September 18, 2025 • 33 mins
Welcome back to Leslie's Lowedown on Life!
Today, I sit down with a good friend of mine, Matt Fleming, who just went through a hair transplant! He opened up about the good, the bad and the ugly that comes along with the hair transplant journey, and encourages others to explore the different hair transplant options available to them if they are curious.
If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you're notified every time I upload a new video. Go make the rest of your days the best of your days!
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hairtransplant #hairtransformation #hairloss ----------------------------------------------------------- Powered by NonStop Local KHQ & KHQ Inc.
Today, I sit down with a good friend of mine, Matt Fleming, who just went through a hair transplant! He opened up about the good, the bad and the ugly that comes along with the hair transplant journey, and encourages others to explore the different hair transplant options available to them if they are curious.
If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you're notified every time I upload a new video. Go make the rest of your days the best of your days!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Listen to Leslie's Lowedown on Life:
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LesliesLowedown
KHQ: https://www.khq.com/podcasts/lowedown/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Follow My Socials!
Facebook: facebook.com/LeslieLowe10
Instagram: instagram.com/khqleslielowe
-----------------------------------------------------------
hairtransplant #hairtransformation #hairloss ----------------------------------------------------------- Powered by NonStop Local KHQ & KHQ Inc.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Leslie low Welcome to Leslie's Low Down on Life.
All right, today we're going to talk about follicle unit
extraction i e.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hair transplant. And I'm so excited that you're here. This
is my friend Matt Fleming.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
And what's so great is that you just went through
this whole process just.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
God done a few weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
I am today is day seventeen post off. So yeah,
two weeks ago I went through the whole process of
getting a follicle unit extraction so at FUE hair transplant.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So I love that you're willing to talk about it
because it's a huge topic right now. Eighty five percent
of men and thirty three percent of women will experience
hair loss in their lifetime, and then of course the older.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
We get, then the more we experience that hair loss.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And over the years, there's been so many different products,
hair growth products, shampoos, now there's all kinds of supplements
that we can take. And then really what's kind of
come to the forefront is hair transplants.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
About your process because it is a process.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
And you know, for me, my dad was bald, you know,
and I kind of felt like, and even my mom's
dad was lost his hair, and I kind of thought, Okay,
this is gonna be my path. And I turned fifty
this year, so I was thinking, Okay, my hair is
thinning out. At about forty five, my hair really started
(01:42):
getting thin and there's only so much you can do
with styling. And I was doing all the shampoos, and
I was doing the and the topical roguain, the topical monoxidil,
and I wasn't even aware that there was oral medication
you could take prescribed by your doctor to help grow
your hair. There's two different types. There's one will help
strengthen the hair follicle, which would be the monoxidel orally,
(02:03):
and then there's the like I always say, I'm wrong,
so forgive me if it's like forest Draine and dress
Draine or something to dress dride and those two actually
grow hair from the follicle.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So those are supplements.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Are those pills?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Those are prescription pills from my.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, so that's a prescription strength and now on the
market are so many other things over the counter.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, but really, if you are experiencing hair loss, you
you should get on a prescription strength hair loss medication
from your doc or like I went, I didn't get
it from my doctor and my physician. I called this clinic,
and so I mean, I can back up a little bit.
So I called the clinic about a year ago. So anyway,
I was experiencing this hair kind of like not really
(02:45):
talking about it. I feel like no one really talks
about it. Yeah, I was styling it my hair. My
hair is best I could and I had like a
fifteen step process to make.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Sure my hair don't look thin. And then.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Actually it was one of my my husband's best like
one of his best friends went to Turkey and had
a hair transplant and he, uh, he came back and
he was sharing that experience with Casey, and I thought,
that's incredible. Like I was in shock, and I thought
I didn't even know this was a real thing.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Like I really I.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Had heard about it a little bit, but I'd also
kind of had this biased around plugs, Like I thought,
I don't want to look like I had hair.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Plugs, Right, what's the difference between hair.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I don't even know if I know, Okay, yeah, yeah,
I don't know. I just knew that they didn't look good.
I had a physician that I went to years and
years ago who got hair plugs, and all you did
was stereotis hair plugs the whole time, you know, like
that's all I did.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I thought, you don't want it to be obvious, correct.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And so when this this friend of Casey's, Christian, had
his hair transplant, he uh, he just had this incredible
result and I was just in awe of it and
watching it over that next year kind of come in
and fill in and go from bolder than I was
to this gorgeous, thick, full head of hair.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I thought, this is incredible, but I didn't want to
go to Turkey.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
So then one of my employees was I was kind
of talking about it at work, and one of my
employees said that her really good friend just had a
hair transplant in Seattle at the Root Hair Institute, which
is where I ended up going, and that he had
this incredible result and that he was also very bald,
and and I immediately like called the Root Hair Institute.
(04:27):
And this was about a year ago now, it was
in September of last year, and I made an appointment.
And at that appointment, the doctor, you know, he was like,
I need to get you on some oral prescription meds
for this. Let's get you on it. Let's strengthen your
hair follicles. Let's let's you know you're gonna, We're gonna.
I'll talk about the process of how they do it,
but we got to get the donor area strong for
(04:50):
the harvesting of those hair follicles so that when it happens,
you're ready.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
And and so I did it. I started those.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Oral meds about a year prior to even having the
hair transplant.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So this is a whole for me.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It was a it's a year process.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
It was.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
It was about a year process.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So we should talk about a couple of the different
I mean, there are different reasons why people experience hair loss,
whether it be a hereditary that's I think the big one.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And they always say that boys get the hairline of.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Their mother's spire, right, and if I read that correctly
and what they say, and then there's also like hormonal.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Hair loss a big one for me.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, So at about forty five is years old, I
noticed a big drop in my energy level and a
lot of things. I mean, I think you've talked about
this on this podcast before. I was like, okay, my
testosterone has to be completely a whack, and it was.
I was in the toilet with my testosterone level. So
I got on a TRT testosterone replacement therapy and.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
One of the side effects of that is hair loss.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So I think that there's like always been stigma around
certain things, and that would be hormones, it would be
hair loss, all the things that in the past we've
tended to, you know, shy away from talking about. And
what I love now is that we're in a place
that we can talk about these things. There is no
(06:17):
shame in it, and we should be talking about these
things so that we can support each other and know
that there are things out there they can make such
a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Huge difference, And I'm kind of an open book anyway. Yeah,
what I didn't realize when I went on that testosterone
replacement therapy was that hormone that you know is so
great for us guys, that gives us the energy and
helps us build muscle and helps us with workouts. It
also attacks hair loss. But what I didn't realize is
(06:48):
you know that.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
H what is it DHT? I think it is a DHT.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Hormone that affects those follicles on the top of your head.
They don't affect the follicles around.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
The side of your head.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Interesting, So that's where this technology really came from out
and I don't know if I came out of Turkey,
but that's where they really they have the reputation for it.
