following the post-op instructions carefully enough. 

Anyway, big girls blouse that I am, I nonetheless managed to man up.

On the fourteenth day, I had my stitches/staples removed by a lovely nurse at an NHS drop-in centre, who had never heard of hair transplantation, but who was extremely impressed by the neatness of my scar, which was reassuring. 

Next downside. I did not truly appreciate how long recovery time would be. I knew that HTs take a year to grow, but I did not realise that I would not feel comfortable being out and about without a baseball cap or concealer for approximately three months. I fully admit that this is my own fault for not doing my research thoroughly enough, but I think it is worth noting here. 

So thats the darkness, now the light. I got a new job. About 6 months post op, I found myself in the midst of an office conversation about footballer Wayne Rooney and his HT, and was amused to hear my colleagues explain, with complete authority, how an HT is performed (first, they cut off the top of your head..), unaware that they had an HT veteran in their midst, i.e. me. The office was lots of young lads and extremely banter-rich, and if they had even the slightest suspicion that I had had this operation, someone would have voiced it. They did not. I consider that a definite win. 

Secondly. I happened to bump into an old boss of mine, who I hadnt seen in around 2 years. She was extremely effusive, almost to the point of being taken aback, about how well I looked mentioning it three times in the first minute of meeting me, something I can only put down to her having last seen me before, and not seen me again until after. 

And third, I worked with a girl, who is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. You should see this girl. Around a month ago, she was reading an article in a magazine, in which a number of women had been surveyed about the qualities they look for in Mr Right. This girl read the article to me, because, she said, the qualities given described me exactly  and it was something like Hes 62, has green eyes, is kind, doesnt talk too much, has a FULL HEAD of black hair.

So there we go. Its the Queens 60th anniversary next month, which would be the 10 year anniversary of my baldness journey. I am utterly delighted with the results of my HT, which is why I dont frequent these forums anymore, because I no longer feel the need. I am no longer insecure about my hair. I still have all my other cripplingly insecurities, of course, but one thing at a time. I cannot articulate the relief I feel in not having to worry about my hair. I do not wear concealor or anything like that, and only notice that my hair is even slightly thin in the harshest of light. 

Id like to say a profound thank you to Dr Feriduni, and to Spencer Kobren, I think its unbelievably brave what hes decided to do for a living, and if I hadnt read his book in 2002, I dont know what stupid thing I would have done. 

I sincerely hope that everyone on these forums finds the peace that they are looking for. Thanks for reading.

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## 8868alex

What a cracking post!.. Great story.

All the best

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## lalala

Great story! You are an inspiration to those on the fence. Do you have any pictures to show us your transformation?

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## clee984

Thank you very much for the kind responses. 




> Do you have any pictures to show us your transformation?


 Lol, I was hoping nobody was going to ask that, I don't have a decent camera, and like I say, I'm shy! Here's a pic I just took with my macbook, hopefully that gives you an idea. 

I asked Dr Feriduni to give me a mature hairline with a 'V' at the front, because I always had a widow's peak as a kid (which rapidly became a widow's hill and then a widow's mountain in my 20s  :Wink: ). I actually prefer my HT hair to the hair I had as a teenager - it seems to 'sit' better. When I was a teenager, my hair was thick and wavy and coarse and I couldn't do anything with it. I never wanted long flowing locks, I just don't want to be bald. 

Now that I'm a bit older (31), I like to think that the high forehead and flecks of grey make me look rather distinguished  :Smile: 

As I said in my first post, if you're thinking of having an HT, the best advice I could give, after the obvious (have realistic expectations), is BE AWARE of how long recovery time is. It was 3 months before I was comfortable being out 'bare'. That's a long time.

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## Folly

Great results, great post...Well done brother !!

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## clee984

> Great results, great post...Well done brother !!


 Thanks man!  :Big Grin:

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## Toffeeman147

Congrats fella, just out of curiousity, how much did the 4k gratfs cost you?

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## clee984

> Congrats fella, just out of curiousity, how much did the 4k gratfs cost you?


