Not All Coalition Dr's Offer Consultations???

[snakeoil]

I live in California and so far, have had consultations with 2 coalition doctors in New York. One charged $175 and other was free. I arranged a consult with another doc today and the secretary said that the doc didn't do consults, but they had a staff member that has been doing consults for 18 years and that's who I would be talking to, and maybe the doctor would see me, but couldn't guarantee it. Question is...is it worth it to travel half way across the US to have a consult with a consultant and not be able to talk to the doctor?

[notgoing2gobald]

no.

 

You didn't find any docs in California you were happy with? I live in California too and Im not too impressed with any of them either.

 

Canada is close and H&W are there. Who did you see in NY?

[the B spot]

No-- a consultant should do all of the fact finding and discuss your wants and needs.

 

However, at some point the Doc should come in and spend 10-30 mins talking and assessing your situation.

 

For virtual patients this is done either the day before surgery or the morning of.

 

It is only occasionally that extenuating circumstances force a Doc not to be at a consult.

 

At SMG this is the practice and at most top clinics.

 

I do not know who you are talking about, it doesn't mean they are "bad" per se, but just be cautious of you follow through with it.

 

Take Care,

Jason

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by notgoing2gobald:

no.

 

You didn't find any docs in California you were happy with? I live in California too and Im not too impressed with any of them either.

 

Canada is close and H&W are there. Who did you see in NY?

 

I consulted with Dr. Feller in his office in Great Neck and Dr. Epstein at his NYC office. I've had old punch grafts performed 25 years ago by Dr. Frankel and Dr. Sandham. Then more recently had the punch grafts filled in by Dr. Sword. All California Doc's. I'm running out of donor so it has to be right this time.

 

Do you need a passport to travel to Canada? Hasson & Wong are next on my list.

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by the B spot:

No-- a consultant should do all of the fact finding and discuss your wants and needs.

 

However, at some point the Doc should come in and spend 10-30 mins talking and assessing your situation.

 

For virtual patients this is done either the day before surgery or the morning of.

 

It is only occasionally that extenuating circumstances force a Doc not to be at a consult.

 

At SMG this is the practice and at most top clinics.

 

I do not know who you are talking about, it doesn't mean they are "bad" per se, but just be cautious of you follow through with it.

 

Take Care,

Jason

 

It was actually Dr. Shapiro's office that could not guarantee me a consultation appointment with Dr. Shapiro, only with the very experienced counselor. I explained my situation of needing repair work and she said that she would note that I wanted to speak directly with the doctor, but still would not guarantee it. Not sure what to do, as Dr. Shapiro was on my short list. That list being: Feller, Epstein, Shapiro and Hasson & Wong.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Nice list of prospective docs, snakeoil, you are certaintly setting yourself up for a great HT with whomever you choose. It's cool that you aren't placing a premium on location. Being a repair case, I'd be extra-inquisitive towards looking for experience and results in dealing w/ repairs.

 

I'm also curious as to the and what seems to be the standard protocol there w/ consults. Was is just that particular day, perhaps, that they couldn't ensure you a chance of Dr. Shapiro seeing you?

[KamCal]

Do you need a passport to travel to Canada? Hasson & Wong are next on my list.

 

Yes, you do need a passport to go to Canada.

 

KamCal

[its752]

snakeoil, You do need a passport to go to Canada. I expedited mine by paying an extra fee. Everything I read about H&W was true and then some!

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by thanatopsis_awry:

Nice list of prospective docs, snakeoil, you are certaintly setting yourself up for a great HT with whomever you choose. It's cool that you aren't placing a premium on location. Being a repair case, I'd be extra-inquisitive towards looking for experience and results in dealing w/ repairs.

 

I'm also curious as to the and what seems to be the standard protocol there w/ consults. Was is just that particular day, perhaps, that they couldn't ensure you a chance of Dr. Shapiro seeing you?

 

No. The receptionist said that he was "in the office" on the day that we set-up for the consult.

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by its752:

snakeoil, You do need a passport to go to Canada. I expedited mine by paying an extra fee. Everything I read about H&W was true and then some!

 

How long did it take to get a passport??

 

Which Doc is better between Hasson and Wong for repair? Or are they both A++ doctors??

[its752]

snakeoil,

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by its752:

snakeoil,

Yes?????

[notgoing2gobald]

yeah, at first I thought it was like a dramatic pause for effect or something. I got all worked up and was sitting on the edge of my couch for like 45 minutes because the pause was so great I thought it was going to be something really exciting...