Right This hair transplant is if they transplant the hair
follicles from the side of your head to the top
of your head, those follicles will never be affected by
that hormone that affects male pattern baldness. That's a science
(07:20):
behind it. I don't know how it works, but it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That is fascinating.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And I saw and the only reason, like I was
blown away by because I saw living proof with Christian
and then I heard from my employee who's like, oh
my gosh, it's incredible this what they do. I didn't
want to fly to Turkey. I just didn't have any
interest in that. I don't know why.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
With my job, I just thought I really can't be
gone that long and I wanted to be able to.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Be like closer to my doctor.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You know, I live in Spokane, but and I didn't
really do any research around Spokan.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
There might be places here that do this.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
But since my employe's friend has such a great result
with this doctor, I thought, I'm going to give this
a shot.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And I really didn't look anywhere else.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
It was like, as soon as I met this doctor,
doctor Rupawani, I just fell in love with him, and
I thought, no, this is my guy. You know, when
you have that immediate trust, you know yah. And he
was so reassuring. And what was interesting on our first
consult it was via zoom I. You know, I had
to send pictures of my head all these different angles,
and I was really concerned about my donor area because
(08:25):
I don't really have thick hair. And I thought, oh,
I don't want to what they call over harvests. I
don't want them to take so many follicles because once
they take them, they're gone.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's my question is okay, once they take them out,
they don't grow back.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
They don't grow back ever, so they can't.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
If they over harvest you, you could have a botched
hair transplant really quickly and get patches around your side
to your head. I was really nervous about that because
I didn't have thick, like a really thick donor area.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
So to speak.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
So he looked at my picture and he goes, you know,
I think I could do you know, twelve hundred or
two thousand follow coles and move them. And I said, okay, great,
and you know, he's like, when you want to do this,
and I'm like, you know, honestly, with my schedule, probably
next August, it's probably a great time, which is when
I scheduled it, put some money down, and then I
(09:15):
made an appointment to go see him in person.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And when I went to go see him.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
In person in May, I he got a really good
chance to look at my scalp and he's like, oh, no,
you have better donor area than I thought. And it
might have been because I was on those meds for
so long, you know, the monoxidol and the terrestride.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
I don't know how to say it, but they He's like,
your donor is great.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
I can get at least thirty three hundred follicles from
your donor area.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
And so that's so then I agreed to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thirty three hundred follicles. So that's individual hair follicles, hair
follicles that they take out one.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
By one by one, Okay.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Now then yeah, yeah, and then implant them into my head.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
All right, take us through the process, because this was
a process.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Oh yeah, And it was a two day process. It
was two full eight hour days over in Seattle, well Bellevue,
rather at the Root Heristitute. And I made one of
my best girlfriends, Jessica, go with me, who's a nurse.
And I said, you're gonna come with me because we
had to stay at a hotel, right, And I didn't
know what to expect. Really are with and they don't
(10:20):
really give you any like there's no oral pain meds
they give you for it like there it's all topical.
Well it's local and so you know, they do inject
and that was okay. So I wasn't prepared for what
I was going to experience, I will tell you that.
And it wasn't that bad. I'm a little being a
little dramatic, so just forgive me for that. It wasn't
(10:41):
as bad as but it was more than I thought
it was going to be. So the day was broken
into two parts. In the morning we harvested and in
the afternoon they implanted the harvested follicles. And they he
first he did is he took all these before pictures
(11:02):
and then he shaved my head bald, and then he
drew all over my head and he drew like eight
sections around the like around here, around the donor area.
He divided it in eight and then he divided the
top of my head into three sections, and we prioritized
with each other where he wanted me to put where
he wanted.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
The follicles to go. So he's like, well, okay, how
do you style your hair?
Speaker 4 (11:25):
And I go, well, I kind of comb it over
like this, and he goes, okay, why I'm gonna put
more follicles here, because then it will be thicker. As
you comb it over, it will appear thicker than over here.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
And he goes, right, what bothers you the most about
your hair? Your head?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
And I said, well that it's thin here, and he goes, okay,
well we're gonna we're gonna start go thicker here. And
he has this art of placing like one hair follicles,
two hair follicles, three hair follicles. Where he places those
is kind of his magic and how he makes it
look so natural and so good.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's an artist.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
He's an artist.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
He's amazing, And I think that's what you pay for, honestly,
and I will tell you christian incredible result in Turkey.
So I think if you do your research, you can
find great places other areas. But for me, I was
like I wanted to know in my gut. I always
listened to my gut, and I just felt like this
(12:20):
was right. People want to know how much it is right?
Like what, like what do you know? Like at pain
for a hair transplant? And I'm pausing you on the
process to tell you this, But like I would say,
in Turkey, I think Christian paid around six thousand dollars
for his I think he had more follicles transferred than
I did. You it kind of comes down to you
pay how many follicles you get transferred. Okay, so if
(12:41):
you get a lot more, if you get six thousand
follicles transfer, you're gonna pay a lot more than I
did at thirty three hundred, Or if you get two thousand,
you're gonna pay a lot less. So I you know
in the States, in Seattle, you're gonna pay at least
double to three times that amount. So you got to
weigh that. You know what you want to do and
(13:02):
if you can afford it.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
But you're also not having to pay the travel correct,
so there's a little bit of a balance.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
There is a little bit.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I think with Christian, I think his was included in
that six thousand dollars, his travel and his hotel and everything.
But I don't know everyone's everywhere's different. I hear, you
know the most expensive hair transplants like fifty thousand dollars,
and you know you could get real cheap, like five thousands.
So it's you get what you pay for sometimes. But
I also think you can you gotta be careful that
(13:31):
you don't pay too much.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Do your research, do your research, do a little bit
of research.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
I didn't do as much as I probably should have
because I kind of just found where I wanted to go.
But I think people should do their research, and if
you can do the Turkey travel, do it. But it
made me nervous and honest to God, after the two
day procedure and just driving home to my house and
crawling into my bed, I couldn't have imagined getting on
(13:57):
a plane four days later or five days later and
flying home feeling the way I did. So I'll get there,
But that was my choice to go to Bellevue, so anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Closer to home closer to home.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Closer to home.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So let's go back to let's go back to let's
go to two day processes. So first day, you know,
first half of the day they're extracting, they're second half
of the day they're implanting.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Implanting them and does it hurt?
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, So, uh, you know, it's funny. My doctor said
to me, he goes, because I was worried about that.
I said, what's it going to He's like, my patients
aren't uncomfortable. He goes, It's not like you're going to
the spa, but they're not uncomfortable. And I thought, well,
I'm kind of uncomfortable. It was a little uncomfortable. Yeah,
I because you know when they when they when they
(14:46):
the first four sections, they numb each section, and the
shots to numb them, there's like about I want to say,
twelve to twenty shots in each section to numb them,
and it's just like shot shot, shot, shot, shot shot.
That was the probably the most painful part of it.
And then there's this little device where they drill out
around the follicle. It's like it sounds like that's just
(15:09):
was in my head like the whole time. So this
this doctor's not my doctor, but a PA that he
has working with in was drilling all these follicles out
and laying on my stomach with my head like in
the massage face cradle, and then someone's going behind him
with tweezers and pulling each one of those follicles out,
and then that person is putting them on a tray,
(15:31):
and then they're taking that tray over to a row
of people that are sitting on a counter.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Who are looking.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
At each follicle under a microscope, and they're determining whether
those follicles are healthy or not to transplant. And some
of them they lose about ten percent of those follicles.
