tkotko

SustyGuy- You're doing the right thing by coming here to start your research. First thing to do is not be in a hurry. You'll find several docs that have proven work, so have fun with your research. Personally I went to the Shapiro Medical Clinic in Minn, Dr Charles did the procedure, and I am happy with the results and going back to Shapiro for a follow up this year. As young as you are, you probably want to start by investigating less invasive solutions in the meantime, such as Propecia. Good luck.

Steve, What you're experiencing is normal and expected. I'm surprised your doc didn't prep you. But those that are growing now will very shortly, most likely, fall out, then you will be back to where you were prior to the procedure. Until 4 - 6 mos when you will start to see very fine hair, ultimately growing in thicker.

I spoke with Matt at Shapiro's office about this very topic this week, in prep for my 2nd session, at least with regards to the recipient area. And he indicated though the docs have gotten good at going between existing hairs when kept longer, the session could potentially be more productive if short in recipient area, at about 1/4". That makes sense, which is what I plan to do. In a couple weeks it will just be a short hair cut. I may keep the back a bit longer due to the scar, though not much cause that would look stupid.

I had my procedure performed by Dr. Charles in Apr of last year. I'm happy with the results, and I'm planning on a 2nd session for density either with him or Shapiro. I don't think you could go wrong with Charles.

I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but my personal feelings is to look long term on the strategy. The transplanted hair won't fall out, in all likelihood, but the remainder of the hair will to some extent, Propecia or not. So to devote a disproportionate amount of resources on a low hairline, as if you were 18 again (not sure how old you are), and have it thin in the areas beyond the hairline, with lack of donor area to at least fill in to at least 25/cm. would not be the strategy I would take. I may need the resources for work in other areas. This is the approach I took anyway. Not sure how old you are, but I'm 39, and if I went low as if I was 18 again, I'm sure I'd be regretting cause it just isn't natural, and HT's are no good if not natural looking.

Oops, I noticed the response was about 4 months out of date (last entry on page 1 of 2 in the thread). Oh well!

Shadows - You can wear a hat right after the surgery. It must be placed carefully, starting with putting the hat on in the front first, a little ways down your forehead, then laying the back of the hat appropriately. Dr. Charles spent a little time with me on the proper technique. Personally, for the first 10 days or so, I wouldn't do it expect while transporting yourself to and fro to, like you said, keeping it exposed to air as much as possible. But I did wear mine when going shopping, running errands, visiting, etc with no problems.

In my personal situation, I didn't see any thickening after about a year and 1 month.

I would think 10 days minimum if you're hoping to stay undetected, unless you're wearing a hat.

I'd say at the 3 mos, 3 week mark you're progressing very well, much better than I was at that point. And I'm pretty happy with my current results. So you're definitely well on your way, from I can tell from the pics anyway. Looks natural. Who was the physician?

Justin - I think you will be singing songs of praises in the near future. It's kind of fun around the 6 month mark. Congrats on choosing one of the best clinics, and I'm glad your documenting your experience. Unfortunately not everyone does their research. After some time you'll probably not spend as much time on this forum, but hopefully you'll remember to keep everyone updated periodically, especially around the fun mark of 7 or 8 months. I'm considering going back for a second to SMG, just not sure yet. It's not a need at this point, but a little greedy.

Oh forgot to wish you good luck, Justin on your upcoming procedure on the 18th. Is Shapiro doing it? Seems like last week when I had mine, I remember it vividly. It was a lot easier than I thought. The shots weren't as bad as I imagined, as you probably hear, like many bee stings. Not pleasant, but not unbearable at all. After that just sit back and talk and watch a movie for a few hours. And snack a little. No pain afterwards except minor throbbing in the donor area for a couple days. I was so nervous I just about cancelled that morning, but went through with it obviously, and at this point I'm glad I did. But anyway... good luck and let us know your progress.

Thanks guys! And it was Dr. Charles, at the Shapiro Clinic that performed the procedure. As promised, more pics to come this weekend to show the hairline more clearly. But I am happy at this point, thanks to all you guys who have documented experiences, good and bad. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a HT procedure, only as a last resort. But if handled properly and it can be enhancement for those who can't accept hair loss, such as I, but must be in the right hands and after doing countless homework. I also use propecia, and I can't claim it's helped I guess, but my hair does seem to lay better all around. And yes, NW, Rams will be back on top in 05, I'm sure! I think.

SMG requires a $1K deposit when booking the appointment, refundable up until 10 days prior to the procedure. Then the balance due is at the day of the procedure. What I did was charge it to a credit card, then transferred it to another charge card that offered 0 interest for something like 6 months on balance transfers (with a 30 dollar fee or something like that).

The first pic was the pre op, and this one is post op 9 months. As I said earlier, doesn't really showt the hairline, just the general improvement. That's all I have since I'm out of town, but will provide better comparison pics this weekend. No one has mentioned anything about my hair expect my mother, who asked if I was coloring or doing anything different, and she said it looked fuller. I just said I guess I was wearing it longer. Made me feel good though! Made the 6K dollar investment worth it! My friend, who is a girl, but not "girlfriend" is the only person I told, and she said it looks very good.

