cimbom

Hope it went well BoomerSooner. All the best

Thanks for the support. I'm currently at 7 days post-op. I can't wait until I get to the 2 weeks post op stage so my staples will be removed and I can resume normal styling, showers with full water pressure and slowly starting to sleep on my side without feeling worried I have thought about it a bit and think I will email Dr Wong for the pre-op photos in a few days and put them up here. I have realised that I have probably been over-sensitive and paranoid about my hair loss over recent years. It isn't something I should feel ashamed about so I think putting the pics up will help a lot with that. Bill - I agree with your assessment of Dr Wong. I was a bit unsure as to how I wanted one part of my hairline and he patiently worked with me to come up with something I was comfortable and happy with. The technicians and other staff were also very friendly. Well worth travelling to the other side of the world for I am quite lucky that I was able to organise a good amount of leave off work. I am returning in 11 days which will give me enough time to have the staples removed and for everything to be settled down and comfortable.

Hello, Some of you may remember me (27yo female) from my posts last year. Well I finally had the surgery on Jan 10. I flew all the way from Australia but had a 10 night holiday in Hawaii with my husband beforehand which made the journey more easy to manage. Dr Wong said he was surprised with the density in my donor area as he was expecting to only get 1500. Maybe I am a bit naive but post op is more painful/uncomrtable than I thought! It definitely gets easier to deal with and I am now at the stage where I can even ignore it alot of the time. I don't feel comfortable posting pics (I may in a few months) but just thought I'd post an update in case any of you were interested. Dr Wong was very friendly and understanding as were the rest of the staff at the clinic. We will have to wait and see how it all goes! All the best to those who are considering surgery or have recently taken the plunge. I hope the results are what you wish for

Bump...any ideas? :confused:

Hello, I am booked in to have HT surgery with Dr Wong in January. The one thing that has helped me stay semi-sane while losing my hair is the fact that it is quite curly, which gives the appearence of having fuller hair than I do. Last week, I visited a hair salon to have some hair extensions clipped in and have my hair styled for a special occassion (using a hair straightener). I normally don't use heat styling at all - I let my hair dry naturally and just run a bit of serum through it to keep it from going frizzy. I get it styled maybe 1-2 times a year for special occassions. Normally, when I have this done, I wash my hair the next day and it goes back to normal pretty much straight away. This time it has not. I have washed my hair 5 times since having it done and it is still not back to it's bouncy, curly self. It is now a weird combination of sort of straight with some kinks and curls at the ends. This is really bothering me as it is the one thing that helped me cope. Now my hair looks thinner and pretty limp (although it is softer/smoother). I think it may have been caused by the hairdresser pulling down on my hair harder than usual. I did tell her to do it softer, which she did, but she then went back to pulling down harder again. I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried using a volumizing treatment but even that didn't have great results. Thanks

Thanks for your replies. I will do the stopover beforehand.

I'm having a non-shave procedure as I'm female. Will that make a difference? The way I wear my hair will cover the implanted hairs as the top "layer" of my hair is fine, it's just the underneath area which has had a lot of loss. Will my forehead and scalp be red and swollen? I think I might do the stopover beforehand, even though it works out a bit more expensive that way.

Hello, I am booked in to have HT surgery with Dr Wong in January. I have long wavy/curly hair. I was just wondering how obvious it will be the first few days after surgery? I am travelling from Australia and would like to spend a few days in LA or San Francisco after the surgery but not if I'm going to look very swollen and red. If so, I'll work it out so that I can go before I head to Vancouver. Thoughts? Thanks

Looks like everything is going well. I hope it continues that way for you. I have been corresponding with Dr Konior via email and he seems very knowledgeable and professional. I can see why you decided to go with him. Once I have the money saved, I will need to choose between him and Dr Wong I think. Very difficult decision.

I agree with the others. I need about 1,500-2,000 grafts and I am saving up to get it done in the US. I was planning on going for a holiday anyway so this way, I can do both at once.