So then they divide those follicles, and I'm gonna send
you ay some pictures of this into little like like bulls,
and one bowl is follicle, one bowl's follicle like two
(16:01):
follicles one or two hair follicles. One bowl's three hair follicles.
And then that's how the doctor then decides when he's
going to place them where he pulls from. So that
process of extraction lasts about three hours, and you know,
you're just like laying there listening to music and I'm
talking to the team and I'm trying, you know, just
(16:22):
trying to be comfortable, right, but it's not comfortable right.
And then before lunch, he uh makes all the incisions
of where he wants the follicles to go. And there
there's this big whiteboard in the room and they're like
graphing out how many they took for each section, and
they're keeping count and they're counting them. And so then
(16:42):
when he makes all those incisions, there's someone next to
him clicking a clicker. So every time he makes an
incision on my scalp, someone's.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Clicking a clicker click, click, click click.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
So before lunch he makes I think the first day
it was like twelve hundred incisions on my scalp, just
right in this area.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
And then.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And then they give me a shot of something to
help me control the bleeding. They kind of wrap me up,
and then I eat lunch. So I'm sitting in this
room with this bloody head, like I look a hot mess,
eating a sandwich from Panara.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
What was happening?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Look awich you have.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
To decide it like six in the morning, I don't know.
It was the most It was like bizarre feeling, like
I buy myself in this room eating lunch, like I mean,
I was watching some TV, I think, but it was
it was just outer body experience. Then the team comes
back in and they lay and then I'm laying kind
(17:39):
of flat and I will.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
Say, they do give me valume? I did give.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I did tell them, OK. Yeah, I'm like, can you
up the valume? Like I don't feel like you realize
how big I am. Like, I need like double what
you're giving out here, help me out here because I
need to have this edge took off.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
So he did. He was great.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
He gave me enough volume to where I was RESTful.
I actually think I fell asleep during this process when
they were putting the follicles in.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
It's very long and tedious.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Because they individually place each follicle in each of those little, tiny,
itty bitty incisions. And then they do that for three
hours and then they say, Okay, that's enough for today.
And then I went back to the hotel room and
then literally, you know, you got to sleep up right,
(18:25):
you got to do this whole thing. And then I'm like,
oh my god, I have to go back for another
day of it.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, you were saying that you weren't looking forward to
that second because she knew how I mean, you'd.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Think through it.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I was like, Okay, here we go one more day
of this. At least I knew what to expect. You know,
when you know when you have to tell yourself, okay,
I never have to do that again. That's kind of
what I got through that second day, Like every time
we got through as a portion that I knew what
to expect at least, but I thought, Okay, I never
have to do that again. I never have to go
through the extraction again. I never have to go through
(18:57):
the incisions again. I never have to go through And
it was is it that bad?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It was just long, right, And did you think about
Christian's head and go, okay, I'm gonna be there.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The mental games that we have to play with ourselves,
you know sometimes is like, yeah, just to get through
a process.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Totally, and I you know, and you kind of forget
the endgame because you know, here you're sitting there with
a shaved head of hair, and you know your hair
doesn't look you don't look good, like it doesn't look good.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Oh honey, you always look good, honey.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I really felt like it was more I kept on
thinking about what Christian went through. And thank god I
knew someone who had done it, because I think I
would have been more a little more traumatized by the process.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
It's just a weird process.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I mean, you don't know until you know, right until
you're in it. Okay, So you go through the process
again for the second day, yes, and then they wrap
your head, they send you on your way.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Yeah, and they say come back the next day.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
So this was a Monday and Tuesday for the surgery
or the procedure, and then they go, okay, go home
or go to the hotel, come back the next morning
for your first hair wash, and then you can go
home and then you.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Can drive home.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Right, So how bad did that hurt?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
It hurt, But it was okay. I mean the girl
was so sweet to me and just was gentle with it.
And they're not washing your head because those are there.
Basically it's like fresh sod of you know, like you
have to be so careful with it. And I remember
him telling me at the end, He's like, Okay, now
when you go into a car, put your hand on
the door, because that's where the number one place people
(20:31):
screw up their hair transplants. Is they hit their head
on the car door going in and out of the
I mean, think about how many times you hit your head, right,
You probably don't think about it because it just happened sometimes. Well,
so I was like, oh my gosh, like put my
head in a bubble. You know, I don't want to
mess It was too expensive, you know, I don't want
to hurt these babies that just got planted. And so
(20:52):
they just kind of run water. And she was really
rubbing where it hurt was the donor area, and when
she was doing the wash, she was really rubbing that
off and getting no scabs off there. She wasn't really
touching up here where they the graphs got placed, right.
So we did that and then I went home and
then it started the long road to where I am today.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, because you were once you got home.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
I mean you didn't really leave the house for a
few days.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Tried not to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
I did end up going to work on Friday, which
was a mistake because then I swoll and I wasn't expecting. Yeah,
and the swelling all settled right in my eyes, like
like right here, Like there was a moment when I
couldn't I felt like I couldn't open my eyes because
it was so heavy, Like have you ever gotten like
too much botox and your eyebrows are so heavy?
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Like it felt like that time's ten Like I thought,
oh my god.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
I can't so the And then I just was like, Matt,
you learned a lesson. You push it too much. Stop it.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
So what what I ended up doing? And I'm not
a good.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Person to just sits like I don't like to sit around,
but I had to. I had to just protect my head,
watch TV. I sit those little like gel ice packs
for my savior. And it wasn't up here that hurt.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
It was all the donor.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
It was.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
And that was a part that I wasn't really prepared
for on what that would feel like. I started, and
my doctor prepared me. I mean, he was wonderful, and
he said every patient has a different journey.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Some patients have no pain, some patients have a lot
of pain.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I just happened to be kind of in the middle
where I got a lot of nerve pain from it.
And then of course I was you know, my support
group was like TikTok, like I would google every day
hair transplant postop day one. On my day one, or
postop day two, every and I'd watch all these videos
of guys that went through and they were on day
(22:53):
two like me, day three, day four, like yeah, and
I've been I do it.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I did this morning.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I'm glad you brought that up because I've going to
ask you about because we had talked about that and
how social media played such a big role in and
being that supportant to get through this process. You know,
we talked about social media so many times being on
the bat side. This is one of those opportunities where
it was so helpful.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
It was incredibly helpful because I would watch guys that
were having more swelling than me, because because you're in
a bubble, you're by yourself and your home, and you're like,
and I don't know anyone but Christian who's had it done.
So I'm texting Christian every day, sending him pictures like
why do you do I look okay? And you know,
and he's like, oh, you're perfect, Like you look great,
(23:35):
Like you need that support for sure to get through it.
But TikTok was surprisingly a big help for me. I
wish though. The thing I didn't like is sometimes is
the guys on TikTok that would have it done were like, oh, no,
I have no problem, it's nothing, no problem, like no pain. No,
I'm thinking, am I the biggest baby in the world?
