Happy Camper's hair project

[Kelly]

Women have hair loss too! And we suffer for it just like you men, maybe even more. Whereas hair loss is common in men, it's less common among women and we get stared at due to its relative rarity. These photos are a brief, though representative, sketch of my hair transplant journey.

 

Due to a combination of circumstances my hair had become, for me, the object of much anxiety. Heredity, coupled with the results of forehead/sinus surgery, left me with a very uncharacteristic (and personally embarrassing) hairline.

 

This album will hopefully give you the proof of the possibilities of hair transplant surgery, and perhaps the motivation to proceed with your own.

 

 

 

[HK500]

That's great results and very impressive density. Congratulations.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Kelly,

 

Welcome to the forums. hairloss certainly is at the very least just as much of an issue as it is for men. It seems more socially acceptable for men to lose their hair than for women, yet at the same time, we are all in this boat together.

 

Your results look tremendous. Any details about the surgery you are willing to share? how many grafts/hairs? When was the surgery? Who was your doctor?

 

Congratulations!

 

Bill

[Kelly]

Why, thank you Bill (previously known as Bill), I appreciate your comments. This is my first, and will be my only, hair transplant experience. It turned out wonderfully, I'm very happy. I posted here to hopefully be of some service to someone else who is researching, like I did prior to my HT.

 

For the record, here's my 'stats':

 

Surgery: 1-29-06, single session, with Dr. Steven Gabel of the Northwest Surgical Hair Restoration clinic in Hillsboro, Oregon.

 

Total Grafts: 2008

 

Single Hair Follicles: 563

Two Hair Follicles: 1026

Three Hair Follicles: 295

Four Hair Follicles: 124

 

I also have a blog, accessible through a link attached to my forum name. More info there for anyone wishing to pursue more.

 

And btw, you're looking pretty awesome yourself. Now you're going to have to be spending all your money on hair brushes and mousse and getting it all styled nicely for your lady. Thanks again for your comments...

 

Kelly

 

Originally posted by Bill:

Kelly,

 

Welcome to the forums. hairloss certainly is at the very least just as much of an issue as it is for men. It seems more socially acceptable for men to lose their hair than for women, yet at the same time, we are all in this boat together.

 

Your results look tremendous. Any details about the surgery you are willing to share? how many grafts/hairs? When was the surgery? Who was your doctor?

 

Congratulations!

 

Bill

[NervousNelly]

Truly awesome results. I'm very glad for you. He has given you such a perfect hairline that helps frame your face nicely. Nice eyes too BTW. We get tired of looking at ugly bloaks. Thanks for the post.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Kelly,

 

Thanks for your reply. It seems Dr. Gabel has done a very nice job for you. Your hairline looks phenominal. I'm glad you are pleased. I will be taking a look at your blog in the next few days to learn more about your experience.

 

Do you have and/or are you willing to share any immediately post op pictures? I'm guessing that in order to get your hairline to look like that, Dr. Gabel had to do some good dense packing in the hairline. Since I have no prior knowledge of him...I'd wonder if Dr. Gabel has been looked at before for coalition membership. Maybe Pat can chime in here if he sees it.

 

Thanks for the compliments Kelly. I've come a long way after 3 HTs...but the fun part of this 3rd HT is yet to begin in fullness. All I can say is I'm looking forward to the summer time.

 

Congratulations again.

 

Bill

[MrJobi]

Looks great!! Extremely natural.. I am sure you are soo happy.. It's nice to be able to wear your hair how you like it

 

Congrats!!

[nobuzz4me]

Happy Camper,

 

The work looks great, congratulations! I have not heard of Dr. Gabel, but it looks like you picked a winner!

 

I saw your weblog, that is nice that you are documenting your experience for others to share. Many women (and Men) who suffer from hairloss will find your story very inspirational. Also, could you post some form of ID, I find it hard to believe your posted age, you look about twenty years younger than that!

 

Welcome to the forum,

[Kelly]

Thank you JOBI, yes it is nice to once again be able to have stress-free hair! :-) And, yes too, I'm verrrrry happy with it, as I hope you are with yours.

 

Take care.

 

Kelly

[MrJobi]

Hi Kel

 

Yup, I have my 3rd HT in March so I'm getting there.. For me I needed to fil in larger area's than you ( be thankful) I always feel horrible when I see a women with diffuse thinning or hairloss. It's bad enough for men ...

 

Thanks and enjoy

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Kelly,

 

Welcome to our forum. Your results look awesome (and so do you by the way). It's amazing the amount of fullness and density you got after only one session.

 

It's great to see a woman in particular participate on this forum community. There are so many men on this forum that I'd imagine most women probally think they've stepped into a mens locker room when they visit this forum. I hope your story provides encouragement for many other women who have suffered from similar hair loss. Kudos to you and Dr. Gabel.

 

For those who don't know him (yet), Dr. Steve Gabel is recommended on the Hair Transplant Network in Oregon. In addition to being a great guy, he is totally committed to doing ultra refined grafting using the lateral slit technique and clearly it shows.

 

Personally I'd like to continue to see his impressive results and some day have this community grant him membership in the Coalition. He has "all the right stuff".

His profile is at http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/Doctors.asp?DrID=633

 

Kelly congratulations on your extremely nice make over.

