Here I Grow Again

Hey SB, not sure how many grafts you'll be getting or how much native hair you have but I went back to work after 6 days and no one really noticed, at least not that I could tell. I had redness for several months although I did purposely tan prior to my procedure to help hide it. Keep in mind that most people are in their own world and generaly dont pay much attention. I had the stitches in for 2 weeks and no one ever picked up on it.

Sorry for the 2 posts, I accidentally hit "reply with Quote" instead of Edit and for some reason I can't delete the post.

Springsteen, Great post. I did not feel the donor removal but did feel when the grafts were being placed/incisions later on. It was because I was metabolizing the medication very fast so my doc had to give me sevearl shots throughout the procedure. There are however examples out there (although they are the minority) where multiple hairstyles are possible. I think it so in the best of cases (right hair thickness, # of grafts, hair color, etc.) Dewayne- just curious, did your doc recommend vigorous exercise as my good cholesterol was low as well and my doc stated the only thing that would bring it up is exercise that increases my heartrate (running, swimming, biking, etc.) I practice Karate so I just increased my workouts and my good cholesterol is up, actually normal now.

What a shame, so shallow but men are guilty of this as well. I'm generalizing- not all men nor women are that shallow. Even still, looks fade, on all sides- Hair, weight, skin, etc. It's a shame when people base their long term goals on these points because they are guaranteed- to change that is.

Hi Bill, I think it's a great idea, just a little time consuming to find original posts/links. Here are some by Spex that I think are great: How many sessions/growth rate- This link discusses expectations with regards to how many procedures are required in general as well as expected time frames for growth, again in general. http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...601064382#7601064382 Patience- This post discusses the importance of having patience while your hair grows in- (It's like trying to watch your grass grow!) as well as differences in recovery time. http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...181007292#4181007292 Kudos to Spex Here is one I liked regarding transected risks and whether that would cause the hair to be permanently lost: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...541093153#2541093153 Discussion about conditions of shockloss and whether it is permanent with Dr. Rassman: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...021012023#5021012023 HT Preparation and Tips again by Spex (Kudos) that covers before and after procedure care/tips/instructions such as travel arrangements/time management, Dr. consultation, diet and rest, etc. http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/346...711023803#2711023803 These are some that I think are great for starters.

Dorothy, oh Dorothy- Thanks for the info but I think your posted promotional efforts are a major no-no. "All posters promoting or advocating a particular physician, procedure or treatment on this forum are required to divulge any compensation, monetary or otherwise, that they may be receiving in their posting signature. No links or references to websites or resources of a promotional nature are permitted on this educational forum."

Yeah in the end I think you'd be better off saving your money and enjoying what you got out of your 2 procedures .

I'm no doc but you seem to have thick donor hair but I don't think there is a real way of gauging your laxity via a pic. Ok it sounds like you've received some feedback via consultations. I still think you should speak with a couple of coalition doctors if for nothing else, to get a good perspective on your situation. I think you can't go wrong with second and third opinions. Now not sure what Dr. Reyes meant by pretending none of the thinning hair exists. Did she mean that she plans on transplanting all over the scalp (front/mid area) and is she less concerned with existing hair falling out? Keep in mind that as she transplants around existing hair, the native that are there now will eventually be lost, leaving you with a thinner look once they do. That's where the second session comes in. If you've taken that into consideration and are ok with the fact that you will need a second procedure to add density then maybe you will be satisfied providing you have good growth with Dr. Reyes. My opinion, I'd consult with a coaltion doc because of their records of success but if you are aware of all the aspects and issues and are ok with the possible outcomes that you can resonably expect, then maybe you are informed enough to have reasonable expectations. And if so, you may be very satisfied with your results. Again, my goal would be to be as informed and aware of the facts surounding my particular case as possible. If you go forward with yoru decision I wish you lots of success. Don't forget to post your experience and progress on this site as it will be a great help to many.

