popagos82

Thanks for the positive support man!! Yeah, it is a bit of a self deteriorating loop and once I am out of it I will be free! I'll tell you brother, I have been through A LOT in my life, as I am sure all of you have been, but NOTHING has effected me more than this. I just feel like a fool, still and I need to get over that. It is just kind of a weird situation for me. I have always had a lot of hair and all this happened very quickly after that damn transplant. Before corrective surgery, I am praying that fin starts working. It is having a really weird effect on my hair, and given how differently it effects each individual's physiology, I still don't know what the outcome will be. I will give it four more months (1 year total) and then, if there is no progress or stability, I will have to resort to alternative measures. Once again, thank you all. After dealing with an HT doc like this and the complete lack of ethics, one of the most relieving things is to discuss with real people like you.

It's an update... What should I have done exactly? I started finasteride, isn't that something? Given how deathly afraid of it I was. I just wanted to repost with my current hair loss status and regiment so I could maybe receive additional, useful feedback because I am nearing a dead end. Understand that a few months after the transplant, spring 2014 is when I started to rapidly decline. I waited it out because I still had a lot of hair and after about 8 months, I think I started to stabalize. After that I started finasteride and went down hill again. So, perhaps you could tell me what I could have possibly done in the last 2 years? Another transplant?

Here is the problem with this delicately phrased "shock loss" and Dr. Shannon. 1) pre-op not a SINGLE mention of "shock loss" 2) I did not simply have "shock loss" I suffered horrendous telogen effluvium (once again, no mention of this possibility pre-op) 3) AFTER I began my TE, I asked her what was happening, THEN she said it was TE AND the hairs will return 4) 2 years later, nothing, I think ALL my native hair is completely gone 5) SHE KNEW I was not on finasteride, yet kept insisting the hair would grow back, HOW? DHT is inhibiting the follicle This is what is so shameful on her end - WHY did she not warn me of this HORRIBLE possibility? THE ONLY ANSWER I CAN COME UP WITH - Then she wouldn't have made money. It's not like a hair transplant surgeon WOULDN'T know about TE??? So, yes she knowingly destroyed my hair for a couple grand and left me with a 5" scar on the back of my head. It's just sick. My hair no longer makes me sick, it's the though that there are people like this operating on vulnerable patients. All I can do now is go online and tell my story and hope I can help some one.

Thanks for all your encouraging words friends, but I am WAY too scared to go under the knife again, even with skilled surgeons such as the Shapiros and H&W... See, I have a diffused pattern hair loss now just about all over, with the left side consisting of these thick horrible grafts. So how would I do this? Get the left side all filled in and progressively go balder on the right? I simply don't trust HT's when it comes to diffused thinning. There is no point in transplanting "around" the native hair, unless there is a GUARANTEE, the native hair will regrow after the trauma, which did NOT happen in my first surgery with Dr. Shannon, despite her false promises. It is just a confusing, horrible, frustrating situation. Soon, if the finasteride doesn't start to work (LIKE RIGHT NOW!!) I will have to shave it bald and go that way for a few years until my pattern is better established and stabalized then get a massive HT done.

It's been two years now since I made the horrendous mistake of having an HT. I simply don't know what to do now. I don't feel like posting pics, it's devastating to even take them. What was once an almost full head of hair (for 31 years!!) is now diffused thin with these weird, pluggy looking grafts sticking up, growing in every other direction throughout my left hair line. For some reason there are two to three hair grafts placed right by the hair line. The hairs are spaced almost 1/4 of an inch to 1/2 inch apart and it just looks horrendous. What the hell do you do in this scenario? The skin around alot of the grafts looks red and scarred and recessed into the scalp tissue. I am over the phase where I am horribly mad at her for disfiguring me, I will let the universe deal with her horrible lack of ethics... I just feel trapped, like I have no options. I have been on finasteride for 8 months now and that has made things worst. I have been on minox and nizoral and like 5 different supplements for 2 years, but the hair keeps thinning. I want to just shave my f*cking head, but the scar looks like crap. I would have to go with a 0 guard because of the way the grafts were placed and there orientation in the scalp. Literally one hair grows west and the hair right next to it grows east... it's crazy. PLEASE, what to do here? I know this is simply an unanswerable question. But I have to ask it anyway. I don't want to do SMP.... but I need to shave my head, it's getting impossible to hide these horrible things now.

