First of all many thanks to all the posters and Pat for this forum. I found out about this "hidden gem" (Pat's words) thanks to Pat's dedication in taking regular field trips to observe and report on known and established clinics as well as being open minded to investigate yet unknown HT surgeons.
I am probably the first member of the forum to have had an HT by Dr. Siporin. I considered my decision very carefully and after lots of research, reading, posting and learning, I decided I did not need to go to the best-known and proven Coalition surgeons. My case is straightforward and I only required a fairly small graft count, I could not justify the time and expense to travel out of State in my situation. I consulted with five HT surgeons/clinics before making this decision, this gave me a good perspective on the differences of opinion and techniques and allowed me to make a rational decision. Pat's report after he visited Dr. Siporin's clinic was right on and I can now attest to this first hair (I mean hand).

I followed the pre-op instructions, no caffeine, no alcohol, no tobacco, and no vitamins/supplements containing blood-thinning substances, scalp stretching exercises, etc ...

HT DAY
I was nervous the night before and even more when I got there, I had decided to drive myself to the clinic and back, my blood pressure was high so I was told to take three 5mg Valiums which did the trick in about 30 minutes. We reviewed the details one more time, mostly high-density work using ultra refined techniques to reach in excess of 40 FU/cm2. The frontal hairline and some selected areas behind the hairline closer to the mid scalp area were to be reinforced along with light temporal peaks improvements, no crown work. We agreed on the donor area location based on several pre existing criteria. The three technicians were friendly and had obvious experience, Ismael was the one giving me all the shots and I know why now, he has the touch and I almost could not feel them, Yami and Raquel did most of the donor strip trimming into the FU's and most of the FU placement into the recipient sites, their light touch reflected great experience and skill.
The goal was to transplant 1200 + FU, the donor area was given local anesthesia by Ismael, very gently, then Dr. Siporin excised the donor strip (1 cm wide by 16 cm long) and closed it in double layer and using the trichophytic technique.
While Yami and Raquel got busy trimming the grafts, Ismael started to give me the local shots for my recipient areas, he also did a nice job although it was more uncomfortable due to the fact that the recipient surface area is much larger than the donor area and has many more nerve endings. Then Dr. Siporin started making his recipient site slits, starting with the temporal peaks areas he used 0.65mm blades, then 0.75mm blades for the frontal hairline density and 1.0 mm blades for the multiple hairs FU's behind the hairline in the mid scalp area. We harvested 1,305 FU's of which 500 were single hair FU's, I do not have a breakdown for the multiples but I was told they all were twos and threes.
Because we focused on the density in the frontal hairline where the nerve network is denser I needed several local anesthesia touch ups throughout the session, some were a little uncomfortable but not a big deal. Everyone was in a relaxed and unhurried mood and Dr. Siporin made sure all took the necessary amount of time to insure the best graft placement.
Yami and Raquel started with the most delicate area, the temporal peaks where they placed single FU's, this took a while given the very small incisions, then they moved up to the hairline and a little behind, Ismael helped more toward the end in the placement of the larger multiple FU's in the mid scalp area.
I was then cleaned and cleared to go after being given my post op instructions. I did not need any bandages, the surgery was barely noticeable, and I just put on a loose baseball cap and drove myself home. After I got home I could feel a bit of tingling on the frontal hairline, I ate a light afternoon snack and the pain went away, I realized I had not eaten since the very early morning breakfast, the food seemed to help process the anesthetics better through my system. I will mention to Dr. Siporin that it might be a good idea to give the patient a 10 minute break at some point to eat a snack. I had no pain and no tightness in the donor area whatsoever, I never even took one Tylenol much less the stronger painkillers I had because I never needed any. I slept the first night with my head elevated on two layers of pillows, not needing a single Tylenol.

NEXT DAY
I looked at my donor scar in the mirror the next day, I could not believe how straight and thin it is, a world of difference with my scar from my first HT which yielded 42% less FU's, different surgeons, different skills ...
There was no staining at all on my pillow case the next morning from either the donor or recipient areas, now that's what I call Ultra Refined ... After my first HT I had noticeable staining mainly from the donor area, the recipient area was also bandaged and draining slightly. I took a lukewarm bath, soaking my head in the water for ten minutes, I shampooed my hair very gently with Head and Shoulders, no rubbing just light patting, nice feeling to have clean hair. More than half of the scabs went away and the pinkish skin tone was also greatly reduced. I noticed a slight swelling on the forehead in spite of my use of frozen gel packs, so to stay ahead of the situation, right away I took the prescription of generic methylprednisolone bar pack, the swelling came down after about six hours, on the next day it was 90% gone. I suspected I would be prone to this swelling of the forehead because it happened on my first HT and I have thin blood, a "bleeder" as they like to refer to my type.