Thinman123, This is just my humble opinion and you can take it for what it's worth but there are several issues you should be considering and I'm not sure you've given them serious thought: <LI>Level of hair loss relative to age- Your level of hair loss seems to be advanced for your age from the pics. I could clearly see the shape of your loss going into a norwood 5-6 and it is diffused. <LI>Now I am no doctor but has Dr. Reyes discussed your level of loss and explained what her approach is going to be??? This is CRITICAL for you to understand and for your success. <LI>If she plans on spreading the grafts over the entire scalp you may shock the existing hairs and they may or may not come back. If so, you will not have much of gain/difference. Now if she plans on covering the first half, you may probably need a second session later on to address additional loss (as you will have additional loss in the years to come) The first session will most likely not give you the coverage you want or think you are going to get. You are not totally bald now but are unhappy. Are you going to be satisfied with these results? <LI>Has your doctor spoken to you about any of this??? <LI>Has she seriously discussed your current limitations??? <LI>Has she discussed yoru level of loss now and what it will be in the future??? From the way you are posting I get the impression that you are rushing a decision without serious thought other than you don't want to be bald and that is not in your best interest. I could be totally off base but you have not posted any info about your consultation other than a non-refundable deposit and I did not read that you've researched what your results may look like or what your expectations are. You could be setting yourself up for some serious disappointments. I'm not saying going for a procedure at your age/level of loss is wrong- I'm saying going for a procedure at your age/level of loss without fully reviewing your options and potential outcomes is wrong. Consider what you are doing now before you have a procedure. Have several consultations with other docs to get a better understanding before you commit. Otherwise you may just be posting back here in another year about how unhappy you are and how you wished you listened to the folks here who gave you sound advise.

Hey TM123, Everyone here can sure relate to your struggle. What you are growing through can be impactful and you are not alone. I agree with the advice given. There's no need to rush to a decision, give yourself some time to think things through and valdate all the pros and cons. Consult with several coalition doctors so that you may get a good understanding of your level of loss and what you can and cannot accomplish. That is critical in order to set your expectations correctly. A good doc will explain your situation in detail. Once you are clear on what you can expect think it through, validate if this is acceptable and then plan for a procedure. How long ago did your cousin have a procedure with Dr. Reyes? If under 1.5 yrs why don't you wait to see how that turns out? Also research some of the results of other patients here with similar loss as you. All this will help keep you focused on your options and goals and less on panicking. There is no harm in postponing until you are ready to make an informed decision. That way you lesson the likelihood of "buyer's remorse". Most if not all of the docs here are not going anywhwere anytime soon and you have plenty of good choices. Believe me we've all been there and most will probably agree that taking your time to make sure you are ready is better than rushing in or making a decision based on your emotions. You have options.

Hey NJ, My personal opinion is that at your stage of hair loss whether to go now or later is a personal choice. I think that at 5+ you are bald in most people's eyes. what I did was keep it very short so that no one really new the extent of the loss. Then when I did go for my procedure it was like letting my hair gradually grow long so no one really noticed at all. If you can keep yoru hair short for some time I don't think anyone will notice when you finally get a transplant. So, you could wait and when your finally do get a procedure and hair grows in you simply say you just let it grow out more. Yeah I'm sure we've all obsessed about the same issue at one point or another, you are definitely not alone.

Be very careful my friend. If you do a quick search on this site on Dr. Armani you will get an idea of his philosophy and approach to hair transplantation which is very different from the coalition doctors here. From what I understand he is very agressive in his hair placement up front and there are very big risks to that. Again we don't know for sure what your degree of loss is without pics/norwood scale/your age but make sure you do your research as Dr. Armani and Dr. Shapiro are 2 very different doctors at opposite ends of the spectrum. Also spend some time researching what FUE is so that again you are clear on this option. All this info can be found on this site via the search option.

Hi Baldie, I agree with Hatrick with regards to your options. Try it out. One thing about shaving is you can stop if it doesn't look good. That being the case try it out to see if you like it or get used to it. If you really like it you'll save yourself some money and time. If not, then you can seriously look into a transplant. If so, just be sure to do plenty of research on the docs, and what you should expect. Spend time reviewing pics of other folks with similar loss/hair characteristics as you in order to have a better understanding of what you may look like and the results you should expect. Make sure you make informed decisions.