 
To be honest dude, it's been a couple of years now and I can't remember exactly, I think it was about 6k sterling, and I actually ended up with about 4200 grafts, and Dr F didn't charge me for the extra 200. Sorry to be so inprecise, I think Spex is Dr F's UK consultant now, contact him if you need more exact info, he really knows his stuff.

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## bighair

Looks great man congrats. I am also thinking of going with feriduni and am currently trying to decide between FUE and FUT. Im trying to get as much input as possible, so Im curious given that Feriduni is famous for both procedures why you went with FUT?

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## Toffeeman147

Cheers matey, I was torn between Dr Feller and Dr Rahal, but with being in the UK Dr Feriduni seems a more logical choice if he is on a par with those 2 great surgeons  :Smile: ..Obviously I dont want a scar but FUE is really out of my price bracket and is it true a FUT produces more yield?

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## sausage

Yo, great post. I am also in the UK.....and Belgium seems the best place geographically to go for a Hair Transplant.

Can I ask:

- How long did you have to wait to have your hair transplant from day of booking it?

- What do you mean by recovery time? may sound silly but what was the issue during this time? ie. was it discomfort in having a tight scalp, the healing of the scar? the healing of the recipient area? was the recipient area sore and red looking for a while.

Personally I don't know how I would cover up the strip scar, if I grew my hair out to cover it then I'd look stupid, I'd look like Terry Nutkins as I have no hair on top.......was this the same for you or did you still have some hair on top?

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## chrisdav

clee984,

Great write up.

Enjoy your new head of hair.

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## bighair

> - What do you mean by recovery time? may sound silly but what was the issue during this time? ie. was it discomfort in having a tight scalp, the healing of the scar? the healing of the recipient area? was the recipient area sore and red looking for a while.


 Yeah Im quite worried about the recovery time. In fact while I wish it wouldn't influence my decision, it really is influencing it, in that its putting me off getting FUT just cause Im too scared to go back to work with only having 3 weeks off. How did you look after 3 weeks? Did you have an excuse to say to people?

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## clee984

> Looks great man congrats. I am also thinking of going with feriduni and am currently trying to decide between FUE and FUT. Im trying to get as much input as possible, so Im curious given that Feriduni is famous for both procedures why you went with FUT?


 Thanks for all the positive responses, guys.

I went with FUT because it was cheaper and because the yield was greater - I would have got fewer grafts with FUE. I was emboldened by both Dr Feriduni and Dr Wong being very impressed with my donor - Dr Wong told me that I would have plenty enough donor left for a second round in a few years, if I wanted it. 

@sausage (great username btw), I can't remember exactly, I'm pretty sure it was just over two months from the time I booked until I had my procedure. 

re "recovery time" - no, that doesn't sound silly at all, that's my fault for being ambiguous, sorry - what I mean by "recovery time" is the amount of time after the procedure before I felt comfortable being in public without any form of concealor or hat etc - ie the length of time before I felt my skull didn't betray any signs of having had surgery. There was no pain or discomfort after a few days, the only sensation is a slight numbness - which, bizarrely, for me actually proved to be a bonus - since I was a teenager I have been affected by a stress-related rash on my scalp, it's itchy and painful. After I had my HT, I couldn't feel it anymore! Which was really, weirdly cool. 

@bighair, ummm, I think after three weeks I felt ok being out and about with concealor - I buzzed my hair to a number 4, and used the concealor on the transplants up top, and on the scar. If this is a big concern for you, FUE is probably the way to go.  

I hope that helps, please feel free to hit me up with any more questions or clarifications, it's very gratifying to me if I can offer any sort of help to guys considering this, because I know the pain of hair loss, and how much confusing information there is out there.  :Smile:

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## sausage

Cheers Clee.

Can't remember if you said if you went for a consultation face to face or if you had one online?

If you had one face to face how did you arrange it? I can't see anything on Feriduni's website.

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## clee984

> Cheers Clee.
> 
> Can't remember if you said if you went for a consultation face to face or if you had one online?
> 
> If you had one face to face how did you arrange it? I can't see anything on Feriduni's website.