Nothing in junk mail - I checked. But that's another discussion. Don't want to overtake Spanker's thread

Thanks Spanker. I have sent him an email. I understand that doctors have differing opinions on who is a suitable candidate and I have no problem with that. It would be nice to receive an email reply stating that though rather than nothing at all. Makes me think that I did something wrong lol Dr Wong thinks I would be suitable and I have spoken with a female patient of his who had similar hair loss to me which was very helpful. I would just like to get a second/third opinion if I can. Must be such a relief for you to finally have the HT out of the way

Do you know if he has experience with female patients? For some reason, my emails have gone unanswered by Dr Rahal and Dr Feller which surprised me. I am looking for a third opinion before I make my decision of who to go with. All the best - it seems like you'll have a great result

Still considering it. The bizarre thing is that I have emailed two other highly regarded doctors (Dr Rahal and Dr Feller) who didn't get back to me at all. Maybe they're not experienced in female patients or maybe they think I'm crazy? I at least expected a reply though. I even followed up with them 1-2 times each too.

I am a bit concerned but I am more concerned about going bald in my 20s. My doctor said that he has a number of women patients taking it and it's only a small dose (half a tablet every 3-4 days compared to 1 per day for men). I won't continue taking it unless I see results and will be monitored by my doctor. I don't really have any other option

I don't feel comfortable putting pics online. Just as a general guide, what do you think?

Bump...Can someone give me their opinion on whether 1,500-2,000 grafts at the front corners of my head will be enough to be a significant, noticeable result?

Thanks PupDaddy and aim4hair. The main thing that's concerning me though is that even after having the HT surgery, I will still be worrying about hair loss because the thinning hasn't stopped yet. I am starting Propecia in two weeks and I'm really hoping that it stops the hair loss getting worse. The HT will be in the front corners of my head but I'm worried that I'll eventually lose hair at the top of my head etc if it doesn't stop soon. Also, just for this one HT surgery, I'm looking at 10k. Will the result be worth it? Will it be a noticeable result? We don't have huge incomes so it makes me feel a bit guilty. Makes me feel a bit overwhelmed thinking about all these possibilities.

Hello again, After many emails back and forth, I have largely decided that I will be going with H&W for my HT surgery. I was quite surprised actually, by the lack of response I got from other reputable surgeons but that's another topic of discussion. Their recommendation for me is 1,500 - 2,000 grafts which is what I was sort of expecting but it is an amount which starts to get on the expensive side. Now they are in the process of seeing if any of their past younger female patients are willing to provide their email address so that I can have a chat to them about their experiences. This should be interesting and useful. Now that my decision has largely been made, the next factor to look into is timing. This will depend mainly on finances which I will be more sure about in about a week. I am hoping to get it done by January next year. The really scary part of this process will be telling my husband. I am really worried about this. I don't know if he "knows" about the hair loss - he is like those stereotypical guys that women get annoyed at because he didn't notice their new hair cut or something like that. Except for me, I guess it's sort of a good thing. I have never mentioned it to him - it's been part of my denial process I guess. I feel really bad for burdening him with this (I've had other health issues previously too) and I also feel like I'm a failure of a woman because I'm experiencing something which young women shouldn't have. Once I tell him, the issue becomes externally "real" whereas previously it was just real to me, but I guess that it would have inevitably reached that stage anyway. Such a stressful thing for me at the moment. Will be even more embarrassing for me when I say I want to go overseas for HT surgery. If any of you have advice, I'd love to hear it. Thanks

I think I am confident about going with H&W. They have been the most responsive and helpful so I feel more comfortable using them for the procedure.

I have emailed Dr Feller too. I think three recommendations is a good number to go with. Will be interesting to hear what they have to say

Bump...

Thoughts on Dr Feller? I'm guessing all three are within a similar range?

I got my first recommendation yesterday. It was from H&W. They are recommending 1,500 to 2,000 grafts which came as a bit of surprise compared to the other doctor's recommendation. I guess it's an indication of the confidence they have in their abilities though. Now waiting to hear back from Dr Rahal. Any recommendations for good HT surgeons around the NY area? Or are the above two better?

I'm not using Minoxidil as I didn't like it when I tried it for 1-2 years and got some side effects. I'm not sure if it did much anyway. I will ask the doctors I'm considering for HT surgery about Propecia for women and see what they say. I PM'd you Jollyfolly