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Nine Month Report


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I have added an additional top view to TTDS's photo gallery.

 

TTDS's 9 month pics

Regards,

 

Aaron

 

former hair piece wearer

1997 550 micro/mini

2002 1483 grafts

More to come???

 

 

Disclaimer: I currently work for Dr Jeffrey Epstein. I am not a doctor. I have over 10 years of hair transplant experience to share.

 

Dr. Epstein is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

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Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:

Aaron What we really want to see is the pictures of the grafts the day of surgery. Did I miss it ,if not will you post them.

 

Same here, PGP -

 

Each time I revisit the thread, I keep hoping to see immediately post-op pics. Are there any?

 

The pics that were posted do give a better idea of what was done but immedately afters really help you zero in on the area the work was done.

Hairbank

 

1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's

2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong

3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong

 

GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS

 

current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day

 

My Hair Loss Weblog

 

Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ;) ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss.

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I know for a fact that I did not have any immediately post-op pics by the doc and nor were any taken the day after, when I went in to get my hair washed.

 

And, yes, at 6.5 months, I have no growth.

 

And no, I don't intend to defend myself here, when I am already at a disadvantage.

 

And no, I am not out on a witch hunting spree.

 

Bottom line, I will be surprised if there are immediate post-op pics, 'cause I sure am interested in seein' 'em. Just sayin'.

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Dear FHL- I have several responses and thoughts about your words.

 

1st- There are over 30 email correspondences between you and I, from between your intially contacting me in 2006, until the last one on November 24th. During the course of our pre-procedure emails, I learned that you were disappointed with the results from a prior procedure performed in Portland in 2001, and that you had relatively fine hair throughout. After evaluating your situation, I advised you that, as stated in my email onb August 27, 2007 , quote "I do anticipate that I can at least partially fill in those areas of greatest cosmetic concern with a procedure of 1200 to as many as 1500 or so grafts. The KEY DETERMINANT AS TO THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT YOU CAN EXPECT IS THE THICKNESS OF YOUR HAIR IN THE DONOR AREA. I know you have been through this before, but I do believe that, given my experience, I can achieve as good an improvement as possible."

2nd- We planned on performning 1200 to 1300 grafts, yet I able to obtain 1620 grafts, which was provided to you as a courtesy. Most of your grafts contained one and two hairs.

3rd- I took extra care to explain to you that there was a limit as to the amount of coverage you could expect, but that I would do my very best- for I only wanted you to have realistic expectations. I had serious second thoughts about doing your procedure, for two reasons: first, you had many emotional issues related to your hair loss and disappointment with your prior work; and second, the fact that you were continuing to have some hair loss despite being on both Spironolactone and Synthroid. However, after extensive conversation with you, we decided that it would be worth a try to provide as much help for you as possible, due to the emotional toll your hair loss was inflicting on you.

4th-Post-procedure there are at least 6 email correspondences between us, when I have always been available to answer any questions you have. To date, you have yet to send me any post-procedure photos showing your results to date- which, at just 6 plus months, are very early.

5th- Hair transplants are not for every woman. However, in 2007, I performed 142 hair transplant procedures on women, and the overwhelming majority of them have had excellent results. I recently wrote an article on hair transplants in women for Plastic Surgery Products Magazine- and in the article, I wrote that the main challenge of these procedures is pre-op counseling, so that the patient has REALISTIC goals of the procedure. In your case, FHL, I really did try to do that, and explained to you that I would only do my very best, but could not guarantee good results, especially because of your prior experience as well as your thin donor hairs.

 

I am here to help you in whatever way I can. It is important, for all patients, that you choose a surgeon with whom you can correspond- and I do feel that I have always been here for you, FHL.

 

Sincerely,

Jeff Epstein, MD, FACS

Miami and NYC

www.womenscenterforhairloss.com

www.foundhair.com

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Female_Hair_Loss,

 

It sounds like your case is a difficult one for the reasons Dr. Epstein mentioned. I recognize that you are disappointed with your progress to date, but I encourage you to contact Dr. Epstein so he can evaluate your situation either in person or through photos.

 

I know you don't want to hear it, but 6.5 months is still the early days. And though I can certainly relate to the emotional roller coaster of waiting for new hair growth, patience is extremely important in this process.