Hi 16Inchscar, Yes unfortunately there are many who fall victim to some less than skilled surgeons. If you do some research on this site you will find others that have gone through your same scenario but were able to turn things around somewhat via a coalition doc. I feel for you as I know you feel there is nothing else but regrets. As Jobi stated you may still have a positive outcome. continue researching this site as you may find a doctor who can help you with repairing your current state. All may not be completely lost. Do you have any pics or specifics such as # of grafts and where placed? Again it sucks that you got taken but if you post some pics there are folks here who can provide you with a good assessment of what you may and may not be able to do to improve your situation. All may not be lost as there are a good number of docs here who can turn your situation around so give it a shot.

Hi folks, I'd like to see a section for statistics such as: - Coalition Dr's percentages of procedure sizes (200 procedures, 100 6000+ grafts, 50 4000 grafts, 50 2500 grafts, etc) - Percentage of growth (ie 200 procedures- 30 with 100% growth, 120 with 95% growth 40 with 80-95% growth 10 with less than 80%) And whatever other stats help keep procedures/results in perspective. I think this will help potential/current patient's expectations in check with regards to the results that can be expected.

PGP, Very good point indeed. My take is that we just have to stay focused on the facts and see how it plays out, as stated by others, without pre-judging the doctor or patient.

Hi All, I just want to briefly chime in with my 2cents. First I am not taking sides at all; if you look at the facts (and only the facts) there are valid concerns on the patient side as well as the doctor's. What I am sharing is my experience with Dr. E and his staff during my procedure: Dr. E and I discussed extensively my expectations and what I could and could not reasonably expect and showed me photos of patients with similar hair loss/pattern as I to give me a good idea what I should expect. I've also spoke with 3 patients and met with 1 in person who again had similar loss as I. This process was enough to keep my expectations in perspective. On the day of the procedure Dr. E and I again discussed hairline placement. During the procedure he was in and out, removed the strip, made incisions and placed some of the grafts. I distinctly remember him placing the graphs only because I heard him tell his techs 'don't give me any more 1's' and I am assuming he meant no more '1' hairs. Throughout the procedure his staff did converse and I did take part in the conversations which were friendly and fun. It did indeed help me feel at ease and comfortable with the techs. He and I spoke several times throughout the year post op. During my 1 year follow up visit we discussed a second procedure. To make a short story short, what he states above, in my experience is accurate. He was very attentive and addressed my concerns throughout the year to my satisfaction. Now again, none of this matters to a dissatisfied client as my experience is not a reflection of their current experience but I just did want to mention that I believe Dr. E will stand behind his work as best as anyone can and would. What I would like to see and I think would be a great topic (although I don't know how many coalition members are willing) is the ongoing tracking of the % of growth rates patients are experiencing meaning: we all know that not every patient of every coalition doc-EVERY, has a 90% or better graph growth rate. Or do they- let's see the #'s. I'm sure all the docs conduct 1 yr follow ups. Let's see every doc post the growth %s of all the folllow ups. If everyone is honest I'm sure we will see success rates not quite the 100% that some folks think docs get.

Hi D3, Both docs are top notch, I had my procedure with Dr. E and I do remember, when I was in consultation with him, that a good number of patients go to him for repair work. as djd mentioned, his site displays some examples. You can ask him for specific samples if you have not already done so.

Bill, Excellent article, very informative and sure does help keep things in perspective. That image from H&W sure is an eye opener as he difference is night and day. I have to wonder just how many pics out there are taken with flash. This post will be a great research piece for many.

Definitely no regrets for me at all and I'm one of those guys with advanced hair loss. I was well aware of my limitations but am very happy with my results. I agree completely, setting proper expectations with your doc is key.

