Rugger

Jerry...what are YOU doing here?...get back to work... D

ok...apparently....some people have WAAAY too much free time on their hands... and just so you know, my NEW AND IMPROVED "BAT-R-HAIR-UP"..now comes in exciting new flavors...raspberry red, lemon yellow, orange orange...and if you order now, we'll throw in a FREE Pocket Fisherman...make a boy happy, and boy, does it catch fish!! Operators are standing by..offer not valid in states containing vowels in their spelling..in Canada, add 40% and two cases of Moosehead beer..

I dont know how in the world anyone knows what theyre getting anymore from ANY online pharmacy...seems like these companies could market baby asprin as Viagra and get away with it...how could you tell?... I'm not even sure that when you deal with some online place doing business in the USA, that they couldn't be getting their drugs from Mexico or India..kind of a scary thought...

The local NBC news station just ran an expose' on buying drugs off the internet from foreign sources. Their investigation covered only distributors in Canada and Mexico. They found many of the drugs contained lower active ingredients than advertised, as well as higher levels than acceptable of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, etc...In Canada, they found many of the drugs ordered, were actually knockoffs produced in India.. Be careful where you get your Propecia... Online drugs: Why cheaper isn't always better 10:41 PM PST on Monday, March 1, 2004 By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News We are a nation ready to pop a better pill, lining up at pharmacies around the corner, across the border and along the information highway. The Food and Drug Administration estimates three to four million Americans are buying lower-cost foreign drugs, because to many, better means cheaper. But at what price to your health? In some cases, unscrupulous businesses are only too happy to sell you something that just looks like the drug you need, but contains little or none of the actual drug. We purchased popular drugs online from some Mexican and Canadian pharmacies. Weeks later, the first to arrive was Viagra in a hand-addressed envelope, clearly postmarked from India. Inside was a little cardboard, a few sheets of paper, the bill from our Mexican on-line pharmacy, a plastic bag and four unmarked pills. But the pill had absolutely none of the active ingredient. While it wouldn't hurt you physically, it could take a psychological toll. "His dreams would be deflated to say the least," said forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa. "I don't know how else to put it." And how does India figure into all this? Experts warn these days fancy Web sites need only a basic computer. Our pharmacist found a supplier in India, probably through the Internet. Was our finding just a fluke? Not according to the FDA, which is in the middle of testing 1600 drugs purchased outside the United States, including birth control medicines. ??It's a fake knockoff of that contraceptive patch you see on television," the FDA's Dr. Richard Hubbard said. There was no active ingredient. Hubbard also showed us seizure and prostate medications an elderly man bought, which were supposedly made in Canada. "In fact he was getting these fake knockoffs from India," Dr. Hubbard said. "We have seen other examples of Indian companies selling drugs through Canada, or directly over the Internet," Dr. Hubbard said. We bought the top five U.S. prescribed drugs online from two Mexican pharmacies. The first batch was purchased from Safemeds.com. The Premarin, Synthroid and Zoloft equivalents were relatively pure and potent, but the Norvasc had up to ten times the acceptable level of certain heavy metals, and its potency was a borderline acceptable 92 percent. Poor manufacturing processes also tainted the Lipitor samples with similar problems, one was just under 79 percent potent. "That means you're only getting about three-quarters of what you're supposed to be getting," forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa said. The second group we bought from myrxforless.com. Contamination was worse. The Zoloft had nearly 20 times the acceptable level of certain metals, including an elevated level of arsenic. There were similar troubles with the Norvasc and Premarin, and the Synthroid had elevated mercury. The worst was the Lipitor which had 20 milligrams of contaminants, and just 80 percent potency. "I would definitely categorize it as a dangerous drug," Dr. Lykissa said. Heavy metals threaten kidneys and could cause bladder cancer. Also, weakened drugs could devastate weakened patients. "Is it potentially fatal?" Dr. Lykissa was asked. "It could be, depending on the individual," he said. The FDA's response after reviewing our results.? "These are contaminants that the FDA would never allow to be in a U.S. produced drug," the administration's Dr. Richard Hubbard said. So who's behind the fancy Web sites? We tracked Safemeds to an office in Mexico City, where they explained why foreign drugs are cheaper. "The regulation system is much stricter in the United States than here in Mexico," Arturo Silva with Safemeds said. The only address for Rx for Less is a post office in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta. But we tracked box number 65, to a corner drug store called Maxi Farmacia. Owner Ricardo Luevano says his Mexican supplier gets the medication from many countries. Then he said he didn't sell the drugs we tested. He insisted quality was fine until we showed him our test results. "You don't recognize any of those drugs?" we asked. "No," Luevano said. "You don't? We asked again. "No," he said once more. But then, the very drug he wanted to show us as a quality product, Lipitor, was among the worst of the medicines we've tested. "Our medicine is bad?" Luevano asked. The problem is it's hard for even a farmacia to know where its drugs are coming from. "You may be dealing with an individual who on Saturday is making illegal illicit drugs, and on Sunday says, ??let's make Viagra,' " Dr. Lykissa said. Or something that looks just like it We shared our test results with the head of global security for Pfizer, who calls the products counterfeits. "The counterfeiters have become so sophisticated these days in packaging and presenting counterfeit products that visual authentication of the product is almost impossible," said R. John Theriault, Pfizer's Vice President for global security. [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:32 PM.] [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:34 PM.] [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:35 PM.]

