Bob C

The OP has stated that his sons are already on Propecia. Father of 2, your son is understandably motivated toward this Laser Comb thing by fear and desperation. You are doing the right thing by being supportive, but rational and cautious. Perhaps your sons could come abooard these forums and the three of you could gain some education and support together.

All I can say is "Oops!"

It looks REALLY clean. If this was done in May, shouldn't we see some updated photos pretty soon?

What the heck is this chart supposed to explain?

I don't have any new insight to add at this time. But I have to say that against my initial expectations (when reading the title of this thread) this is a VERY involved and thought provoking discussion.

I agree that this transplant looks great and has stood the test of time. I greatly appreciate seeing these long-term documentations. Dr Haber, let me be sure I understand your statements correctly. This patient had four procedures totallying 2440 grafts. That is an average of (only) 610 grafts per session. Is this correct? The patient is 48 now, and had his first transplant when he was 38? How much time was between each surgery? If I'm making any inaccurate assumptions, please set me straight. Thank you.

Lots of celebrities have had HT's. I'm pretty sure Letterman isn't one of them.

Bobman, It's not every day on these forums or elsewhere that we get to hear about someone's BOOK! Please tell us more.

comb, It looks really good. I find that more and more, I look at transplant result photos with an eye for the long range. After we've "done our homework", we should always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Your crown was fairly bare and not treated, I believe. But even if you have more hair loss in the rear 1/3 of your head, your net gain should be impressive. The temples look good too. Due to the degree of frontal baldness and availability of donor supply, it seems to me that Doctor Hasson did an excellent job of placing your grafts. I get less excited seeing a thick new hairline on a young Norwood 3, even if it is "appriopiately placed". What I'm saying is that as I age and continue to bald and continue to research, I'm starting to understand what having realistic expectations is all about. As I said earlier, I think it is important to eliminate what variables we can. Then hope for the best, while preparing for the worst.

Wow. Most "after" pics show a youthful improvement, but I have to agree that yours is truly a transformation. Congrats on the weight loss and new look. It is a wonderful thing to have well deserved confidence and vitality.

Dr Lindsey, Your humorous and insightful post is right on. Mirrors (like photos) can give us a variety of different versions of the truth, depending on size, shape, height, angle, lighting conditions, and so on. I often have a "good hair day" in the bathroom at home, only to be discouraged by the rear view mirror in the car. It may sound silly, but I try to do my hair after my shower, then not look at it the rest of the day.

I have to disagree with, or at least question some parts of this post. Who says Letterman has had a transplant? Or Elton John or Burt Reynolds, for that matter? And pics DO lie. Lighting, flash, concealers and Hollywood makeup techniques all contribute the the illusion and confusion in the public's mind.

I'm pretty sure I read that Elton John had one years ago. It was bad, and maybe used up lots of precious donor too. So, he's forced to wear a wig. Celebrities are just like us regular folks in some ways: Some spend their money on an HT without thinking twice, others research it and decide it's not worth the risk (or realize they are poor candidates), and still others are not that bothered by being bald.

What is weird about it? He's balding in the crown.

I should expand on my response. If the hairline in question were mine, I don't think I'd be happy with the density. It certainly doesn't look as thick as the other H&W photos Joe posted in this thread. However there is no information accompanying the photo: How does the hairline look in a full face photo? Is this the patient's final transplant? How many month post HT is the photo? Does the patient have donor left to use? How old is the patient? Is the patient happy with the result? Is any shockloss playing into the result posted?

Joe must be out of town or something. Otherewise he probably would have answered by now. I'm curious too about the hairline in question.

You're going to get busted by your girlfriend. For a moment, set aside the possibility that she might check up on your vacation story to make sure you aren't having an affair, or working for the CIA, or something. What happens if you heal slowly, have excessive shock loss or swelling? These signs could still show, even after your two week window. Are you going to continue using Dermatch forever? If not, your new hair will probably appear thinner than before. Then your girlfriend will think you're just beginning to bald, rather than recovering.

I doubt that it is a system. You can sometimes see scalp peeking through the hair near the front. If anything, he might use concealers. Sometimes his hair looks denser than other times. Maybe that is when it has grown out for an extra week or two.

I get a kick out guys who are afraid people will notice that they have more hair. We're often warned that a transplant won't return our 17 year old lion's mane. But don't we all want as much gain as we can get? Others noticed our loss of hair. So, don't we now want them to notice our gain? Truly, stangers probably won't and shouldn't notice that we've had work done. True also that many acquaintances will say "uh, there's something different about you ...". But if you're lucky enough to have someone ask "Where did you get all the hair?", You can either lie or tell the truth. Your choice.

Yeah, I've seen photos of Rogers hanging with Lee Bosley. I agree about the plastic surgery and the HT. His face looks a bit tight. His transplant looks natural, but thin at certain angles or light conditions. Maybe he had a small session to "keep up with his hairloss". I don't remember ever seeing him as "bald".

I don't see a link to charlieb's eight month pics. Is it still up?

Yeah, in sci-fi and futuristic movies, aliens are bald and astronauts have shaved heads. Remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine dates a guy who shaves his head, and Jerry asks "Is he from the future?"? So, I've pondered a bizzaro world where being completely bald is enviable. People would go around "spotting shaved heads", like we do with hairpieces now. Some guys would pull their hair out. The boldest of the bold would simply accept having a full head of hair - no matter what anyone else thinks!

Bluesman, I can't believe it has been five years already! It's good to see long-timers check back in, so we can gauge the long term effects of a hair transplant.

I think I saw Ed Haris in another movie with a piece too - can't remember which one. Sean Connery had a great crew cut piece in Red October. As has been mentioned, Hollywood stylists and cameramen can do wonders for these guys on film. They might not be able to pull it off in real life. Both of these guys do a great "bald is beautiful" look. I envy that. Still, I don't think there is ANYONE who wouldn't prefer to have hair.

GrayFox, Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry - I should have checked your weblog and past posts first. I didn't recognize your name, so figured maybe you were brand new on this forum. As for choosing SMG, what I meant was: Did you have any apprehension in having surgery with Dr Paul S versus Dr Ron S himself?