GabrielT

Wow... a bit of a negative bunch are we? I'm not Dr. Bauman. I've read his posts and he is far more eloquent than I. I'm not a PR person either. I imagine my grammar would be better if I was. >>I also think its strange that this alleged patient >>is defending baumans bad results saying the >>patient was a repair patient. I can only speak to my personal results, nothing more. What I offered was conjecture based upon what I read in other people's posts. In my observation, repair work and strip method work appeared to be a common thread in negative experiences. The strip method is an experience I would not choose. I meant no disrespect or intrusion. >>The main thing that convinces me this is bauman >>is how he breaks down the 35k for the procedure. This is how I was able to justify the cost to myself. I work with niche professionals in my line of work, and they demand good rates. In fact, so do I. I get low balled each day when I respond to a proposal requests. Quite frankly, that sucks. I did think 35k was a bit high at first. But during my procedure I assessed the equipment, the treatments, the personnel, the ongoing research likely required, and Dr. Bauman's likely costs of doing business, it seemed a fair price. I don't disagree that it's a high price. But, I do maintain it's a fair one for the treatment I received. >>Excellent write up and description. Shouldnt your heading >>say I am happy with my procedure? Without sounding >>harsh or discouraging although you are very detailed >>and decriptive with your experience, this hair >>usually fall out before regrowth. Lorenzo, yes you are correct. To say that "I am happy with my procedure and initial results" would be a more accurate description. I do expect there will be shedding within now and the next 2 months. I imagine I will be come disappointed during this period as well. I am prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. If within 6 months there is limited regrowth, I'll likely give it 3 to 6 more before fully passing any judgement. These are the timeframes that Dr. Bauman gave me and I will continue to heed his suggestions. It is true that if in a year no post-shedding regrowth occurred, I will be disappointed. However if that does occur I expect my emotions will be targeted towards the FUE procedure itself, not Dr. Bauman. If a doctor prescribed me Propecia and it didn't work, I wouldn't blame the doctor, I'd blame the drug. I am quite happy with the procedure and I feel Dr. Bauman has advised me well on the results I can expect. I felt it was conducted in a professional and skilled manner. Although this is my first HT procedure in my amateur self-analysis of the initial results, it looks good. At this time I don't feel an alternate professional could have done a "better job". >>Leave out the sweaty sex stories next time mate. I look at it this way. Most people on this forum have probably had sex. A portion of them have probably felt less self confident of their image, as a result of their thinning hair. I can admit that a portion of people are likely not as neurotic as I. I assume that I am not the most neurotic guy out there, and therefore someone could relate to this too. I for one would have preferred to have found more stories of people's experience as it related to both their history, emotions, and results. >>Also, how is it he could take all that time to write >>such a detailed post and not put up one single pic? There are several reasons: 1) I have taken no pictures of myself post op. I use my mirror. 2) I do work in an industry that I am bit embarrassed to release photos to the public that I've had the procedure done. I've worked to hide my thinning hair for a LONG time. I've eased up a bit with a few close friends about the procedure, but I have no intent of putting this portion of my life up for display (at least not yet). 3) I am actually so neurotic about #2 that I worked with Dr. Bauman's staff to specifically remove a component of my signed intake forms so as to prevent Dr. Bauman sharing my photos without my specific permission on a case by case basis. 4) If I felt there was genuine interest in my personal procedure, that was unique to my experience, I WOULD be willing privately to share my results with a trusted 3rd party under a legal NDA to verify my results. 5) If Dr. Bauman had a bashful and nervous patient with dreadlocks that wanted to see my results, I would likely authorize him to share my photos with that one individual on a private basis within the confines of Dr. Bauman's office. You're more than welcome to speculate on the validity of my results or if I'm Dr. Bauman or not (psst.. I'm not.. his office his bigger and nicer than mine...). In the end one can never convince someone who is convinced to be a skeptic, especially not on the Internet. I offer my experience as it is. It's my personal perspective. Maybe it helps someone out there, maybe it doesn't. I am simply sharing.

Oops. one edit. I said "Without taking photos, and allowing me to look in mirrors and examine my very bald photos from 3 months ago, I noticed growth." To clarify, the doc took pictures after that. I just wanted to be clear that at that moment I was comparing bald photos to viewing my actual scalp that even I recognized had improved. Cheers!

