Mercer

Janna, thank you so much for taking the time to post my results. I really appreciate the fantastic presentation and everyone's feedback has been great to read. As Janna said I'm indeed on Propecia but I only started using it after my 2nd procedure. I do intend to stay on it and haven't had any sides. I'm looking forward to my 3rd procedure with Dr Ron Shapiro on 22 Aug and I'm super excited!

I noticed a few pimples after my 2nd operation. There were a couple under the skin that were just a bit red and I could feel them but I left those alone and they eventually went away. There was only one time that I got a really huge big red cyst like pimple and very painful. I chose to pop that one after a few days. I did the warm towel to it and then popped it using a sterile needle that I boiled for 5 minutes. A light tap with the needle is all it took. First puss started coming out followed by a steady stream of blood. I just hope I didn't do any serious damage.

Abby, great results! Your new hair looks very good and a very big cosmetic improvement on the way you look. Congrats.

I am looking for a recommendation for a hair transplant surgeon in the St Louis area. The only Doctor I can find online is Dr. Lawrence E Samuels but do not see anybody discussing his work. I will appreciate if any of you can share your experience with him.

I had my first HT with Dr Shapiro when I was living in O'Fallon, IL just outside of St Louis. I went to Dr Samuels office to get my sutures removed. I think he may have been recommended on this site at one time. However, I did find this post from Bill from a couples years ago recommending him; Question on hairline (newbie)

Looks great and very natural! Dry and wet.

Now a few days after my 2nd HT, I've made the decision per the recommendation by the folks at SMG to start taking Propecia.

Honestly, I'm actually not too worried about the potential decrease in libido. I'm more worried about the loss of testosterone and loosing lean muscle mass or suffering from gynecomastia. I consider myself a pretty fit guy and I don't want to risk any of that.

Has anyone whose been taking Propecia for a number of years experienced any of these sides?

Doc, that is a great looking hair line! Very natural. Can you say how old the patient is and if he's taking Propecia to help hedge against further potential progressive hair loss?

Thanks Janna! You guys are truly fantastic in your work and patient care.

Bullit, thanks man. I've been following your progress as well and you are looking fabulous my friend!!

Danielkiwi, Thank you. I just added a photo album documenting my 1st HT with Dr Ron back in Jan 09. I'm still getting use to the new site and was not familiar with the new features for creating albums. Overall, I'm happy with how the first HT turned out. I did get a lot of compliments and I was amazed at how I could comb and style my hair.

For my 2nd HT I wanted to fill in my crown a bit and drop my hair line a tad as I felt my forehead was a bit too prominent looking in pictures. We also touched up the temples a tad. Not as much as Dr Ron wanted to as I unfortunately ran out of grafts.

I just got a prescription for Propecia and am getting ready to start using it. Probably better late than never as I waited for my 2nd HT to make up my mind on it.

I like Bill's very eloquent statement. I'm a single person not currently in a relationship. I will say that having more hair and liking what I see in the mirror just makes me feel all the more "cool guy" about myself. But I think my other attributes like staying in good shape, being lean, and walking with good posture make the most difference.

Hi All, just wanted to post that yesterday I had a second procedure with the very awesome Dr. Ron Shapiro. I did cut down all of my hair for the procedure per Dr Ron's recommendation but left hair on the sides to help hide the sutures.

Here is a pic I took of myself in the hotel. We were able to get 2631 grafts for my second HT. I have great scalp laxity but was hoping for more The goal was to beef up and lower the hairline just a tad and to address a decent portion going back towards the crown. We were going to also do the temples a bit but unfortunately ran out of grafts.

Interestingly, I had an a very high number of 1's and a lower number of 2's. I think this might have to do with my Asian background (Mom's side). I'm curious to see how this turn out many many many months from now.

The procedure was great. I did a quick consult with Dr Ron in the morning, had pre-op pics and was in the chair at about 8:20 AM. Lunch was at 1PM and the procedure finished up at about 6:00 PM.

I had the best hair washing at the clinic today, then had post op pics taken and then slept quite a bit at the hotel through out the day. I did way more sleeping after this HT then I did for my first back in Jan 09. I think I took about 6 hours worth of naps today :eek: but would wake up periodically to spray myself with graftcyte:D

Originally posted by Ja-Man:

Hey Mercer, congrats one your HT, it looks like you've had good growth. With your "front on" or hairlie shots, your hair seems pretty long and is combed back/straight up, not sure if you have quite enough density for that style. IMO- I would try a shorter hairstyle.