 

Feel free also to post your before and 6.5 month photos on a new thread to garner feedback and support both from our patient members and Dr. Epstein who I believe will go out of his way to help you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

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Dr. Epstein,

 

Thank you for your call. I have left you a message (check your email), and we can talk.

 

Let me explain why I have posted on this board, because I feel I am being personally attacked.

 

I did not come to this board to impugn Dr. E.'s reputation nor to have a deleterious effect on his practice. It does me no good to hurt another person, especially someone who has, obviously, laboriously built up his practice. I know, because I didn't spend a million years in graduate school just so I can write purty words. I know how much work goes into building a career. I have, therefore, no reason to "hate on" Dr. E.

 

I do have an issue with the format of the forum. That is to say (before Pat yells at me and possibly bans me), PEOPLE OFTEN POST QUESTIONS ABOUT CERTAIN DOCTORS. IF that is allowed, then people should be allowed to share their stories WITH EACH OTHER. I only posted after I saw a DIRECT question about Dr.E. I did not create a thread to bash him. I did not say anything, if I recall correctly, in this particular thread, until I saw the way another E. patient was treated (his IP status was essentially "outed.")

 

I come/came in here simply to provide a service to others who are thinking about HT. I feel that I have the right to thwart women from having HTs--if I so feel. I feel, after experiencing all the people out there who make money off of our vulnerability, that I should speak out my truth. And I know that I do this with no malicious intent. I feel that my research background and training do give me a slight advantage in that I can spend large swathes of time evaluating something effectively, and I did not go into an HT without asking almost an exhaustive list of questions. Many patients do not have the luxury of doing that. I have very realistic expectations of my HT. All I wanted was enough hair to HIDE the Toppix hair concealer I have used for several years. My hair by 2006 was such that I could not even hide that. So all I want now is to have enough hair (with creative styling) to create the illusion of having more hair. If that isn't realistic expectation, I don't know what it.

 

Quite honestly, the past couple of weeks (or less?) have been more traumatic than I need things to be. I feel like I (and anyone who has spoken supposedly negatively) have been assailed from all sides. I feel that Dr. E.'s post -- while well-meaning I am sure -- is offensive on a couple of significant levels (and I am talking as one doc. to another), but I will discuss that with him.

 

Anyway, in case my convoluted post doesn't make sense:

1. I posted my 6 month experience for the benefit of other possible patients seeking information

 

2. I did not make my posts with any intention of hurting or negatively impacting Dr. E.'s career. He seems to be a good doctor, a nice person, and a caring human being. I have no reason to doubt otherwise.

 

3. IF this forum does not want people to post their experiences, negative or not, then do not have people ask questions in the first place.

 

It seems that it would serve the community just as well to have pinned threads devoted to each doctor, and people can get and gleam information as they wish.

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FHL,

I think part of the problem is that you're citing your experience with Dr.Epstein as negative or a failure when it's still a bit premature to make that call. Trust me, I understand these are anxious times. I am in the same boat at 5 months post-op--zero signs of visible growth, although i can feel some stubble. The bottom line with an HT is you have to give it a full year before you can decide if it was a success or failure.

 

You did your research and chose a top doctor; now all you can do is be patient and have faith it will grow.

I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com

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IF this forum does not want people to post their experiences, negative or not, then do not have people ask questions in the first place.

 

Female,

 

Out of all the points you made, this is the one I want to focus on in this post to you.

 

I'm not sure how you've come under the impression that your experience was not welcome and if I had anything to do with it, I apologize. I'm also sorry if you felt that somehow any of my words were attacking. I'm making the assumption that I was involved in you feeling this way since I am the Co-moderator and Associate Publisher of this community. So again, I apologize if anything I said came across this way.

 

I want you to understand however, that as the moderator, I try to keep things as balanced as possible. Sometimes it's as simple as educating a patient, such as in your case, as much as you have made it clear that you didn't want to hear it with words such as "blah blah blah", telling you that 6 or 6.5 months is way too early to evaluate a result is relevant information and I shared it primarily for your benefit. My hope was to provide you with accurate information that would hopefully be a comfort to you. "Waiting it out" in this early stage is important.

