salemsalem78

Quark, Hope your transplant has gone well, and wish you the best in future transplants. I had some experience with Transmed, and basically what sometimes happens is the rep who is in charge of responding to e-mails gets overwhelmed or something, and some e-mails slip through the cracks. This was what happened with me when I was trying to get in touch with them. Finally the good folks on this forum helped me get in touch with them. So basically it's not them ignoring you, the rep is just screwing up. I believe a couple of the moderators here can help you get in touch with them if you need to. Or you can try digging up another e-mail address from their website. Regards, Salem.

Hey guys, I just came back from Turkey a few days ago. I'll dive right into my trip: Overall it was a pleasant trip. Transmed were quite friendly. I had a long discussion with Mr. Taner on the lapse in communication that had taken place. Basically they owned up to it. They explained how they're changing the way they communicate with patients (not because of me, just restucturing), that would eliminate situations similar to what happened with me. Dr. Kulahci and another surgeon (a young guy, can't remember his name), examined my scalp. We did have a slightly different view of the outcome of the surgery. We didn't go into detail, as to counting percentage yield. STILL, they offered a 1000 graft surgery "on the house". They kept a slot open for me in case I decided I wanted to. I explained I had just started propecia, and would prefer to wait for a while before doing another surgery. It is unfortunate that there was that disconnect in communication. A clinic rep who is overwhelmed with juggling patients could give a bad impression. (I did have a short chat with the rep who dropped the ball. It was a little awkward at first! ). As for the success of the transplant, it is difficult to judge. I am not sure how much hair I have lost, how much of the transplanted grafts grew... Regardless of the outcome, I'm glad that Transmed care about their patients' satisfaction. SO, for now, I will wait a few months to see the effects of propecia and rogaine, and probably do another transplant. This forum is wonderful. Thanks to all of you guys. Salem.

Largechris, Actually, I totally agree with you. This I realized afterwards of course! But here's the thing, you cannot start taking meds right after a transplant, else how would you know the results are due to what? The meds or the transplant? But here's one more thing, how much hair does one lose in a year? Is it actually enough to completely render a transplant useless? I seriously doubt that. Anyway, I do think you're right. Anybody who's interested in a transplant should take finasteride/minoxidil for a year, make sure everything's stable, and then go for it if still needed. That's what I'm actually doing now. I just started propecia, and minoxidil 5% today! Salem.

So far my phone calls with Taner are quite good. I will say this about Mr.Taner personally, that he is a very pleasant person to talk to and discuss issues with. He is very supportive. Now I changed my mind and decided to go for two reasons, first I believe since this forum has been my biggest resource of information, I think I'd benefit everybody here by going through with the consultation and seeing how things go. Second, was my talks with Mr. Taner, I've read in a few places how Bill describes Taner, and so far I've experienced this myself, that he is really supportive. Anyway, it is never a bad thing to spend a few days in Istanbul. It's a nice city, and the food is great. So regardless of the outcome of the consultation, I'll still manage to have a good time there. A question to the readers of this forum, let's say I agree with Transmed on a second surgery, who would be the best surgeon to do it? Should I just stick to Dr. Kulahci, since she is the only one recommended on this forum? Are there others on the Transmed team? Thanks to everybody who has chipped in to this thread. Salem.

Hey guys, Quite a bit happened in the few hours since I last posted my last reply. I'll save everybody the drama. The short version of it is that I contacted Transmed and wrapped it up with them. Mr. Taner called a couple of times afterwards and he wanted to hear the full story from me. I basically explained to him everything I had written on this thread, and he read the thread himself. We discussed things for about an hour! I am not considering any surgery, but I will go to Turkey and visit Transmed. The reason I'm posting this now is I don't want anybody to pass any judgments. I'll post again after one week, after I get back. I do have a lot about this topic to write about, but I'll hold off until I come back. Salem.