The local NBC news station just ran an expose' on buying drugs off the internet from foreign sources. Their investigation covered only distributors in Canada and Mexico. They found many of the drugs contained lower active ingredients than advertised, as well as higher levels than acceptable of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, etc...In Canada, they found many of the drugs ordered, were actually knockoffs produced in India.. Be careful where you get your Propecia... Online drugs: Why cheaper isn't always better 10:41 PM PST on Monday, March 1, 2004 By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News We are a nation ready to pop a better pill, lining up at pharmacies around the corner, across the border and along the information highway. The Food and Drug Administration estimates three to four million Americans are buying lower-cost foreign drugs, because to many, better means cheaper. But at what price to your health? In some cases, unscrupulous businesses are only too happy to sell you something that just looks like the drug you need, but contains little or none of the actual drug. We purchased popular drugs online from some Mexican and Canadian pharmacies. Weeks later, the first to arrive was Viagra in a hand-addressed envelope, clearly postmarked from India. Inside was a little cardboard, a few sheets of paper, the bill from our Mexican on-line pharmacy, a plastic bag and four unmarked pills. But the pill had absolutely none of the active ingredient. While it wouldn't hurt you physically, it could take a psychological toll. "His dreams would be deflated to say the least," said forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa. "I don't know how else to put it." And how does India figure into all this? Experts warn these days fancy Web sites need only a basic computer. Our pharmacist found a supplier in India, probably through the Internet. Was our finding just a fluke? Not according to the FDA, which is in the middle of testing 1600 drugs purchased outside the United States, including birth control medicines. ??It's a fake knockoff of that contraceptive patch you see on television," the FDA's Dr. Richard Hubbard said. There was no active ingredient. Hubbard also showed us seizure and prostate medications an elderly man bought, which were supposedly made in Canada. "In fact he was getting these fake knockoffs from India," Dr. Hubbard said. "We have seen other examples of Indian companies selling drugs through Canada, or directly over the Internet," Dr. Hubbard said. We bought the top five U.S. prescribed drugs online from two Mexican pharmacies. The first batch was purchased from Safemeds.com. The Premarin, Synthroid and Zoloft equivalents were relatively pure and potent, but the Norvasc had up to ten times the acceptable level of certain heavy metals, and its potency was a borderline acceptable 92 percent. Poor manufacturing processes also tainted the Lipitor samples with similar problems, one was just under 79 percent potent. "That means you're only getting about three-quarters of what you're supposed to be getting," forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa said. The second group we bought from myrxforless.com. Contamination was worse. The Zoloft had nearly 20 times the acceptable level of certain metals, including an elevated level of arsenic. There were similar troubles with the Norvasc and Premarin, and the Synthroid had elevated mercury. The worst was the Lipitor which had 20 milligrams of contaminants, and just 80 percent potency. "I would definitely categorize it as a dangerous drug," Dr. Lykissa said. Heavy metals threaten kidneys and could cause bladder cancer. Also, weakened drugs could devastate weakened patients. "Is it potentially fatal?" Dr. Lykissa was asked. "It could be, depending on the individual," he said. The FDA's response after reviewing our results.? "These are contaminants that the FDA would never allow to be in a U.S. produced drug," the administration's Dr. Richard Hubbard said. So who's behind the fancy Web sites? We tracked Safemeds to an office in Mexico City, where they explained why foreign drugs are cheaper. "The regulation system is much stricter in the United States than here in Mexico," Arturo Silva with Safemeds said. The only address for Rx for Less is a post office in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta. But we tracked box number 65, to a corner drug store called Maxi Farmacia. Owner Ricardo Luevano says his Mexican supplier gets the medication from many countries. Then he said he didn't sell the drugs we tested. He insisted quality was fine until we showed him our test results. "You don't recognize any of those drugs?" we asked. "No," Luevano said. "You don't? We asked again. "No," he said once more. But then, the very drug he wanted to show us as a quality product, Lipitor, was among the worst of the medicines we've tested. "Our medicine is bad?" Luevano asked. The problem is it's hard for even a farmacia to know where its drugs are coming from. "You may be dealing with an individual who on Saturday is making illegal illicit drugs, and on Sunday says, ??let's make Viagra,' " Dr. Lykissa said. Or something that looks just like it We shared our test results with the head of global security for Pfizer, who calls the products counterfeits. "The counterfeiters have become so sophisticated these days in packaging and presenting counterfeit products that visual authentication of the product is almost impossible," said R. John Theriault, Pfizer's Vice President for global security. [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:32 PM.] [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:34 PM.] [This message was edited by Rugger on March 01, 2004 at 11:35 PM.]

