hair2stay

NG2GB, My friend, my hairloss was never really excessive. From the beginning it was hairline work and up to today it still is. The first doctor should have laughed at me and sent me home at the ripe age of 24! Instead he sold me a bill of goods all in the name of "staying one step ahead of my hairloss" What happened over time was all of the native hair in my frontal area continued to fall out and I was left with some funky ass transplants waving in the wind. I have been using minoxidil since inception (that's like almost 20yrs now!) and propecia since the beginning as well. To date, I have had over aprox 3,000 grafts in the frontal first inch of my forehead. Hair loss in my family history is a long sloooowwww process, whether the drugs have been working or I have hell to pay in the coming years I can not answer for sure. What I can say based on my humble observations, is that the drugs have slowed the hairloss and have done well to help me maintain what I have. Pills, plugs and potions... Yeeehaw! H2

I hear you all, and I do not argue the fact that I have a good head of hair. However this case is unique, like all others. Whether I have a full head of hair or not is besides the point, and applying logic like "you should be happy, you have a lot of hair" is pointless and off topic. What we are looking at here specifically is hairline repair, not how much hair I have on my head. Look closely at the photos of the hairline on the left side of my head (see first two photos in gallery). This is the area where the old plugs are most noticeable. Yes I can cover them and style my hair in ways to conceal it, and look great. However that again is not the point. What I am trying to accomplish is a natural appearing hairline, and the left side is still not there. If anyone denies that, I beg to differ. We can all dance around it, but the reality is plugs are in the frontal hairline and noticeable. Either they need to be adequately camoflagued or removed. There is a world of opinions on what is best, and I put my money on camoflague with dense packing. Whether or not that plan will be succesful, it has yet to be seen. At this juncture, I will continue to wait for improved results. Dr Feller has adequately explained his reasoning in perfoming the surgery the way he did, directly to me, and I accept his explanation. I understand his approach at this time, though it was not entirely clear to me prior to and during the surgery. My goals were clear and simple from the beginning, make the plugs in the hairline disappear, particularly on the left side, and the Dr assured me our goals were the same. If reaching this goal were to involve some removal of old grafts, I was open to that as an option and suggested it to Dr Feller. Dr Feller has been firm in his position to not remove any plugs, from the beginning and through today. Whether or not we can "make the plugs disappear" without extraction is still yet to be seen. At 7 months post surgery, they are visible, particlualry on the left side. Where we go from here we shall see. Thanks again for everyone's contribution(s) to this thread, it has been very productive. H2

I'm with you guys and I really appreciate what direction this thread has taken. This is the best explanation of Dr Feller's reasoning yet and I am thankful for that. Though, in light of this, never was there discussion of a second round in front of the hairline as being a part of the treatment plan, and had there been, my decision process may have been different. I anticipated that this could be done in conjunction with what took place, I felt I got that out of the consultation as well, yet it was not until day of surgery where it became evident the doctor was headed in the direction as detailed in the previous post. At the point, I had no choice but to trust in the good doctor. A precarious place to be, I had second thoughts at that moment, and had I not had the time constraints facing me with the scheduling of this last surgery I may have walked. Instead throughout the surgery I continually expressed my desire to not see the old plugs in the hairline, and I was reassured that our goals were the same. Now I will wait this out further, but can you all undertstand my frustration a bit better? It's not the poor quality of the old work that is frustrating me, it is the promises made with regard to the new work that has left me wanting more. Perhaps my expectations were high going into this last surgery, presuming that one surgery could do the trick. Perhaps a better reality check was in order going into this? I think this again demonstrates the importance that doctors must err to the side of deflating patients' expectactions and be as blunt as possible. H2

