Consultation today with Dr. Straub and Dr. Elliot

[vinto]

Hi guys. I'm back again with an update on my quest for a more dense head of hair.

 

I originally had an appointment with NHI today, but of the stories and rates I've heard of, I decided to go to Dr. Straub and Dr. Elliot (My original hair transplant doctors). What two different experiences I had. It's not that one is better than the other, it's just the way they approached my hairloss problem.

 

I now have the exact number of grafts that were put in now. If you can, please refer to the picture in the other thread.

Transplant #1: 757 grafts 11/3/03

Transplant #2: 1063 grafts 4/23/04

Total: 1820 grafts

 

I will start comparing the two point by point and in the end please give me your honest opinions on both of them. They're not on the coalition, and I haven't yet searched for their names. I will do so after I completed this thread.

 

Hair Diameter and donor area:

Dr. Straub: He said that I have a very fine hair, and that my donor area might not be able to give me the look that I want. He determined the diameter of my hair by using this videocamera which magnifies my scalp and hair and shows up on the television. I then asked Dr. Straub to see if the grafts done by Dr. Elliot had grown at all, he did so and found some that grew. The others he can't tell, which might be because Dr. Elliot had done a good job on it. He also mentioned that it's unlikely that my transplanted hair didn't grow at all, it probably got offset with my natural hair just like Cousin_IT said

 

Dr. Elliot: He had his assistant take a photo of my head. He does not have the old pictures of me before the operation since it's in his other office. I will go back again on Monday for a more definitive proof. Since we cannot yet compare the two photos, I then asked for him to inspect the place where he had transplanted my hair to see if the hair had grown from those grafts. He went to the back of my head, looked through his magnifying glass which clamps onto his head under a strong light which attached to his goggle, and said yes, it grows beautifully. Since he did it himself, maybe he is able to recognize his own work? I will ask for him to prove it for me on Monday. As for my donor area, he said, I have plenty to work with. I told him, that Dr. Straub had mentioned otherwise. He then disagreed with Dr. Straub and said that I have plenty of donor hair to work with and I only need about 3000 more to get it to where I want. I will also ask him how he can tell this without looking thoroughly at the back of my head on Monday.

 

Amount of grafts for transplant:

Dr. Straub

He said he will do the maximum of 1500 of ultra refine grafting and not shave my head. From what I understand, ultra refine grafting is used to insert a single hair to get the maximum density right? He doesn't want me to lose too much hair at one time. He gave me a choice of 1000, 1200, or 1500.

 

Dr. Elliot

2000-2500. I haven't asked him how I would look after that yet, but he said that I have PLENTY of donor hair to work with. We shall see.

 

Date of operation:

Dr. Straub

As soon as I want it. Next week or two, it seems his office is not as busy as Dr. Elliot. Dr. Straub, if you're reading this, I am no mean offending you in anyway, but I need to get facts from my hairloss comrades. This led me to wonder whether or not he does a good job. He also told me to get back on Propecia, which I did right away and he sold me 1 box of 3 months supply with 1 box of 1 month supply for 190 something dollars after 25 dollars rebate. So I'm on that now...yes!

 

Dr. Elliot

He told me to wait 8 months before he does anything. He said my transplanted hair is growing in well, but might have lost my natural hair in the process of waiting since 04 without Propecia. Honestly, no one told me to go on it. Anyway, that's good of Dr. Elliot of wanting to see what Propecia will do for me and push the operations to 8 months time.

 

Goal:

Dr. Straub

He said he can make my hair look denser, but don't expect it to be as dense as the back of my head.

 

Dr. Elliot

He said he can make it very dense, and with my donor supplies, it's not that difficult to acheive my goal. Of course at this point, my heart took off on its wings and thinking that I still have a chance. However, I'm more careful now than ever before. He also said that everyone needs about 5000 hair to acheive the full look one wants, and I'm almost half way there...yay? He also mentioned that my hair and head is pretty ideal for hair transplant since it doesn't leave scar and it heals well. All the grafts stuck to the skin. That made me happy, and I truly hope it's true

 

Type of hair

Dr. Straub:

At time he said I had ultra super fine hair.

 

Dr. Elliot:

He said that I might have a fine hair for an Asian but for everyone else, he considered my hair to be of medium size. I'm very confused.

 

Fees:

Dr. Straub

3.75 per graft

 

Dr. Elliot

4.50 per graft

 

As mentioned before I will go back on Monday and look at the pre op against post op against now, and I will ask him questions of my hair size, my donor area, and whether or not it's acheiveable.

 

I don't know much about these doctors but one thing for sure, Dr. Straub turned me down in 2002 because my hair wasn't bad. He could have operated on me, but he didn't. Dr. Elliot operated on me roughly a year or so later, when I might have continued to lose more hair.

 

Questions to you good people is that. From your experience couple with what I mentioned here, who do you think I should choose if I am left with these two? Are these doctors any good at what they do?

 

Regards

[vinto]

One more thing I'd like to add about Dr. Straub is that he has a very good personality. He seems to be a realist, even though I'm hoping I can get more than 1500 grafts in multiple sessions. I was a wreck, and he noticed that. He assured me that my hair doesn't look that bad, and that he can grow hair, he just won't promise me whether or not that will make me happy.