 

I am certainly not guaranteeing your result in any way shape or form by saying these things nor am I trying to brush your experience under the rug. In fact, I sent you a private message when you first posted asking for more detail about your case and offered to help you if I could.

 

But what you do have to understand is in addition to those that post on these threads, hundreds and thousands of members and guests read these things on a regular basis. If an uneducated seeking patient sees that you are dissatisfied and have had no growth, without knowing all the details of your case and the hair transplant maturation timeline, they may see it as a failure - which at this early stage, would be an improper evaluation. So my comments were not only for your benefit, but also for the thousands of readers that will later view this thread and with all the information, can draw their own conclusions. I hope you understand this.

 

Either way, if there is anything I can do to help you, feel free to respond to my private message or reply to this post.

 

I am glad however, to hear that you will be contacting Dr. Epstein privately to discuss your case. I do hope that you will report back to us in 6 months to share your result with pictures. Of course, we encourage you to participate on any thread you find interesting in the meantime.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

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If there is anything thing I have really learned from the threads of post-op and growth rate. Thats wait one year and suffer through the slow times of growth. Your mind is the gateway to your soul. Think negative and you will get negative. Think positive and there is always hope. The Golden rule of thumb is to wait 1 year and not rule out any doctor until atleast that one year is up.

 

Thats a fair deal for your hairs to grow and the doc does not get a bad rap. You could really sprout at anytime. planting and harvest time. But when will your crop sprout? From reading all these blogs on poor growth!! Every vet is saying to just wait it out a little longer!!! I think thats the best advice and I am going to set a 1 year consult with Dr. Epstein in New York and take it from there. I have the plan and thats what we have to set our minds to!!! To give everything a fair chance!!! (hairgrowth/doctor)

 

I think I would feel pretty stupid if I talked bad about a doc and complained about poor growth and then all of a sudden at 11 months or 12 months my hair took off like a horse race. Then I would be saying sorry. We dont have to say sorry just wait the full 1 year. I do feel for the people who dont see any growth at 6 months,but we are all in this together. The good part about Dr. Epstein is he stands behind his work as some other docs dont. Look to the positive it could be worse with another doc.

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Originally posted by hairthere:

FHL,

I think part of the problem is that you're citing your experience with Dr.Epstein as negative or a failure when it's still a bit premature to make that call. Trust me, I understand these are anxious times. I am in the same boat at 5 months post-op--zero signs of visible growth, although i can feel some stubble. The bottom line with an HT is you have to give it a full year before you can decide if it was a success or failure.

 

You did your research and chose a top doctor; now all you can do is be patient and have faith it will grow.

 

I couldn't agree more Hairthere.

As patients we all heal and grow at different rates....we all did our research..it will be fine when it all shakes out at the end.

 

Epstein has been taking some hits lately.

But here you are at five months with no visible growth....is it Feller's fault ??...uhhh NO.

 

Feller and Epstein are the TOPS in my opinion.

I enjoy seeing Feller's patients grow and look amazing...makes me feel great about doing this in the first place.

It's basically a lock that in four to six months your going to look amazing and loving life.

 

I'm not at ALL happy that you're seeing only stubble at his point....but it just goes to show most of the time...if not all of the time...the patient and not the doc makes the difference when it comes to results.

 

I agree with djdennis...I've learned alot in the last few weeks about growth...and how it varies greatly patient to patient.

We all must be positive.

 

 

Grow well my friend.

We will be living large by Sept.

 

MH

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Thanks for the positivity MH... I was wondering where the good vibes had gone!

 

Oh, and if by 12 months time I have no growth (which I doubt will happen) you better believe doctor Feller and this forum will know about it.

I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com

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It's all good buddy.

 

Most (99%) of the guys are VERY positive on this forum.

That's why I check in here regularly.

It helps me stay positive about my HT.

 

We're all kind've in this together because we know losing hair sucks and getting it back is awesome.

 

Every single doc I'm sure has slow growers...it's just the nature of the beast.

 

Just remember the one drawback you and I are going to have to deal with...buying all those damm brushes and gallons of Revita.

Doesn't life suck sometimes....lol.

 

MH

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