EmuSteve

Not everyone. But like I said before, the truth will set you free. No need to be afraid of it.

Isn't b-spot a lawyer or something? Maybe he can give us some insight into the legality. Although I can't imagine how anyone could sue you for telling the truth. Even if someone could sue me for telling the truth, I think I'd do it anyway. The truth will set you free, ya? =) Good luck SS. I feel for you bro.

I am 2 weeks post op... heres a few tips: First, GET pain meds and GET sleep aids. Get enough pain meds to last you... I had to get a refill on mine. With pain meds its a breeze, without them its torture what with the itching and throbbing. Get topical benadryl and use it when you need to. DON'T use Mederma for a long time. It dries on the little hair you do have around the donor site and itches like CRAZY. Trust me on this one, you'll drive yourself nuts. Ice is your friend. Ration your pain meds for nighttime if you have to and ice your head (donor and forehead, not recipient) religiously. Understand that the best pain treatment is preventative. Once you start feelin it, its too late. Sleep on the back of your head if you can. I am a tosser/tuner and sleep on my side, and I am a little worried that I am seeing some stretching on the parietal area because of it. =/ Hope these help! Good luck.

Good way to estimate cost: Take your Norwood level, multiply by 1000. Thats the ballpark amount of grafts you need. Charge $5 for the first 2000 grafts, $2.50 per graft thereafter. There's your estimate. =)

Hey buddy. I'm right behind you at 2 weeks post op... 3 more months and I'll be where you are now. It looks to me like its growing in nicely. If you want to shoot me an email, I'll sent you a graph I found a while ago that outlines what you can expect at each week along the way. Question for you... your scar at 11 days post op looks a lot like mine now... but your 3 month scar pics look a little different. Do you think your scar got a little wider? Or do you think its pretty much like it was before?

Dr. Shapiro told me that he heard that phase 2 trials had been disappointing so far. *shrugs*

Hey, thanks. =) And there are really that many S2000's up there huh? I think there are maybe 20 in Tampa... its VERY rare that I see one. Who knows, maybe you Canadians are better connoisseurs of cars than us Floridians. Anyway, don't wanna take away from the thread. Fun movie. Maybe you can get B Spot to jump in as his stunt double in "Bobman 2: On The Beach" starring Mel. =)

Hey, thanks man. =) I know that the next few months are gonna suck, but I am definitely optimistic. I know this will ring true with a lot of people on here, but after years of worrying, hiding, concealing, feeling insecure, and feeling more insecure... it's kind of surreal to think that, hey, I might be able to go to a new girlfriends parents for dinner and not feel insecure. Or ride in my new car with the top down and no hat on, and not feel insecure. =) Thanks for all the complements on my car. TA, of course its a stick... do they even sell S2000's with an auto transmission? If so, they should be sent to jail or something. Anyone else use Mederma post op?

Good deal man. =) Temperate is good. Speaking of temperate, I ended up getting that convertible Honda S2000 (temperate feels GOOD in that car) instead of the Mazda RX8. I know you are a bit of a car buff... maybe next time I see you in live chat you can suggest some upgrades! =) Take care man. And nice video!

Hey all. I just got back from my second trip to Minneapolis and wanted to post an update as well as some new pictures. =) First, while I don't want to go into details (I promised I wouldn't), I do want to publicly thank SMG and specifically Janna for going way way way (way WAY) way out of their way to make me feel welcome again. Dr. Shapiro said that my scar so far was less than 1 mm. He said it looked as good as was possible at this point in the game, and just told me not to do anything stupid (enter a toe-staring competition, bench press a Buick, etc). I was pretty excited. =) Anyway, not only do I have those awful staples out of my head, but I also had a great time up there. Everyone was great. If you get a chance, feel free to check out my new pics and drop a comment or 2. I look forward to hearing what you guys think.

Whoa, how many weeks is "a few weeks back"? Few = 3 = November? You live in Canada and Mel is wearing a tank top! =)

Too many.

Thats something that always perplexed me about H&W. When I had my procedure done with Shapiro, they provided a graft count, a breakdown of 1's, 2's, 3's, and 4's, and a hair count after all was said and done. This is not hard to do. Why don't Hasson and Wong provide this info? I know this isn't the first time this question has been asked on the boards, so I'm not really expecting an answer, although it would be nice.

Yes it did. =) Sorry for the teasing. Love ya man!

I have never seen the word "typically" used so many times in one post Bill. =) Nice!

Ron Shapiro > Paul Shapiro in my humble opinion. He also costs more I think. But that doesn't mean Paul isn't good. One of the things that bugged me when I was doing my research was that no one would give me their opinion... it seemed like everyone was saying "A HT is a personal choice. All coalition docs are great." Now that I have had my procedure done, I think I made the right choice. But again, it was the right choice for ME. There have been lots of happy H&W patients, Epstein patients, Rose patients, etc. Why did I choose Ron Shapiro? Well, first, I liked the guy when I met him. He sent me his resume. He won the "Golden Follicle award", and the is the one giving all the lectures and teaching other docs it seems. His consultant set me up to meet past patients, and they contacted me to ask if I had any questions. Dr. Shapiro has been known to give people their deposit back if they change their mind because he wants them to be happy moving forward before you do ANYTHING... he even told me 2 days pre op that if I wanted to postpone it, he would have no problem accommodating me because he wanted me to be comfortable. He is recommended in books like "The Bald Truth" by Spencer Kobren who talks about him on a radio show with the same name. His surgical staff is beyond excellent... Janna and her team are without a doubt the best anyone could hope for. He is raved about on the online boards. All this stuff kindof came together to help me make my decision. I felt good about it because I had lots of sources of information telling me the same thing. I have said this before and I'll share it again... don't count on anyone being an advocate for YOU. Its your head, its your hair. Do your own research, and don't settle till you are 100% convinced. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see with your own eyes several examples of what will be done to you. A great doc wont have a problem with it. Good luck man. Feel free to PM me if you need to. The only thing I can't and won't speak to yet are the results, because obviously, I can't yet from personal experience.

lol Chucky. Your little exchange up there sounds a lot like this: =)

I narrowed it down to my "top 3", and Rose and Shapiro were among them, along with Dr. Hasson. I chose Dr. Shapiro... the reason being that while I know that Dr. Rose is a VERY talented surgeon and he was very kind and helpful in answering my questions, I just had way more confidence in Dr. Shapiro's techs and surgical staff. From my research, I decided that the skill and ability of the techs is very, very important. They are the ones cutting your grafts, they are the ones placing your grafts... not a small part by any means. No question Dr. Rose is among the best, and I'm not even saying that his techs aren't good... I'm just saying that I chose Dr. Shapiro because I was convinced that Dr. Shapiro's techs were better. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

I recently had a HT with Dr Ron Shapiro. While its way to early to give a judgment on results, I will say that he and his staff are amazing, caring people. I'm a big fan because of all they have done for me (as I know many others are as well). Before you make any decision, I'd visit some of the clinics you mentioned. I did a consult with 3 HT doctors in person before choosing one. If you decide to visit Dr. Shapiro, his "patient educator" Matt Zupan is a great resource. He set me up to meet a former patient right there in the office that I had the opportunity to talk to, ask questions, check out his hairline, etc. I could listen to Matt talk all day (and believe me, he can! lol) and not be convinced because of how skeptical I am, but your own eyes don't lie, and actual former patients you meet face to face will give you peace of mind. Matt was kind enough to do that for me. Bottom line I guess... don't let travel restrict you. Invest $400 to fly somewhere for a day, rent a car, and go see for yourself. It's not that expensive if you consider the cost of NOT doing your research. =/ Good luck man!

Wow JrBass. Sorry to hear about that. I had a terrible time last night with the pain, but like I said earlier, Janna called in some Tramadol for me. I just took 2 of those babies, and I am in bliss right now. I'm not big on taking drugs (seriously... I'd rather deal with a headache than take advil), but I am a big fan of these pills they gave me. I'm gonna ration them as best I can like you suggested Arrie... sleep is very important. =) What was the pain like after you guys got the staples out? Did it go away?

Amen to that Bill. Janna called me this morning to get the number of my pharmacy so she could call me in some more Tramadol. That is good stuff. Not only does it take away the pain, but it knocks you out... which is SUCH a blessing. lol Anyway, Ill give the cold pack a shot. Like I said, the Aloe Gel seemed to make things worse (cause it dries and then makes it itchier). Thanks for the advice.

I am 7 days post op... its kindof hard to sleep, because my donor area has been driving me nuts. It itches like crazy, and it's a little painful to lay on (obviously... I have staples in my head). Janna suggested using Mederma and Benadryl... anyone else have this type of sensation after a HT? Anyone have anything that works? The only thing that seems to bring relief is a hot shower, and then thats only for a few minutes. I would love any advice... aloe gel just seems to make it worse. Thanks!

I am 7 days post op... its kindof hard to sleep, because my donor area has been driving me nuts. It itches like crazy, and it's a little painful to lay on (obviously... I have staples in my head). Janna suggested using Mederma and Benadryl... anyone else have this type of sensation after a HT? Anyone have anything that works? The only thing that seems to bring relief is a hot shower, and then thats only for a few minutes. I would love any advice... aloe gel just seems to make it worse. Thanks!

Well, its coming up on day 5. So far, I haven't had any swelling at all? Dr. Shapiro told me flat out that he didn't think there was much of a chance that I'd avoid swelling, since we put all of the 2700 grafts in the front 1/3rd. I was fully expecting to blow up like a pufferfish... but I look totally normal. The donor area hasn't scabbed up really, since I've been keeping it clean, and the recipient area doesn't have any scabs either (maybe due to my unrelenting use of graftcyte?). On top of that, I've had no pain in the donor area... I sleep on the back of my head and I've had no uncomfortableness... I put a towel over my pillow because I heard it was normal for a little bleeding to occur, but the towel is clean. I know its not often that someone posts to say "uh, is everything supposed to be going this great?", but I am a little concerned about not being concerned. Anyone else have this happen? This is a good sign, right? I think I'm gonna go back to work tomorrow. I've been kinda bored lately.

Hey M&M.... I'm curious what you think of the closure? Did yours look similar?