 I had an online consult, then met with a couple of Dr F's patients - I contacted the clinic and asked for UK patients I could meet with - CANNOT recommend this highly enough, I saw both their results in person, and they were both extremely generous with their time. Seriously, do this before you make any kind of decision. From what I can recall, Dr Feriduni's website was a bit.......well, crap. It might have changed now.

I believe that Spex is now the UK rep for Dr F, if you're thinking of having a procedure, seriously, talk with him, he's one of the most knowledgable guys around, he won't BS you - he'll tell it like it is. Dr F will give you a face-to-face consult, for free, but you might have to go to Belgium for it - better to talk to a guy like Spex first. 

Please, please, PLEASE keep doing what you're doing now - asking questions. Meet with as many people as you can and check out their results, don't rush into anything. And if I can help, ask me anything you like, I have no vested interest in this, it makes me feel good about myself, if, just maybe, I have helped someone to make the right decision  :Smile:

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## sausage

Cheers Clee. Much appreciated.

I am confident in Feriduni's work based on reviews, the fact he is IAHRS certified and after viewing many photos of his work, in particular many cases similar to my own.....I think all I need now is a face to face consultation....and then go from there. If I can get a consultation with all IAHRS surgeons in Belgium then that will be ideal....

I am fine with paying for a trip to Belgium just for a consultation, I live near London so the Eurostar is easy for me to access and good value. If I can do it in a day then that will be a bonus as there will be no hotel fees and if as you say the consultation is free then double bonus.

I am not expecting much and not getting my hopes up. It may be the case that I may not be right for surgery or what can be done for me might not be enough to warrant going ahead with a hair transplant.....

I have emailed several of Feriduni's email address's I came across to receive a 'expect a reply within 20 days'. I hope it is much quicker than that, 20 days is a  bit of a long time to wait for a email response. I did find it odd that there is no where to book a consultation on his website. I guess I will wait for an email reply, if nothing arrives in the next few days then I guess a phone call will be necessary.

I have a lot to discuss with him and am open on his ideas and am happy to compromise on hairline, density etc I just need to find the right mix, I understand I am limited but you never know I might be surprised at what can actually be achieved.

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## clee984

> Cheers Clee. Much appreciated.
> 
> I am confident in Feriduni's work based on reviews, the fact he is IAHRS certified and after viewing many photos of his work, in particular many cases similar to my own.....I think all I need now is a face to face consultation....and then go from there. If I can get a consultation with all IAHRS surgeons in Belgium then that will be ideal....
> 
> I am fine with paying for a trip to Belgium just for a consultation, I live near London so the Eurostar is easy for me to access and good value. If I can do it in a day then that will be a bonus as there will be no hotel fees and if as you say the consultation is free then double bonus.
> 
> I am not expecting much and not getting my hopes up. It may be the case that I may not be right for surgery or what can be done for me might not be enough to warrant going ahead with a hair transplant.....
> 
> I have emailed several of Feriduni's email address's I came across to receive a 'expect a reply within 20 days'. I hope it is much quicker than that, 20 days is a  bit of a long time to wait for a email response. I did find it odd that there is no where to book a consultation on his website. I guess I will wait for an email reply, if nothing arrives in the next few days then I guess a phone call will be necessary.
> ...


 No worries mate, I would offer to meet with you myself if you wanted to chat about it, but I'm living in France at the moment. You might well find that you are surprised by what can be achieved - I was, the two docs I consulted with (Dr Feriduni and Dr Wong) were both much more optimistic about my HT prospects than I had expected, and the final result was way better than I had hoped. The key thing is just to keep doing what you're doing now - weigh everything carefully before making any kind of decision. All the best.

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## Rizaan

Before the HT, what Norwood were you? Now that it's been 6 years since your first one, are you planning on getting another done or are you satisfied with what you have?

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## clee984

> Before the HT, what Norwood were you? Now that it's been 6 years since your first one, are you planning on getting another done or are you satisfied with what you have?