Included in my initial thread is both a before and after picture. The before picture is the first one, taken from Bosley before the procedure. You can see my hair line is only slightly receding, thinning just a bit. In the after picture, taken approximately 9 months after, you see that my initial hair line is completely gone, it has receded back more than an inch and my native hair has been completely destroyed only to be replaced with these poorly placed, insufficient grafts, that seem to additionally be placed at incorrect angles! She continued to place grafts even further back from the left hair line, despite the fact that I wasn't fully aware she was going to do so, and it destroyed my hair in that area too! Additionally, grafts placed in the center hair line and back destroyed my hair there as well. Once again, there was obvious a lack in communication, in that there was very little!!! While I have already beat myself up about making this poor decision and not informing myself and educating myself it should never be the patients responsibility to have to ask questions to know about the outcomes of a procedure. This is why there is a DR. before their name, they have a moral and ethical duty to 1) understand every possible outcome from the procedure they are performing 2) Make you 100%, fully aware of this outcomes and 3) Understand your expectations from the procedure and make you aware of whether or not these are realistic and achievable. Try to compare the two side by side and the absolute devastation becomes apparent. Basically, wherever she placed the grafts is such an unorganized mess that it makes absolutely no sense. Observe the 'after' picture and you will notice, what was once a natural looking hair line, has been completely obliterated with poorly placed grafts in very insufficient amounts. O.k. I feel better now and I am done going on about this. Y'all are awesome and this is the greatest support I've found. The biggest tragedy about this to me is not my specific case, but the possibility that this will happen again to some one else. Communities like this work to prevent that from happening and thus, work to better peoples lives, so THANK YOU!

Thanks for all the valuable information guys! I have seen a couple of you on all the major forums and your advice is priceless. As for the anxiety and depression caused over this, I will definitely get through it. It just hard when you lose so much hair so quickly, and even more difficult when you realize it is because of one decision that you've made. To me, it is just a shame. The oath that ALL doctors take upon them when starting to practice is to always put the welfare of the patient first, before money or any other type of consideration. I understand that these are cosmetic issues, but the mental well being of a patient can effect their life as much as the physical. Some doctors need to learn ethics. That being said, I am super hesitant in repair work for a few reasons. I am now a diffuse thinner with, additionally with a norwood pattern 2. That is, I have the typical receding hair line and a bald spot forming in the crown, but most of the hair in between has become slightly diffused. I can get the receding hair line fixed, but what about the areas that are bound to become thinner and thinner with time. I don't like the idea of continually going back for surgeries and waiting years, however, I know that it is what most people do to maintain their hair. The other thing, is that I am not on finesteride. I am on just about every other herbal supplement that is believed to be a 5a reductase inhibitor, but who knows how they work. I additionally use a 1% nizoral shampoo, minoxidil and a variety of other supplements that are believed to positively effect hair growth (pumpkin seed oil, MSM, saw palmetto, l-lysine, raw meal formula, hell, even vivscal, who knows??...) You see EVER since the operation, for about 9 months straight, I started losing about 200-300 hairs per day, and no this is not an exaggeration, rather an accurate number. ESPECIALLY in the area of the transplant, my hair just fell out. I watched it get thinner day by day. It started to slow down quite a bit about 2 weeks ago. But, this has happened before, and it started up again. Another thing I have going against me is that I just had ACL and meniscus reconstruction surgery, so I know this trauma can jump start TE again. As you all are aware, TE is usually not a big concern to women or men without MPB. To men with MPB, however, it starts to unmask the ugly genetic effects of MPB, as the hairs in their last healthy cycle that fall are hesitant to return, or return as vellous hairs. This is why I am in a difficult place. I have to see how all this unfolds, probably shave my head for a while and bare the scar and the cobblestoned transplants until the full extent of my hair loss becomes revealed, then visit one of the highly recommended, INDEPENDANT, hair transplant clinics. Any further advice is appreciated.