Like why why am I having such a hard time
(23:58):
with some of this pain around my head? And like
I'm uncomfortable and I and no one's talking about that
as much, which I thought was interesting.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I think that's important to even bring that up because,
like you said a second ago, everybody's pain tolerance is different.
And then I think sometimes on social media we just
show the good side of everything. It's not always it's
not always the happy good side to get to the
end result that you're looking for, right, yea.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Right, And I definitely had seen that part prior to
my hair transplant. I had definitely watched all the tiktoks
of people who had the great result, which I will
have a great result, there's no doubt in my mind,
but kind of how to get there. And I've had
other plastic surgery in my life. I've had a nose job,
I got LiPo section once, like I've had other procedures.
(24:48):
And when you get those procedures, like it's instant almost,
I mean you have the nose, I was bruised and
all that, but pretty much it was instant, like I
could see the result right away. And even with the
LiPo section, I could see that, oh my, the love
handles were gone, like almost right away. This is not
that kind of cosmetic surgery. This is like, okay, Matt,
I have it done. They shave my head and then
(25:10):
there's all these stages you have to go through that
I am having to go. I mean, I have go
through now before my hair will start to grow as
it will in about months six, seven eight, it will
start to grow in thick, it will start to look
like it's going to look by month twelve, a year
from now, I will have allegedly a great head of hair.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So this is one of those procedures it really does
require patience. Yes, it does require patients because it does
take to I mean, anytime you're even just trying to
grow your hair out, it takes patients to get to
that step. And you've just gone through this whole process
of extraction and implanting and so of course it's going
to take some time. So now moving forward, there are
(25:53):
a couple of different questions I want to ask you
because you're just so great about being open and that's
so helpful to people. I do love too that we're
able to have these conversations now. And I really want
people to know that if you want to do this,
then do it and look into it. If you can
afford to do it, if you can budget.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
For it, it's out there. And that's what I love so much.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And they're financing options for people like there was I
and to tell you the truth, like I paid for
half of it and finance half of.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It, and that's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
And if you don't want to do it, if that's
something you don't believe them, that's, you know, great too.
I just think that we have, I mean, to have
that opportunity to talk about all the different options that
are out there and that it's okay not only to
get them, but to talk about them. And so I
think you really help people when you talk about these processes.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I think so, and I you know, it helps me
to hear it from people, and there's a lot of options,
and they can do it for women too, Like that's
what's so crazy. I have some dear friends who female
who are experiencing hair loss, and I think as a woman,
that would be one of the hardest, absolutely hardest things
(27:04):
to go through. And I've seen it, you know, and
I and luckily we have hair extensions and we have
things that can help that. But this is a real
answer for women too. And I really feel like and
they don't have to shave your head, by the way,
it's better it works. It's easier for them if they
shave your head. But for like women, they can just
(27:27):
go under here and take care from back here where
it's not affected by the hormone, and then transplant them
where they need to up here. There's also I got
the fue but there's also a procedure where they actually
cut a strip off here and then they can harvest
one hundred percent of that strip. So they do that
oftentimes for women as well. I didn't do that because
(27:48):
I didn't have enough donor area to do that. But
there's lots of options.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
For people there, and it's a game changer, game change.
It really is a game changer.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
What would you tell people who are and they're thinking,
you know, I hate my hair loss. I don't want
to talk about it. I wear a ball cap all
the time. Or for females who are trying to figure
out different ways to cover it up. And I've had
several friends too who have experienced the hair loss and
(28:18):
it is, it's hard and it can be shameful.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
What would you tell those people?
Speaker 4 (28:22):
I would say, just get a consult just call nothing.
You know, what does an appointment hurt too? And I'm
not I don't get paid by anybody to sell it anything,
But I'm just saying, like I would tell my best
friend if you were struggling, I would say, Leslie, just
call them, like what does it hurt? And you know
they're in Seattle, Like they don't know you. I mean,
(28:43):
if you're worried about your you know your privacy, you
know it's they and they can have a conversation remotely
via zoom. You can send pictures it. I don't remember
if it cost me anything. I don't think it did
to even have that consultation. And then that's when I
really was like, no, this is a real.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Option for me.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
And then I had made it so far out of
advance and I could save for it.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
You know.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
It wasn't like I made it and went two weeks
later and went and had it done. It was a
year that I planned for it. I got on those
oral meds, I prepared my scalp.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
I saved for it, and then I had it done.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
And you're glad.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
I'm super glad I had it done. Now, especially on
the other side of it. Yeah, no, Will I do
it again, because there are some people that do too,
like they go back and get another like a touchup.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
I doubt it because I think I made I have
a good result from this one. I literally just had
my two week fall up with my doctor this morning,
and you know, I was talking to about all sorts
of things, like working out, and I just started working
out last night, Like I went to my trainer last
night and how I first work out? And I had
all sorts of questions, you know, when can I get
my first haircut? When can I do all sorts of things?
(29:56):
And he basically told me all but tanning, he goes,
don't go into a tanning bed, don't don't get some
UV on that that skin.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
He goes.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Everything else, do it, Pretend you didn't have a hair transplant,
get haircuts, work out hard, do your cardio, get back
to light, get back to light. You're fine, ignore it.
So but what I He's like, what do you have concerns?
I go, well, I feel like I'm balding like more here,
like just right on the very top of my scalp
looks bald to me. And I know he put a
(30:26):
ton of hair like right up here in front. And
he said, well, that's very common. He goes, All the
blood is moving to the front of your scalp where
it's healing those traumas, those incisions. He goes, that's called
shock loss. He goes, your hair won't grow there for
a while. He goes, be patient, it will come back.
Those follicles are still there. So it's just weird stuff
(30:47):
like that. And I'm in the I'm just starting what
they call the shedding phase, with the ugly duckling phase.
And I mean you can kind of tell like it's
it looks sparse. I mean, it looks thicker, and some
of the picture I'll send you right after the hair transplant,
you can see, like, especially that first week, it looked great.
It was like a really nice buzz cut. And now
(31:08):
I'm starting to get a little spotty and a little
and every day I wash my hair and I'm looking
down at all these little hairs on my hands.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Make you panic.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Yeah, I think, oh my god, all my babies are
following out. And then I have to remind myself that
this is the shedding phase. And so for the next
month about I will shed all those hair shafts, not
the follicles. The doctor reminded me. He goes, You're not
losing follicles, You're just losing the hair shafts that got trump.
They were traumatized when they with that. You know that move,
(31:39):
you know that trauma. And he goes, you, those follicles
are great, but they'll go into a little hibernation. They're
gonna get strong, and then you're gonna grow really thick,
great hair.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
It just takes a while.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Yeah, So patience, Oh my god, I have no patience.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
I have none. You're like me, I have over it.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
So I just have to kind of ignore the fact
that I have this crew cut.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And well, we're at when I want. You know, if
I want.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You're a beautiful man. So you're doing just fine. I'll
be okay, my friend, Yeah, you will be. And like
my mom always used to say, it gets worse before
it gets better.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
This is right.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
That is the tagline of this hair transplant. It gets
worse before it gets better. Oh my gosh, but it
will get better.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
But it will get better. And you're going to come
back in a year.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I think I should come back in a year.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I should, and.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Because then I can, I will be on the other
side of it. Yes, maybe I'll lose ten pounds too,
so I just looked better. Yeah right, I'll be mad.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
For thank you, Thanks for let me share this.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh this is amazing. You're going to help so many people.