Ok folks, I'd like to chime in here as the patient in order to share some background info that will hopefully clear several things up so give me room for what I have to say: First, as I mentioned in my previous post I welcome all feedback and please believe me when I say I am in no way discrediting anyone's opinion posted here. There have been very good points made. I DO NOT believe Bill is here but to provide honest feedback and opinion period, and respectfully disagree with anyone who thinks otherwise. I am not here to defend anyone at all but I think that's a bum wrap undeserved so I wanted to mention that. With that said, I can't help but wonder if we are looking at all the pics on the album? I am in no way trying to be funny but I feel like the biggest improvements were in the 11-12 months and thought those pics reflected a bigger change but it looks like folks are making final judgements on the 10 month pics. Just want to make sure since I've posted additional pics in my last post that show current state, and am thinking not everyone saw those. If we are all indeed looking at the same pics then ok. Anyway let me back up and start from the beginning for the sake of disclosure and clarity. When I first consulted with Dr. E, we spoke about my hair loss history, family history of hair loss, hair characteristics prior to loss, etc. I also consulted in person prior to the procedure. Now his feedback to me was that due to my relatively young age (will be 40 in January) and degree of hair loss (and it was significant- I believe class 5/6) hair characteristics, skin color and scalp laxity, which all play a role, I would most probably not be able to obtain a full head of hair. We also discussed expectations of the first procedure and future procedures. What Dr. E stated above in his post is 100% accurate. The reason why I chose Dr. E (And I consulted with other members) is because of what I thought was an honest and accurate assessment along with achievable goals. In addition to our discussion I specifically asked to see/speak with past clients with similar hair loss and characteristics as I so that I may assess what my results would look like. I met with a past client in person and spoke to others. Their results were very good and I believe in line with what I could achieve. I disagree that Dr. E would not post such results on his site as I believe if you take a look, there are samples of several degrees of success on there already. This is also another reason why I chose Dr. E because he shares a spectrum of results and not just every stellar outcome only. I believe he sets a realistic expectation. Now let me say that if I was unhappy with my results I would not hesitate to pick up the phone, call Dr. E and voice my concerns and post my pics stating so (but I don't think anyone is really saying I am unhappy so I just mention this in passing.) Anyway, if everyone has indeed viewed my most recent pics and feels that the results are less than favorable I have to humbly respect that opinion and without a doubt that is why we are all here. Ok, so folks I received 2400 graphs approx my first time around. I've read in this forum many times that this amount on someone with my degree of loss will not produce Ricky Martin. Fortunately, we made sure that that was not my expectation and I believe that again most folks in my situation get multiple procedures (2-3) in order to get close to that Ricky or Don Johnson look.This is my first pass after all. So based on what I've seen over the past year and a half on this site I believe the level of density on the first pass is not going to produce what we would all like except for a lucky few, so I don't think it is realistic to expect that now and I don't. Gotta stick with your plans long term.

Hi everyone, Let me just say that I appreciate all your feedback. I did indeed post for feedback good or otherwise. That's why we are all here; It's like peer review. The minimal difference between the early-mid months also perplexed me a little and I honestly can't rule out my poor pic taking skills as a factor. Some pics seem to be better than others and I did play with the settings on the camera throughout (Zoom, Landscape, quality and even lighting) which is why some pics are blurry, etc. This is not to make any excuses at all so again all feedback is greatly appreciated and I am going to send Dr. E an email asking for the immediate post op as I don't currently have one. Nonetheless, when I look at my most recent pics, there is clearly, (at least to me so again feedback welcome) a difference between now and 3 months as pointed out by Bill with pics. I am enclosing an additional pic here which I hope provides a better view. The bottom 2 are pre-op top view and around 3.5 months respectively and the top two are 1 year. PS- While pre-op my barber used to ask me if I wanted him to trim the little hairs straggling in the front and just recently when he was not in and had a cut by someone else they took out the blowdryer and started blow-drying my front. Got a kick out of that- must really be something a little more significant up front now.

Sounds good, just posted my pics in the photo album section...

Thanks Bill, I will see if I can get some immediate post pics from Dr. Epstein and post. Yes I have been contemplating a second pass but want to first enjoy what I just got for a little bit ;-)

Here's my pics to 1 yr.