SECOND DAY
I took another lukewarm bath on the second day, shampooing the same way, the scabs are almost all gone and so is the pink color, the photos of the second day were taken right after my bath and they look way more red than in reality. After reading the many posts recommending wet graphcyte soaks and the others recommending dry healing I decided on a combined approach, we'll see.
I wear my hair medium to long and I let it fall over my forehead to hide the recipient sites better, the morning after the HT, as I was wiping my hair to the side (because it bugs me to feel it close to my eyes as I am not used to this) I accidentally snagged a fresh implant with my fingers, it was right on the edge of very front line and I noticed some light bleeding, it felt like a bee sting for a minute, I then realized I had dislodged it and it was stuck to a strand of hair, I pushed it back into it's hole with tweezers, it stopped the bleeding, later I noticed it came out again, this time I put it in deeper, we'll see if it survives. I am under the impression that most transplants are pretty well "glued in" after a couple of days, I must have snagged this one just right because it hurt a little.
Now I have to heal and wait, I am hoping we achieved the density I was looking for, so far everything seems very positive and I will be updating this thread and my pictures regularly.
I have the pictures taken during my donor strip excision but I decided to not post them, if interested you can PM me.

The second set of pics was taken almost 2 days later, most of the scabs are gone and the skin color is becoming less red, on the pictures the reds are much deeper than in reality.

7 DAYS UPDATE
Dr. Siporin took out the stitches one week later, no pain, all looks good.

2 WEEKS UPDATE
It is now two weeks since the HT, the scalp skin has been back to it's normal color for several days now, most of the new hair is still in place, and no shock loss yet, I hope it lasts. The donor area is not sore, no tightness, I have been able to sleep on either side of my head for about three days now.

3 WEEKS UPDATE
Some of the grafts have fallen out, almost half are gone in the hairline and on the temple points that I can see. I can still feel and see most of the others still holding on slightly deeper beyond the hairline and in the midscalp. The graft I pulled out by accident and put back in the hairline seems to still be here, I think ...
90% of the donor area scabs are gone, no pain, I am starting to get this weird sensation of the nerve fibers reconnecting in different areas around the scar.

One Month Update
The closure is healing nicely , I still feel some thicker scar tissue or maybe it's residual scabbing but I have no tightness or pain whatsoever.
In the recipient areas along the exposed hairline and temple points I would say that more than 80% of the hairs from the new grafts are gone. A little deeper and in the mid scalp area I can feel the hairs from the new grafts still holding on and I am guesstimating that close to 50% remain.
I have started to see some hairshock loss around the third week, it seems most of the hair falling out is very thin (miniaturized) and mostly grey, I am loosing very few thick dark hairs. My recipient area seems thinner than before the HT, and besides the shock loss I think that there might be still some light swelling expanding the scalp and resulting in more surface to cover thus contributing to the appearance of less density.
I have to be patient and hope that I experience some regrowth around the third month or so.

Update of 10/13/07
FYI This update is also in my Weblog
I just went for my first post op visit since the HT which took place at the end of January 2007 (except for removing the stitches). I had some shock loss for about 3 to 4 months then it slowed down. I was concerned but I could only be patient and ride it out. I can see that I am far from seeing full growth, still lacking density in most of the areas. I am sure the shock loss did not help and that's why I will probably be a late bloomer on this second HT.
Dr. Siporin agreed and gave me some perspective, this time around I'll probably have to wait 12 to 18 months before I see the full growth, in spite of having taken Finasteride for the past few years I was showing some degree of hair miniaturization on the top of the head before the HT so the shock loss was not a huge surprise but still a bummer...
So, I will have to be patient about another 10 months before I can reevaluate my final outcome, I am not complaining though, you can see from the pics what we are talking about, the temple refinements actually developed very nicely and the scar is just great.
I asked about switching from Finasteride to Dutasteride and Dr. Siporin convinced me to stay with Finasteride daily and to do the Laser twice a week for 6 weeks. I did my first laser session in his office, he does not have yet the latest hi potency laser, only an older model for now, I did 15 minutes and 24 hours later I felt a pimple coming up in a slow growth area, I had not felt that in a few weeks or more... Coincidence?? Who knows? I'll keep doing the Laser in office knowing it can't hurt and maybe help a little, I know some other clinics like using it as a complement to the HT. Maybe I should have started sooner??? I'll keep you posted after the 6 weeks go by.
Look at the 3 new pictures taken mid October 07, they show growth but density is still a work in progress.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin

Thanks HK for sharing your experience with us!!!!!