And I know that there are a lot of questions
about it right now.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
It's it's a huge and how far we've come. I
love I love that.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
I would I wish I could answer people's questions to it.
I'm open to that, happy to do whatever I can.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Well, you know what, if you have questions, leave them
here in the comments and then we'll have Matt answer those.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Okay, awesome, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
I love you, love you, Okay, okay,
Hi, I'm Leslie low Welcome to Leslie's Low Down on Life.
All right, today we're going to talk about follicle unit
extraction i e.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hair transplant. And I'm so excited that you're here. This
is my friend Matt Fleming.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
And what's so great is that you just went through
this whole process just.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
God done a few weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
I am today is day seventeen post off. So yeah,
two weeks ago I went through the whole process of
getting a follicle unit extraction so at FUE hair transplant.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So I love that you're willing to talk about it
because it's a huge topic right now. Eighty five percent
of men and thirty three percent of women will experience
hair loss in their lifetime, and then of course the older.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
We get, then the more we experience that hair loss.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And over the years, there's been so many different products,
hair growth products, shampoos, now there's all kinds of supplements
that we can take. And then really what's kind of
come to the forefront is hair transplants.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
About your process because it is a process.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
And you know, for me, my dad was bald, you know,
and I kind of felt like, and even my mom's
dad was lost his hair, and I kind of thought, Okay,
this is gonna be my path. And I turned fifty
this year, so I was thinking, Okay, my hair is
thinning out. At about forty five, my hair really started
(01:42):
getting thin and there's only so much you can do
with styling. And I was doing all the shampoos, and
I was doing the and the topical roguain, the topical monoxidil,
and I wasn't even aware that there was oral medication
you could take prescribed by your doctor to help grow
your hair. There's two different types. There's one will help
strengthen the hair follicle, which would be the monoxidel orally,
(02:03):
and then there's the like I always say, I'm wrong,
so forgive me if it's like forest Draine and dress
Draine or something to dress dride and those two actually
grow hair from the follicle.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So those are supplements.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Are those pills?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Those are prescription pills from my.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, so that's a prescription strength and now on the
market are so many other things over the counter.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, but really, if you are experiencing hair loss, you
you should get on a prescription strength hair loss medication
from your doc or like I went, I didn't get
it from my doctor and my physician. I called this clinic,
and so I mean, I can back up a little bit.
So I called the clinic about a year ago. So anyway,
I was experiencing this hair kind of like not really
(02:45):
talking about it. I feel like no one really talks
about it. Yeah, I was styling it my hair. My
hair is best I could and I had like a
fifteen step process to make.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Sure my hair don't look thin. And then.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Actually it was one of my my husband's best like
one of his best friends went to Turkey and had
a hair transplant and he, uh, he came back and
he was sharing that experience with Casey, and I thought,
that's incredible. Like I was in shock, and I thought
I didn't even know this was a real thing.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Like I really I.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Had heard about it a little bit, but I'd also
kind of had this biased around plugs, Like I thought,
I don't want to look like I had hair.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Plugs, Right, what's the difference between hair.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I don't even know if I know, Okay, yeah, yeah,
I don't know. I just knew that they didn't look good.
I had a physician that I went to years and
years ago who got hair plugs, and all you did
was stereotis hair plugs the whole time, you know, like
that's all I did.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I thought, you don't want it to be obvious, correct.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And so when this this friend of Casey's, Christian, had
his hair transplant, he uh, he just had this incredible
result and I was just in awe of it and
watching it over that next year kind of come in
and fill in and go from bolder than I was
to this gorgeous, thick, full head of hair.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
I thought, this is incredible, but I didn't want to
go to Turkey.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
So then one of my employees was I was kind
of talking about it at work, and one of my
employees said that her really good friend just had a
hair transplant in Seattle at the Root Hair Institute, which
is where I ended up going, and that he had
this incredible result and that he was also very bald,
and and I immediately like called the Root Hair Institute.
(04:27):
And this was about a year ago now, it was
in September of last year, and I made an appointment.
And at that appointment, the doctor, you know, he was like,
I need to get you on some oral prescription meds
for this. Let's get you on it. Let's strengthen your
hair follicles. Let's let's you know you're gonna, We're gonna.
I'll talk about the process of how they do it,
but we got to get the donor area strong for
(04:50):
the harvesting of those hair follicles so that when it happens,
you're ready.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
And and so I did it. I started those.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Oral meds about a year prior to even having the
hair transplant.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So this is a whole for me.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It was a it's a year process.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
It was.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
It was about a year process.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
So we should talk about a couple of the different
I mean, there are different reasons why people experience hair loss,
whether it be a hereditary that's I think the big one.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And they always say that boys get the hairline of.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Their mother's spire, right, and if I read that correctly
and what they say, and then there's also like hormonal.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Hair loss a big one for me.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, So at about forty five is years old, I
noticed a big drop in my energy level and a
lot of things. I mean, I think you've talked about
this on this podcast before. I was like, okay, my
testosterone has to be completely a whack, and it was.
I was in the toilet with my testosterone level. So
I got on a TRT testosterone replacement therapy and.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
One of the side effects of that is hair loss.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So I think that there's like always been stigma around
certain things, and that would be hormones, it would be
hair loss, all the things that in the past we've
tended to, you know, shy away from talking about. And
what I love now is that we're in a place
that we can talk about these things. There is no
(06:17):
shame in it, and we should be talking about these
things so that we can support each other and know
that there are things out there they can make such
a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Huge difference, And I'm kind of an open book anyway. Yeah,
what I didn't realize when I went on that testosterone
replacement therapy was that hormone that you know is so
great for us guys, that gives us the energy and
helps us build muscle and helps us with workouts. It
also attacks hair loss. But what I didn't realize is
(06:48):
you know that.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
H what is it DHT? I think it is a DHT.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Hormone that affects those follicles on the top of your head.
They don't affect the follicles around.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
The side of your head.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Interesting, So that's where this technology really came from out
and I don't know if I came out of Turkey,
but that's where they really they have the reputation for it.
Right This hair transplant is if they transplant the hair
follicles from the side of your head to the top
of your head, those follicles will never be affected by
that hormone that affects male pattern baldness. That's a science
(07:20):
behind it. I don't know how it works, but it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That is fascinating.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And I saw and the only reason, like I was
blown away by because I saw living proof with Christian
and then I heard from my employee who's like, oh
my gosh, it's incredible this what they do. I didn't
want to fly to Turkey. I just didn't have any
interest in that. I don't know why.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
With my job, I just thought I really can't be
gone that long and I wanted to be able to.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Be like closer to my doctor.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You know, I live in Spokane, but and I didn't
really do any research around Spokan.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
There might be places here that do this.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
But since my employe's friend has such a great result
with this doctor, I thought, I'm going to give this
a shot.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And I really didn't look anywhere else.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
It was like, as soon as I met this doctor,
doctor Rupawani, I just fell in love with him, and
I thought, no, this is my guy. You know, when
you have that immediate trust, you know yah. And he
was so reassuring. And what was interesting on our first
consult it was via zoom I. You know, I had
to send pictures of my head all these different angles,
and I was really concerned about my donor area because
(08:25):
I don't really have thick hair. And I thought, oh,
I don't want to what they call over harvests. I
don't want them to take so many follicles because once
they take them, they're gone.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's my question is okay, once they take them out,
they don't grow back.
