Decision time

[kman]

I am curious to know how others made their choice of HT doctors.

 

I chose Dr Rahal based on the fact that he was a recommended coalition doctor on this site and the review by Pat and also his before and after photo's on his website. I definately feel I made a great choice but I'm curious how others made up their mind with their doc. Was it coalition membership, patient photo's, posters opinions, or something else?

 

For myself, I put a lot of weight on the fact that a doc is a coalition member as well as the review by Pat and less weight on someones personal opinion. Just my way, I guess, but I base that on other experiences. When I read someones personal review/opinion of a resort, restaurant or even movie, quite often I get surprised(good or bad) when I check it out on my own. I guess it's just the subjective nature of an opinion. I don't discount it and I certainly listen to it and appreciate it, but in the end I make my own mind up.

 

So, how did some of you come to your own decisions on doctors? I think this might help others on here with their own decision process.

 

Hopefully this won't descend into a recommendation of just a few select docs. You don't want to get banned now .

Sorry Pat. Just kidding.

 

Thanks for your advice.

[kman]

I am curious to know how others made their choice of HT doctors.

 

I chose Dr Rahal based on the fact that he was a recommended coalition doctor on this site and the review by Pat and also his before and after photo's on his website. I definately feel I made a great choice but I'm curious how others made up their mind with their doc. Was it coalition membership, patient photo's, posters opinions, or something else?

 

For myself, I put a lot of weight on the fact that a doc is a coalition member as well as the review by Pat and less weight on someones personal opinion. Just my way, I guess, but I base that on other experiences. When I read someones personal review/opinion of a resort, restaurant or even movie, quite often I get surprised(good or bad) when I check it out on my own. I guess it's just the subjective nature of an opinion. I don't discount it and I certainly listen to it and appreciate it, but in the end I make my own mind up.

 

So, how did some of you come to your own decisions on doctors? I think this might help others on here with their own decision process.

 

Hopefully this won't descend into a recommendation of just a few select docs. You don't want to get banned now .

Sorry Pat. Just kidding.

 

Thanks for your advice.

[thanatopsis_awry]

I used the Coalition has a springboard to start deciding which docs I should get serious about looking into. I also factored in "forum reputations" to narrow things a bit more -- that is, which doctors seem to be consistently getting rave reviews across the forums.

 

Consultations can't be over-emphasized in my opinion, and I wish I had actually partaken in more; even in retrospect it isn't that I would have ended up with a different decision, but I simply wish I had amassed more knowledge, generally speaking. Born from consultations, figuring out what each respective "prognosis" means, and comparing/contrasting would be next; at the same time, inquiring into specific cases to be shown throughout the consult is very important, as is researching cases on the forums.

 

I got a bit lucky, also, to be honest. I was an emotional wreck when I first started thinking about HTs, and I easily could have ended up running into a brickwall, ending up @ some butcher....it just so happened that the first HT commercial/endorsement I ever saw was for T&D, as an infomercial, actually, which then led me to this site and got me started on a sound path.

[richie48]

hey guys

 

I was origionally going to go with Dr Rahal or Dr Feller based on research on forums like this one ,then I actually consulted several docs in the US and the UK including Dr Rahal , Dr Feller , Hasson and Wong ,Dr Farjo and Dr Roger's in the UK and even Dr Armarni .

 

I had different approaches and graft estimates from all of them , different dates and different prices .

 

I eventually chose Dr Feller in New York due to a top reputation , cost and the exchange rate being very favourable between the US dollar and the UK pound , his approach and the fact he was willing to shuffle patients round , within reason to accomedate my dates due to me coming over from the UK .

 

richie

[MrJobi]

looked on the forum and any other HT network and looked for poor feedback. Also, I checked to see if there were any lawsutis against the doc and of course then met the guy ( Dr. True).

 

Lastly, I talked to some patients from T & D including the ones who were there when I went for my consult.. Nothing but positive came up and I liked the doc as a person

 

that was my deal

[Rambler]

Like Thanatopsis_awry, I used the Coalition as a starting point. Then I looked at each coalition doctors website and viewed their results and read every section of their websites to determine their methods, philosophy etc..

 

I did look outside of the coalition too but mostly found insufficient data. Little to no actual patient feedback.

 

I narrowed the list down to about 4-5 doctors based on my goals and needs.

 

Then I started looking at personal blogs for actual patient feedback on these doctors. I paid special attention to patients similar to me. I read through the all of the comments word for word and what their thoughts were during the whole process from beginning to end. To me this was the most valuable source of info of the research. Plus, a lot of these patients are not featured on the doctors websites, so you get real life experiences instead of chosen showcases. Not that showcases aren't real life but you know what I mean This narrowed the list down to 2.

 

Then I chose the doctor with the most consistent results that matched what I needed. I consulted by phone a couple times, spoke to the staff, and eventually the doctor himself.

 

During this time, I also used this forum to ask questions about what I was being told by this doctors staff to get unbiased feedback, opinions, and comparisons. I also searched for any negative feedback about this doctor on several forums and other external websites. Didn't find any.

 

Then I spoke to actual patients of this doctor, and met one in person. I was then convinced I had chosen the right doctor for me.

 

One thing that was very important was the donor closure. In my opinion Dr. Hasson stood out as having the best, most consistent results with an undetectable donor scar. This did weigh in in my decision.

 

.

[kman]

For me it was the Bosley commercials that got me thinking about a transplant so in that sense they helped put me on the path, but I also didn't do any research other than going to the phone book and looking for a local HT clinic. Ignorance is bliss! While I was lucky in the sense that I didn't exactly get butchered, I did pay $5500 for approx 750 grafts and $4500 for approx 700 grafts a year later. My second surgery used the tricophytic closure but my first surgery didn't and left a very noticable scar.