 Hi Rizaan, I was around a norwood 3 I guess, maybe a 4. I shaved my head for a few years, then grew it back, but my hair was clearly thin and had the horseshoe pattern developing on my crown. 

I am still very satisfied with my HT. Whether I would have another one, is..........an interesting question. I have a definite case of 'hair greed', where I can't help but look at my hair now and the result I got from my first HT, and think, why not? I'd love to have more hair, I'd love for it to be even thicker on the crown and front (I'm not so concerned with having a high forehead, I actually quite like that). 

On the other hand, it is surgery, and expensive surgery at that. There is absolutely no guarantee that I'll get as good a result as first time around, or even that I won't have a bad result and undo what I have now. 

Another consideration is that I'm married now, and as far as I know my wife doesn't even suspect that I've had a hair transplant - she has noticed the scar, but I just told her it's one of many in my collection (I have various scars from various different accidents/procedures, fortunately none of them too obvious). So I would have to tell her and have her onboard, although she has picked up on me being restless about not having a full head of hair, and she does take the time to compliment me on how nice my hair looks, how soft it is and all those nice wife-y things that wives are supposed to do, so she might not be entirely against the idea. 

Ultimately, I feel okay with my hair how it is. I'm like everyone else on this forum, praying that some genius bods somewhere come up with a cure soon, but I think I can hold out for now, and not sure I would want to put myself through the time, expense etc. 

But just to re-emphasize, I am delighted with the result I got, I am in my mid-30s now and were it not for an HT I would be bald. Thanks to an HT, and if I'd been more diligent about taking propecia and rogaine (I'm an idiot) I would have a full head of hair. As everyone says, always, that doesn't mean I would recommend it for anyone else, just that the HT definitely worked for me and made my life so much better. 

I can probably post a picture if you'd like to see what my HT looks like 6 years later. All the best.

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## Rizaan

Thanks for responding.
Do you take propecia (and/or minoxidil) to maintain the remaining DHT-prone hairs you have?

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## clee984

> Thanks for responding.
> Do you take propecia (and/or minoxidil) to maintain the remaining DHT-prone hairs you have?


 No worries, glad it's helpful - do I take propecia and minoxidil? Yes and no. I have a prescription for proscar/fin, and I do take it when I remember but I lose track of when I last took it, and the same with rogaine - you're supposed to use rogaine twice a day, so 14 times a week. I probably use it 5 or 6. 

I do really sincerely wish that I had been more confident in my early 20s when I first noticed I was balding, and got a doctor to prescribe me propecia. I didn't because I was too embarrassed, I didn't get a prescription for it until I was in my late 20s, so I lost those vital few years. If I had taken it, I might not have needed an HT. I do go off and on propecia, foolishly, because of various reasons, although it does seem to work for me, my wife did ask me why my hair looked thicker, when she didn't know I'd started taking it again.

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## Rizaan

Don't you worry about side effects? I've read a lot about how men notice them much later after having been on the drug for years

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## clee984

> Don't you worry about side effects? I've read a lot about how men notice them much later after having been on the drug for years


 Tbh, not at all. There are always side effects for some people for any medication, and I'd rather have hair than worry about it. My wife has to take a couple of pills every day to stay alive, so the sides from propecia don't seem that scary - the possible side effects for aspirin are worse.

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## Rizaan

> Tbh, not at all. There are always side effects for some people for any medication, and I'd rather have hair than worry about it. My wife has to take a couple of pills every day to stay alive, so the sides from propecia don't seem that scary - the possible side effects for aspirin are worse.


 But I've seen a lot of threads here where people mention how they got minor sides like watery semen and decreased libido at first, and then after a few years it got way, way worse and couldn't be reversed fully(infertility, testosterone levels of an old man, no erections, no libido, depression, prostate problems) It's shit like this that scares me.
I've been losing a lot of hair over the past couple of months and I'm seriously considering taking finesteride. But I'm worried of side effects, and since the drug takes months to come into effect, if I stop, I'll lose any hair i gained.