Greetings all, 3+ weeks ago I had an FUE procedure performed with Dr. Alan Bauman and I'm very pleased with the results! I did as much research as I thought I could ahead of time, I was EXTREMELY nervous, and was wary of the expense. With all the Internet research I had done, and out of all the options I had available to me, I finally went in with as much confidence as I could that this was one of the best doctors in the country to perform this procedure. I crossed my fingers that I was right. Three weeks out, I am very pleased with my results! --- For those who prefer a more detailed version, here is my story. I am a white caucasian male. In high school I had long hair. I was the rebel type. I loved my long hair. It was my identity. It gave me this rebellious confidence of who I was. While my father had thinning hair, and I had always hoped I didn't get his genes (oops). As life went on I started to develop a small thin patch in the back of my head. I chalked it up to maybe it was ripping out at night because I slept on my back (yeah, right). As 10 years passed I went on to develop stage V male pattern hair loss. I was ashamed of how I looked. I researched, I researched, and I watched the industry. Nothing I found seemed like it was something I could believe in. I didn't want to be stuck on pills and chemicals my whole life despite the fact that I was very embarrassed about how I looked. I didn't want a big scar on my head. I tried a few things here and there, and the results were either marginal or hopeful thinking (laser therapy and various snake oils). I had visited other doctors before and each time I felt like I was being handled a "sales job". The whole office environment felt more like I was walking in for a multi-level marketing lie than a medical procedure. I fell for that a few times, and wasted some money here and there. After much self debate and Internet research I decided to give this another shot and visit Doctor Bauman. At the rate it was falling out now, if I didn't go, in a few years I'm not sure I'd have any hair left. I walked into Dr. Bauman's office EXTREMELY defensive and ready to walk out at any moment I smelled the least bit of marketing hoopla bu**sh*t. In fact, I wrote on my intake form that I didn't want a sales job. I wanted facts. I wanted information. I didn't want to see pictures I didn't trust. I wanted knowledge. I was going to put the doctor on the spot and see what he had to offer. I was listening to both what he was saying and how he was saying it. I was paranoid of Propecia because I was leery of the sexual disfunction side effects. I hated the thought of Rogaine every single day with the threat of everything falling out as soon as I stopped. I wanted a better solution. I wanted Mother Theresa to come down, bless my head, and have it sprout follicles. I was prepared to take nothing less than a miracle or I wasn't wasting my money! Dr. Bauman was calm. He was sincere. I kept waiting for him to rush me out the door. But he never did. I asked him tough questions, and he supported his information with facts and technical details. The sort of details you don't expect doctors to offer because usually they treat patients like idiots. Dr. Bauman wasn't like that. He treated me with respect and went into extreme detail on treatments, surgeries, and stated entire histories of initial trial results up to and including today's techniques. He didn't gloss over anything. If I had a question, he offered up more details. Technical details too. The things most doctor's just dont give a @#$@# to tell you. I felt as if Dr. Bauman wanted to inform me before he took his first step. He didn't push a single procedure. He just, informed. That's what I wanted. He delivered with world class results. I'm preaching a bit here -- because I was very impressed. I feel I have been let down and irritated by enough doctors to earn the right to pontificate about one guy who got it right. I'm also a bit unique. My remaining hair is also in dreadlocks. I think what impressed me most about Dr Bauman was his intrigue about performing his procedures in a way he hadn't done before. He was very respectful, and asked many questions. Before he touched my hair, he asked questions to make sure I didn't feel intruded upon. We sat and talked about what procedures could be done with minimal loss of my current ailing hair. There's something about how somebody acts when they truly LOVE their work and are advancing their craft. Dr. Bauman had that spark. He was up for the challenge, was notably cautious, and yet conveyed a confidence in finding a working solution. FUE seemed to be the way to go. Plus I could keep most of dreadz this way. We worked out a procedure together how portions of each dreadlock could be shaved to harvest donor points, without losing the dreadlock permanently. Plus, I didn't want the large donor scar. That was just not my style. In fact I asked him "I'm plan on shaving my head later in life. Just to do it, knowing I could regrow my hair. I want to know what the scars will look like when I do". Without skipping a beat he offered clear information that matched with the research I had done, and added more detail than I had known. Now I wanted surgery right away. I wanted my hair back. The doc suggested against immediate surgery. He suggested first that I try Rogaine, Propecia, and perhaps the laser therapy if I chose. I didn't want those though. I