what do you think of these pics?

[John Malloy]

John,

 

Dr. Feller is very thorough and I find it hard to believe he didn't discuss his game plan with you before proceeding with surgery, especially something as crucial as scar placement. Are you sure you just don't remember?

 

Bill

Bill,

Honestly, I,m sure it never was. Besides if he told me he had to do another scar, it would not have been an issue because like I reiterated numerous times--after reading of all his accolades on this website, plus the fact he was so confident that I was an "easy fix" I was going with what he recomended regardless.

While it is my fault for putting to much trust in the doctor's skills, I hold no ill will towards the doc. We actually have a cordial relationship in my eyes; however, I'm not going to pretend that I'm happy with my repair, if I'm not. I may even use Feller to FUE the scar, but my expectations are alot lower at this point. Maybe, that will take some pressure off the doc.

But, all in all. The bottom line concerning the scar is this: I took a ht surgery as a whole instead of 2 distinctive parts--donor and recipient. So, with that thinking and the fact my first Ht was bashed, and still is, by the doc, I thought his scar would be better than the first "butcher's" scar. Once again, the decision is my fault. But, the scar is horrible regardless, and the answer to that cannot be as simple as "my physiology did not play along" because it "played along" with my first ht done by a so called novice.

[Time to do something]

Your hair looks great to me.

[Jacksbeard]

I agree with time to do something! Perhaps I am not as well versed in picking out HTs as others but your hair looks great to me! I would trade places with you in a second, lol!!

[getitoverwith]

Bill,

Honestly, I,m sure it never was. Besides if he told me he had to do another scar, it would not have been an issue because like I reiterated numerous times--after reading of all his accolades on this website, plus the fact he was so confident that I was an "easy fix" I was going with what he recomended regardless.

 

I have been following some surgeons for sometime, no offense, but it seems to me with Dr. Feller, too many patients come out getting something other than what they expected. It could be communication, it could be doctor's lack of listening to the patients. This is a cosmetic surgery for God's sake, not a heart surgery, the doctor should pay attention to what patient's goals are. A good cosmetic surgeon IMHO, should be a good listener at the very least.

 

Here is another disappointed post : http://hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156720-new-hair-transplant-staples-too-high.html.

 

Its one thing to say "it may be a bit less dense", "the scar may be a bit high" and an entirely different thing to say "the doc didn't listen to me" or "I talked about it but it didnt materialize." - scares the heck out of me...

Edited June 20, 2010 by getitoverwith

[Dr. Alan Feller]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but Bill brought to my attention that Malloy and/or people on this thread are under the misimpression that I created a second scar in his donor area. This is absolutely incorrect.

 

Had I created a second scar you would have seen a long horizontal hair bearing strip of skin between two distinct scars. However, if you take a look at the photo Malloy posted in this thread you don't see that at all.

 

What you do see is an area of stretched scar which is mostly limited to the left corner of his donor area. This is quite common when a patient has had multiple procedures. The possibility (probability) of its formation was not only discussed prior to the repair procedure, but memorolized in writing and signed by Malloy himself to insure he understood the potential of strecthed scar formation. I believe in full transparency and informed consent and make sure I have it in writing before starting any procedure.

 

All HT doctors include the possibility of stretched scars in their consent forms because they all have patients like Malloy. There are absolutely no exceptions. He's not the first patient with a stretched scar and I guarantee you he's not going to be the last- no matter which doctor you choose.

 

The reason for the formation of this area of stretched scar is simple, Malloy has a very flexible skin and already had a surgery performed prior to coming to me. Even though I do use certain techniques to minimize the stretching of scar tissue it is not always avoidable.

 

What you don't see in the photo is that the rest of the scar is not as wide as the area he presented and falls well within normal limits for state- of- the- art hair transplant surgery.

 

As for the rest of the photos posted by Malloy. I saw him only a month ago and he looked far better in my office than he does in those pictures. When I inspect the photos closely, however, I noticed that the hair has been wet down by either sweat or some hair product and that a complete lack of styling is evident. Furthermore, the angles chosen for the photos were also the most uncomplimentary possible.