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## clee984

> But I've seen a lot of threads here where people mention how they got minor sides like watery semen and decreased libido at first, and then after a few years it got way, way worse and couldn't be reversed fully(infertility, testosterone levels of an old man, no erections, no libido, depression, prostate problems) It's shit like this that scares me.
> I've been losing a lot of hair over the past couple of months and I'm seriously considering taking finesteride. But I'm worried of side effects, and since the drug takes months to come into effect, if I stop, I'll lose any hair i gained.


 Well, obviously it's up to you mate, and I would certainly encourage you to keep asking questions, but I will say this, and not to disparage the struggle that some people go through, but people who post on internet forums are usually doing so because something has gone wrong. I say this to my wife all the time when she gets upset reading about her medications in forums - the people who take the medicine every day and never have a problem, don't post on internet forums. They just get on with their lives. Same with propecia. It sells by the bucket-load, and how many of the guys taking it every day would take the time to 'check in' on a forum just to say "Everything's fine. My hair is stable and I don't have any side effects." 

The only person I can think of who I met in real life who admitted to taking propecia over a long period was a guy who had taken it for 20-odd years (started in his early 20s, when I met him he was early 40s), and still had all his hair, had had kids, all that stuff, and suffered no sides. Clearly some people do, but how much of that can be attributed to other health problems, ageing etc, rather than propecia? I don't know. 

Sooooo......I guess from your pictures you're a young guy, if I was you I'd just do it and try not to worry about it, but that's just me, nobody can decide for you. My advice would be the same as it is to my wife: by all means read the forums, but don't assume that it's a representative sample of people who have the condition/take the medicine.

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## Rizaan

Yes, exactly, out of all the people who use a drug, it's mostly the users who've suffered from the sides that will post more on forums. I remember once seeing a video on youtube of Ashton Kutcher on a talk show, and he mentioned his webbed toes. I scrolled down to the comments and literally all the top comments were people saying they had webbed toes too. You'd think MOST people have webbed toes based on what you saw but in reality the people who *don't* have them have no reason to mention that in the comments.
But I still think the percentage of men suffering from side effects is more than just 2%, and I hope to god I'm not one of them, because I'm losing hair fast and topical finesteride is one of my last few options left. Do you think a much less percentage of finesteride (0.1% w/v)applied on the scalp goes into systemic circulation?

Speaking of having kids: i'm worried about that aspect too. Finesteride interferes with androgens in our bodies, and sperms develop in presence of those hormones. Is there reason to be worried in the long run because I am right now?

Thanks for answering my questions. Much appreciated.

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## clee984

> Yes, exactly, out of all the people who use a drug, it's mostly the users who've suffered from the sides that will post more on forums. I remember once seeing a video on youtube of Ashton Kutcher on a talk show, and he mentioned his webbed toes. I scrolled down to the comments and literally all the top comments were people saying they had webbed toes too. You'd think MOST people have webbed toes based on what you saw but in reality the people who *don't* have them have no reason to mention that in the comments.
> But I still think the percentage of men suffering from side effects is more than just 2%, and I hope to god I'm not one of them, because I'm losing hair fast and topical finesteride is one of my last few options left. Do you think a much less percentage of finesteride (0.1% w/v)applied on the scalp goes into systemic circulation?
> 
> Speaking of having kids: i'm worried about that aspect too. Finesteride interferes with androgens in our bodies, and sperms develop in presence of those hormones. Is there reason to be worried in the long run because I am right now?
> 
> Thanks for answering my questions. Much appreciated.


 No worries mate, happy to help where I can, although I'm afraid some of your questions I can't answer - as for having children for example, I don't want kids and neither does my wife, so that isn't an issue for us. 

And yeah, I believe it's called 'selection bias' in sociology/psychology that you observed with Ashton Kutcher and his webbed feet, and with forums like this one. I suppose we all often see what we're looking for, and actively seek it out. I hope you find some peace soon anyway, please hit me up if you have any more questions, like I say, I'm afraid I can't answer a lot of them but I'll do my best.

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