"Dr. Charles of Boca Raton" (Florida) and a word to those considering this surgery

[double]

It's 5:45pm EST on the day of my surgery, and I wish to recount my experience (thus far) as well as offer advice to others still considering. I am a very youthful 41 and have gone back-and-forth with doing this for at-least 10 years. Probably because of the relationship(s) I was in previously and the fact that they didn't have issue with my receding hairline, I never committed further than just thinking about it. Now that I'm recently single again, I've decided to address this issue.

 

Again, I've been aware of my receding hairline for about 10 years, and first noticed those late-night infomercials for 'hair systems'. Remember them? I think it was some combination of your own hair and a wig - not sure. But not very 'natural' and not something I'd seriously considerered. But then.... ALL HAIL BOSLEY MEDICAL. Why? Because those infomercials really put the idea into my head. I want to thank Dr. Bosley and his group for their fancy commercials that really put the idea of hair transplant surgery into me seriously. Oh, I'm not about to go call some place up for a special procedure, just because they had a nice commercial - not for something like this. I would do some research first and if it checks out - then I'd give serious consideration to them. But my research took me to several places - most notably THIS WEBSITE - and I ultimately made my decision to go with Dr. Charles of Boca Raton. Oh, and to clearly AVOID Bosley Medical. (still, I do appreciate all the money they spend creating awareness of this procedure through their marketing).

 

Ok, so I had my initial consultation with Dr. Charles. They have a beautiful, modern, clean facility that isn't so overly ostentatious that I feel I'm getting rooked to pay for some hyper-rare crazy expensive imported Tibetan marble. Very nice and fresh-looking office. Appointment was timely and also unhurried. Dr. Charles met with me personally, got a feel for what I did and did not know about what the procedure entails, and answered all of my questions and concerns. I ended up booking with his office.

 

I received a few follow-up phone calls prior to surgery - again all timely and done very professionally. My surgery day arrived (today) and I followed all of the pre-operative instructions, but still unsure what to expect of the day. I was surprised at the large size of the staff on-hand - just for me! And I really appreciated that mine was the only surgery scheduled for the day and was told that this is their policy - one per day. Again, not knowing what to expect, I'd say the only notable 'pain' was the initial numbing shot(s). During my consult, I'd asked why this was not performed under General Anesthesia and was explained that the risk/reward of it was not necessary. Having gone through this day - I wholeheartedly agree. I have gone through General Anesthesia and the experience of coming out of it - plus the day(s) after - it's no walk in the park. Given that the only pain (discomfort) was initially, going with the local is definitely the way for this procedure.

 

Ok, shots out of the way, time to get to business. I was presented with a (very long) list of movies I could select from to watch and made my choice. The demeanor among the (fairly extensive) staff was particularly fun, friendly, and chatty and I felt welcome to join in. I suspect that if silence was desired and I'd tuned in more closely to the movie then this would have been respected. Still, I felt part of a fun group being very social. This really helped to ease any tensions/concerns I may have been having.

 

Time flew by and the topic of lunch came up - and where it would come in from. I ordered a delicious lunch - was pleasantly surprised that this was on the house. Let me now add that I was only quoted one fee and that covered everything. Nice not to get hit with other surprises/fees along the way. Even post-op prescriptions (pain-killer if-needed and anti-biotic) were included.

 

After lunch work continued and again- the time really did seem to fly by, though Doctor Charles and his staff were extremely conscientious and following up to see how I was feeling regularly. Surgery completed and I was explained in detail about my post-surgery instructions.

 

While unsure initially exactly what to expect, I was thinking I'd be having either alot of pain, alot of boredom, or both. This day really was a breeze. Some may say I should hold-off posting until I see some results of the work. My attitude is that - yes - the results are obviously very important. But it is also how the 'big day' goes down, that may keep some people from doing it, or doing it sooner. So I wanted to offer what a day this was while still fresh in my mind. That I can type so much just an hour after surgery, should explain my general feeling.

 

Now, a word to those still 'considering'. I'm glad I did this now though I realize it will be 9 months to a year til I see the true outcome of today's procedure. And while I am glad - I wish I'd done it a year ago. Or frankly - 10 years ago. I've been around enough people who've had plastic surgery to know this:

IF YOU ARE EVEN 'CONSIDERING' DOING A PROCEDURE - YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT EVENTUALLY.

 

Sometimes you do it fairly quickly and sometimes you wait and wait and wait - and then do it. My ex wanted a boob job for 10 years. Finally she did it. And wished she'd done it 10 years prior. Same for me here, now. So you 'young' guys (or 'younger' guys) - guess what? You're perusing this website. You're doing other research. You're THINKING about it...

You're going to do it anyway. Do it now. Get the procedure done now - plus get going with Propecia/Proscar and get ahead of the game.

 

Glad I did it now. Wish I did it sooner.

 

Thanks Dr. Charles.

 

Howard

2020 grafts on 10/3/06

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Howard,

 

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your initial positive experience. I'm glad to hear that this community played a role in helping you find a real gem in the rough.

 

Of course, we'd all like to see photos. And I'd also appreciate it if you could get the number of grafts by type (i.e. 750 two hair grafts, 512 three hair grafts etc).

 

Feel free to also create your own Hair Loss Weblog journal to document your process now and in the coming months.

 

Again, congratulations on a wise choice and best wishes for great growth.

 

Pat