that never works if you're wearing anything RED,and not standing on one foot..facing north, and whistling show tunes while munching on a carrot...

everything I have read and heard is that the surgeon cuts the original scar out while taking the second strip... Be aware..if you choose to have this done again, it seems there are some clinics saying they are doing "follecular unit" transplants, but they are actually mini and micro grafts....just a heads up..

most here seem to lose them anywhere from the first week, up till the fourth...and no way to tell how many will go, and how many stay...i lost probably 95% of mine...but theyre already popping back up at the two month mark...

lolol...youre a giver Belgium...trust me, you do NOT want photos of my grossest adventures...

just curious...are you meaning that FUE just might look LESS hideous than a scar on the back of your head, if you should choose to eventually shave your head?....i guess its a matter of degrees then isnt it..a full length scar vs. some pock marks..... I'll offer this up ..FUE thins out the existing donor site..we all recognize that...Strip doesnt...the donor site merely loses a strip of skin...I'm wondering that as a person ages, and perhaps the hair in back thins out a bit, which would be more likely to show..if the hair thins around the FUE site even more than the actual FUE process thinned it, wouldn't that show up more than a scar, which could still be hidden even with thinning hair, by merely letting it grow a bit?... personally, im hoping for the day that some scientist comes up with a finding that pouring banana margaritas on your scalp twice a day grows hair...oh yeah, in a perfect world...

ok..color me with the confusion crayon, Belgium..but im at a lost to figure out what your eye surgery has to do with a hair transplant forum... and for future reference, if you decide to go in and have a colonoscopy??...PLEASE spare us the photos of THAT adventure..lol....

ok..ask yourself...if you needed open heart surgery, would you go to the closest surgeon, based on a recommendation from someone at a busstop, and still plan your surgery after hearing that he does hearts on thursdays only? but does elbows on fridays, and treats athlete's foot on tuesdays and thursdays?... if the above answer is "yes", then by all means..lay down $3,000 for a few hundred grafts, from someone who does this "part time"...however, if the above doesnt make sense to you,then really do yourself a TREMENDOUS favor...read up on the recommendations and warnings here..from people who have gone to these surgeons...and check out the results...and, why in the world do you want to pay $6 a graft, when you know that the BEST surgeons recommended here, do it for half that?..for the same money, you can get TWICE the number of grafts.... dont think that 500 grafts will cover much...depending on your existing hair density, you want your new density to try to emulate your existing density..if youve got 100 hairs/sq.cm. right now, putting in 500 grafts at 10 hairs/ sq.cm. will look pretty bizarre...i believe that the minimum density youre goin to want is something like 25 hairs/ sq. cm or more.....and im sure someone here will correct me if im wrong...but 25/ sq. cm. will use up your 500 grafts in roughly 3 square inches...at 50 hair/ sq cm, you'll get only 1.5 square inches covered....not a whole lot of space covered.... I'd really look into some of the better (and cheaper) surgeons..who do this every day...developed the most advanced techniques and processes..and continue to perfect their craft.....not someone who does this as a sidelight....

there IS no comparison..multiblade is something out of the dark ages now...WAY too much destruction of follicles...its merely a convenience for the butchers who still use it...

is that a pretty normal distribution you posted?...or do the technicians control this?...and would this be a normal distribution (2-1-1: singles, doubles, multi) for anyone's strip?...just curious.....