 

Pat

[Kelly]

Thank you for the warm welcome, Pat (and...um...for the flattering comment as well). This is a wonderful forum/website/resource that you've put together. I'm happy to have found it.

 

Yes, the predominance of men does lend itself to a particular perspective of hair loss which can make research a bit more difficult for us women. When I began researching in early 2004, I either missed this site or was scared off . I'm sure I would have devoured the info here had I run across it, regardless of the 'men's locker room' theme. This is an excellent resource and now that I'm aware of it, I will certainly recommend it if I ever have the chance.

 

I agree, I would also like to see more of Dr. Gabel's patients post their results. I believe he is an up and coming hair surgeon here in the Pacific Northwest. And btw he just moved into a brand new clinic across the street from his former location.

 

I'm afraid I wasn't prepared for the volume of responses and comments I've been receiving, as a result I'm getting behind in answering some of them. Let me try to do some 'catch up' now if that's OK...

 

To HK500 (2/12): Thanks for your initial congratulatory welcome. As my moniker says, I'm a 'Happy Camper'!

 

To NervousNelly (2/13): Thank you for your nice compliment, I'm glad you like my results...so do I, it really is awesome! Not sure about the 'ugly blokes' comparison but you guys are definitely the most complimentary bunch of 'blokes' I've run across in a long time. And the best looking too!

 

To Bill (2/13): You aren't related to Prince by any chance are you? I took your advice (and btw thank you for suggesting it) and I posted two more photos showing density, one before the fut's are in place and one after the session was complete. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Thanks again for your advice, it was a good idea.

 

To nobuzz4me (2/13 and 2/14): I, too, hope my weblog and photos will be of some help to someone someday. That's the whole point as far as I'm concerned. I didn't post for my own sake, after all I get to see the results everyday. Yipee!!

 

Hey, are you 'carding' me? Actually I AM younger than my posted age which, due to some software glitch I suppose, shows 57. I'm really just 56...hey, one year is important at my age. But thank you for the compliment, that was very nice of you. I'm having a hard time seeing the 'men's locker room' in evidence here. You are all perfect gentlemen.

 

To Mrjb (2/14): Hey JOBI, good luck to you next month, I'm sure you'll love the results. Yes, I know what you mean about thin hair in women, just a couple of weeks ago I saw a woman, probably in her 60's, with such thin hair that her entire scalp was visible through her hair, her scalp was shiny and was reflecting light from the overhead store lighting. I felt really bad for her, but I'm sure she was fine with it. If not, she would probably have been wearing a wig. It served as a reminder though that women have hair loss issues too. I'm glad to have been able to remedy mine.

 

Finally, once again to Pat, thank you for your kind words not only to me, but regarding Dr. Gabel as well. I think you'll be hearing/seeing more of him in the future.

 

Take care guys,

 

Happy Camper

[Bill - Seemiller]

Kelly,

 

Thanks for posting the immediately post op pictures. I agree...Dr. Gabel's work seems to be top notch...I like his use of lateral slits and dense packing...quite the "ultra refined" hair transplant. And your results speak for themselves....amazing! 56? Are you serious? You look a heck of a lot younger than that....seriously! I don't say things just to say things either...I figure why lie when you can just be silent .

 

Am I related to Prince? lol. No, I'm related to the "Artist formerly known as Prince" . Hahaha. There is actually a thread somewhere...lol...where people are ragging on me simply due to the high number of posts I have here...so that as well as the "I have no life hair club member" were jokes I decided to add to my alias

 

Pat,

 

Thank you for posting the link to Dr. Gabel's profile. I'd also like to continue seeing more work from him and then as long as consistency occurs, see him become a coalition member.

 

Bill

[Arod77ld]

Did you experience any shock loss after the procedure? I am a female and about to have my temples filled in, would love some info! How was the healing, growing process?

[voxman]

Did you experience any shock loss after the procedure? I am a female and about to have my temples filled in, would love some info! How was the healing, growing process?

 

Arod77ld, this post is over 10 years old now and the OP never came back. I do not think you will get an answer to your question on this thread. Try starting a new one.

[Kelly]

Did you experience any shock loss after the procedure? I am a female and about to have my temples filled in, would love some info! How was the healing, growing process?

Hi Arod77ld

Yes I did see some shock loss but not very much. Maybe I was lucky, only about 10% - 15% of my new hair ever fell out, the rest continued to grow from day 1. So that was a nice surprise. As far as healing and new hair growth, as you know hair grows slowly, so it took about several months for the new hair to lengthen to the point where it started to blend and 'fill in' the new areas. In truth, it was at least 6 months before I realized one day, "Hey! This looks great!" But everyone's hair growth rate and expectations differ, and how you wear your hair will be a huge factor in how you experience your own 'results'. Just remember, once it grows out (and it *WILL* grow out!) it's permanent and forever...it's your own hair. If you can maintain your focus on that fact, the time it takes for the hair to fill in will be more endurable. Best of luck to you with your temple fill-ins...you're going to love it!

[Speegs]

It's awesome to see good results for a female patient, this forum is dominated with male cases and for the sake of patient education it's a delight to see some variety in gender cases.

 

HT is for women too, and it's a great advocacy for ladies to see that someone out there is going through similar things that they are grappling with to address. And better yet, you have found a top notch doctor that's helping to remedy the situation.

 

I'm a Dr. Gabel patient too, and can't help but fanboy a bit when I see happy patients come from him.