 

I really like Dr. Hassons work and he is and has been my #1 pic for quite some time now. Its not that long of a flight from us either. I would NOT fly to the East Coast for a consultation from anyone but the doctor himself and would accept nothing less than him willingly submitting his hands to my critical evaluation under a diamond magnification eye piece...

 

Dr. Sword,

 

he is the ONLY doctor I have ever had a consultation with. I had it 6 years ago, before I did any real research and the guy was a joke. I walked in his office, he threw me a playboy, then when he finally saw me all he did was run his fingers through the back of my head and brag about how much hair he had for his age--which really wasn't anything special--this all lasted a whopping five minutes. Now I have seen that he has around 4-6 different offices.

 

How did your result turn out with him? What's your current situation; how have you been dealing with these plugs for so long? Age, meds?

 

yeah, in light of the fact that you have undergone previous procedures which you were/are not happy with and you have already used up donor hair, you definitely don't want to be taking any chances this time around.

 

Like Than mentioned you might want to look into someone who specializes in repair work, depending on how poor your results are. Is the hair line pluggy or has this been refined by Sword?

 

Sorry, I can't recommend anyone who SPECIFICALLY AND ONLY specializes in repair work as I have never researched it myself. But Feller and H&W have seen it all and Im sure they could fix you up nicely.

[its752]

snakeoil, It takes about 2-3 weeks to get your passport in the mail. Its easy. First, if you don't already know, you can get your ID. photo almost anywhere in town, local post office, drug stores, copycenter locations, on and on. Take your driver's license with you. Secondly, you take the photo to--in my case I just heard from the place I got my photo taken that the local library had applications you fill out and then wait in line for 15 minutes for an interview just so they know for sure your not a terrorist. The lady took my photo and application and said good bye. In a short while I got my passport in the mail, and once I had that I moved on to tell the clinic, they gave me some open surgery dates, I took the one I wanted and when the doc was available. I checked out flight information online, booked and paid for my flight, and then called the clinic back to confirm my arrival date. They had a hotel room reserved for me when I arrived. At the end of the surgery they reimbursed me a good amount for my flight also. I think you said it best, by the way, when you referred to both docs being A++, but just call the clinic directly from their website phone number,and I'm sure they'll you who can deal with the repair work. Good luck and sorry for the last post!!

[snakeoil]

Yes my hair line is pluggy from the original plugs that I had when I was 23 (now 47). It's been so long ago that I can barely remember the procedure, but I do remember the Doc using something resembling a Dremel tool to drill out the grafts. Un-friggen-believable. Anyway, Dr. Sword softened the pluggieness of the hairline somewhat, but he didn't put in enough grafts in front of the plugs to add significant camo. Sword also took out the plug scar holes in the donor area when he pulled the strip.

 

According to Dr. Feller, Sword's work and even the plugs were okay (angled properly) but just outdated technology. Dr. Feller suggested dense packing where Dr. Sword had tried previously to hide the plugs. I asked why he didn't want to take out the plugs and redistribute them. He said that it is difficult for grafts to grow when placed in scar tissue. He also suggested filling in the temples and approximated 2000 grafts.

 

I've been using Rogain and Propecia for 10 months now. Don't know if it's working, but I plan on staying with the routine.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Personally I do NOT like the idea of having to pay for a consultation period!

 

However, despite the strong claims I have seen people make about how wrong it is to have clinical consultants do the initial interiew, many of the top physicians with a proven track record often do it with great personal attention and knowledge.

 

Clearly however, the doctor must see you at some point before your surgery to evaluate you and properly determine whether or not your hair restoration goals can be met.

 

Bill

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by its752:

snakeoil, It takes about 2-3 weeks to get your passport in the mail. Its easy. First, if you don't already know, you can get your ID. photo almost anywhere in town, local post office, drug stores, copycenter locations, on and on. Take your driver's license with you. Secondly, you take the photo to--in my case I just heard from the place I got my photo taken that the local library had applications you fill out and then wait in line for 15 minutes for an interview just so they know for sure your not a terrorist. The lady took my photo and application and said good bye. In a short while I got my passport in the mail, and once I had that I moved on to tell the clinic, they gave me some open surgery dates, I took the one I wanted and when the doc was available. I checked out flight information online, booked and paid for my flight, and then called the clinic back to confirm my arrival date. They had a hotel room reserved for me when I arrived. At the end of the surgery they reimbursed me a good amount for my flight also. I think you said it best, by the way, when you referred to both docs being A++, but just call the clinic directly from their website phone number,and I'm sure they'll you who can deal with the repair work. Good luck and sorry for the last post!!

