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Hello my fellow Hair Restoration Network patrons (and the man, the myth, the legend Melvin!) , yesterday I had my procedure done with Dr. Luis Nader of Nader Medical in Reynoso, MX. I had a fantastic experience and feel I owe it to this community to share/answer questions about it. Backstory- I first noticed my hairline had changed for the worse when I entered basic training in 2009 at the age of 23, and had my head buzzed down. I started using rogaine, saw palmetto, and nizoral shampoo after I got out of basic a few months later. I believe these 3 slowed my hairloss down to a turtles pace, and at times halted it. I have a mixed bag or hairlines on both sides of my family. I maintained a NW 1.5-2 my entire 30's, which I considered a massive win. I have a background in college and a brief professional career in a sport which resulted in 8 surgeries and pain that I still feel today at 37. I started using Kratom at around 34 for pain management. From everything I had read it was a safe alternative to opiods, etc. I continued to take the Kratom for a little over 2 years before multiple side effects became impossible to ignore ( that's a real rabbit hole ), but my biggest issue was it seemed to speed up my hairloss from a very slow pace to warp speed. I weened myself off said substance and my hairloss stabilized immediately without any further intervention (even thickening up a little). However my hairline and crown took a real beating during this time and a true recovery did not seem to be in the cards without surgical intervention. At this point I went from a NW 2.5 to a NW 3 V which just didn't look good on me anymore. I used some fibers to fill the crown for awhile, but I didnt wan't to have to do this for the rest of my life, and eventually ended up buzzing it down to a 2, then 1, then 0. I look "ok" with it buzzed down, but I tried to live with it for a year and was never happy with it. I did not take finasteride during this period because of what I had read/horror stories on reddit etc, and because I was starting a family in my 30's and wanted to maintain fertility and not have any possible birth defects. Selecting a Surgeon- I like many of you probably know more about hair transplants, the science, and hairloss than I care to admit. I have been researching transplants for 10 years, and consider it one of the subjects that I can speak on with a great deal of knowledge. I seriously enquired with Dr. Konior, Dr. Panine, and Restore Hair Clinic (within an easy driving distance, and 2/3 are very well respected as many of you know). The prices were pretty staggering, and while I could have financially made it work, it would have hurt. I have a career where I make good money, not great. $20k plus is a hard pill to swallow for many of us. From here I started researching on this website, as well as a couple reddit forums. It was through these that I came across Surgery tourism and began investigating Turkey and Mexico. Turkey was out quickly when I broke down the logistics of cost, flight, time, vacation needed off work, etc. I then narrowed down my prospects to HMR (the cortez brothers), Neopal, Dr. Sara Salas, and Nader Medical. I had serious consultations with HMR, Sara, and Nader. I could never get anyone from Neopal to call me back after repeated emails and calls. I found Dr. Sara salas really delightful when we spoke, but her prices were pretty steep for what I was looking for (also endorsed and trained under dr. Wrassman). The Cortez brothers communicated well and the price was what I was thinking, but I didn't love all the hairline photos I saw of their work. By no means am I slamming them, I think they do great work, and am seeing more and more people sharing positive experiences they have had there. Finally I contacted Nader Medical and it felt right almost immediately. The receptionist/liason Brenda is a saint. She answered my endless questions promptly and was extremely professional. Every single person online that has shared their experience with Dr. Nader came away raving about him. They all spoke of how much he genuinely cared, how this was a passion of his, not all about the money, and the results always looked great. I found all of this to be true as well. Dr. Nader was warm, gentle, extremely knowledgeable, and had a very calming presence about him. After many emails, and calls I decided to book my appointment. The actual surgery and details- Flew into McAllen, which is right across the border from Reynoso, MX, where I stayed at the Days Inn by Wyndham. This hotel is a mile and half from the airport, and was a very basic, yet clean hotel room. Some might be a big snobbish to it (it's no 4/5 star), but through the military and sports I have lived/stayed in some absolute shit holes. This was no shit hole. I flew in wednesday afternoon, had the surgery thursday, and am currently in between flights on my way home on friday. Nader arranged for a very friendly guy named Aaron to pick me up from my hotel, take me across the border, and return me home after the surgery. Aaron has a fascinating life story, and was a treat to talk to on the way there and back. I have read all about the cartel and violence in Mexico, but never once did I feel unsafe. I have previously lived in southern Texas, and traveled extensively around the border, as well as been in various parts of mexico, which possibly made me feel more comfortable than someone without those experiences. I arrived at Nader Medical around 8:30 am, filled out a little paperwork, then proceeded to sit down with Dr. Nader and talk all about my hairloss journey, life, what I wanted, etc. It was a wonderful convo and lasted well over an hour. I wanted a conservative hairline that I could age into well, and my crown addressed. (I started finasteride a month prior to this with zero side effects). We drew multiple hairlines before we got it right. I might add that the facility was very clean, and had a very professional staff of maybe 5 techs. My zones were drawn, head shaved down further, and on to the extraction table for a few hours. They injected lidocaine into my donor area repeatedly, which feels like minor pinches, nothing to worry about. My head was completely numb, and they went to work. After that I was served lunch, with the options being tacos or a chicken salad. I chose the salad and it was very good. From here we moved onto placing the grafts while I watched netflix. I think it took around 3 hours, but I wasn't really keeping track of time, just relaxing and enjoying some netflix. I felt zero pain during this part of my procedure as well. From there I was cleaned up by the tech's, followed by some questions for the Dr, and talk of after care. I literally have zero complaints about my whole experience. I could not have been happier with Dr. Nader, his staff, and his work. I got a picture with the Dr, gave him a hug, and thanked him for everything. He gave me his personal number and we will continue to remain in contact. For those that care, Dr. Nader attended school in the US and Mexico, and speaks perfect english. The driver then took me across the boarder and back to my hotel (zero issues). I purchased a neck pillow prior to this surgery in anticipation for sleeping. It took me a little to find a good position, but eventually I was able to find a comfortable position and actually got some good sleep. I woke up this morning feeling great about my choice to go with Nader. Going through a hair transplant can be an emotional roller coaster, but I felt nothing but happiness and relief. Details of surgery- Total grafts- 2520 Hairline- 1290 Grafts Crown- 1230 Grafts Singles- 221 Doubles- 909 Triples- 1208 4's-217 (Dr noted I had a very good donor area with a bank of 7,000 or so, also commenting on the unusual amount of double and triple grafts I have. People who have cut my hair have always noted how crazy thick the back and sides of my hair are. I guess this finally came in handy! ha Cost- Total Cost was $5,445 US. I used the option for 10% off by bringing a cashiers check for the majority of the cost. Nader will reimburse you for a 2 night hotel stay of up to $250. I'm open to any and all questions, and will eventually post pictures. Thank you to all of you for posting your experiences, it got me through some dark times knowing I wasn't alone. Also thank you to Melvin. I think this guy is awesome. His story, transparency, kindness, and tireless work in this hairloss field has been awesome. I remember being in a very dark place over my hairloss a year or so ago, watching some videos by Melvin, and feeling like there was hope.

Congrats melvin! Happy for you on both fronts.