Ja-Man, thanks man. I use to part my hair to the side but the new hair just seems to "want" to be styled this way. The only negative comment I've gotten was one person told me my hair style belonged on a much older man with grey/silver hair. The photos make it seem more spiked up than it really is. My barber encouraged me to keep it a bit longer in the front. He said if he cut it shorter it wouldn't lay down right.

Bill, thanks! I am definitely looking at doing the crown and maybe some more density in the front. I suppose I'm having trouble deciding when is a best time to do that with the potential for future loss and limited donor hair.

15 month result. Here they are. What do you think? I did not get any grafs in the crown.

Sorry to hear that. It is only temporary. After my HT they sent me home with refreezable ice packs and told me to start icing my forehead and bridge of my nose as a precaution against swelling. Fortunately I had zero swelling. I wonder why some people get it and others don't.

I noticed a huge difference in visible growth when I looked in the mirror one morning at about 5 and 1/2 months.

One strip. One scar.

Originally posted by longhair:

Any other runners, cyclists, triathletes out there have any experience with this?

 

I'm also a competitive triathlete. I had my HT done in mid Jan which I thought was perfect from a healing aspect and being able to be ready for the coming spring. I think I waited almost 3 months before I started swimming. My biggest concern was my swim goggles being tight and irritating my donor area where the scar line was. It didn't seem to be an issue after a few months. I started running and cycling slowly about 2 weeks after the surgery per my post op instructions. I think I was back up to regular training status for running and cycling by the end of the 1st month or so. I took it easy, went off how my body feeled and more importantly followed the post op instructions. Although, I think it's important to keep in mind everybody heals a littledifferently just like not everyone can recover as quickly or as well from tough workouts. Hope that helps.

I took another picture and I had my hair cut. Hopefully this one is a better picture to show my 6 1/2 month results. I honestly DO NOT have anyone who could talk pictures for me since I live alone and am fairly new to the area.

http://i30.tinypic.com/33dclkz.jpg

Thanks guys! I've definitely noticed some REAL progress lately. The folks who work in my office with me even commented on it! Not to sound cheesy but my barber was giving me compliments on my hair. He was impressed and said to keep doing whatever it was that I was doing.

If this is just the beginning then I think I will be very happy with the final result. I'd like to post another picture but I can't seem to take a decent photo holding the camera by myself. Plus my camera sucks!

Thanks man. Yea, I need to get a new digital camera sometime. My current one is about 6 years old and it doesn't seem to take clear pics at least not consistently and especially when you try and take a pic up close. I'm just glad I'm finally starting to see some growth action.

I wanted to share with everyone an updated pic. I just went over the 6 month mark and the hair is definitely starting to do some neat things which I've just noticed within the last 2 weeks! I'm excited and even more excited about the fact that my hair is actually acting a little unruly. I can actually feel hair waving around when I shake my head from side to side. Here is a quick before and after pic. I'm using Rogaine liquid as a styling aid. Anyone else do that?

P.S. I changed my display name and avatar..trying to be a little more creative.

BEFORE

http://i27.tinypic.com/5be8gw.jpg

AFTER

http://i29.tinypic.com/2441hxs.jpg

Originally posted by Leeson:

Bouquek,

I do not see Dr. Samuels recommended on this site.

Leeson,

I think you maybe right, Dr. Samuels doesn't seem to be recommended on here anymore since I couldn't find his name now either. However, I did find this post from Bill last year recommending him; http://hair-restoration-info.c...421052683#7421052683

I lived in O'Fallon, IL about 18 miles from St Louis on the other side of the river when I had my HT done back on Jan 15th of this year. I choose to drive the 570 miles north to Minneapolis to have it done by Dr Ron Shapiro whom I found highly recommended on this site. It's not really not that far to drive to get his world class skills as reviewed by many of his patients on this site. However, if location is a concern for you, then you could also look at Dr Lawrence Samuels http://www.stlouishair.com/ in Chesterfield, MO. Dr Samuels is also recommended here on this site. I had my sutures removed by his staff for free and Dr. Samuels even took the time to look me over and said the work looked very good. One of Dr Lawrence's techs a really nice lady who was removing the sutures seemed noticeably impressed by Dr Shapiro's closure of my donor area. Interestingly, you may want to consider that she also told me they've never done an HT quite as large as the one I had done. And I "only" had 3271 grafts put in. This doesn't seem that large of a number considering the work of some of the other folks on this site have had done. If I recall correctly, she said the most they've ever done was around 1700. Something you might consider depending upon how much work you want/need done.

I think I travelled about that far to get to Dr. Ron Shapiro in MN.