all scalp laxity means, is how flexible your scalp is...if youve got good laxity, that means youve got quite a bit of looseness or flexibility in your scalp...meaning they can take a wider strip of donor hair, and still suture you up snug, but not overly tight...those with poor laxity, perhaps after one or more strip procedures, would have to have a thinner strip cut, if you could do one at all...skin does stretch, mine has sure relaxed even though I'm only two months post op..but nowhere near what is was prior to surgery in December..im sure it will continue to relax and stretch out a bit...

good luck C2E....something in your story doesn't sound right though...why would your surgeon recommend doing a second procedure in a month?...why wouldn't he have just taken a larger donor area strip in the first place?...if you have enough laxity to do a second one in a month, it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't have had a larger session to begin with?...and by going in so soon before your new hair has a chance to grow out, i would think theres some risk of transection of the newly grafted hair, as it's probably not surfaced yet, as has been discussed earlier... I'm like you, I would want it all done ASAP too, but just be careful...I would recommend waiting until your new hair from the first procedure comes in..unless i'm missing some info here..

your doc promised you a larger penis?...was there some extra fee for that??...all my doctor told me when i went to see him last..was that my penis was still horseshoe shaped...and when i get an erection, my lucks runs out...

thanks Mo...im retiring my "grammar nazi" button as we speak.. in hindsight, it would have been better to write the doctor directly...his post here is puzzling for a couple reasons - 1) I've read many of his posts, in addition to his articles and discussion papers, and have never seen anything but a professional and polished presentation..2) I'm more convinced that perhaps someone in his office may have typed the response?...certainly a possibility.... Again, in all honestly, I could care less how someone spells..my intent was not to question his professionalism or surgical skill, but merely to suggest that perhaps a one paragraph set of comments not filled with a half dozen spelling errors, would be more appropriate for someone of his reputation and stature in the industry.....would be interesting to see how and if he responds to this... As for me, I'm going to hunt for another word for "thesaurus"....

C2E....you didnt say what kind of HT you had..if you had strip harvesting, it sounds like one month would be insane..I've never heard of ANY surgeon doing a second strip any sooner than 6 months after the previous ones..Most would tell you to wait nine months at least I believe... If you had FUE for your extraction, then I'm not sure what the time frame would be between surgeries...

lolol...im dying here..... Guapo..congratulations!...in attacking my comments and not really comprehending the point I was making to the doctor ( that being that his posting "might" cause someone to think that his incorrect spelling and grammar would have something to do with his competency as a medical professional), you made it quite clear that you yourself might be in need of a spellchecker program...lol....smile mate, life's too short.. Tberry...since I didn't use the word "idiot" in my comments, I'm not certain if it should be in upper case or not..but i'm pretty sure the word "capatilized" isn't spelled like that...lol..I cood be miztakin thogh

Steven..youre right..spelling doesnt matter...and i guess you're quite comfortable getting your scalp carved up by a surgeon who is so unprofessional as to post a message with not one, not two, but numerous spelling errors... I think it reflects poorly on his ability to understand that as a physician, the expectations are a bit different when it comes to his postings...and that his business will possibly suffer from this perception of unprofessionalism...certainly doesn't mean he's a bad surgeon, but "perceptions" and "first impressions" are everything..... I dont know the gentleman, and for all I know he had one of his staff post it... take your own drugs, Mary... [This message was edited by Rugger on February 17, 2004 at 05:54 AM.]

Doc...please don't take this as a personal thing...but if you're trying to establish some credibility here as a medical professional, PLEASE try using spellchecker before posting your responses....your comments read like a 2nd grade essay.....

I guess there would be ONE piece of advice i would give you...if youre driving there, dont park in the bottom of their building...i got broken into while i was in surgery..Vancouver police and border guys told me its pretty common for car thieves to hit cars with American plates...

Hair.. having just gone through 13 hours of grafts at HW in December, i can honestly tell you it was FAR more relaxing than I ever imagined...even fell asleep three times during the procedure...the dvd list is pretty good...you can get up and use the restroom any time you like..or just get up and stretch your legs...the reclining chair they put you in is real comfortable... its pretty much a breeze..i know that everyone i talked to told me it would be, but I had my own reservations...but i was very pleasantly surprised...you'll be in great hands..

Active - I cant think of any justifiable reason, other than lack of funds, that would cause someone to want to do multiple HT's as opposed to doing as few as possible...all other things being equal (scalp laxity, donor hair site, etc), why would you want to put yourself through something like this more than once if you didn't have to?