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[panther5000]

.]

 

[This message was edited by panther5000 on November 23, 2002 at 08:49 PM.]

[panther5000]

.]

 

[This message was edited by panther5000 on November 23, 2002 at 08:49 PM.]

[noreaster]

if he said singles were a waste on a very bald area, why did he or the techs waste the time to cut the singles? sounds fishy to me, but I will wait to hear what the guru's have to say on this one.

[HotCreek]

I find this story a little disturbing on two counts: First, if I understand things correctly, the physician actually inserted TWO grafts into single recipient sites, a single-hair graft and a two or three-hair graft. To me this seems contrary to the philosophy of FU transplants which is to move away from too many hairs in each recipient site (which is what you get with plugs or mini-grafts) and in the direction of fewer hairs per site. Also, another benefit of FU transplantation is that the grafts are implanted exactly the way they grow on your head! Seems to me that putting more than one graft into one hole defeats the purpose, a little, if not a lot. Also, what about graft "compression" which occurs when the base of the hairs is squeezed together too tightly and the hairs grow out in a "fan" like configuration, like peacock feathers or something?

 

The other thing is that it really sounds like there was a communication "disconnect" between you and the surgeon. If you expected each graft to be inserted into a single incision site, then that's what you should have received.

 

Granted, if the work was on the crown it may make little or no cosmetic difference. Nonetheless, I think the doctor needs to be very clear about what he's going to do. I hesitate to say this in the absence of more information, but it almost sounds like the doctor was just lazy (or overbooked!) and didn't want to make the additional incisions. Easier for him to make fewer and let the tech double-up on some graft insertions. But,...I'm just speculating.

 

I can't tell you what to do because I think that's a personal decision that you have to make. However, I think I'd be a little upset about it too.

 

Let us know what you decide and what the doctor says.

[arfy]

Panther

You only need to post your thread once, not three different times. It makes it hard to have a dialogue when there are three different threads about the exact same subject.

[panther5000]

I am very confused here. He said he would first do about 1200-1300 grafts for $4000.00 which I thought was awesome because my old Dr. Charged me 1000 for $ 4000.00. So my first error naivity! No one eats lunch for free!

I thought he was a nice guy!(By the way he is very well known, great reputation and is highly recommended by everyone oin Florida)

When it was all said and done I asked "How many did you get"? He was fumbling with the numbers as was his assistants when I asked when he left the room, they kept saying did you go over that with the Dr? Here is where I got suspicious!!

He later told me he did about 1220. I said thats cool! I went home and my wife looked at my head and said 1220? I don't think so!

So The next day I went into his office and demanded a real #!! He went through his paperwork and than said, he harvested 1220, but because we were doing crown work he didn't really need the singles, I had 330 of them! he said for density he would double them up with 2, and 3's!

I thought what!! That is laziness! he could have placed for that case 2 together and given me another 170 grafts in another balding area!

I have already become apain in the a-- to him and he has had it with my griping already.

What should I do?

[HotCreek]

Panther,

 

If you feel you have "empirical" proof that he short-changed you, you can always call a lawyer. Of course, that may be a lot more time, effort and money than it's worth. Also, it would really "sour" your relationship with the doc and (at least for me) would preclude having him do any more work!

 

Before you do anything though, you should think about exactly what you want to accomplish. Do you want a partial refund? Do you want more work done? Or something else?

 

Most lawyers where I live will give you 30 minutes or so of free consulting time over the phone if they think you might be bringing them some business. So, even if you don't get a lawyer involved directly, you might call one for free, explain your situation and see what they think your options are.

 

Frequently, having an attorney write a simple letter requesting information makes people very acquiescent about cooperating with you. So, maybe a letter would help.

 

Also, each state has a medical review board of one sort or another (they all seem to have different names). You could contact the board for your state, once again for free, and ask them what your options are.

 

Best of luck!

[noreaster]

who was the doc?