Speaker 5 (08:37):
They don't grow back ever, so they can't.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
If they over harvest you, you could have a botched
hair transplant really quickly and get patches around your side
to your head. I was really nervous about that because
I didn't have thick, like a really thick donor area.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
So to speak.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
So he looked at my picture and he goes, you know,
I think I could do you know, twelve hundred or
two thousand follow coles and move them. And I said, okay, great,
and you know, he's like, when you want to do this,
and I'm like, you know, honestly, with my schedule, probably
next August, it's probably a great time, which is when
I scheduled it, put some money down, and then I
(09:15):
made an appointment to go see him in person.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And when I went to go see him.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
In person in May, I he got a really good
chance to look at my scalp and he's like, oh, no,
you have better donor area than I thought. And it
might have been because I was on those meds for
so long, you know, the monoxidol and the terrestride.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
I don't know how to say it, but they He's like,
your donor is great.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
I can get at least thirty three hundred follicles from
your donor area.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
And so that's so then I agreed to do that.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thirty three hundred follicles. So that's individual hair follicles, hair
follicles that they take out one.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
By one by one, Okay.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Now then yeah, yeah, and then implant them into my head.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
All right, take us through the process, because this was
a process.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Oh yeah, And it was a two day process. It
was two full eight hour days over in Seattle, well Bellevue,
rather at the Root Heristitute. And I made one of
my best girlfriends, Jessica, go with me, who's a nurse.
And I said, you're gonna come with me because we
had to stay at a hotel, right, And I didn't
know what to expect. Really are with and they don't
(10:20):
really give you any like there's no oral pain meds
they give you for it like there it's all topical.
Well it's local and so you know, they do inject
and that was okay. So I wasn't prepared for what
I was going to experience, I will tell you that.
And it wasn't that bad. I'm a little being a
little dramatic, so just forgive me for that. It wasn't
(10:41):
as bad as but it was more than I thought
it was going to be. So the day was broken
into two parts. In the morning we harvested and in
the afternoon they implanted the harvested follicles. And they he
first he did is he took all these before pictures
(11:02):
and then he shaved my head bald, and then he
drew all over my head and he drew like eight
sections around the like around here, around the donor area.
He divided it in eight and then he divided the
top of my head into three sections, and we prioritized
with each other where he wanted me to put where
he wanted.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
The follicles to go. So he's like, well, okay, how
do you style your hair?
Speaker 4 (11:25):
And I go, well, I kind of comb it over
like this, and he goes, okay, why I'm gonna put
more follicles here, because then it will be thicker. As
you comb it over, it will appear thicker than over here.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
And he goes, right, what bothers you the most about
your hair? Your head?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
And I said, well that it's thin here, and he goes, okay,
well we're gonna we're gonna start go thicker here. And
he has this art of placing like one hair follicles,
two hair follicles, three hair follicles. Where he places those
is kind of his magic and how he makes it
look so natural and so good.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's an artist.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
He's an artist.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
He's amazing, And I think that's what you pay for, honestly,
and I will tell you christian incredible result in Turkey.
So I think if you do your research, you can
find great places other areas. But for me, I was
like I wanted to know in my gut. I always
listened to my gut, and I just felt like this
(12:20):
was right. People want to know how much it is right?
Like what, like what do you know? Like at pain
for a hair transplant? And I'm pausing you on the
process to tell you this, But like I would say,
in Turkey, I think Christian paid around six thousand dollars
for his I think he had more follicles transferred than
I did. You it kind of comes down to you
pay how many follicles you get transferred. Okay, so if
(12:41):
you get a lot more, if you get six thousand
follicles transfer, you're gonna pay a lot more than I
did at thirty three hundred, Or if you get two thousand,
you're gonna pay a lot less. So I you know
in the States, in Seattle, you're gonna pay at least
double to three times that amount. So you got to
weigh that. You know what you want to do and
(13:02):
if you can afford it.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
But you're also not having to pay the travel correct,
so there's a little bit of a balance.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
There is a little bit.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
I think with Christian, I think his was included in
that six thousand dollars, his travel and his hotel and everything.
But I don't know everyone's everywhere's different. I hear, you
know the most expensive hair transplants like fifty thousand dollars,
and you know you could get real cheap, like five thousands.
So it's you get what you pay for sometimes. But
I also think you can you gotta be careful that
(13:31):
you don't pay too much.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Do your research, do your research, do a little bit
of research.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
I didn't do as much as I probably should have
because I kind of just found where I wanted to go.
But I think people should do their research, and if
you can do the Turkey travel, do it. But it
made me nervous and honest to God, after the two
day procedure and just driving home to my house and
crawling into my bed, I couldn't have imagined getting on
(13:57):
a plane four days later or five days later and
flying home feeling the way I did. So I'll get there,
But that was my choice to go to Bellevue, so anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Closer to home closer to home.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Closer to home.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So let's go back to let's go back to let's
go to two day processes. So first day, you know,
first half of the day they're extracting, they're second half
of the day they're implanting.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Implanting them and does it hurt?
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Yeah, So, uh, you know, it's funny. My doctor said
to me, he goes, because I was worried about that.
I said, what's it going to He's like, my patients
aren't uncomfortable. He goes, It's not like you're going to
the spa, but they're not uncomfortable. And I thought, well,
I'm kind of uncomfortable. It was a little uncomfortable. Yeah,
I because you know when they when they when they
(14:46):
the first four sections, they numb each section, and the
shots to numb them, there's like about I want to say,
twelve to twenty shots in each section to numb them,
and it's just like shot shot, shot, shot, shot shot.
That was the probably the most painful part of it.
And then there's this little device where they drill out
around the follicle. It's like it sounds like that's just
(15:09):
was in my head like the whole time. So this
this doctor's not my doctor, but a PA that he
has working with in was drilling all these follicles out
and laying on my stomach with my head like in
the massage face cradle, and then someone's going behind him
with tweezers and pulling each one of those follicles out,
and then that person is putting them on a tray,
(15:31):
and then they're taking that tray over to a row
of people that are sitting on a counter.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Who are looking.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
At each follicle under a microscope, and they're determining whether
those follicles are healthy or not to transplant. And some
of them they lose about ten percent of those follicles.
So then they divide those follicles, and I'm gonna send
you ay some pictures of this into little like like bulls,
and one bowl is follicle, one bowl's follicle like two
(16:01):
follicles one or two hair follicles. One bowl's three hair follicles.
And then that's how the doctor then decides when he's
going to place them where he pulls from. So that
process of extraction lasts about three hours, and you know,
you're just like laying there listening to music and I'm
talking to the team and I'm trying, you know, just
(16:22):
trying to be comfortable, right, but it's not comfortable right.
