custard

I must confess to being one of those who stare at other peoples hair,although its because as a hair loss sufferer myself, I am facinated to see what fate is in store for them and guess the level of loss. Sad but true Custard

Looking good mate! You must be elated having finally got it done. What hotel are you staying in - from the photo's it looks like the bathroom at the Royal Inn motel where I stayed last year? Good luck with the post op healing over the next few days and safe journey home. Cheers Custard

Guys, due to lack of numbers, I have regretfully decided to cancel the Birmingham meeting. As of this afternoon only 4 of us could still make it (which just didn't justify asking Richie48 to make a 6hr return journey)! I now intend to reschedule the meeting for September 08 and will get in touch with those who showed an interest in this meet, to gauge the most convenient day/time for the next one. Cheers Beachboy

Guys, this is just a heads up to let you know that numbers have seriously fallen off over the last couple of days, with those who have previously confirmed their attendance having to back out due to family/work committments and illness. I spoke with Spex yesterday who tells me that such things happen, so I have made the suggestion that if it is likely that only 3 or 4 former patients will show up, it may be better to postpone the meet and reschedule it in September 08. I will be speaking with Spex later this afternoon and will then confirm if the meet is to go ahead tomorrow. Cheers Beachboy

Important message for all those intending to come along to the Birmingham Hair Geet meeting on Sunday, 1st June 08: The start time has been brought back an hour to 12pm (midday) Cheers Beachboy

I would like to echo Bill's helpful suggestion and personally invite both balody and Fallenstar to the hair geek meet in Birmingham on the 1st June 08. Guys, it would be great to meet with you and see first hand the excellent work of the Farjo clinic - and what better way of putting to rest all of the negative views that are being expressed on this forum and elsewhere? I can assure you of a warm welcome and will even stand a round at the bar. Please give it some serious consideration as you both have a valuable contribution to make in dispelling the myth that you cannot get a good HT in the UK. Cheers Custard (aka Beachboy)

Judging by the level of interest being shown, this should turn out to be a great meet. Quite a number of veteran and recent/prospective HT patients have already committed to attend, including Spex, richie48, daza uk, Beachboy, BENOIT2008 and hopeful bigmac and Steveo as well. This is a fantastic chance to see a wide range of results under one roof from a variety of patients, all with differing patterns and levels of hair loss prior to surgery and ask as many questions you like of those who have been through this experience. As Bill says, there's no better substitute than seeing for yourself the kind of results being achieved by the world's top class HT surgeon's. I looking forward to meeting everyone on the day. Birmingham has a lot to offer for those contemplating making a weekend of it, including a superb range of nightlife, restaurant's (including the famous Balti Houses for the curry lovers amongst you), shopping and entertainment. You can get great weekend deal's at the city centre hotels, as they usually cater for week day business users and are often half empty at weekends. I live in Birmingham, so if anyone wants any recommendations or help with where to stay, just PM me. lorenzo, sorry you are unable to make, we could have all gone to Club Bamboo afterwards! Beachboy

I was unable to make the Manchester Hair Geek Meeting back in April 08 due to work commitments, so have decided to arrange a similar event in Birmingham. Having confirmed Spex's availability to attend (no meeting is complete without Spex on hand to share his extensive knowledge and experience of the HT industry), I am pleased to announce that the Birmingham Hair Geek Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, 1st June 2008 at 12pm. This is a great opportunity for anyone seriously considering an HT to see first hand the stunning, natural results being achieved by some of the world's finest Hair Transplant Surgeons. Seeing actual patient results from a range of HT doctors is an essential part of anyone's research and I am confident of a good turnout of veteran HT patients representing HT clinics, both here in the UK and abroad. Events such as these provide a chance for those who have undergone surgery to compare notes with others and share our own experience with prospective patients, so I would encourage all of you who have undergone surgery (no matter what stage you are at or who your surgeon is) to come along and give something back to the hair loss community for the benefit of all. Birmingham is of course not too far from Dr Roger's clinic in Stratford upon Avon and I will be contacting him directly with an invitation to attend to share his knowledge, both as a practitioner of hair transplantation and a former transplant patient himself. I will also be inviting HTIUK to come along. He is a former patient and consultant/advocate of Dr. Humayun Mohmand, based in Solihull so we can see first hand the work of the HTI clinic in Islamabad. The venue is yet to be confirmed, but will be a city centre hotel, chosen to provide a safe and neutral environment, where everyone's anonymity can be respected. It will be in a central location that is easy to find, with easy access by road to secure parking or by public transport. I would encourage you all to attend. Don't be put off about publicly admitting you have a hair loss problem and it bothers you. Many of us are or have been there. My experience is that fellow sufferer's know exactly how you feel and are non-judgemental. I personally found it a liberating experience to talk openly about my hair loss and the impact it has had on my life. Please pm me or Spex if you have any questions or concerns and I look forward to meeting you on the day. Cheers Beachboy

