ScottishGuy

This question (probably asked 100 times before) is mostly for guys who get work done in the frontal third, and still have good coverage on top. I notice many post-HT guys sweep their hair backwards/upwards. I suppose this does allow you to show off your nice new hairline, but I wondered if this is because it doesn't look dense/natural with other styles? Does anyone have success coming their hair forward? Guys with good density at the front who can cover a lot of forehead tend to look younger than everyone else....wouldn't mind being able to do that again SG

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have a 20 hr journey to get home, so I'm not keen on travelling for that length of time the day after the procedure. I was originally planning to stay for about 2 weeks anyway to make sure there were no unexpected complications and perhaps do some sight seeing. I reside in a non-English speaking country (no, I don't mean Scotland), and I'm not exactly fluent in the local language so I'd prefer to be sure that things are healing well before I go home. Still haven't decided for sure though

Hi Everyone, I've booked a procedure with Dr Rahal in a few months. It's not a problem for me to be away from home/work for a month or six weeks, so I'm considering staying in Canada for at least three weeks after the procedure. Part of the reason I want to do this is that the country I am flying from has some strict immigration controls where all foreigners are photographed when they enter the country. Being asked to remove your hat is bad enough, but to then be photographed is...not fun. The cost of staying at a hotel for 3 weeks or a month is going to be very high, so I wondered if anyone knows of basic furnished apartments in Ottawa available for short term stay? Thanks for any info.

Hi Everyone, I've booked a procedure with Dr Rahal in a few months. It's not a problem for me to be away from home/work for a month or six weeks, so I'm considering staying in Canada for at least three weeks after the procedure. Part of the reason I want to do this is that the country I am flying from has some strict immigration controls where all foreigners are photographed when they enter the country. Being asked to remove your hat is bad enough, but to then be photographed is...not fun. The cost of staying at a hotel for 3 weeks or a month is going to be very high, so I wondered if anyone knows of basic furnished apartments in Ottawa available for short term stay? Thanks for any info.

I had the same concerns about the family doctor letter and really wanted to avoid having to tell him. I think I was just a bit afraid of getting a negative reaction. If I'm completely honest, I think I was still unsure whether I wanted to go through with the procedure and the last thing I needed was a doctor (who probably didn't know about HTs) making me feel I was doing something "wrong". In the end I made the appointment to see my doctor and explained what I wanted to do. Although he seemed surprised (and I'm sure he thought the idea was a bit drastic), he didn't pass judgement. He agreed to do the medical and fill in the form, although he did note that he had some reservations about some of the questions. My advice is to go and see your doctor and get it over with. If you should happen to be unlucky and have any complications after your procedure, you'll probably be glad that your doctor already knows about the HT. If you're happy with your choice of HT surgeon, I wouldn't go changing to a different surgeon/clinic just to avoid the family doctor letter. Just my 2 cents :-)

Hi All, I'm due to travel to Canada from the UK for an HT and I was wondering whether getting travel insurance is problematic. As far as I recall, many/most/all policies state that they will not cover you at all if you are travelling for the purpose of getting medical treatment. I know that an HT may not be medical treatment exactly, but I can't see any insurance company paying out if something went wrong as a result of complications from an HT. Even if you claim for something completely unrelated (e.g. missing bags), they would probably still frown if they knew why you'd travelled. For any other UK folk, what insurance policies did you take out before travelling to the US or Canada for an HT? ScottishGuy

Hi All, I'm due to travel to Canada from the UK for an HT and I was wondering whether getting travel insurance is problematic. As far as I recall, many/most/all policies state that they will not cover you at all if you are travelling for the purpose of getting medical treatment. I know that an HT may not be medical treatment exactly, but I can't see any insurance company paying out if something went wrong as a result of complications from an HT. Even if you claim for something completely unrelated (e.g. missing bags), they would probably still frown if they knew why you'd travelled. For any other UK folk, what insurance policies did you take out before travelling to the US or Canada for an HT? ScottishGuy

Thanks for your responses everyone. After thinking some more, I'm feeling a lot more positive about going ahead with the HT now. For background info, I'm 31 and NW3-ish. I don't need any work in the crown area, but the front 1/3 needs lots of attention :-) My surgery date is around the start of September - it can't come soon enough! At the moment I'm expecting around 3000 grafts so it should make quite a difference. SG

Hello People, I am just at the stage where I will soon pay the deposit, but I still have occasional doubts about whether I really want to go through with this. My doubts are not about the surgeon (Dr. Rahal), or the surgery or the cost. It's more the bigger question of 'is it really going to be worth it?'. Not just is it worth it, but 'what's so wrong with going bald anyway?' I feel that once you have one HT, you are kind of locked in to having many more. I'm sure the majority of balding guys would love more hair, but only a tiny proportion would go through with a HT (even if they had the time and money). What do you guys think? I'm wondering if there are any guys on here who cancelled their HT appointments then regretted doing so. Or, those who cancelled and feel it was the right thing to do. When the surgery is months away it's easy to get swept along, but at some point you really have to ask yourself serious questions - preferably before you've become a lot poorer :-) Would be interested to hear the experience of other guys on this forum.

Hello People, I am just at the stage where I will soon pay the deposit, but I still have occasional doubts about whether I really want to go through with this. My doubts are not about the surgeon (Dr. Rahal), or the surgery or the cost. It's more the bigger question of 'is it really going to be worth it?'. Not just is it worth it, but 'what's so wrong with going bald anyway?' I feel that once you have one HT, you are kind of locked in to having many more. I'm sure the majority of balding guys would love more hair, but only a tiny proportion would go through with a HT (even if they had the time and money). What do you guys think? I'm wondering if there are any guys on here who cancelled their HT appointments then regretted doing so. Or, those who cancelled and feel it was the right thing to do. When the surgery is months away it's easy to get swept along, but at some point you really have to ask yourself serious questions - preferably before you've become a lot poorer :-) Would be interested to hear the experience of other guys on this forum.

Thanks for your responses everyone. I did consider just going to the GUM clinic, but there are a number of tests that aren't for STDs so I wasn't sure the GUM clinic would do them. Anyway, I went to see my doctor today and told him what I was planning to do. He seemed a bit unhappy about the idea in general, and felt that it should be up to the HT clinic to do the necessary blood tests etc. In the end he said he would do the required examination and tests but it would cost 100 pounds (a figure that was pretty much plucked from the air, but included the cost of the medical examination). I guess if I'm going to spent 7000 on flights, surgery and hotel then an etc 100 is a small price to pay.

Hi Everyone, This is my first post here so I hope this will make sense. I'm just about to reserve a booking with Dr Rahal, and I've been sent various documents including one that I need to give to my family doctor (for getting blood tests and the like). For anyone else who's in the UK, how did your doctor react when you said you were going for a HT? Will the NHS actually be willing to pay for all of these tests or is it necessary to go private? How long did it take before the tests were carried out, and then the results obtained? I'm hoping the doctor can just take some blood samples in the surgery without making too much fuss or requiring lengthy delays. I actually feel a bit awkward about even letting my GP know that I'm planning to go through with this. I kind of hoped I could slope off to Canada for 3 weeks, recuperate for a bit, then wait for the results. To add another factor into the mix, I'm planning to move abroad to another country very soon, so I don't even know what reaction I'll get from the doctors there. I'd probably be best to get the tests done in the UK before I go I guess. Any information you have will be gratefully received.