Here you guys go for starters. I'm out of town until tomorrow (Thurs), so on Friday I'll provide a better pic. This one is a bit deceiving just due to the lighting, and length. I just had a hair cut so it's about the length of the pre op pic so a better comparison can be made this weekend. This one you can't see the hairline so I'll improve on that when I get back in town. But regardless it does show the improvement over the pre op pic. I'm very happy at this point with the results from Dr. Charles, but acknowledge I MAY go back for more density. I'm not going to rush into but a little greed keeps creeping up. While I'm at it I'd like to thank all those who posted experiences, advise, and support. I haven't posted as much lately but I find myself always, almost daily just checking out what's going on. Here you go - and again better ones will follow this weekend.

Active - I had my consultation and procedure at SMG, and had my first part of it with Matt, who laid out clearly what was to be expected, what they could potentially do for me. I'm not sure if a session was scheduled with a surgeon at that time, but I did ask to speak with Dr. Shapiro, and did so for at least 30 min, maybe more. Speaking with Matt helped me formulate additional and better questions for the doc than I had with Matt, since I was more informed. I wouldn't let that steer you away from SMG, but be sure to speak with Shapiro, or any other doc first, prior to scheduling a procedure. My only concern, and not really a concern, is I'm wondering if they would have allowed me to proceed without speaking to one of the physicians first. I would think they would insist on having a physician meet a patient for just a little while at least. But that's an unknown since I asked to speak with Shapiro, whom was more than helpful. Good luck in your decision. By the way, my procedure was with Dr. Charles at SMG.

I had a slight throbbing on occassion for about 2 weeks, nothing major. You're probably ok, if you had an infection you'd know it, at least from what I've heard on this forum from those who have experienced that. In any case, you should be a couple days away from having the sutures taken out and they will be able to assess if anything adverse is happening.

jp0621 - I'm about 9 mos out with Dr. Charles and happy to this point.

Paul- I haven't posted any updated photos since then, been a little lazy. I have a new laptop and I need to reload the camera software onto it. I've been off all week guess there's no excuse. But things are going well, I'm happy with the results. I was sort of indifferent up until about the 7 mos period, which is when things seemed to look much improved. I'll try and post some good pics this week.

Looks great! I'm sure you're happy with those results. Hats off to Dr. Keene. Was that through the Shapiro clinic? I'm at 8 months and hoping I continue along your path of progress.

My experience was the similar to Vocor's. Pretty redish/pinkish for the first month, and slightly evident with a #5 cut, and very evident when wet for about 5 months regardless of how long I kept it(though when dry invisible). That was one thing I didn't anticipate, and I thought I had everything covered because I do a lot of water activities in the summer so I was conscience of that. But after around the 5 month period it is not evident when wet anymore, so it's really a non issue for me at this point. That seems to be the typical story for most, some have even better recovery situations than that, and unfortunately some with worse (usually based on their personal healing properties and skill of the surgeon). I'm not sure how far along you are, probably not to far if you just have looked at the scar, but most likely you will be fine. Good luck.

Hey Hair Tomorrow Gone Today (I changed your name a bit)- I had the same concerns about the donor area going into my procedure. In my experience, I didn't have a significant tightening sensation. It felt a bit tight in the early going, first month or so, very minor, but not now. And for me the numbness in the donor area, I would say I have 100% feeling back, and I had about 95% of that back in the first 2 months. I still have a slight numb area in the recipient site, but that has improved over the past few months. Good luck to ya.

My situation seemed similar to yours - I went in for 1500 FU in the frontal region (ended up with 1900). Had some density in that region, except for the recession area, at least 30 - 40. I THINK I suffered a little shock loss, but it was hard to tell cause I also wore my hair shorter for awhile. Regardless, now at 7 mos, I have no effects of shock loss, or at least the gains have outweighed it. Also started taking Propecia about 3 mos prior to the procedure, might have helped. The past 2 months have been outstanding. My mother actually made a comment tonight, whom I've never told about having this done, but she asked if I was doing anything with my hair because it looked fuller. I told her "just wearing it longer I guess".

Rocketmas - I think with the choices you've narrowed down to you've definitely given yourself the best odds at having good results. Personally I wanted Dr. Shapiro but had to wait longer, eventually went with Dr. Charles. I'm 7 mos out and very happy with the results to date. Will post some pics shortly, possibly this weekend if I get the time. The scarring in the back was a big concern going in, and Dr. Charles assured me it's a big concern with him and I'm happy with that results as well. Just wanted to throw that in there just in case you haven't completely eliminated Dr. Charles. Probably all the docs in SMG are top notch, same for H&W. BTW, I had 1900 FUs, frontal area, similar to what you're looking at. Good luck.