I was unable to make the Manchester Hair Geek Meeting back in April 08 due to work commitments, so have decided to arrange a similar event in Birmingham. Having confirmed Spex's availability to attend (no meeting is complete without Spex on hand to share his extensive knowledge and experience of the HT industry), I am pleased to announce that the Birmingham Hair Geek Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, 1st June 2008 at 12pm. This is a great opportunity for anyone seriously considering an HT to see first hand the stunning, natural results being achieved by some of the world's finest Hair Transplant Surgeons. Seeing actual patient results from a range of HT doctors is an essential part of anyone's research and I am confident of a good turnout of veteran HT patients representing HT clinics, both here in the UK and abroad. Events such as these provide a chance for those who have undergone surgery to compare notes with others and share our own experience with prospective patients, so I would encourage all of you who have undergone surgery (no matter what stage you are at or who your surgeon is) to come along and give something back to the hair loss community for the benefit of all. Birmingham is of course not too far from Dr Roger's clinic in Stratford upon Avon and I will be contacting him directly with an invitation to attend to share his knowledge, both as a practitioner of hair transplantation and a former transplant patient himself. I will also be inviting HTIUK to come along. He is a former patient and consultant/advocate of Dr. Humayun Mohmand, based in Solihull so we can see first hand the work of the HTI clinic in Islamabad. The venue is yet to be confirmed, but will be a city centre hotel, chosen to provide a safe and neutral environment, where everyone's anonymity can be respected. It will be in a central location that is easy to find, with easy access by road to secure parking or by public transport. I would encourage you all to attend. Don't be put off about publicly admitting you have a hair loss problem and it bothers you. Many of us are or have been there. My experience is that fellow sufferer's know exactly how you feel and are non-judgemental. I personally found it a liberating experience to talk openly about my hair loss and the impact it has had on my life. Please pm me or Spex if you have any questions or concerns and I look forward to meeting you on the day. Cheers Beachboy

BHUK Great hairstyle mate - looks the business and a truly great result. You have good density for 5 months and plenty more to come yet. Enjoyed the comments about your mum's reaction lol. You must be made up. Cheers Custard (aka Beachboy)

Bill You have asked through your posts on PB's forum for me to account for the comments I made about you in relation to the UK baldy's thread. I consider it more appropriate to do that here than on PB's forum so that anyone can read the full thread and understand the context of this reply. I agree that having expressed my opinion on the stance taken by you as associate publisher of HTN in relation to farjo's actions, it is appropriate that I explain to you my reasons for doing so. Before I do however, please can I be clear that I made no comment whatsoever on the standard of ethical behaviour or clinical judgement of farjo in this case - IMO the facts speak for themselves. Whilst accepting that it is the prerogative of a clinic to make whatever professional judgement it sees fit, the offer of a 500 graft strip session in this case leads me to question the confidence and capability of the clinic to deliver the kind of outstanding results achieved by other coalition surgeons? The opinion I expressed is evidenced by the fact that one of the world's leading HT surgeons elected to perform a 2100 graft surgery on this patient, having presumably taken into account the same relevant factors farjo did? Same patient, same characteristics, markedly differing prognosis. One leading to significant cosmetic difference and a satisfied patient, the other (had it gone ahead) potentially resulting in a minor cosmetic difference and a patient left disillusioned with the results/HT industry and wondering what the hell to do next. My issue and the basis of my post is that you appear to be saying one thing as associate publisher and something slightly different in a personal capacity, which in my opinion is untenable. My view? That this may be explained by the conflict of interest that inevitably exists where financial considerations are part of the equation. As I say, just my opinion. I take your point that in selectively quoting you, I miss represented your personal view of the matter. That was unfair and for that I unreservedly apologise. I'm also sorry that I have inadvertently caused tension between yourself, PB and B Spot. That was never my intention Kind regards custard (aka Beachboy)

