hairthere

lara, the reason people have defended dr. feller is that the majority of us have had the exact opposite experience you had both with the doc and his staff. So your story seems very out of character-- it would be nice to hear from the other side on this. you also can't expect to come onto a public forum and bash a very well-respected and highly regarded doctor's reputation without some resistance. remember, most of us on here see dr. feller as one of the "good guys." you also say that we have attacked you personally and you are dissapointed. well, you are just an anonymous poster, so i wouldn't take it too personal. dr. feller on the other hand is a well-known figure--i think he personally has a bit more to be worried about.

"So what wuld you do if you were me...." To answer your question, Lara, I would have asked the receptionist when the best time to get the doc on the phone was and called back then. Or, as Spex suggested, I would have popped by the office. At this point the way you seem to handle yourself I find it hard to believe you were just blown off and I too would like to hear the other side of the story. And regarding your comment that Dr.Feller only cares about prospective patients, I am 8 months post-op and have been in touch with the doc himself a few times since.

lara, accusing me or anyone else who has posted here of being a "salesperson" for dr.feller is completely off base and you might want to consider deleting it. I'm sorry you had poor service. my point was that you were probably in the minority of patients this happens to and was just telling my experience to illustrate the point.

lara, i did read your whole post. i was simply posting my experience so newbies to this site don't think your experience is the norm with dr. feller.

In response to Lara's post, I am a local patient of Dr. Feller and my experience was nothing but positive. I first consulted with Dr. Feller after my first HT doc (Karamikian) did a horrible job. I went to see Feller to confirm the work was shoddy. This was two days after my surgery, and Dr.Feller saw me right away. He gave me his expert opinion and also told me I should go see other docs and reccommended a few who I could get another opinion from. He then even took the time to write me a letter for use in small claims court. I didn't contact Dr.Feller until 18 months later to schedule my second HT. I had no problems doing so and have been in regular touch with the doc since to answer questions and to schedule a follow-up visit. If you folks are just relying on emails to contact a doctor I would not do so: spam filters and such can make things tricky and I'm also sure the doc gets bombarded with email requests. If you call the office and the receptionist says he's busy just ask when a better time to reach him would be (I would think early in the morning is probably best).

Totally normal. It'll start to look better around month 3-4.

Go to (edited) and you will find plenty of armani results. lots of debates too over the doc's fue-only megasessions and ethics...

If we could just regrow that hair no one would be concerned about having finite donor.

I think they're primarily testing for HIV.

wantego, it takes about 5-10 minutes to remove them. i'd say anything over $50 and you're getting ripped off. i've seen guys on the forums who have had their girlfriend remove their staples...sutures should be way easier.

welcome to the forum wantego. you'll find far less armani versus.... threads herethan at hlh which is nice!

Your conscience might be huge, but I'm sure far worse/harmful lies have been told. I wouldn't sweat it: if you're not comfortable with people knowing you had an HT then let it go. But how will you handle the inquiries when those 4k grafts give you a new mop?

bruce, congrats on your surgery. you have a very long road ahead so be patient and good growing to you!

rahal was on my short list as well. there's a guy on hlh that just had 4k grafts done by him named wantego...

dwinn, forget about how honest or nice he seems. also forget about cost. any of the TOP doctors cost roughly the same and all fall into a similar pricing scheme (expect to pay between $11-13k for 3k grafts/strip). what you want to look for are great, consistent results. and see as many patients as you can in person (web pics aren't always the best way to judge). goodluck! p.s. while it shouldn't be the only factor, glowing reviews on these forums of a doc say a lot too.

I would hold off on #2. At least give your hair 18 months to grow and mature. looks great!

FUE looks like your best bet, and I'd say 250-500 grafts would cover that spot. definitely contact dr.feller.

I'd also consult with some of the bigger name docs on here like feller, h&w, rahal, shapiro. get as many opinions as you can.

agony, so you definitely have a family history of hairloss. it doesn't matter what age your grandad started losing it, yours could progress at a younger age. and if his loss was on top, as you describe it, it sounds like he could have been a high norwood level. that being the case you should be extremely cautious proceeding with an ht. you have a lot more to learn before you just jump into this. hopefully a good ht doc will help you to understand a little more clearly what you're in for. whatever you decide, best of luck.

btw, what's your family history of hairloss? also, if top docs turn you away (i.e., feller, h&w, shapiro, rahal) i would seriously listen to them. don't go to some hack doc just because he will perform the operation. if you think you're miserable now wait and see how you feel with a bad ht--especially if you do end up losing more hair.

agony, age has a lot to do with the equation for one simple reason: finite donor hair.

yeah, not sure 1k strip procedure sounds like such a great idea. i would like to see a picture of the hairline he drew for you because based on how much loss you have it's gonna be ultra conservative/high. also, you might have a hairline but what about the area behind that (zone 2)? i hope you're not letting money effect your decision to do such a small strip procedure....

Agony, I don't think age alone should stop you from getting an HT or being a candidate. If your hairloss was in a progressive state I would say go for it. Thanatopsis is a great example of a young guy who turned out to be a good candidate. Unfortunately it is very tough for any of us to give you practical advice without really seeing what you're dealing with. So, we can all speculate, but the bottom line is only a TOP HT doc can give you the answer. IN your case I'd be very careful about who I went to see. Dr.Feller is an aggressive/Top doc who is also extremely ethical. I would definitely use him as a starting point. Also, allowing distance to choose your doc is not as good idea. If you truly want to get an HT do it the right way.

smells like another shill. can't wait to see this thread resurface in 2010....

Both docs are great. Alexander's hairlines are amazingly natural, imo.