And then before lunch, he uh makes all the incisions
of where he wants the follicles to go. And there
there's this big whiteboard in the room and they're like
graphing out how many they took for each section, and
they're keeping count and they're counting them. And so then
(16:42):
when he makes all those incisions, there's someone next to
him clicking a clicker. So every time he makes an
incision on my scalp, someone's.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Clicking a clicker click, click, click click.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
So before lunch he makes I think the first day
it was like twelve hundred incisions on my scalp, just
right in this area.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
And then.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And then they give me a shot of something to
help me control the bleeding. They kind of wrap me up,
and then I eat lunch. So I'm sitting in this
room with this bloody head, like I look a hot mess,
eating a sandwich from Panara.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
What was happening?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Look awich you have.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
To decide it like six in the morning, I don't know.
It was the most It was like bizarre feeling, like
I buy myself in this room eating lunch, like I mean,
I was watching some TV, I think, but it was
it was just outer body experience. Then the team comes
back in and they lay and then I'm laying kind
(17:39):
of flat and I will.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
Say, they do give me valume? I did give.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I did tell them, OK. Yeah, I'm like, can you
up the valume? Like I don't feel like you realize
how big I am. Like, I need like double what
you're giving out here, help me out here because I
need to have this edge took off.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
So he did. He was great.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
He gave me enough volume to where I was RESTful.
I actually think I fell asleep during this process when
they were putting the follicles in.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
It's very long and tedious.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Because they individually place each follicle in each of those little, tiny,
itty bitty incisions. And then they do that for three
hours and then they say, Okay, that's enough for today.
And then I went back to the hotel room and
then literally, you know, you got to sleep up right,
(18:25):
you got to do this whole thing. And then I'm like,
oh my god, I have to go back for another
day of it.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, you were saying that you weren't looking forward to
that second because she knew how I mean, you'd.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Think through it.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I was like, Okay, here we go one more day
of this. At least I knew what to expect. You know,
when you know when you have to tell yourself, okay,
I never have to do that again. That's kind of
what I got through that second day, Like every time
we got through as a portion that I knew what
to expect at least, but I thought, Okay, I never
have to do that again. I never have to go
through the extraction again. I never have to go through
(18:57):
the incisions again. I never have to go through And
it was is it that bad?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It was just long, right, And did you think about
Christian's head and go, okay, I'm gonna be there.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The mental games that we have to play with ourselves,
you know sometimes is like, yeah, just to get through
a process.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Totally, and I you know, and you kind of forget
the endgame because you know, here you're sitting there with
a shaved head of hair, and you know your hair
doesn't look you don't look good, like it doesn't look good.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Oh honey, you always look good, honey.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I really felt like it was more I kept on
thinking about what Christian went through. And thank god I
knew someone who had done it, because I think I
would have been more a little more traumatized by the process.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
It's just a weird process.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I mean, you don't know until you know, right until
you're in it. Okay, So you go through the process
again for the second day, yes, and then they wrap
your head, they send you on your way.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Yeah, and they say come back the next day.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
So this was a Monday and Tuesday for the surgery
or the procedure, and then they go, okay, go home
or go to the hotel, come back the next morning
for your first hair wash, and then you can go
home and then you.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Can drive home.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Right, So how bad did that hurt?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
It hurt, But it was okay. I mean the girl
was so sweet to me and just was gentle with it.
And they're not washing your head because those are there.
Basically it's like fresh sod of you know, like you
have to be so careful with it. And I remember
him telling me at the end, He's like, Okay, now
when you go into a car, put your hand on
the door, because that's where the number one place people
(20:31):
screw up their hair transplants. Is they hit their head
on the car door going in and out of the
I mean, think about how many times you hit your head, right,
You probably don't think about it because it just happened sometimes. Well,
so I was like, oh my gosh, like put my
head in a bubble. You know, I don't want to
mess It was too expensive, you know, I don't want
to hurt these babies that just got planted. And so
(20:52):
they just kind of run water. And she was really
rubbing where it hurt was the donor area, and when
she was doing the wash, she was really rubbing that
off and getting no scabs off there. She wasn't really
touching up here where they the graphs got placed, right.
So we did that and then I went home and
then it started the long road to where I am today.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, because you were once you got home.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
I mean you didn't really leave the house for a
few days.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Tried not to.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
I did end up going to work on Friday, which
was a mistake because then I swoll and I wasn't expecting. Yeah,
and the swelling all settled right in my eyes, like
like right here, Like there was a moment when I
couldn't I felt like I couldn't open my eyes because
it was so heavy, Like have you ever gotten like
too much botox and your eyebrows are so heavy?
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Like it felt like that time's ten Like I thought,
oh my god.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
I can't so the And then I just was like, Matt,
you learned a lesson. You push it too much. Stop it.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
So what what I ended up doing? And I'm not
a good.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Person to just sits like I don't like to sit around,
but I had to. I had to just protect my head,
watch TV. I sit those little like gel ice packs
for my savior. And it wasn't up here that hurt.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
It was all the donor.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
It was.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
And that was a part that I wasn't really prepared
for on what that would feel like. I started, and
my doctor prepared me. I mean, he was wonderful, and
he said every patient has a different journey.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Some patients have no pain, some patients have a lot
of pain.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I just happened to be kind of in the middle
where I got a lot of nerve pain from it.
And then of course I was you know, my support
group was like TikTok, like I would google every day
hair transplant postop day one. On my day one, or
postop day two, every and I'd watch all these videos
of guys that went through and they were on day
(22:53):
two like me, day three, day four, like yeah, and
I've been I do it.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I did this morning.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I'm glad you brought that up because I've going to
ask you about because we had talked about that and
how social media played such a big role in and
being that supportant to get through this process. You know,
we talked about social media so many times being on
the bat side. This is one of those opportunities where
it was so helpful.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
It was incredibly helpful because I would watch guys that
were having more swelling than me, because because you're in
a bubble, you're by yourself and your home, and you're like,
and I don't know anyone but Christian who's had it done.
So I'm texting Christian every day, sending him pictures like
why do you do I look okay? And you know,
and he's like, oh, you're perfect, Like you look great,
(23:35):
Like you need that support for sure to get through it.
But TikTok was surprisingly a big help for me. I
wish though. The thing I didn't like is sometimes is
the guys on TikTok that would have it done were like, oh, no,
I have no problem, it's nothing, no problem, like no pain. No,
I'm thinking, am I the biggest baby in the world?
Like why why am I having such a hard time
(23:58):
with some of this pain around my head? And like
I'm uncomfortable and I and no one's talking about that
as much, which I thought was interesting.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I think that's important to even bring that up because,
like you said a second ago, everybody's pain tolerance is different.
And then I think sometimes on social media we just
show the good side of everything. It's not always it's
not always the happy good side to get to the
end result that you're looking for, right, yea.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Right, And I definitely had seen that part prior to
my hair transplant. I had definitely watched all the tiktoks
of people who had the great result, which I will
have a great result, there's no doubt in my mind,
but kind of how to get there. And I've had
other plastic surgery in my life. I've had a nose job,
I got LiPo section once, like I've had other procedures.