didn't want the chemicals. The doc said it would be best to see how I responded to the treatments. In this way could maximize the surgical procedure by not compromising areas that had a chance to grow back with the other treatments. It was also necessary to prevent further hair loss. Hey, I'm Stage V. I had to accept the reality that I needed all the help I could get. So, I agreed. Wow. I was good to go! I walked out of his office to one of the other offices to discuss pricing. I was looking at about 3000-3500 FUE grafts. I was charged. I was excited. Without his staff batting an eye, I was told this would cost about... $35,000. I about damn fell out of my chair. Really?? $35,000?!? Holy CRAP! Well, how much would the scarring strip procedure cost... Hmm, a little less than 1/2 that. Wow. Ouch. That's a full year's salary for some people. 35,000. Well. It's a high price to pay for vanity, but I figured my Stage V self had developed some humility. But, why did one doctor need so much for a two day procedure?!? Damn! (... read on ...) I told my balding father about the procedure and said "You know, this is a huge amount of money to spend. I feel like I'm taking a vain option. What if I lost my job and everything I do? ( he knew how broke I'd been in my earlier years in life ). Here I am blowing a huge wad of cash on cosmetic touch ups. Well Dad, I see it like this. If everything went bust, I'd rather be broke and have hair, than be broke and bald." My Dad laughed. ... well I would soon find out the reasons for that cost, and it was worth every penny ... --- About 3 months later I travelled in for the surgery and my pre-operative appointment. Without taking photos, and allowing me to look in mirrors and examine my very bald photos from 3 months ago, I noticed growth. I was surprised really. I thought I felt something back there... and I know how bald it was... there was something happening. Day 1 of surgery. Dr Baumans staff took care of all my local travel arrangements. I was waiting on like luxury. Boy was that nice to ease my nervousness! My town car arrived, I grabbed a to-go breakfast, and away I went. Damn, at least for 35k, they're treating me right! Limo and all. I imagined this is how the movie stars got their good looks. Ha! I was brought in and introduced to each and every staff member that would dode over my scalp for the next 2 days. There was at least 5 of them, not including the doc. They were all friendly, courteous, and professional. I was a little nervous that the doc wasn't there doing everything though. Was I being passed off to a bunch of lemmings?? I panicked a little and started asking questions again. Turns out 2 of these guys are FUE rockstar extractors. Not only were they Dr Bauman's supremely chosen wing men, they flew around the country and assisted other doctors when Dr B didn't have them scheduled. So hmmm, what did that mean to me? These were guys that had some serious hands-on experience. More than any one doctor in fact. One of them showed me the results of his own FUE experience. Very nicely done. The other was an ex surgeon in the armed forces. Ahh, skilled hands. Dr Bauman came in and spent a very detailed session explaining what he wanted done to me and how he wanted it. They listened to his every word, confirmed details, and after their conference over my bald spots and donor areas they were ready to get started. My confidence was more then restored! I had TEAM dedicated to my head. I could relax again. They started the extraction procedure, and a few painkillers later, I was out. Awesome. I woke up a few hours later to find Dr. Bauman with his odd-looking super magnifying surgery glasses (in a valium stupor I likened him to a steam punk scientist with crazy male bouffant) inserting hairs into my head. He was focused. He was completing the vision. I was pleased. I watched some TV with a my groggy head as they skillfully went about their merry micro surgery way. I went home with my head wrapped up in white linen bandages around my head. I looked like I got attacked by a clown that makes those long skinny balloon animals, except that he only had white balloons to offer. Or perhaps I looked more like an extra in M.A.S.H. The painkillers were still active, so I didn't care much. I travelled back from wence I came. I sat in front of my laptop. I expected a lot of pain. There was some, but it was mild. In fact, I could actually concentrate despite the persistent pain that did exist. Pretty cool. This was a lot better than I expected. I went to bed. Along came the town car for day two. Same great experience. In the end, everyone wished me well, and gave me clear instructions on how to care for my head. If I had any questions I was free to call at any time, and was given emergency numbers to call just in case anything went wrong after hours. Awesome. Went home. Went to bed. Woke up the next day. I took off my linen-bandage-balloon-hat. OMG! I HAD HAIR AGAIN! OMG! I HAD HAIR AGAIN! OMG! I HAD HAIR AGAIN! I was no longer 30 pushing 50! I was 30 pushing 24!! There were scabs and blood from the procedure, but I could care less. People who had known me to be always wearing a head covering I invited over to tell them "LOOK! LOOK!". I had been to embarrassed to tell all but my closet friends I was going in for surgery. Now, I didn't care. Screw it. I was a was-bald-but-now-I'm-not evangelist! The first shower I took, I raised my hand