I always try to organize my thoughts and segregate them, ill do so here:, 1. I have said this before, as an HT clinic Transmed is a superb one. All threads on this forum speak of a great experience. No clinic gets 100% results, it happens, it is nobody's fault. I do not point any finger at Transmed for the yield. I hope this is clear enough. 2. Any medical patient cares about post-care support as much as the actual care itself. Expecting support does not mean a patient is pointing fingers. Support by itself does not mean an admission of guilt by the clinic. On the contrary, a clinic that takes initiative in supporting their patient is the best way a clinic can fortify its name.. A brief summary of my support experiences so far: not answering emails for weeks at a time. After finally answering (thanks to the moderators of this forum) support is kept to a minimum, depending on my knowledge. No offer of chipping in with hotel or air ticket. Hints of 70% yield. No information given as to who would do any surgery. No mention of word surgery even, sticking to the word "retouch". If I am mistaken in being disappointed by this, please feel free to correct me. If i feel that I will get no support from Transmed, why should I even try to go there? Anything I get here (such as monetary refund) is going to be based solely on how much I argue for it. It is obvious to me that Transmed will not take an initiative to support me. That is why i made the decision to just drop it. I do not know what advice to offer visitors of this site. On one hand, I had an absolute great experience with Transmed during the transplant, maybe one should be clear with the on what kind of support to expect from them after surgery. Again, thanks to everybody... Salem.

Hey guys Last year when I was at Transmed, during the consultation, Dr. Ozge Ergun (I found out his name! ) said I needed around 2500 grafts to for proper coverage. He was quite a nice doctor by the way, we talked for a while, I showed off with the 10 words of Turkish that I know! Today I just feel that my hair loss has just progressed normally, with no sign of the transplanted hairs! The results of the transplant itself are not that relevant, but I say that to stress a point. Every single thread on this forum about a Transmed experience is stellar. Wonderful staff/doctors, pleasant transplant, etc... Honestly, Transmed do not seem to have a protocol as to how to deal with patients with transplants did not have a high yield. I say this because in comparison, when I had questions after the surgery, my e-mails were responded to quickly and efficiently. So why the erratic correspondance now? I had a couple of phone calls with Mr. Taner, one of their managers. I already posted that they asked me to come in for a consultation, and I had booked my flight and hotel. After we talked a couple of times more, a couple of bells started ringing. Transmed only used the word "retouch" in all our phone calls. We all have limited donor site, we cannot afford to waste them on retouches when the transplants results themselves were not optimal. Also, I asked who the doctors would be, the response was Dr. Kulahci would do the consultation, but "we will discuss who the surgeon will be to perform the retouch". I could not get an answer to that. After scouring this forum, I realized that previously, Transmed had graciously paid for hotel and air travel. In my case, they didn't. Why am I different? Is it because I didn't know that they could (or maybe should?) pay for at least part of my travel/hotel expenses? One last thing, during our phone calls, a couple of times they brought up the number 70% yield. This does not require a rocket scientist to understand this will probably be the number they tell me after my consultation. So to wrap this up, I do not have the stomach or time to go through with this. I apologize but I have lost faith in Transmed. I prefer to take my grafts and money somewhere else and start fresh with another clinic. I do want to add though, this site is amazing. The moderators and members have been of great help and support. Thank you guys. I also learned that when I do a second transplant, I will maintain a regular blog with pictures. Thanks, Salem.

Bill, I posted pictures that I sent transmed for evaluation. These pictures were taken a week before surgery. I have posted a total of 5 pictures, two before surgery, one just after surgery, and two taken today, 11 months after surgery. Salem.

Bill, I just uploaded three sets of pictures, the first is the set I sent Transmed for their initial evaluation. The second is one picture right after surgery, this is just to give folks here on this forum a chance to see where work has been done. The last two pictures I just took 20 minutes ago! Again, I do want to stress, the sole reason I came to this forum was not to discuss results. When one does a transplant, you stare at your scalp every day in the mirror, especially if it is your first, waiting to see those new hairs come out. You guys can see from the pictures that results are not great, but that's besides the point. I say "that's besides the point" because I was quite happy with the way I was treated at Transmed last year. Now I read a few threads here about how they were treated the second time round when they visited Transmed, and that's making me feel a little apprehensive. I would really appreciate it if viewers here can give me their opinion on the results of the transplant. Again, I posted a few pictures in my profile. Thanks again to the moderators of this forum, I have my checkup scheduled for Monday morning. Salem.