Hi venkat I started on Proscar Sept 07 following my HT with Dr Feller. I experienced a few sides initially, but stuck with it and 3-months on they have disappeared. I understand that it takes the body around that lenght of time to adjust to the medication. That adjustment includes a slight elevation in testosterone levels over time to compensate for an initial suppression of testosterone when you first start taking it. This could be the cause of the problems you have experienced. As this is basically a hormone treatment, you need to be consistant in its use, taking it everyday, at the same time and same dose. If you stop and start, your body isn't able to make that adjustment. Cheers Custard

Hi platty - I can endorse what both Dazza uk and Steveyd have said about seeking Spex's advice. I met with him earlier this year and was impressed with both his breath of knowledge and genuine desire to help. Spex is an HT veteran who will give you an honest assessment of your situation and a good idea of what you can realsitically hope to achieve if you go down the HT route. He advocates researching all you can and although he represents Dr Feller, is not in the least partisan. Having considered a number of the excellent Dr's recommended on this and other forums, I elected to go to Dr Feller and had my HT in early September 07 and am very happy with the result thus far. Feel free to search for my post of that experience here on this forum. I will be posting my 3-month update and pictures in the next week or so. Good luck!

Yeh - shame about that, but you can't win 'em all. Here's a couple of shots showing progress at 1 month post-op. The redness is subsiding nicely and I'm starting to loose some of the numbness in the area between the reciepient sites. I am getting one to two pimples, which I'm treating with a mixture to blended tea-tree oil and surgical spirit, rubbed in using a cotton bud. This seems to be quite effective as they subside in a couple of days or so.

Hi PGP I recollect Dr Feller saying that the temple points took about 184 grafts each to create. Cheers Custard