Davidla, "Will the shock loss grow back?" -That depends on a few factors. First off, each hair is in it's own cycle. Due to the effects of DHT attacking and shrinking the hair follicle, sometimes when you lose hair it is incapable of growing back, or it returns much finer and weaker. When a surgeon transplants grafts around existing hair, and this hair is "shocked", especially if it is in an area prone to MPB, there is a good chance it won't come back, or will grow back much finer. Another issue that can arise from hair transplant surgery is telogen effluvium, a condition in which the trauma to the scalp sends a larger number of hair follicles, all over the scalp, into the telogen, or resting phase. Months later they fall out and while many will regrow, it is often times that the hair existing in the areas prone to MPB may not come back. Another possibility is transection of native hair follicles. If you have an inexperienced surgeon that is not considerate of the angle of hair growth, or is using improper instruments, they can slice right through existing hair follicles, damaging the follicle. In my case I have a strong suspicion that both of these scenarios occurred.

Hello, About 10 months ago, I had a pretty full head of hair. It began thinning a little bit in the left hair line region, so I made the very regrettable, life-altering decision to have a small hair transplant in that region. I got sold on 900 grafts! Dr. Nancy Shannon of Bosley Troy simply said it would look great. I had very little knowledge of hair transplants at the time and she did NOT inform me of any possible side effects. She never mentioned shock loss, or loss of native hair. During our consultation she came in for only a few minutes, looked at my hair and said that this would look great. 10 months later and this decision has almost destroyed my life. First off, there is NO way I needed 900 grafts. Every where she planted the grafts my native, and yes thick hair died, never to return. Even at 9 months she kept telling me that the hair would grow back and thicken. After studying and researching hair transplants almost every night for the past 9 months, I obviously know that, given the hair cycle, this is entirely false. On the day of the operation she came in quickly, cut the donor area and very quickly created the recipient sites, leaving the placement for her technicians. The grafts did not compensate for the massive hair loss they caused. So... now I have the left area of my head consisting of thick graft hairs spaced wayyyy too far apart and the right, natural looking region. I have no hair line anymore. You can see through my entire scalp. I broke up with the girl I was dating, and really liked, because I became so self conscience. I barely see my friends anymore and when I do I hide myself in a hat. I am now forced to comb over my hair, use tons of hairspray and pray it doesn't rain. I hate this, it makes me sick. Last summer I was exploring national parks with a beautiful girl friend. This summer I am alone, anxious and depressed. It seems like they don't even care. It was a VERY stupid decision on my part, obviously. However, how is a doctor allowed to get away with this? To not inform you, AT ALL, of what is to them, very possible and horrendous outcomes. It is VERY unethical. I am now forced to shave my head, bare the scar of this ill-advised mistake, explain to every one how vain I am OR dedicate myself to a life of hair transplants. I spoke to advisors at Ron Shapiros office and Tessler and Aronovitz, two world-renowned doctors and both turned me away, even AFTER I lost all this hair. For a doctor that has practiced for so many years, she had to of known that this would happen.

I was told by the nancy shannon that it would look great. I recently consulted another, well known, hair transplant surgeon and they implied that I probably wasn't a good candidate for this procedure, given that I am barely a NW2. Nancy Shannon and the Bosley teamed proceeded without a second thought, without advising me of the possibility of this horrendous outcome. I now either have to dedicate myself to a life of hair transplants, or shave my head bald and show off the scar on the back. It's a complete nightmare.

For a while I have had only slight thinning in the left temple area. It was making me self conscience, so I made the very poor decision to have a transplant in that area. The bosley team, lead by surgeon Dr. Nancy Shannon were very polite and advised me that it would look great. Well, eight months later and the region of the transplant is completely destroyed. I no longer have a hair line and every where they transplanted grafts almost all my original hair was killed. I don't know what happened, but I look absolutely horrible. It is as if half my head is "pluggy" looking and the other half is normal. This is devastating. I should have never gotten a transplant. Now I have a scar in the back of my head, and even if I shaved I would look horrible. If you have any advice I would appreciate it. Having almost a completely full head of thick hair, I made this horrible decision. Thank you.