 

He seemed very honest, and if nothing else, very ethical since he turned me down before.

 

So now, I'm more incline towards Dr. Straub. The only thing remaining is his skill. He said that he can make a very fine stitch in the back of your head, by the method of try...something which let the hair grows out from your stitching. Still, what concerns me is that he doesn't seem to have many clients. He's surely not as busy as Dr. Elliot.

 

Another thing is that Dr. Straub kept assuring me that he only wants the best for his patient. He wants me to be happy, but doesn't want me to expect something unrealistic. I don't think making my head looking full again is that unrealistic though, I will talk more with him.

 

PS. After I did some search on Dr. Elliot...SCARY

[the B spot]

Vinto refer to my other post please.

 

In addition, please consider ONLY Coalition Docs for your next procedure. You are going to need EXPERT care only, and I would not recommend either of these Docs at this time.

[NervousNelly]

Vinto,

 

Try to keep just one thread at a time so that we can follow things easier and not have to keep repeating ourselves. No biggy!

 

Please see other thread for my response. I do want to add that you should get other consults as you are planning. I think that Dr. Straub is really making strides and trying to do quality work and sounds ethical but in your regards you need other opinions.

 

Just don't stress yourself It's obvious that you are getting yourself pretty worked up over things and I don't care what anyone says stress will worsen your situation. It has a way of causing or elevating several different issues and ailments. Please make efforts to get your mind off of things a bit. Just some friendly advise. You'll get thru this no probs. Take care friend.

[vinto]

Apologies Nelly and others, I don't mean to come off as a kid running around with scissors.

 

My worries are lessen now, due to some talks I've had with some close friends of mine. My confidence was shot and still is and because I'm only 26. In addition to that, I am planning to stay off Toppik because I just can't pretend anymore and letting myself believe that I have more hair than I do (No offense to anyone using it of course). I will now shave my head with a #1 or #2 clippers. I wonder how I would do with the ladies now. (Honestly one of my major concerns)

 

Anyway, thank you for your supports. I will try to keep things in under one thread from now on and I will definitely seek more consults before I jump into anything again. I will decide whether or not I'd need to fly out to see Dr. Shapiro.

 

I'll keep you posted. Once again, thank you for your support and comments.

 

Regards.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Vinto,

 

You sure get around on your posts don't you? .

 

Anyway...IMO, I wouldn't consider Dr. Elliot personally for your next procedure...I've seen more bad than good about him over the years I've been here. Dr. Straub seems to be slowly showing merit, however, I'm personally not comfortable enough to recommend him yet since he hasn't been brought up for membership of the coalition at this time. I strongly suggest, just as BSpot and others mentioned...stick to the coalition docs.

 

Bill

[Guest Cousin_It]

Vinto...

 

I say first get on the finasteride, see what it does for you, give it up to a year to get a good chance to work its magic. Then make the decision whether a transplant is merited or not.

 

As far as the doctors, I like Bill, cannot give you an outright recommendation on either of them. Personally I would not use either of them at this time. Dr.Straub seems to have the most potential between them, but he has issues as noted by some posts on this forum.

 

I think if you eventually require a transplant you will have to look beyond these 2 doctors. You can start your evaluation now, but do not commit to anyone until you view the results of finasteride. If you have question, just ask. Good luck!

[something]

Hi Vinto,

I have had two successful surgery's with Dr Elliot. But if i were you, i would first wait 8 months on Propecia to see what will happen. You are young and hair follicles that are at the first step of minaturization have a great chance to bounce back, especially if you are under 30.

 

If you go ahead with another surgery, you can just accelerate your loss and wind up even more discouraged.

 

I would also say that if you have problems with your dr., even after you have addressed them, then why go back?

[vinto]

Bill

-I'm almost embarassed by the amount of post I've injected into this forum, but once again desperation got the better of me. If you can't tell already, I'm the "want to get it done now" kind of person. Absolutely not a good thing in this case.

 

Cousin

-That seems to be the plan for now. Eight months to a year and see what it does for me.

 

something

-I'm glad you had two successful surgeries with Dr. Elliot. I am not saying that I had a failed operations. If there was anything Dr. Elliot failed that I can see right away was his failure of telling me to get on Propecia from day one. It's taken me 3-4 years to get back on it(I did once before for six months), starting two days ago. Another thing was that my follow up appointment, I had to do it on my own. No one contacted me or anything, is this common? I personally do not have a problem with Dr. Elliot. He's very personable, and approachable. I first wanted to go back to him to ask him if his grafts had actually grew and am I just losing my natural hair. He said yes it did, but I should have been on Propecia *sigh*. I'll go to him this Monday again to ask him some more questions regarding my donor area, my transplant, my possible future transplant. But yes, for now to a year or 8 months Propecia.

[Guest]

Just finished reading your message. Take it from someone who used Dr. Elliot. Watch Out! He did 400 graphs on me and I have major hole punch scars all over my head. Plus his assitants were supposed to put single hair graphs in the front hair line and ened up putting MULTIPLE graphs on one side. He also did work in the back and I just had a hair stylist ask me the other day "did you get plugs"? I was mortified! Now I am combing this forum to find someone that can fix my head. This is no joke, it really happend to me and Dr. E was the place I went.

 

I have read a lot of good about H&W and Shapiro.

 

Good Luck.