How Effective are Hair Transplants without Hair Loss Drugs Like Propecia and Rogaine?

My hair pattern was on the way to NW-6 or NW-7 when a trusted friend recommended me to his HT doctor friend.
The HT doctor told me
#1 best option was YES to Finasteride/Propecia, NO to HT
2nd best option was YES to both, but to get the results I wanted, would likely need 2 HT
The worst option would be HT w/out Fin which may result in shock loss and eventually 3 HT
I insisted on the worst option.

The HT went well but hair loss continued as the doctor had warned. A year later I got Fin before doing a second HT. 2nd time around there was ZERO apparent shock loss and existing hair seemed to mildly improve while new hair grew and thickened.

My two regrets are first being too stubborn to take Fin and second not asking for clarification as to why the HT doctor who had performed several thousand surgeries over his career was so extremely insistent that I take Fin. The hair loss between HT1 and HT2 that Fin might have prevented would hypothetically be about $8000 in FUT or 2x that for FUE.

I take a generic form of Propecia that costs less than $40/year. I was a fool not to at least try it on day one.

I have no symptoms from Fin use, but there is the drawback that I am no longer allowed to donate blood until 6 months after stopping use which may be never.