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I accidentally bumped my head as well 2 days into post-op: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/179790-2700-grafts-dr-dorin-after-consultation-dr-true.html I took a shower a few hours afterwards using the pitcher as instructed, and I'm hoping there wasn't too much damage to the grafts.

I accidentally bumped my head as well 2 days into post-op: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/179790-2700-grafts-dr-dorin-after-consultation-dr-true.html I took a shower a few hours afterwards using the pitcher as instructed, and fortunately didn't notice any damage in terms of grafts as far as I could see.

Sure! They said they will send me the pics on Monday so I will post them as soon as I get them

Thanks so much for sharing. Seriously. I just did a quick search on scalp laxity exercises and it seems like pretty common practice for hair transplant procedures. I really don't know why Dr. True nor Dr. Dorin didn't mention anything about this. Especially after having made it very clear to both Dr. True and Dr. Dorin several times that I wanted to get as much as possible out of my first (virgin) sitting, and if we came short, not due to lack of donors, but due to not having been given proper (and routine) pre-op instructions that could have helped achieve the intended result, then yeah I'm definitely upset. I understand that Dr. Dorin is highly regarded, but when doctors do things like this (whether intentionally or not), it really brings me down and makes me wonder how involved the physician really was with my case in the first place. A doctor could have a great reputation, but if his head isn't in your case, all that reputation doesn't mean squat to the patient. At the end of the day, it becomes a trust thing. I'm hopng there was some valid explanation why they didn't tell me about the laxity exercises. I will ask them. He did refund me for the grafts he didn't get, but I would've much preferred to have gotten 3000+ instead of course, considering all the time, money, and energy I poured into researching and finally deciding to take the leap to go ahead with the procedure. Anyway, as I mentioned before everyone at the office were nice and the procedure itself seemed to go pretty smoothly, so I'm really hoping that I will be happy with the result in the end even though i didn't get the 3000 grafts as expected.

No, he didn't tell me anything about pre-laxity exercises before the procedure. He mentioned using some type of solution to help with laxity during the procedure though (can't remember the exact name, but starts with H something). During my initial consultation, I do remember Dr. True saying that my laxity was good though (he wrote this down in my evaluation). I definitely was disappointed when Dr. Dorin said he could only get 2700+ out of the sitting, but this being my first HT and despite having done the best I could to try to gather as much info as I can beforehand, I wasn't aware of a lot of the things you mentioned. There were moments during the procedure when I was a bit confused like when Dr. True initially told me about the 7000 - 8000 total donors (during our consultation) which I thought was plenty, then one of the technicians actually making a comment about how I have great density (on the day of the procedure), then what I thought I heard Dr. Dorin tell one of the techs that there's 3000+ donors (after the strip), all of which eventually got knocked down to 2700+ grafts ultimately, but I just figured he's a coalition doctor and knew what he was doing and let it go at that. When I asked Peter (rep at Dr. Dorin's office) the reason why we can't go over 3000 during the first session, he told me that it's to get the best yield. Also, taking into account what Dr. Feller wanted to do (2000 for the first session to cover the front half of my scalp, then coming back for a second session for the crown), and what Dr. Pawlinga recommended (around 2000 - 2300 for the first session w DFU's in the central core), I concluded that 2500 - 3000 that Dr. True stated he could do was the best that was possible for me. Both Dr. Feller and Dr. True/Dorin were reputable coalition doctors from what I understand according these forums and I believed what they said. If what you're saying is true though, I AM pretty disappointed and wonder why these doctors wouldn't meet my initial request to get as many grafts as possible (3000+) for my first sitting. When I had my consultation with them, all three doctors said they don't want to take too much during the first session because they want to leave donors for later down the line when my hair loss progresses further. What does this all mean..? I'm confused even more now and I don't know who to believe Really appreciate your reply btw

*Panic* This morning, I accidentally bumped my head against the side of a door when I dropped my phone and I reached down to pick it up! It was a reflex reaction if anything but...ARGHHH! I'd been so careful with everything up to this point, following post-op instructions down to the letter and this happens ugh.. There was some bleeding, but I'm really hoping that I didn't lose any of my precious grafts

*Update* I was researching the three doctors in my area for months before I decided to take the big leap with Dr. True and Dorin. You could see my posts regarding this here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/179422-dr-pawlinga-any-experiences-him.html Anyway, I decided to document my progress with my HT journey to share with anyone that's considering it for the first time and to get wisened tips and advice from the experienced veterans that are on this site. Hopefully this could be of some help to everyone. I decided to go with Dr. Dorin because even though I had my initial consultation with Dr. True, he wouldn't be available for a while, and was told by both him and Peter (who helped me with the paperwork) that Dr. Dorin is an excellent doctor and on par with Dr. True. I live in NJ and my appointment time was for 8am in NYC, so I got up early at around 5am in the morning to shower, have breakfast, and take my antibiotics as per their instruction. I got there about 45 minutes early and was greeted by one of the technicians who, I discovered, happened to live close to my neighborhood which was a pleasant surprise. She was very sweet. After I paid my balance for 3000 grafts and signed some paperwork, I was led into the main operating room and changed for the procedure. All the technicians and staff were super nice and very pleasant. Initially, after Dr. Dorin made the strip I thought I heard him tell his technicians 3000+ and was very happy about it, but he later told me that we could only do around 2700+ grafts and that I would need to come in for another session which was a bit of a downer for me due to both budget reasons and time. Afterwards, I went through the FUT procedure which most of you are already familiar with along with lunch (I had a chicken salad sandwich). One thing to note was that I was extremely tired and a bit disoriented afterwards, but it helped after I got some good night's sleep when I got home. Another thing that was a bit tricky at first was sleeping with my head elevated as instructed. I also sprayed my scalp with the ATP solution every hour which they told me would help with the healing process . Pain isn't too bad yet, but the back of head is still very numb from the procedure. I have to go back tomorrow morning for cleaning and post-op, but in the meantime this is what my head looks like right now (I'd like to know what you think):

