Nashville Kat

Good luck spot!! You have made a great decision with Dr. Shapiro and will not be sorry!!! Please keep us posted with progress. Nashville Kat

Wow!!!! What great results!!!! You gotta be pleased with that. I would say you got your money's worth and should be very happy. My first HT just got me to where you started. I hope my second HT gives me the results that you now have. Now go take your life back and take care of those responses from the fairest sex!!!!

Although I did not personaly try to actively hide the fact that I had gotten a HT done, very few people that I did not tell about it, knew that I had anything done. Lots and Lots of people that did know I had it done said that they could not tell I had anything done for the most part after two weeks like Robert said. I know that when I was thinking about having a HT, some of the photo's I saw of patients right after surgery looked like they had been beaten in the head with a baseball bat. A real bloody mess. Then there were others that there was very little to see. Mine was not real bloody or messy, but you could see for a couple of weeks the grafts that were placed and the very tiny holes where they went. After that between the sheding of the grafts and the healing process you were hard pressed to know what happened. I'm sure this is different for everyone depending on the skill of your surgeon and how fast you heal and how well you take care of the wounds after the HT. I hope this helps but you should really keep in mind that the end is worth the meens no matter what.(assuming you pick a really skilled Doctor,this is the most important part in my opinion) 6 months into it you won't care anymore because you will have hair growing back where there was none.

Most of the top docs that I checked with were in the $4.00 per graft range for top notch work not crap.

I'm thinking alot of this loss is probably from starting the meds and stress. I know I had alot of sheding when I first started my meds but it grew back shortly. As far as the grafts, I'm not sure. Seems as if there would be some stubble at least by now. I know it takes a great deal of skill under a high power microscope to disect the strip into individual folicular units. I'm wondering if it's possible that whoever did the strip disection actually damaged the grafts. I guess only time will tell. Definately talk to a different Doctor with a good reputation about where to go from here. Also I would not even consider a second HT until I knew what happened to the first one or see if it is indeed going to grow. I really did not have much growth at 4 months but did have some stubble. Whatever the result, please keep everyone here up on what you find out and best of luck.

Russtaman, Great news!!! You are making a decision that will change your life for the better from now on. I don't know your Doctor but if you got him from a recomendation from this site I'm sure you will be pleased. I was a bit further along with my loss than you are and my 2500fu HT made a great deal of difference to me and what I see in the mirror. Make sure you make your expectations realisticly and be prepared for slow results. It's sort of like watching grass grow but well worth the wait. Good luck and be sure to keep us posted as you progress. Happy growing!!! Nashville Kat

Hey guy's, just a quick update at the 7 month mark. I'm just about where Dr. Cooley told me I would be at this point in time. Although I'm not where I would like to be as a finished product, I started with very little and knew going into this that it would take at least 2 HT's to get to where I want to be. With that said, I'm extremely pleased with where I'm at and with what I see in the mirror. I'm still having a few new hairs come in and it's still growing and getting thicker every day. I plan to have a second procedure to fill in the front sides a little more and do some in the crown. Because of the size of my HT, I decided with Dr. Cooley to do what we did in the front and do some all the way back to the crown instead of doing all in the front at one time. My choice and I'm glad I made it that way at this point. Deciding on a HT was a great decision for me overall and I could not be happier at this point with that decision and I'm looking forward to saving up enough to go back and finish the job! Nashville Kat

Who can take 7 weeks off from work! not me. Dr. Cooley did not cut my hair at all and I went back to work in 3 days and no one noticed that I didn't tell. The new hair grew in nicely and blended right in with the existing hair as it grew. This is a decision you will have to make on your own.

Good luck BobbyN. You have made a wise decision. Please keep us and all the new members posted on your progress. Nashville Kat

Thinkingaboutit, I second Robert's comments. You are doing the research that will give you the results you are looking for. I, like you, did not want to cut my existing hair off for surgery and the Doctor I used did not even suggest that I had to. He actually said he did not care either way. What ever you decide, you can not go wrong with either of the 2 Doctors you are considering. They are the same 2 I consulted with and was considering for my H T and they are both top notch with outstanding results. Little small considerations and differences between the 2 are what helped me make my decision as Im sure it will with you. Good luck and keep us posted as you go. Nashville Kat

thinkingaboutit, Glad to hear your consult at Dr. Cooley's went well. Seems as if you found the same things that I did. If you choose Dr. Cooley you wont be going wrong but by all means check out the other Doc's on your list and pick the one you feel the best with. Good luck and keep us posted. Nashville Kat

Hey rsanders36, I'm kind of like some of the last few posters here. I may be wrong, but I think most of the shock loss would have been closer to your procedure. My hair sort of stabilized for several years with only slight thinning and then all of a sudden it seemed like I lost alot very fast. There can be many reasons for this such as diet,nutrition,stress,medications and of course male pattern baldness and DHT. I think several of these factors affected me and made me decide to have my procedure along with watching my medications,vitamin and protein intake. I do what I can about my stress but this can be a big factor. Nashville Kat

Thinkingaboutit, If after talking with Robert you would like to talk to another patient of Dr. Cooley's I would be happy to speak with you. You can also check this site for my photo album of my 2500 f/u procedure with Dr. Cooley. I think you will find him to be a great choice. Nashville Kat