 

No worries...Thanks for the info. on the passport procedure. You never know how long things can take when dealing with government entities. But 2-3 weeks is certainly acceptable. Looks like I'll be applying for a new passport on Monday.

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by Bill - Moderator:

Personally I do NOT like the idea of having to pay for a consultation period!

 

Bill

In retrospect, I wouldn't pay for a consultation again. Consultation fee = Scratch doctor off the list.It was expensive enough just getting there, renting a car and paying for tolls and parking. NYC is expensive!

 

In fairness, the consult fee would be applied to the price of the procedure.

[notgoing2gobald]

I think your smart to have flown out to see Feller first hand. Money will come and go, but you only have so much donor hair left. A ton of guys are unwilling to even travel to their neighboring state, let alone across the country to get the best results possible. Which is completely ridiculous in my opinion.

 

I would NOT view it as a waste of money even if you don't go with Feller. At the very least you now have one of the worlds best ht doctors first hand opinion after viewing your hair. Even if you elect not to go with him, you can now view all other doctors suggestions against Fellers as a back drop.

 

You've obviously done some good research because you have picked out the top docs. Out of curiousity, how many grafts did Feller say you had left? How many have you already had done total? How much has your hair loss progressed in the past 24 years and how bad was it inittialy?

 

Im 28 and some of us relatively younger guys are really curious as to the different nature of progression...

[Bill - Seemiller]

Snakeoil,

 

In fairness, the consult fee would be applied to the price of the procedure.

 

Yes, this is true in most cases, but I still don't like it. This is clearly my personal preference and nothing more.

 

In my opinion, it's already hard enough and takes a lot of time for a seeking patient to receive quality education on hair transplant surgery. Why should he/she have to pay a fee only to determine that hair transplantation is not for them?

 

On the flip side, I do understand that a physician's time is valuable.

 

As I said, this is my personal preference.

 

Bill

[snakeoil]

Originally posted by notgoing2gobald:

I would NOT view it as a waste of money even if you don't go with Feller. At the very least you now have one of the worlds best ht doctors first hand opinion after viewing your hair. Even if you elect not to go with him, you can now view all other doctors suggestions against Fellers as a back drop.

 

 

Just to clarify, Dr. Feller did NOT charge for the consultation. It was Dr. Epstein that had a consult fee.

 

Good point about viewing other doctors suggestions against Dr. Feller's. Epstein and Feller had two completely different plans of attack in my case.

[fixing-it]

Hey snakeoil,{funny name}

I had the same problem when I wanted to do a consult with Dr Shapiro.One thing that really bugged me was they would only do a consult at a certain time I think it was 9 or 10 a.m. thru 3 p.m. mon-fri ,When i said that this just wouldn't work for me because of work and asked for an evening or a saturday {anytime} or sunday {anytime}phone consult she said that they wont do consults any other time.That just solidified me wanting too go with Dr Hasson.About the passport,they used to be quite a bit behind but they have caught up at the end of last summer.I applied for my passport 12-20-07 and recieved it 1-2-08 without paying the extra $100.00 dollars for expediting,good luck bud.

[Janna]

Snakeoil,

 

I apologize for the mis-information you were given by our receptionist (she's an absolute sweetheart, but relatively new to our clinic and protocol). Anytime Dr. Shapiro is in the clinic, he will make time to fit portion of the consult. Many of our consults also include going back into the surgery room to meet the day's patient, see the actual procedure in progress. Of course permission is given by the surgery patient prior to someone coming in to take a look. I have never experienced where Dr. Shapiro could not see someone who specifically came into our clinic to be seen by the doctor. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Please feel free to pm or email me with any questions.

[fixing-it]

Hi Janna,

Is there some reason Matt doesn't do the phone consults a little later in special circumstances cause when I was trying to set one up I was just trying to set it up for like 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. eastern time and was told none after 3:00 p.m.,I thought that was odd because I really like Shapiro's work.Thanks for your time.

[Janna]

There are days where he's out of the office at 3pm, but as far as I know, you should be able to schedule on any other given day after 3pm. Again I apologize. It sounds like there are few things I need to take care of at the front office come Monday.