I agree, improvement is noticeable. Hairline is what I draw into question and what will be watched for improved growth as we move forward. A natural hairline has been what I have been after from day one, and that my friends I have made explicitly clear to every doctor I have ever visited. Why we have trouble getting to that point I can not answer??? That is why I am trying to understand better why Dr Feller did not work more in front of the existing hairline. I still am unclear on this... Sorry if I was unclear on the previous post, the DONOR area was virgin on the left side of my head prior to the most recent surgery, NOT the recipient. Dr Feller has been most professional in the handling of this case and his contributions to this thread. I don't think there is any other Dr where one would see this sort of interaction. I have not yet had the opportunity to have a conversation with him, though did leave a message, and will again try. Thank you all for your contributions to this thread. H2

Thanks Doc, Just want to be clear on this. The left side of my head was virgin and had no prior surgeries. In consultation, as I recall, you felt that donor hair would not be a problem looking ahead into future years. After seeing things up close in surgery, has your staqnce changed? Can you please elaborate on the logic in not loading up the area in front of the hairline in this past surgery? I would think bloodflow would be a non issue in this area because there were no previous grafts placed there. Thank you, H2

Thank you all for your responses. I do realize that there is a positive improvement in my case. However the hiarline still has much to be desired at this juncture, particularly the left side. I will continue to wait this out and withhold judgement. However there is one thing, Dr Feller in your reply that greatly concerns me. "His donor area was pretty well tapped out and was loaded down with scar tissue. Fortunately, he still had some good hair on the sides of his scalp which gave us enough to produce 1500 follicular units. It would have been nice to have more, but this is what he had to work with." At no time did you state that you wanted to do anything more than 1500 grafts, nor did you ever state to me before, during or after the surgery that 1500 grafts was not enough to achieve the desired results. Based on your comment here, one could infer that you are implying that more than 1500 grafts is necessary to reach a desired end, and that you feel the donor supply is depleted. I find this contradictory to our consultation.

NN, sure I can add some photos. Did you follow the link to my previous gallery? There you will get a great glimpse of before Feller surgery. The only difference in the two sets, is my hair was still wet in the 2nd set. I'll re-shoot photos with more dry hair and lift it up with a comb just as I did in the first gallery. FYI, I have been applying 5% rogaine 2x daily before and after surgery once the healing was underway and ready to receive the applications. H2

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=147822 Follow above link to find previos gallery and realted threads H2

Some of you had been following my case, and I apologize for the lack of updates. I have been holding out for the best, but my patience is being put to test. You can all be the judge of these photos. Personally, I feel that the cosmetic improvement is minimal at this time, though I know I still have a ways to go. The old grafts prior to surgery have grown to styling length and there is some noticeable growth of newly transplanted hairs.

Run away as fast as you can from Dr Leonard

Hey Bill, Yeah I'll try contacting Pat. I originally started the photo album in the photo album section of the site here, but somehow it ended up attached to my thread in the surgeon reviews section. Not sure how that happened... That plus the new disorder in the photo albums is trying my patience. At 5 weeks I know not to expect any new growth, BTDT 5x already. Anyway, I still think it is important to document the process so others can see & learn. I hope we can straighten out the photo album chaos. Many threads have multiple photos in the body of the thread. How are folks doing that, just pasting jpeg's into the text? h2

Hi guys, I have added my 5 week photos to my photo album and also uploaded them here in this thread. Not sure if this thread will provide a link to my photo album? How can I move my photo album to this section of the board? Anyway, new photos only showing old HT's growing like mad. No new growth to report... I was only able to upload one attachment here, still haven't figured out how to add multiple photos to the body of a message.

Hi guys, I have added my 5 week photos to my photo album and also uploaded them here in this thread. Not sure if this thread will provide a link to my photo album? How can I move my photo album to this section of the board? Anyway, new photos only showing old HT's growing like mad. No new growth to report... I was only able to upload one attachment here, still haven't figured out how to add multiple photos to the body of a message.

Posted 5 week update photos to photo album. Nothing comes up in the proper order on the album anymore so it may be tough to locate them. How can we deal with this in a better manner?

Thanks for the pic's Neptune. It looks like you heal extremely well, your skin looks great around the surgery area. Let's grow! h2