Thanks Torn! These are the three consultations that I had in the past few weeks: I went in for a consultation with Dr. True (NYC) recently and, after a careful look at my head, he told me that I'm actually a NW5V with probably around 7000 - 8000 total donors. He suggested we shoot for 3000 grafts and try to cover the vertex as well. He does true FU's and no Multies. I also went in for a consultation with Dr. Feller (Great Neck, NY) and he said he wanted to do around 2000 for the first session to cover the front half of my scalp and leave the crown + vertex for a second session because Asians have coarse hairs but they're less dense. He does true FU's and no Multies like Dr. True. I finally drove over 2 hrs and consulted with Dr. Pawlinga (Saratoga, NY) who wanted to shoot for around 2000, but with about 400 DFU's in the central core for density. From what I was able to gather from my consultations, the differences between the three doctors (for my case) seem to be that: 1) Dr. True/Dorin sounds pretty confident in being able to get at least 2500-3000 grafts and in trying to cover my vertex as much as possible, while Dr. Feller and Dr. Pawlinga want to shoot for around 2000 just for the front half of my scalp, leaving the vertex untouched for another session. This would mean that I would have to walk around for another two years with a big bald patch on my head. 2) Dr. True/Dorin and Dr. Feller uses only true FU's while Dr. Pawlinga uses DFU's. 3) Dr. Feller needs to shave my recipient area while Dr. True/Dorin and Dr. Pawlinga won't have to since most of it is gone anyway except for the few in the front that they could work around. 4) Regarding cost, Dr. Pawlinga is the most affordable (hands down!!!) by quite a bit when compared to the other two. Dr. True/Dorin was initially higher than Dr. Feller, but Peter (who represents Dr. True/Dorin) told me that he could work with me on the cost if I could work with his schedule which was pretty cool. Conclusion (so far at least): Frankly at this point, I'm leaning toward Dr. True/Dorin because they seem pretty confident that they could get the most number of grafts in one sitting (2500-3000), I don't have to shave my head, and are willing to work with me on the cost if I could work with their schedule. I really liked Dr. Feller but he is pushing for about 2000, wants to shave my head, and seems pretty fixed on the cost. The advantage of going with Dr. Pawlinga is that he's definitely quite affordable and I won't have to break my bank! He's about a third to almost half lower than both Dr. True and Dr. Feller. As a blue collar working man it's very difficult to completely ignore this. The only thing that's in the gray for me is that he uses DFU's (which I'm still not 100% sure about - although Dr. Behner (who Dr. Pawlinga works with) does seem to have a great reputation) and wants to push for about 2000. He (like Dr. True) said he he doesn't have to shave my head. I am planning to make a decision soon. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Just had a consultation with Dr. True and he told me I'm a NW5V with probably around 7000 - 8000 total donors. He suggested we shoot for 3000 grafts. Wow.. if only I could get results like this!

Tremendous! Thanks David for your reply. It was very insightful. A good friend of mine who's also considering HT went to see Dr. Pawlinga with a NW5-6 and was told that he would do 400 DFU's in the central core and FU's in the front (total of 2000-2300 grafts). From what I've been able to gather, it seems that most of the cases where DFU's are successfully deployed it's usually for about 200 grafts. 400 feels a bit much. Any thoughts?

Nice result. Did you use combination grafts (FU's + DFU's) or just FU's? Curious to see the results of the second session.

I sent an email to Dr. Feller and he told me that DFU is just another term for mini-grafts which he said he doesn't do. He said he just does FU's. Are DFU's really that bad?? He sounded pretty against it.

Lesser the better in my current financial state, but about $8000-$9000 at the most. I will prob need more than one procedure down the line, so I plan to save some more for that.

Wow. How many grafts I wonder

Hello everyone, I am a NW6, considering hair transplant procedure for the very first time. I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences with Dr. Pawlinga of Saratoga Hair. There doesn't seem to be much feedback/review information on him anywhere on the internet. The only information I could gather from the forum was how Stumper had a very bad experience with him about 10 years ago when he was a fellow with Dr. Beehner. He seems to do combination grafts using FU's (in the front and back) with DFU's (usually in the central core). Any info would be much appreciated! Anyone?