Hi everyone...

Well this Friday will be my first Consultation with Dr. Seager...in order to pursue my first HT.

This site has been a wealth of information, however, I want to make sure that I ask all of the right questions in my consult.

Knowing what you've all learned from past experience...what are the most important questions you'd ask...knowing what you know today?

Please help.

Thanks,

Largepart

Hi everyone...

Well this Friday will be my first Consultation with Dr. Seager...in order to pursue my first HT.

This site has been a wealth of information, however, I want to make sure that I ask all of the right questions in my consult.

Knowing what you've all learned from past experience...what are the most important questions you'd ask...knowing what you know today?

Please help.

Thanks,

Largepart

Largepart,
First welcome and congrats on taking the first steps. Seager is one of several recommended surgeons on this site.
Some questions to ask during consult.

- Ask to see before and after pics (if your in the office ask to see part a current procedure or a live patient

- As about his technique (does he use lateral slits, custom blades that match the disection and recepient areas)

- Does he use both stithes subcontanious and staples on closure

- How many patients does he do a day

- HOw many cases has he personally conducted

- His opinion on your future hairloss progression and approx how many donor FU you have available

- Does he do the donor incision, extraction, and closure? Or does his nurses to part of it ( you want him to do all the donor stages).

- Does he do the incisions in the recepient areas and placements of the FU's? If not how/which areas does he do-- (You want the surgeon to place at least the hairline/temple and important areas-- not the nurse)

- Ask to see pics of donor scars.

Hope this helps a little.

Largepart

Take in a photo of what your hair looked like when you were most happy with it. The doc will have an idea of your original hairline and then be able to predict the most suitable hairline for the future (depending on your age). I did this and my hairline has been recreated very close to the original, im very happy with it so far (14 weeks post op).

Be sure to have realistic expectations and relax and enjoy the ride. It sounds bizarre but the wait is very frustrating but very exciting also. Sounds like your ready...enjoy.

qvarnis

qvarnis makes an excellent suggestion, and one that doesn't get mentioned too often: take a photograph with you showing your desired goal. All the verbal description in the world won't convey what kind of hair you want as clearly as a photo will.

If you don't have one of yourself with the hairline you are seeking--I didn't--use a photo of someone else who has the kind of hair you are hoping to regain. (In my case, I used photos of the actor Robert Montgomery when he was approximately the same age as myself; it represented the precise mature hairline that I hoped to get, given the limitations of my Norwood VI noggin.)

Also note, using a photo to represent your goals is a different thing from studying photo samples of the HT surgeon's previous patients to evaluate his work. From that standpoint, photos are helpful but only to a point. The best way to evaluate the surgeon's skill is to examine his previous patients in person.

Firstimer,

Here's a different approach to designing a hairline that I found worked well for me.

Weeks prior to my procedure I made cut-outs from light brown posterpaper to replicate different hairline shapes and placed them on my forehead.This enabled me to see my face and "hairline" from different angles in the mirror. I kept experimenting until I found the one that best complimented my face and seemed age appropriate. I didn't want the hairline I had in my 20's or 30's but one that suited my face now (50's).

The morning of my surgery when Dr. Mejia traced the outline for my hairline, I was more than confident that this was exactly how I wanted it to look, no indecision, no second guessing...after all, I wanted it to be right the first time.

As it turns out... the experiment paid off! Had I gone with the original designs that were shetched on my head in prior consultations, I would not have had the desired results...Best of luck!

& you can have a look at Whoops's website. He's had 2 HTs with Seager & his results are fantastic.

__________________
3045 FUs with Dr Victor Hasson on 8 June 2004
1836 FUs with Dr Jeffrey Epstein on 2 March 2006
Regimen: 1.25mg Proscar every other day