 

I do wish I had known about this site from the start and maybe I would have only required one HT...not to mention save money. Dr Rahal charged $9100(after travel discount) for 2590 grafts vs their 10 G's for roughly 1500 grafts. Oh well, that's water under the bridge now. Hopefully you'll benefit from my mistake by not repeating it.

 

Like you guys I also looked at peoples blogs or pics and tried to find cases similar to me to see their results. That also helped with my expectations, which is another big part of a transplant.

 

Jobi, how come no blog? Just curious.

 

Also, why do some change coalition doc's for a 2nd or 3rd HT. I suppose we can all refine our choices and maybe our needs change, so our doc would too?

 

Thanks again for the advice.

[kman]

Not you Jobi! You're "true" through and through.

[Dewayne]

I looked on this site two years ago, but I don't think I ever registered - or maybe I did. But, I went for a consult with a coalition doc near where I stay, and really liked him and felt he could do me good compared to the mini graft specialist I'd previously talked with.

 

You know, he lowered my expectations to the point that I really didn't think a whole lot about it for the next two years.

 

When, at 40, my hair continued to thin, I got back on here back in January and really caught fire with the prospects. At first it was about money for me. Even though last year I made enough to disqualify me for this 'stimulas' check Bush is sending out, I wasn't thinking of ht as an investment in myself until I went back and forth with several members here. I was stuck on spending $5k or so, and then one day I decided to spend whatever it took.

 

At one point, I was going to Hassan for 4,000 grafts as I'd seen Jotronics amazing results, and heard NGTGB's continuous pimping enough to know he must at least be OK....

 

Then, Shapiro impressed me quite a bit too, just from the pics Janna was posting. I called out there once for an on-the-phone consult, but she was in surgery. I didn't mark him off b/c of that, but I'm genrally that type of person - wanting to discuss something like that immediately or moving on.

 

I thought about Griffin, and knew he'd do a good job as well, but I kept getting mixed up information on session sizes and price structure. Plus, I got a little pissed that I'd been taking topical finasteride/minoxidil

topical solution and paying like $37 per month, prescribed and apparantly made by him.

 

I finally decided if there was a world class doctor in the south, that's where I would go. Both Drs. Cooley in Charlotte and Charles in Boca Raton had excellent looking results so I narrowed it down to those two. Dr. Charles will talk to you morning, noon, or night. And I did call him a few times to learn more.

 

I crossed off any doctor who bad-mouthed another coalition doc. Though no doctors did, a couple of techs / sales people did. And if I could give any advice to them, I'd say don't try to run down another clinic that you know is good. To say something like "Well, Dr. Wong uses some small razors on every finger to cut his slits.....and that's not natural looking..." is a big turnoff. Especially when some of us have done a lot of research and you make us feel we're not good at researching by slamming another doc.

 

Dr. Charles said he'd go have a ht with Dr. Cooley, and Dr. Cooley said the same thing. I emailed several posters from way back and one guy sent me some more pics of work Dr. Cooley had done. He said that was the first pics he'd shown anyone that included his face.

 

He was a former poster from like two years ago. Dr. Cooley is 300 miles from me, and when I saw that guy's, Christopher, pics I was sold. So I called up and set the date.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Then, Shapiro impressed me quite a bit too, just from the pics Janna was posting. I called out there once for an on-the-phone consult, but she was in surgery. I didn't mark him off b/c of that, but I'm genrally that type of person - wanting to discuss something like that immediately or moving

 

Just for the record Janna is the lead tech,not a consultant .She knows everthing there is to know but Matt is the guy you want to talk to if your interested in surgery.

The reason I picked Shapiro is because of the 7 doctors I consulted with through email 5 of them said they would feel the most comfortable with Shapiro if it was their head. one had no answer and the other from Atlanta said only himself. Take a wild geuss. I was shocked to see all the photos on Matts computer. Every patients final results were as good as the website ,some better

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Dr. Charles said he'd go have a ht with Dr. Cooley, and Dr. Cooley said the same thing.

 

That goes to show there are some really good doctors out there but on the live chat here awhile back I asked Dr Charles and Gabel the same question and Charles said Shapiro. He must trust them both.

[WilliamB1968]

My search started one night when I was complaining to my girlfriend that someone at the blackjack table was staring at my head again. She did the first part of the research and found this site. Then I just started looking at photos and googling like crazy. I called a few different places, but I hate it when they hard sell you and I found that in a couple of places.

 

Even though I'm not from the area, I chose Dr. Bernstein in New York. He didn't push me and really waited till I was comfortable with the whole thing. So far the results are great (I just put up some new photos on the blog today). He was worth the trip.

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:

Dr. Charles said he'd go have a ht with Dr. Cooley, and Dr. Cooley said the same thing.

 

That goes to show there are some really good doctors out there but on the live chat here awhile back I asked Dr Charles and Gabel the same question and Charles said Shapiro. He must trust them both.

 

It was more like me saying I'm also considering Cooley and he's closer, and Charles saying "He's a fine doctor too and I would trust him to give me a transplant", not specifically that's who he'd choose.

 

Shapiro's in Minnesota, and I'm in Atlanta. While that wasn't the primary reason I figured if I can drive to Charlotte and still get top results then that would be better.

 

And I guess really what I meant was I was so impressed with Shapiro's pics that I could have easily been convinced to fly out there, but at the time I didn't know about Matt. But, I'm happy and I'm sure I would have been just as happy with Charles or Shapiro.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Bottomline is your happy and thats all that counts. Dr Cooley has produced some great results