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if you have been to Dr. Cooley's yet, but I am a patient of his. I started the same way you are by doing research here and everywhere else I could find. I started with Dr. Shapiro and Matt. I came away with about the same feeling as you. I first chose Dr. Shapiro because of his excellent reputation and skill but never got past Matt and a 4 1/2 month wait to get in to see the Dr. I next decided on Dr. Cooley. I got what I needed from Ailene and Dr. Cooley which also has excellent credentials and reputation. I am now a little over 5 months post op with Dr. Cooley and could not be more pleased with my results. Dr. Cooley spent whatever time I needed to answer my questions and concerns and made me feel comfortable with him his staff and MY procedure. I so far have gotten exactly what he told me to expect. He is very attentive with his artistic ability and took about 13 hours to do 2500 f/u grafts and never rushed and actually placed most of the grafts himself along with his assistant. I did get dissolveable sutures because I traveled to North Carolina from Nashville but he does both. My scar is very very hard to find unless you know exactly where it is. The other 2 Doctors you mentioned are top notch and would make excellent choices, but for me Dr. Cooley is my Doctor now and will be in any future procedures I decide I might want. I have a photo album on this site of my before and after shots and will update it soon with photos from now. You could not go wrong with any of these 3 surgeons but as for me, Dr. Cooley is #1. As for you Robert, at a boy with the pompas ass. I am glad that guy was not my Doc with his higher than thou atitude and you answered his assnine attitude in a most excellent way. Nashville Kat.

bruce, Great to hear your story. Let's see some photo's of all that hair.

jules, I have to agree with the others. This is fairly normal and they should grow back soon. You are just in the wait and see mode and it's kind of like watching grass grow. Really hard to see it on a daily basis. I am just completing 5 full months post op and I'm really starting to see the effects. Just be patient, even though I know thats hard to do. Best of luck. Nashville Kat.

rsanders36, Maybe we are all talking too much and giving too much info for you to absorb. Find one of the excellent ethical Doctors from this site and consult with them. You should try Propecia and Rogain to see if you can't stop the future loss and stabilize your situation. I've had great results with this. Then probably wait until you can see where you are losing hair in the future after the meds have had time to work. You only have so much donor hair so don't go wasting any more of it until you have done these steps. Best of luck and keep us updated. Nashville Kat.

You get one chance to be happy with who you pick to do your HT. Make damn sure your going to be happy before you go. If you feel this way now before surgery, how will you feel after when you need something. Best of luck just be sure of your Doc. You will be glad you got the HT if you get the right Doc. I know it's the best thing I have ever done for myself. Nashville Kat

Not sure if I really have anything to add here except more gossip,but with that said. Being from Nashville I have friends in the Country music business and have been told by one of those friends when we were discussing my HT, that they saw Matt Lauer on TV talking about his HT surgery very openly. They also said that Tim Mcgraw has had some HT work done but I don't know who did either of them.

My personal advice is that if your counting down to 10 hairs per sq cm, your not that far from counting 5. Go get it done before it's all gone. The minimal shock loss, which will grow back, will be nothing compared to having your hair back like it was 10 or 20 years ago. It was absolutely the best thing I have ever done for myself and is already changing my life in ways that I never dreamed of. Quit beating yourself up about shock loss and go for it. I had concerns also about shock loss before my HT but actually experienced very little of it. I have also noticed quite a bit of regrowth in areas that were not transplanted. I think this is from the propecia and extra protein I now take daily. Just go for it!! You won't be sorry!!!! Nashville Kat

Hair apparent, Great to hear your coming along. Don't be to hard on yourself for being a cheap bastard. You had alot to cover up there and your just now hitting the months that the real growth really shows. I do understand being critical about yourself in front of the mirror. It's just so damned hard to wait on the growing. Anyway, good luck and keep growing brother!!! Nashville Kat

Brandon, I went for a consultation with MHR here in Nashville before having my HT. After meeting with the salesman there and 2 other independent Doctors I checked into a plane ticket. It cost me $325 to fly to North Carolina from Nashville round trip. Dr. Cooley then paid for my Hotel room and cab rides back and forth to the airport then drove me himself back and forth to the hotel. It was the best $325 dollars I have ever spent buying that ticket. I have met several guy's here that had their HT's done here at MHR and my experience and quality of work far exceeded theirs. The cost of their HT was as much or more than I paid for a higher quality of work. Instead of the ultra refined follicular unit grafts, they recieved both micro and mini grafts that don't give as natural of a finished look. Don't waste hair that you already don't have enough of. JUST DON'T DO IT MAN!!!!!

Congrats Heavy Kevie on getting the fix you deserve from what I hear is a truly great Doctor. I'm sure you will get a result you will be pleased with. Your past result is exactly why I was too scared years ago to get any work done. The really great Doctors today are very skilled at what they do as opposed to the techniques they were using just a few years ago. I think the conversations you and eric have had here are very good to hear for those people here who have not had any work done yet. The bottom line is alway's really check out the Doctor your considering hiring and you damn well better feel really good about the Doc and not rushed before you give the money. If the Doctor is rushing you in the consult what do you think he's going to do in surgery? Good luck to you man!!!!! Nashville Kat

Way to go Hairbe. Keep growing and keep us updated please. Third times charm!!!! Nashville

I'm kinda like John, maybe she was just trying to make you think she was a Doctor to get laid. Just a thought.