Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 12, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 Hey all, Some have asked for a few pics. I still a lot more that need to be modified for anonimity sake, but here is a pre-op and immediately post op pic. Also, I'm right at 8 weeks (will take a few pics tonight when my girlfriend gets home). I swear I'm seeing growth. Some are dark and barely breaking the surface, others are very fine and a little kinky. I've been forging a battle on pimples for two weeks straight. Normal? (O.K. apparantly my pics are two big, so I started a weblog and posted them there). Some name Toad_NW3.) Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 12, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 Hey all, Some have asked for a few pics. I still a lot more that need to be modified for anonimity sake, but here is a pre-op and immediately post op pic. Also, I'm right at 8 weeks (will take a few pics tonight when my girlfriend gets home). I swear I'm seeing growth. Some are dark and barely breaking the surface, others are very fine and a little kinky. I've been forging a battle on pimples for two weeks straight. Normal? (O.K. apparantly my pics are two big, so I started a weblog and posted them there). Some name Toad_NW3.) Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 12, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 I also posted a day 3, 2 week, and 1 month photo from relatively same angle. Hope the pictures are good enough quality to tell the story. I'm not a photographer in RL! Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HK500 Posted February 12, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 Toad, I just looked at your weblog, it all looks really good, the hardest part is now and it's called patience. I just had my HT and I know I'll go through the same doubts etc ... This forum will help us through this time of healing and waiting. My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 12, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 HK500, I agree this forum helps out so much when I stress out about something. HT is a journey, and it is nice to have a guide by those who have expierenced it. I would have never documented my own account had it not been for this site. I hope to give back as much as it has given. Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pisa Posted February 12, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2007 good luck with your healing and keep us updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member nobuzz4me Posted February 13, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 13, 2007 Toad, Just checked out your weblog, looks great, you will be looking great by this Summer. You have made a great decision, tough wait though, I know! NoBuzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Neptune Posted February 13, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 13, 2007 Toad: Looking great at this point and I echo what others have said here - We are excited for you and what good things await you in a few months! If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about your post op redness. We have (here on the boards) been discussing the difference between post op redness with surgeons who use the stick and place (which I believe your surgeon, Dr. Lehr, does) and others (examples given but many more, Shapiro, Epstain, etc.) who use custom blades with incisions made by the surgeons themselves. In comparing your post op redness with 1800 grafts to say, RJVW who had 2100 with Dr. Epstein, it appears that the immediate post op redness and that experienced by you was somewhat greater than his. Now, this is not an attack on Dr. Lehr who is a fine doc and your results will be great. But there does seem to be a significant difference in redness post op and I'm wondering if the stick and place technique (as performed by techs) is somehow responsible for this or if it just happened to be the luck of the draw. I'd be curious if your redness was greater than expected or about what you thought it'd be. Also, I'd be curious if others who compare Toad's pics to RJVW's would chime in (or other pics that you want to compare). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 13, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 13, 2007 Hey NoBuzz, pisa, and Neptune, Thanks for the encouraging words. It helps when other HTers echo things like "exciting things in the next few months." Especially like now when I have pimples and am still afraid to be anywhere without my hat or without perfectly combing my hair and dumping a ton of hairspray on it. Neptune, I don't take it as an attack on any Dr. to ask/compare their techniques. I think I did have more red/pink than RJVW (although pictures are hard to tell from). Example of the difficulty of pictures, I think I was more red/pink than my pictures show. Dr. Lehr was very upfront with me that I could be red 10 days PO and have a residual fading pink for six weeks. He was right on about that. But how much that has to do w/ my skin, my healing properties, etc. I don't know. Also, pimples have a lot to do with redness. They bring a redness all on their own. I did do a crazy a$$ expeiriement w/ myself before my HT. I poked a pin prick in my temple to see how long it would take to heal. It took over a week to completely fade into my skin color. So I guess 1791 pin pricks sticking around for 6 weeks is not odd. I can't compare on my own skin next to other docs who use blades like Shapiro, Epstein, etc b/c I've never had it done. I know a guy who posts on another forum who used Dr. Lehr, and he was right as snow in a week. He has a little darker skin than I do. I"ve got to run, but will think a little more on this subject and reply more later today or tomorrow. Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Toad, Thanks for creating a weblog with pics. Looks like you will have some nice results when all is said and done. Keep me posted. I did do a crazy a$$ expeiriement w/ myself before my HT. I poked a pin prick in my temple to see how long it would take to heal. Wow, I think I found someone crazier than me on this forum . I can't say I'd ever do that to myself...but at least you learned something from it, among what you learned, hopefully you learned never to do that again . Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NervousNelly Posted February 13, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 13, 2007 Looks great. Just give it a little time to grow and I think that you should have some great results. Thanks for posting. NN Dr.Cole,1989. ??graftcount Dr. Ron Shapiro. Aug., 2007 Total graft count 2862 Total hairs 5495 1hairs--916 2hairs--1349 3hairs--507 4hairs--90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 14, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 14, 2007 Hey Bill, That is funny. Unfortunately I don't know that I learned not to expierement on myself. I was just curious how long I might be red and since everything that I had read on this forum stated that it was highly specific to the individual, I kinda wanted to gauge where I was. At least I didn't pin prick myself 2000 times. hahahaha I guess the real point is that I'm now 8 weeks out and the only red/pink I have is associated w/ pimples not the surgery. Thanks for the welcome to NN. Back to Neptune's question. I guess the only real thing I can say about blades/needles and the aftermath of surgery is that currently (of course w/o seeing my final results) I would go back to Dr. Lehr in a heartbeat. I am right where he said I would be. I will admit, another part of me is very curious about your question and if I need a follow up, its possible I would consider Epstein, Shapiro, etc with the thought that somehow the healing time would be lessened. These Docs are very impressive from what I've seen. I don't really know if this question can be answered w/o the same person going to two different docs, but even then no two HT are alike on the same person from what I have read. I would be more attracted to the idea that the instruments used and a Dr. who performs the incisions could reduce shockloss. I haven't had a ton of shockloss, but I've had some. I don't know if I will need another HT, but the threads on this forum about shockloss of previously HT hairs bothers me. But then some of those posts are from people who used the very Dr(s) you write of. I read a blog entry from Bernstein, and he states that shockloss can't really be predicted and the use of instruments and skill is a small factor in its cause. I think he meant between good Docs of course. When I talked to Dr. Lehr about blades/needles he explained the concept of using the beveling of the needle to create a more secure area for the graft and a natural look to the hair direction. At that point it was a bit over my head, but he acknowledged the use of blades and mentioned names of Docs who used them and said I couldn't go wrong if I chose them over him. He even discussed how some surgeons have played w/ the use of lasers to create recipient sites, to no great advantage. I asked him if he couldn't perform my surgery who would he recommend and he specifically mentioned H & W, Epstein, Limmer, Bernstein and Rassman. For what that is worth. These are just my thoughts. I should probably get some work done. hehe Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Neptune Posted February 14, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 14, 2007 Toad: I consulted with Dr. Lehr prior to choosing Dr. Epstein. My choice had absolutely nothing to do with any concern other than rapid healing time. I also spoke to Dr. Alexander's office and Dr. Shapiro's office before settling on Dr. E. I might have chosen Dr. Shapiro if not for the fact I've got lots of friends in Minneapolis and didn't want to take a chance (yeah, I know it's a big city, but you really do run into people when you think you won't) on seeing anyone I knew. Same thing for Oklahoma City. So for privacy Miami seemed perfect. Regarding rapid healing times, Dr. Lehr (who probably is the most straightforward doc I've ever known) point blank told me I would have post op redness that would be pretty significant and there was really no way to know how long it would last. Might be days, might be months. Everyone is different. Dr. E on the other hand said 8-10 days and it will be hard to tell you had any work done. Looking at post op pics of his patients that certainly seemed to be the case. Not sure what he does different (be that blades or technique), but I could clearly see the results I was looking for. I wanted a great job done and I want to (after a couple weeks) be able to go back to work without anyone knowing what I did. Whether or not that happens we won't know till next month. You can talk to RJVW who just had his work done with Dr. E and he'll confirm that as little as a few days after his procedure his head looked so good nobody noticed a thing. I'll let you (and everyone else here) know how my procedure goes next month. Hopefully I'll get the results I'm looking for but you'll see what happens one way or the other. If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me and I'll answer any other questions I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 14, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 14, 2007 Neptune, From everything I've read and seen, Dr. Epstein is as top notch as they get. Good luck with your upcoming HT, happy healing, and more importantly happy growing! Look forward to seeing your journey as well. Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member rjvw Posted February 16, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 Toad NW3, you're looking good. Happy growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member the B spot Posted February 16, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 Hey Toad, you will be looking pretty good in the coming months!!! Thanks for sharing your pics with us!!!! Take Care, J Go Cubs! 6721 transplanted grafts 13,906 hairs Performed by Dr. Ron Shapiro Dr. Ron Shapiro and Dr. Paul Shapiro are members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Toad_NW3 Posted February 16, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 Thanks rjvw and B spot, I'll keep the pictures coming as I can. I wrote a thread earlier under Open Hair Loss Topics earlier today that I swear I see early growth. What I see "growing" is about and inch behind the hairline and proceeding back, it is transparent hair, but longer than vellus like hair and a little wirey. Very exciting. Now just the waiting for the hairs to mature. Thanks to everyone for their comments and encouragment! As all HTers know, the journey is an emotional roller coaster and it is soooo helpful to have others who have been through it to lean on. Toad Originally a Norwood 3 -- Now? 1/4 proscar daily started 9/01/2005 1791 FUs - Dr. Lehr - Dec. 2006. 1300 FUs - Dr. Brad Limmer - Jan. 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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