I remember reading Pat's information and thinking that we would probably never see anyone actually get a HT with this guy.

I am glad you are happy and the work looks real clean.

I do want to make sure that I am reading your post correctly where you state that you were transplanted up to or over 40 fu's cm/2, because with your hair not being shaved it is difficult to see.

Anyway, I will be watching your progress with a high level of interest as it is always nice to a get a "first impression" of a new HT Doc from a fellow member and someone we trust.

Speedy Healing and Happy Growing my friend!!!!!
J

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Go Cubs!

6721 transplanted grafts
13,906 hairs
Performed by Dr. Ron Shapiro

Dr. Ron Shapiro and Dr. Paul Shapiro are members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

Thank you for your encouraging words B spot. My first HT gave me around 15 FU/cm2 and I was looking to get over 40FU/cm2 in the same recipient areas with this second pass. I will have to wait about a year before I can attest of the real results but the thing I noticed most until now is the huge difference between a surgeon using Ultra Refined techniques and the older techniques. My healing has been much faster so far and a much smaller impact on my body in general, all this with close to twice as many grafts.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin

HK500,

Congratulations on your HT bro. I always follow with great interest HT procedures and progress with those who post regularly on this forum. You've been a great asset, helper, and friend on this forum, so I thank you for that.

Looking at your before pics, I must admit, from my perspective, I would have been satisfied if I had that much hair . But we are all in different places with our needs and wants right? The HT looks clean, though I agree with B...it's difficult to see behind all that native hair! Hopefully you will experience no shockloss of any native hair.

The one picture showing the temple placements on the left side does appear, however, that there might be an unnatural gap between your natural and transplanted hair. It might just be the picture, but it looks like the doc placed some grafts in the temple area and then left a space behind it before your natural hair? Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on the picture, that's what I'm seeing.

As B Spot said, I'll be following this also with great interest, partly because I'm here to cheer you on as your fellow friend and also, it will be nice to see first hand work done by Dr. Siporin, since I've never seen work done by him before.

Keep us posted bro.

Bill

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

Thanks Bill for the nice words. You are very observant, I also find a bit of a gap on the left temple. I remember the Dr told me the day of the HT that he would fill any temple area for free later if it ended up showing separation from the rest of the hair, I did not make anything of it then but now the left side is a bit of a question mark. For now I trust his judgement and I'll have to wait and see what happens. I am now at 2 weeks and I will post pictures at one month.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin

HK-

Hey, congrats to you, my friend. I don't know if you shared that you were going in but if so, I missed it. Looks like things went very nicely for you.

I kind of noticed the slight temple gap Bill mentioned but I'm with you, trust the Doc and go from there. Nice of him to offer to take care of it for free if there was separation later.

The work really looks good and it appears you had nice closure in the donor area. Grow quick and heal well! Ditto Bill's comments............thanks for your contributions on HTN. I look forward to following your progress.

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Hairbank

1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's
2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong
3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong

GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS

current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day

My Hair Loss Weblog

Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss.

HK500,

The work does look great. It should help to make a considerable change to the hairline. Glad to see that you are happy with your decision to go with doc Siporin. It shows us that we have to have faith in what Pat is saying. Look forward to following your progress.

HK500,

Thanks for sharing your experience is such excellent detail. You have contributed a great deal to this community so it's great to see you get top flight results.

Although I must agree that upon looking at your photos I was also struck by the seperation between the transplanted hair and your hair in your temporal points. I would have thought that Dr. Siporin would have allocated more grafts to this area rather than placing them into the central areas. I'm going to ask him about this.

Your experience and the photos you present are very much like what I saw and experienced when I saw him perform surgery (see my report at http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.co....php?t=143210). The work if very refined and the donor closure is excellent.

I think in time with more first hand reports like this Dr. Siporin should be given serious consideration for membership in the Coalition.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Best wishes for great growth. Pat

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Thanks for asking Ken about this one area Pat, please let me know what you hear either way.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin

Guys please read my recent update in my album and in the web log (text only no new pictures, I did not think they would show much change but I could post some, let me know) and feel free to chime in, especially about the exposed areas losing more of the new hair???
The shock loss of miniaturized hair is pretty normal, right? Do I get them back? How long? It is about 3 months when you start seeing some activity and then at six months for another spurt, correct?
Am I crazy to think that there is still some light swelling of the scalp in the recipient area contributing to give the appearance of less density because the same amount of hair covers a slightly expanded scalp?
I think I already know some of the answers but it would be nice if you would confirm or let me know otherwise.

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My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin