dhuge67

Thanks hairbank! This will be resolved within 2008, I am confident of that. I'm curious to hear what the doc will say his plan is for the hairline. That's the major issue right now.

Of course, I'm not an MMA professional or even in the military yet, but odds are that my future profession will be either military or in athletic training (a college football strength program).

I have been likened to the following people in my life (with and without hair): 1. Georges St. Pierre 2. Padraig Harrington 3. Pete Sampras 4. Bas Rutten 5. Scott Ian 6. Robert Davi hahahah

Congrats man. Good luck with the healing/growth process.

Some more good news is that if you look at my pics in the first post, you can see that only one side of my hairline was lowered substantially.

Appreciate the reply and yes, I do think that there have been people with a lot worse of a situation than mine. I'm going to fight this thing until it's right. Until then, I have to go around looking like a fighter.

Well, one thing's for sure...it looks better when it's really shaved than when i let that crazy transplant grow. I only wish I could walk around with an American flag backdrop at all times. hahah

Thanks for the support guys...it means more than you know. I am wondering about the hairline issue, too, and there is one piece of information I've left out: my head is not big. It's not small either, but it isn't huge. I don't know how well head-size comes across in the pic. I'm hoping that my overall surface area isn't that large and may aid in this being more easily fixed. I hope it can be fixed. I definitely don't know enough to know if removing/retransplanting the hair in the front is a good idea. I'm sure the doctor would know and be able to zero in on a good strategy. From my perspective, I'd like to be able to have the existing hair there and have the doctor work around it, but that's just best-case scenario and wishful thinking. Whatever the decision, I'll go with the doctor(s), of course. As far as WHEN? I should have the HT consult early next year, hopefully in February, and then a procedure in the beginning of June or earlier. It depends on how things play out. I might be able to do things sooner than that, but the above is my most realistic financial timetable. I started using Nizoral tonight, by the way. I bought a 6-month supply of Rogaine...but how bad would it be if I were on it for 6-8 months and then had to go cold-turkey because of OCS? Is it even worth using if I do that?

Damn B, looks like you got your second procedure done! Hope all is well. Appreciate the kind words... Does my shaved head look really bad?

what can i do about the hair line issue? I know my father and brothers are all thinning. My older brother patrick is totally bald through the top, but one constant in our family is we all have the "sides" intact. Hopefully this remains true with me.

Also, I don't currently take Propecia because it gave me sexual side effects (lack of sex drive, trouble urinating - YEAH, wow). So I got off that. I was considering getting back on Rogaine, which I did use concurrently with Propecia for over a year but neither of them ever seemed to do much. I might have not lost a lot more hair, but it didn't regrow any. I would rather get it fixed through surgery than rely on iffy medications that don't seem to provide any real benefit for me, one of which causes sexual/prostate (haha i'm 22 talking about PROSTATE issues)/hormonal issues.

About the Marine Corps: I went to OCS this past Summer and broke my right foot halfway through training. I'll be back at it in the Fall of 2008, once school is finished. Thanks for remembering me.

any thoughts on my current hair-pics?

Hello all, I'm sure you've heard my terrible HT story before so I won't bore you with it. Okay, I'll bore you a little bit: 1,600 or so FUs (I'd like to say "FU" to my doc ) in the hairline and temple area. Horrible placement, unnatural hairline, thin coverage. I'm pissed. The recipient site was not shaved for the HT, and hence, some of the hair grows out from the scalp at strange angles. If I keep it cut short, this is not an issue, but even shaved and upon close inspection it looks pretty pluggy. Yikes! Well, that's why my hat collection and I are still good friends. It's also why I've become fond of beard trimmers as a hair-styling device. Bills comments about feeling like the Phantom of the Opera really hit home with me...really. Anyway, I decided that since I'm a student and have not yet had to take out a loan, I decided to take the plunge. After all, the student loan payback period is great and interest rate is so low that you can't really beat it. Especially considering the University I attend has an average student debt of 28,000 dollars upon graduation, and I previously had ZERO, I felt sort of justified in my decision to take out a 9,000 dollar loan. I'm fine with telling you all this. Hell, I'm 22 and in college. I'm not trying to sugar coat here. I want this situation fixed (at least from the front half of my head. Luckily, my crown still has good coverage but is thinner, for sure. Nothing a little toppik can't cure and then another HT down the road will probably take care of that. I want the doctor I choose to approach me as if I am the baldest human imaginable (think James Carville except I'm not a goblin). I want him to look at my situation as if everything except for the already-transplanted hair is gone, and then work around that. It's my best bet for "success" in this repair/reconstruction case that I present. I'm thinking that based on the procedure I had and the area it covered at the density it covered, I would need about 2,500 units in the same area previously worked on, with some support through the middle. That should leave me looking comparatively "pretty" to where I am now. My donor area is pretty good and my hair is thick and wavy (when I let it grow). I'm almost dead-set on setting something up with Doctor Feller, as I have seen comparable work but hardly any better. He also happens to be relatively close to me, as I am in Pennsylvania. I made all of the classic mistakes the first go-round: I chose my doc based on proximity, didn't consult with the doctor first, and didn't fully understand HIS procedure before I went and dumped 6,500 dollars down the drain and received a weird hairline and permanent scar. I don't want to be a phantom any more... Chris

Hello all, I'm sure you've heard my terrible HT story before so I won't bore you with it. Okay, I'll bore you a little bit: 1,600 or so FUs (I'd like to say "FU" to my doc ) in the hairline and temple area. Horrible placement, unnatural hairline, thin coverage. I'm pissed. The recipient site was not shaved for the HT, and hence, some of the hair grows out from the scalp at strange angles. If I keep it cut short, this is not an issue, but even shaved and upon close inspection it looks pretty pluggy. Yikes! Well, that's why my hat collection and I are still good friends. It's also why I've become fond of beard trimmers as a hair-styling device. Bills comments about feeling like the Phantom of the Opera really hit home with me...really. Anyway, I decided that since I'm a student and have not yet had to take out a loan, I decided to take the plunge. After all, the student loan payback period is great and interest rate is so low that you can't really beat it. Especially considering the University I attend has an average student debt of 28,000 dollars upon graduation, and I previously had ZERO, I felt sort of justified in my decision to take out a 9,000 dollar loan. I'm fine with telling you all this. Hell, I'm 22 and in college. I'm not trying to sugar coat here. I want this situation fixed (at least from the front half of my head. Luckily, my crown still has good coverage but is thinner, for sure. Nothing a little toppik can't cure and then another HT down the road will probably take care of that. I want the doctor I choose to approach me as if I am the baldest human imaginable (think James Carville except I'm not a goblin). I want him to look at my situation as if everything except for the already-transplanted hair is gone, and then work around that. It's my best bet for "success" in this repair/reconstruction case that I present. I'm thinking that based on the procedure I had and the area it covered at the density it covered, I would need about 2,500 units in the same area previously worked on, with some support through the middle. That should leave me looking comparatively "pretty" to where I am now. My donor area is pretty good and my hair is thick and wavy (when I let it grow). I'm almost dead-set on setting something up with Doctor Feller, as I have seen comparable work but hardly any better. He also happens to be relatively close to me, as I am in Pennsylvania. I made all of the classic mistakes the first go-round: I chose my doc based on proximity, didn't consult with the doctor first, and didn't fully understand HIS procedure before I went and dumped 6,500 dollars down the drain and received a weird hairline and permanent scar. I don't want to be a phantom any more... Chris

Dr. Feller, I appreciate the post. You are one of the few surgeons I would trust to operate on me a second time. Your work is almost always head-turning (or not head-turning - depending on how you look at it). I hope to sit down with you sometime in the near future for an assessment. Thanks, Chris PS - One question, Dr. Feller, do you recommend that a patient come in with a certain length of growth? Mine is not shaved, but pretty darn close to it and looks sort of like the guy's hair on the right, in the picture you posted.

Considering that THIS is a REPAIR, it's pretty good to begin with. I look like a freak with my current situation. It's absolutely crushing me inside and I don't have the money to go and fix the situation right now. It feels just plain awful and is so frustrating that I can't even begin to put it into words. I'm envious of this guy's hair and it is apparently a repair situation. Amazing. I just wish I knew that I needed about 3x the size of a procedure that I originally got. It's been almost 2 years for me now, though, and I can get something done as soon as I have the funds. I just don't see that happening for a long while. I've still got a semester of school left and then will be job hunting or going back to OCS. I'm not asking for sympathy here, I guess, I'm just spouting frustrations. The fact that this guy's situation is repairable just irks me because mine is so much worse. It sucks to be 22 and hating it, even when I'm in the best shape of my life. I recently hit 190 lbs at 5'8 at 8% body fat and pulled a 550 lb deadlift at a recent meet. Of course, with a hat on. This place is the bald man's guardian angel. I wish I had realized that before the trigger was pulled on the procedure. I think there's hope for me, I THINK. It's sad that sometimes I actually dream about being a candidate on extreme makeover.

I appreciate the responses guys. I'll be looking into things a bit more seriously as soon as I have the necessary funds. Also, about the military; at USMC Officer Candidate School, I broke my right foot in week 6 of 10. Long story short, I'm home now and won't be going back into the military, at least for the time being. I'm getting my degree from Penn State next semester and want to pursue a C.S.C.S. (certified strength and conditioning specialist) and then want to catch on as a strength coach for a University football team. Hope all is well with you guys and I'm very grateful to have this place as a resource. You're good people and the consistent efforts of some of the members here are very appreciated. Hair loss sucks and botched hair transplants are even worse. It's a buyer beware market and you guys help to make it more of a "sure thing" if there is such a thing in cosmetic surgery.

Hello everyone, it's been a while but I'm back and balder than ever! hahaha Anyway, my "hair situation" isn't so good right now. The growth from HT #1 was/is there but it is sparse in the areas where it was transplanted and is not so natural-looking. Basically, I need a lot more density where the procedure was done and all over the top of my head. Luckily, I haven't receded too much and I haven't even been taking propecia or using a special shampoo...I just got tired of dealing with that. So, I'm saving some money to get another procedure done as soon as possible. However, I'm not sure of which doctor I'm going to go see and how much money I'll actually have to put out. I was hoping that 8,000 dollars would do the job quite nicely and "cover the bases" so to speak, and leave me without need for surgery for a good long time. I'd like to be free of thinking about this issue for a while... I haven't really been thinking about it per say, but I have been "held back" by the issue, socially. It's hard to approach women (especially since I'm still a senior in college), and it's just a confidence-killer, even if it shouldn't be. If anyone would recommend some of the current really good HT doctors, that'd help tremendously. I want to go somewhere relatively close (I know, that's not always good), but I live in PA; so anywhere in the northeast would work. I had been thinking about Doctor Feller, previously. Any comments would be appreciated. Take it easy everyone and hope all my old HT buddies are doing well. Chris -P.S. I pretty much hate Doctor Pistone

Hello everyone, it's been a while but I'm back and balder than ever! hahaha Anyway, my "hair situation" isn't so good right now. The growth from HT #1 was/is there but it is sparse in the areas where it was transplanted and is not so natural-looking. Basically, I need a lot more density where the procedure was done and all over the top of my head. Luckily, I haven't receded too much and I haven't even been taking propecia or using a special shampoo...I just got tired of dealing with that. So, I'm saving some money to get another procedure done as soon as possible. However, I'm not sure of which doctor I'm going to go see and how much money I'll actually have to put out. I was hoping that 8,000 dollars would do the job quite nicely and "cover the bases" so to speak, and leave me without need for surgery for a good long time. I'd like to be free of thinking about this issue for a while... I haven't really been thinking about it per say, but I have been "held back" by the issue, socially. It's hard to approach women (especially since I'm still a senior in college), and it's just a confidence-killer, even if it shouldn't be. If anyone would recommend some of the current really good HT doctors, that'd help tremendously. I want to go somewhere relatively close (I know, that's not always good), but I live in PA; so anywhere in the northeast would work. I had been thinking about Doctor Feller, previously. Any comments would be appreciated. Take it easy everyone and hope all my old HT buddies are doing well. Chris -P.S. I pretty much hate Doctor Pistone

Bad side effects. I was told that they were rare. Well, I guess I'm in the minority (a 1% chance? BS!).... I'd stay away from the stuff if you want your crank to crank.

Hey Jason76, I don't want to use more drugs for hair loss. It's not worth the time or money. I'd rather have another transplant than pay for a "maybe" treatment.

I think this is where I am. I stopped Propecia about 6 months ago (after 15 months on) because it didn't seem to do anything...except for erectile dysfunction at the ripe old age of 21. I'm better in that "department" now, thanks for asking... lol That's me, except I have diffuse thinning. The only remedy I will seek out from now on will be surgery. Pills, concealers, etc, they all take too much time and money to maintain and they could cost you, physically as well.

Well, at least the USMC is one place where hair loss can be concealed by...a shaved head. lol I thought it was a funny thing, the other day, when my "silkies" arrived. Silkies are the PT shorts that we wear for runs/exercise, etc. They're shorts that Larry Bird would have been embarrassed to wear...and we're supposed to be WARRIORS!? haha Well, I guess if terrorists aren't deterred by our M-16s, they are probably going to be rattled by the sight of American men's balls...

A fine post by a fine person, B-spot.