First of all, again I'd like to thank all of you here for your support. I think I had confused Bill, so I'll clarify a couple of things: I had both verified my identity to Transmed and sent them recent photos. The irratic communication started after all that, and that was what made it the more confusing. Honestly, I was not aware that you guys here know the contact details of clinics, else I'd have put in more personal information, and would've made sure to post photos. It takes years for a clinic to build a solid reputation, and they don't do that with lousy work or customer (patient) care. My choice of Transmed was of course based on the recommendations of this site. Of course, Transmed lived up to their standards during the transplant last year, I hope I had made that clear in my previous posts. This website has a reputation to maintain, and even if a patient is not satisfied, this is not the place to just come in here and tear a clinic a new one just because we're unhappy. Again, this website's integrity took time to build. Clinics have to understand that even though it is a patient's decision to scrap up some money for a transplant, the one thing that would really kill a patient's morale is feeling they were bamboozled. This is no different than when you buy a car and you feel the sales man doesn't care anymore. I am not saying this is the care with Transmed, but given that after the identity confirmation and sending them the photos, I started receiving e-mails with minimal info once every two weeks. This was my first transplant, and so you have to understand how hurt that would make me feel. Again, it is NOT the outcome of the transplant I was complaining about, I am well aware that sometimes stuff just doesn't work out! I was just confused as to the rep's lack of concern. So, just not knowing what to do or how to take this, I came to this website to explain by delimma. Again, Bill, apologies if I had confused you by jumping around with the info. NOW, thanks to the moderators of this site, I did receive a call from Mr. Taner from Transmed. I will take a few days off, unpaid leave! , from my college, and travel to Turkey this coming Monday. I was not waiting for Transmed to give me definite promises to begin with, I just wanted information as to how they handle patients such as myself. Mr. Taner did that by phone and then through e-mail. Mr. Taner said they would check the yield and based on that we have a few options. I will write a final update after my visit to Transmed. Bill, in all honesty I blame Transmed rep for this miscommunication. In a professional environment it is really unacceptable to take weeks at a time to respond to simple questions from patients. Again, thanks to everybody for your support. I'll write another update once I come back from my trip next week. Regards, Salem. P.S. It is telling me I am receiving messages, but for the life of me I cannot open them. I can't even join groups or do anything. So if anybody has sent me a message, I apologize, I am not ignoring anybody!

Hey guys, I just became and active member a few days ago, and I realized I am unable to send users any messages, and I can't even access my own messages! Actually, apart from writing writing threads, I am pretty much unable to do anything!! I tried both Chrome and Internet Explorer, and I just can't figure out what's going on.. Just an example, it tells me I have a message, if I click on it, it takes me back to the home page. Help? Thanks, Salem.

Dear (whoever is reading this from Transmed!), I had received a phone call from one of your representatives sometime in June. At the time I was in Singapore on work. I sent my first e-mail on June 30, explaining that I am in Singapore, and explained how I have not seen any results, and asked for information. I also e-mailed you my number in Singapore. It took until July 4 to verify who I am,and locate my old pictures. Honestly, even though I am using the same e-mail address, and sms'ed back to you from the same cell phone you used to sms me, this was a little tiring and off-putting. After finally verifying who I am on July 4, your rep suddenly dissapeared. I had to e-mail another rep on July 19 (that is two weeks later!!), for the first rep to respond, saying she was unable to contact me through my cell. (I had told her I am in Singapore, and even if my cell wasn't working, we were communicating just fine through e-mail! Why didn't she bother to send one e-mail those two weeks!!! If I can't reach somebody through their cell I e-mail them!, I just don't get that!!!) I asked for the rep's phone number, and called Transmed myself from Singapore. A couple of phone calls/e-mails later, I get an e-mail on July 25, asking me to come to Turkey for a control. (the e-mail did not have any explanations, or any plan of any sort. Just "Can you come to Turkey for a control?") I don't know if a lot of people have the luxury of dropping everything and traveling to another country, with no explanation whatsoever as to what is to be done!! I responded on the same day, July 25, and asked for some information as to what she meant by control, what does Transmed usually do in cases where transplants do not yield any results. I expressed I will check my vacation days. July 25 was the last time I heard from anybody from Transmed up to today, August 8. I have all the e-mails with date stamps, as I am sure Transmed does. I do have one question I hope is answered sincerely: How should the above communication (and time delays) make a patient feel? Does it show that the clinic cares, even a little bit, about following up with patients, especially if the surgery was not successful? My honest feelings here are that the minute Transmed heard that their surgery was not successful, they decided to move on... I apologize if this is harsh, I am just giving you a patient's perspective. Regards, Salem.