very lightly to my head. I touched the top of it. It... was... weird. I felt... HAIR. How many years had it been? 10? more? It seemed alien to me. I was touching hair on my head in a place I had just about given up on. The sensation of just feeling it there is what I imagine having a lost limb reattached would feel like. I was shaken. Stirred. Humbled. Happy. I gently washed it with a sponge like I was caressing a chest of discovered gold. Hey, at 35k, this was my gold baby! And I was damn happy to trade it in for hair! ---- It's now 3 weeks post op. Some of the hair in the front has started to shed. The doc said this happens, and warned me far in advance. I'm still sorry to see it go. I'm told in another 6 months my happy hairline will return. My friends in the back though - still troopers! Hangin in there! After my post op checkup the staff said that those hairs would probably shed too. But they've told there's a chance they could stay the whole time too. I'm rolling my lucky dice on this one. Everything seems fine, and I hope they stay. I'm using a snazzy new "laser hat" that has more lasers than those huge machines we've all sat in too. Some new product that Dr. Bauman's office was chosen to participate in a beta trial with. Hey, who knows if it works. But if it has any chance of all of providing rations to the troops in the backlines, I'm all for it. Laser, Rogaine, Propecia, or cow manure. It wouldn't matter to me. The impossible just become possible again! I'm willing to do just about anything to keep those lovelies fed. I imagine I will lose some more from shedding. I imagine it will grow back tpp. I've got some ingrown hairs now here and there already. Its annoying, but techs during my post op visit says they'll eventually stop. I take solace knowing that each annoying ingrown is actually a HAIR. I say better to have an annoying hair that's lost it's way to the top of the scalp, than no hair at all! I'm prepared to nurture the stubborn ones. ---- I hope you've enjoyed my experience. I hope it provides a detailed look into what happens during an FUE experience, at least from an emotional A.D.D. perspective. I wish I had this perspective before I started. Hopefully it helps you in some odd way. I've seen various posts about Dr. B. Some positive, some negative. Most of the negative's I've read seem to be repair jobs that people didn't get their achieved results, or, its involving the strip incision. I tell you, I'm glad I didn't go with the strip incision. It just seems traumatic regardless if Dr. Bauman did it or any other doctor did it. Cut, rip, staple, no thanks. Although, I'm also VERY blessed that I was able to afford the FUE procedure. Speaking of which... lets break down that 35k. 1 - excellent doctor 2 - rockstar extractors 3 - lab technicians (sorting & arranging follicles, and who knows what else) * 2 days of work. If I assumed that 35% of the cost goes to equipment, research, maintenance and insurance, that leaves 22.75k. Now lets assume that the Doc takes 40% of that for his lifelong dedication to his science and art. So he makes maybe $9k. That leaves $13.65. The rockstars probably split 30% of that each at $4k each, leaving $1.82k to each of the techies. Now, it probably doesnt REALLY break down like that, but for purposes of illustration, let's examine this model: Am I willing to give 4k to each guy who extracts the hair not to fuc*k it up? Yes. Am I willing to give $1820 to each techie (900/day) to not sever an irreplacable follice? Yes. Am I willing to donate $9k to the artiste' doctor to put it all back in my head in working order? Yes. Now compare those individual costs to home improvement cost, the marketing cost of magazine ad, a car, a website, the cost of full DirectTV service for year, a vacation, or even something like a graphical vehicle wrap (several grand, easy). I have hair on my head for YEARS to come now. Maybe even a lifetime. 35k seems like a lot. But broken down like that above, thats totally reasonable for a team of skilled professionals working on MY paranoid head. I'm good with that. Sure, I'd love if it was 10k. But it's not. Oh well. I've got hair now. 3 weeks ago I looked in the mirror and hated myself. Now, I feel like it's a second lease on a confident life. ---- Thanks for hanging in here. I've got one last moving story to share (at least to me it is). I met my girlfriend months ago. With a baseball hat on. Every night I've had sex, or lay in bed with her, I've had something covering my head. I even swam with something on my head when we went to the beach. She's never seen me once without *something* on, EVER. Bless her soul for never saying anything. After months passed I was still hoping she just thought I neurotic as Hell and not bald. Although, I'm sure she had her suspicions (she's pretty, not dumb, but I like my thoughtful illusions, thank you very much). Sweating with embarrassment, I did tell her about the FUE procedure days before I went into surgery. She nodded and didn't say much (is she a keeper or what?). Two days after the surgery, for the first time since she's known me... I took off my hat with her in the room. Minor scabs, little dots, tiny transplanted hairs, and all. I just let it all hang out. I wasn't even nervous. I was happy. I had hair again. As vain as it sounds, I was confident she wouldn't run screaming in the other direction from the bald freak. She smiled. I smiled. Thanks, Dr. B.