Well, I've been and done it ??“ I've have a hair transplant! And boy is it strange to see and feel hair where before was barren scalp? That sure makes me feel good. I flew from the UK a week last Thursday, 6th September 07 for a strip session with Dr Feller to address deep temple recessions and re-define my hairline. I was a ??HT virgin' prior to this and had the good fortune to find the forums and meet with Spex, of whom I can't speak highly enough, in finding a solution to my hair loss. I was very nervous about travelling to New York, but in the event, I don't know what I was worrying about! The journey was straightforward and I navigated my way to Great Neck by public transport without a hitch. The rail system is superb, easy to use and the staff really helpful. The cab drivers take a bit of getting use too, but after a couple of trips, you soon get the hang of it! They seem only to vaguely know where it is you want to go, which is a bit disconcerting, but I always ended up at my destination. I read in the local paper that the cabbies had been on strike for 2 days the week before, over the introduction of sat nav in cabs? I had a pretty good idea of what to expect on the day from reading the accounts of those who have been through this process before. The advice and support of those who post on the forums has been invaluable in preparing me for what I was putting myself through, but it didn't stop me stressing as the day drew near. On Friday, 7th September 07, I arrived at Dr Feller's office early and accosted him making his way into work from the car park. I introduced myself as his patient for the day and we rode the lift to his office with two attractive young ladies. Dr Feller has an easy manner, complementing them both of the smell of their perfume, which got him a good response and a smile. Unfortunately, they got out at level 1, whist we continued to his office suite on the second floor. Once he had changed into his work clothes, Dr Feller showed me round and settled me in his office to discuss the day ahead. He asked if I had hear the laser comb debate and proceeded to tell me of his plans to seek FDA approval to market a therapeutic ??thermal hat' device to combat hair loss ( a woolly hat with heat pads) as a tongue-in-cheek response to the absurd claims made by the peddlers of such laser products. He's got a great sense of humour! I was very soon at my ease and we were discussing what I hoped to achieve, given my loss pattern (NW2), hair characteristics (thick, wavy), available donor (very good density and supply) and potential future loss (limited due to my age [44] and the fact that my loss stabilised many years ago). Laxity was not an issue (This was my 1st HT & I had been doing the scalp exercises for about the last month). Dr Feller drew what he considered was an appropriate hair line, approximately 1cm lower down my forehead and calculated that some 2000 grafts would be required to give good density (Spex had estimated 1800 ??“ 2000, so was spot on). I liked the hair-line as it was very natural given my age and gave me back a little bit more than I had lost. I was also keen to close in the temple area and regain the temple points that I had lost, so Dr Feller drew in the temple points, using the fine hairs that remained in this area as a guide. He then drew a line connecting the temple points back to the hair line and estimated that another 500 grafts would be required to fill in these area's, giving a graft count of 2500. I was in two minds about the extent of the temple lines and considered asking for them to be drawn further forward to close in the temples a little more, but on reflection decided that what Dr Feller was proposing retained my characteristic broad forehead as a counter-point to my long and angular face shape. It is a testament to his experience and skill that Dr Feller was able to translate my aspirations so well in the hair line that he proposed. Having finalised the extent of the HT, paid my fee and had pre-op photo's taken, we went though to the main surgery room where I was introduced to the team, who were without exception all welcoming and very reassuring. After I had taken off my shirt and handed a tee shirt to wear, Dr Feller started to mark out the donor area. I could feel him pushing against the scalp, checking the laxity and adjusting the line accordingly. Once this was done, he marked out how much of the recipient area he wanted clipping back. The Tech's then set about taping up my hair and clipped both the donor and recipient area. This was something I was dreading, but fortunately, very little was taken off and I was relieved that I still had enough to cover up the HT work. This done, I went into another room to have the donor area numbed. I was asked to lay face down and Dr Feller proceeded to inject around the line where the donor was to be excised. He kept me informed of what he was doing all the time, which I found very reassuring. In all I had about 10 injections and can honestly say that it was only mildly uncomfortable and was over very quickly. I felt a little light headed and it was explained to me that this was because the injections contain adrenaline. Once back in the surgery room I was prepped and the local anaesthetic given time to take effect. Work then started on the removal of the donor. This was painless and all I could feel was the Dr pressing against my head. The strip was removed in three sections, with each section being stapled before proceeding to the next and took about 45 minutes. With that part of the procedure finished and the Techs busily working on excising the grafts, Dr Feller proceeded with numbing the recipient area. I found that this stung more that the injections to the donor site, especially in the temple regions. Dr Feller explained that the skin was thinner here and was more sensitive. He was very apologetic, but worked quickly and it was over in less than a minute or so. He told me that he uses a thinner needle for these injections and that made them less uncomfortable. All I all, it wasn't too bad and was bearable. Once the local anaesthetic had taken effect, Dr Feller started work on making the incisions for the grafts. This again was painless and all I could feel was slight pressure and hear a ??snick' sound as each incision was made. During the 1 ?? hrs or so that this stage took to complete, he was totally absorbed in his work and I just lay back listening to the radio. Following lunch, the Tech's came in and started on the laborious job of placing the grafts. This for me was the most uncomfortable part of the whole day as it was necessary to keep very still. In order to get my head at the right angle, I had to keep my chin tilted downwards, which I found awkward as it made swallowing very difficult. The Tech's did what they could to adjust my position and in the end gave me a valium to relax me! After that things when more smoothly and the final graft was placed at 3.30pm. Finally, I was cleaned up, changed back into my shirt and had a chat with the Tech's about post-op care. Dr Feller took a series of photos and gave me some pain killers, together with a prescription for more if I needed them. Whilst I was getting ready to leave, Dr Feller was chatting with the brother of a UK patient who had had HT the day before and he kindly gave both of us a lift back to out respective hotels. I can't thank Dr Feller and his team enough for what they have done for me. Dr Feller's skill, knowledge and empathy were manifestly evident and I know that I made the right choice in putting myself in the hands of one of the best HT surgeons in the world. I can't wait for the final results around 12 months from now! Cheers and good growing!