First, I really want to thank you guys for your support. Jessie: Unfortunately, I did not document my journey. All I have are pictures I sent Transmed before the surgery, and ones I took just a couple of weeks ago (both from my cellphone). If it would help, I can take another set of pictures with a decent camera and post both sets, before surgery, and right now. Blake: thank you so much for forwarding this to Transmed. Hopefully, if a rep from them will read this, I will post a couple of questions I would like them to answer, as to their procedure in dealing with patients. I'll post them in another reply... RCWest, Blake: Transmed has a couple more surgeons. I can't for the life of me remember my surgeon's name, but I do know it's not Dr. Kulahci, because she did drop by to say hi. I'll post a few questions to Transmed in the following message... Salem.

Jessie, Rich, Thank you for your replies. I do want to make one thing clear, I am not trying to bash Transmed. My experience with them last year during the transplant was EXCEPTIONAL. I will give them that. The doctor,nurses & staff were very supportive and helpful. The one thing that impressed me the most was the pain and swelling I was bracing myself for did not come. That does say something about the quality of their work. Also, I bumped my head a couple of days after the surgery, and my head bled a bit. I went back to them, and 50 grafts had dislodged, they just put them back in immediately. This is exactly why I am so puzzled and frustrated. A word of mouth is the best a clinic can get in this field, and since I left Turkey last year I was raving about Transmed to all my shiny headed colleagues! All of a sudden, almost a year later, I call them and get stuff about :"misplacing e-mails, cannot locate old photos for comparison with new ones I sent". I am a college professor, and cannot just leave whenever I want to, not to mention it's $1000 for a ticket to Turkey. My last correspondence with them was when I simply asked them, what does Transmed do in such circumstances, when a transplant fails, "what is the next step?" They simply disappeared, and did not respond to me after that, or to my follow up e-mail. Transmed did NOT ruin my scalp. The FUT scar is easily hidden underneath my hair. My hair is still thinning of course, I'll start propecia and rogaine, and I will definitely have a go at a hair transplant in a couple of years when I've saved up some more money. I still believe that one can get results from a transplant. I was just confused as to what one should expect from a hair transplant clinic, especially one as reputable as Transmed. Another thing that confuses me is this: Majority of people who do hair transplants require more than one session. Also, the most solid advertisement a clinic can get is from word of mouth. Even from a business point of view, this is just ridiculous! Thanks, Salem.

Just a quick comment, it was NOT Dr. Kulahci who performed the surgery. I just read a few threads about on this site about patients not having the best experiences with the other surgeons.

Hi, I've long been a reader. I chose my my transplant at Transmed based on recommendations out of this website! My hair is still thinning, and I decided to tackle it early on. Last year (september of 2010) I did an FUT at Trasnmed, 2366 grafts. I was quite comfortable with the staff, and felt they were very professional and courteous. Now, almost a year later, I have not seen any growth whatsoever. Now I know there are no guarantees, so I e-mailed Transmed and asked them for advice. All of a sudden, Trasnmed turned to this incompetent company who loses their patients files, are unable to "locate" old photos for comparison, and all sorts of weird stuff. It is as surprising as it is upsetting. I was really not expecting this at all. It has been two weeks now since they last answered any e-mail, and apparently decided to ignore me completely. The last e-mail I got from them said: "Come by for a check up". I asked for clarification, and that was when they completely dropped me. My question is this, what should a patient expect from his hair transplant surgeon? If a transplant doesn't yield any results, what are the responsibilities of a reputable surgery clinic such as Transmed? The surgery was not cheap of course, and it's ok if it just doesn't work, but I am just upset that it seems like Transmed will only focus on successful patients and just ignore those that didn't go too well. I'd really appreciate any comments, explanations. Thank you, Salem.