(24:48):
And when you get those procedures, like it's instant almost,
I mean you have the nose, I was bruised and
all that, but pretty much it was instant, like I
could see the result right away. And even with the
LiPo section, I could see that, oh my, the love
handles were gone, like almost right away. This is not
that kind of cosmetic surgery. This is like, okay, Matt,
I have it done. They shave my head and then
(25:10):
there's all these stages you have to go through that
I am having to go. I mean, I have go
through now before my hair will start to grow as
it will in about months six, seven eight, it will
start to grow in thick, it will start to look
like it's going to look by month twelve, a year
from now, I will have allegedly a great head of hair.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So this is one of those procedures it really does
require patience. Yes, it does require patients because it does
take to I mean, anytime you're even just trying to
grow your hair out, it takes patients to get to
that step. And you've just gone through this whole process
of extraction and implanting and so of course it's going
to take some time. So now moving forward, there are
(25:53):
a couple of different questions I want to ask you
because you're just so great about being open and that's
so helpful to people. I do love too that we're
able to have these conversations now. And I really want
people to know that if you want to do this,
then do it and look into it. If you can
afford to do it, if you can budget.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
For it, it's out there. And that's what I love so much.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And they're financing options for people like there was I
and to tell you the truth, like I paid for
half of it and finance half of.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It, and that's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
And if you don't want to do it, if that's
something you don't believe them, that's, you know, great too.
I just think that we have, I mean, to have
that opportunity to talk about all the different options that
are out there and that it's okay not only to
get them, but to talk about them. And so I
think you really help people when you talk about these processes.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I think so, and I you know, it helps me
to hear it from people, and there's a lot of options,
and they can do it for women too, Like that's
what's so crazy. I have some dear friends who female
who are experiencing hair loss, and I think as a woman,
that would be one of the hardest, absolutely hardest things
(27:04):
to go through. And I've seen it, you know, and
I and luckily we have hair extensions and we have
things that can help that. But this is a real
answer for women too. And I really feel like and
they don't have to shave your head, by the way,
it's better it works. It's easier for them if they
shave your head. But for like women, they can just
(27:27):
go under here and take care from back here where
it's not affected by the hormone, and then transplant them
where they need to up here. There's also I got
the fue but there's also a procedure where they actually
cut a strip off here and then they can harvest
one hundred percent of that strip. So they do that
oftentimes for women as well. I didn't do that because
(27:48):
I didn't have enough donor area to do that. But
there's lots of options.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
For people there, and it's a game changer, game change.
It really is a game changer.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
What would you tell people who are and they're thinking,
you know, I hate my hair loss. I don't want
to talk about it. I wear a ball cap all
the time. Or for females who are trying to figure
out different ways to cover it up. And I've had
several friends too who have experienced the hair loss and
(28:18):
it is, it's hard and it can be shameful.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
What would you tell those people?
Speaker 4 (28:22):
I would say, just get a consult just call nothing.
You know, what does an appointment hurt too? And I'm
not I don't get paid by anybody to sell it anything,
But I'm just saying, like I would tell my best
friend if you were struggling, I would say, Leslie, just
call them, like what does it hurt? And you know
they're in Seattle, Like they don't know you. I mean,
(28:43):
if you're worried about your you know your privacy, you
know it's they and they can have a conversation remotely
via zoom. You can send pictures it. I don't remember
if it cost me anything. I don't think it did
to even have that consultation. And then that's when I
really was like, no, this is a real.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Option for me.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
And then I had made it so far out of
advance and I could save for it.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
You know.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
It wasn't like I made it and went two weeks
later and went and had it done. It was a
year that I planned for it. I got on those
oral meds, I prepared my scalp.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
I saved for it, and then I had it done.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
And you're glad.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
I'm super glad I had it done. Now, especially on
the other side of it. Yeah, no, Will I do
it again, because there are some people that do too,
like they go back and get another like a touchup.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
I doubt it because I think I made I have
a good result from this one. I literally just had
my two week fall up with my doctor this morning,
and you know, I was talking to about all sorts
of things, like working out, and I just started working
out last night, Like I went to my trainer last
night and how I first work out? And I had
all sorts of questions, you know, when can I get
my first haircut? When can I do all sorts of things?
(29:56):
And he basically told me all but tanning, he goes,
don't go into a tanning bed, don't don't get some
UV on that that skin.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
He goes.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Everything else, do it, Pretend you didn't have a hair transplant,
get haircuts, work out hard, do your cardio, get back
to light, get back to light. You're fine, ignore it.
So but what I He's like, what do you have concerns?
I go, well, I feel like I'm balding like more here,
like just right on the very top of my scalp
looks bald to me. And I know he put a
(30:26):
ton of hair like right up here in front. And
he said, well, that's very common. He goes, All the
blood is moving to the front of your scalp where
it's healing those traumas, those incisions. He goes, that's called
shock loss. He goes, your hair won't grow there for
a while. He goes, be patient, it will come back.
Those follicles are still there. So it's just weird stuff
(30:47):
like that. And I'm in the I'm just starting what
they call the shedding phase, with the ugly duckling phase.
And I mean you can kind of tell like it's
it looks sparse. I mean, it looks thicker, and some
of the picture I'll send you right after the hair transplant,
you can see, like, especially that first week, it looked great.
It was like a really nice buzz cut. And now
(31:08):
I'm starting to get a little spotty and a little
and every day I wash my hair and I'm looking
down at all these little hairs on my hands.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Make you panic.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Yeah, I think, oh my god, all my babies are
following out. And then I have to remind myself that
this is the shedding phase. And so for the next
month about I will shed all those hair shafts, not
the follicles. The doctor reminded me. He goes, You're not
losing follicles, You're just losing the hair shafts that got trump.
They were traumatized when they with that. You know that move,
(31:39):
you know that trauma. And he goes, you, those follicles
are great, but they'll go into a little hibernation. They're
gonna get strong, and then you're gonna grow really thick,
great hair.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
It just takes a while.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Yeah, So patience, Oh my god, I have no patience.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
I have none. You're like me, I have over it.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
So I just have to kind of ignore the fact
that I have this crew cut.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And well, we're at when I want. You know, if
I want.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You're a beautiful man. So you're doing just fine. I'll
be okay, my friend, Yeah, you will be. And like
my mom always used to say, it gets worse before
it gets better.
Speaker 5 (32:18):
This is right.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
That is the tagline of this hair transplant. It gets
worse before it gets better. Oh my gosh, but it
will get better.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
But it will get better. And you're going to come
back in a year.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I think I should come back in a year.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I should, and.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Because then I can, I will be on the other
side of it. Yes, maybe I'll lose ten pounds too,
so I just looked better. Yeah right, I'll be mad.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
For thank you, Thanks for let me share this.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh this is amazing. You're going to help so many people.
And I know that there are a lot of questions
about it right now.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
It's it's a huge and how far we've come. I
love I love that.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
I would I wish I could answer people's questions to it.
I'm open to that, happy to do whatever I can.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Well, you know what, if you have questions, leave them
here in the comments and then we'll have Matt answer those.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Okay, awesome, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
I love you, love you, Okay, okay,
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