 

Nevertheless the improvement in his hair is dramatic and I am extremely proud of this repair case.

 

His before and after photos easily tell the whole story. Take a look at each before picture closely and then each after picture and then decide for yourself.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2010 by Dr. Alan Feller

[Bill - Seemiller]

getitoverwith,

 

I think you have formed an unfair opinion of Dr. Feller based on two recent patient posted concerns, both of which have been thoroughly addressed. I encourage you to read through both topics entirely in addition to the dozens of happy Dr. Feller patient posted experiences on this forum before reaching a final conclusion.

 

It's unfortunate that there may have been some miscommunication or misunderstandings with both of these patients. However, Dr. Feller has addressed it both publicly and privately with his patients.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Slaps]

Hi John, thanks for letting us see what your HT really looks like, yes I can see why your unhappy, its quite amazing how the photo taken by the clinic makes your hair look so much better then it does in your photos.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Slaps,

 

Your statement, "thanks for letting us see what your HT really looks like" is a little unfair...don't you think? You've basically just accused Dr. Feller of doctoring his photos to make John's results look better than they are. Don't you think it's possible that both sets of photos are accurate under the conditions they were taken?

 

It's been discussed numerous times that hair transplant surgery is the art of illusion. Frankly, even the thickest hair when unstyled, wet, or under harsh lighting can appear thin and potentially even unnatural looking.

 

Personally, I think John's hair looks 200% better now after his procedure with Dr. Feller and his scar isn't too badly stretched. If John is unhappy, he can always work with Dr. Feller or another doctor of his choosing to improve his situation even more.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Danielkiwi]

 

What you do see is an area of stretched scar which is mostly limited to the left corner of his donor area. This is quite common when a patient has had multiple procedures. The possibility (probability) of its formation was not only discussed prior to the repair procedure, but memorolized in writing and signed by Malloy himself to insure he understood the potential of strecthed scar formation. I believe in full transparency and informed consent and make sure I have it in writing before starting any procedure.

 

All HT doctors include the possibility of stretched scars in their consent forms because they all have patients like Malloy. There are absolutely no exceptions. He's not the first patient with a stretched scar and I guarantee you he's not going to be the last- no matter which doctor you choose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another dark side of hairtransplant we should be aware of before jumping the ship...i am not pointing fingers at anybody as nobody knows what was discussed between the doctor and the paitent...But my question to everyone out there is....When you are sitting on that chair ready for the surgery and you get a consent form that includes information that was not explained prior to surgery, what are the options..we certainly will not have the b***s to tell the doctor to cancel the surgery!!!!has anybody been in this situation before guys

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Danielkiwi,

You just made a false accusation in your post. Frankly, this thread is full of false accusations.

 

All possible complications were discussed with him weeks prior to his procedure during our initial consultation. I also discuss complications regularly on this website, so any intimation that such information was held from Malloy are completely false. Furthermore, the possible complications are also reviewed again just prior to surgery in writing.

 

This is really much to do about nothing. An area of stretched scar on a patient who is having a second procedure, particularly a repair patient, is prefectly normal and expected and could hardley even be classified as a "complication".

 

If any top doc coalition member can come on here and counter anything I've written I would be very interested, and so would the posters.

 

Thanks to Bill for setting the record straight with regard to accurate information.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Dr. Alan Feller

[Danielkiwi]

I would like to apologize if i hurt your feelings Dr. Feller...I mentioned that i was not pointing fingers at anyone but just trying to understand what happens if a patient comes across a fact in the consent form which was not discussed (We all know this is realistically possible since there are so many variables in a surgery and many times patients do online consultations without even meeting the doctor), would it be fine on your part or any other doctor, if the patient cancelled the surgery...

[BigBill1234]

So what Doctor Feller is saying is "An area of stretched scar on a patient who is having a second procedure, particularly a repair patient, is prefectly normal and expected."

 

... I would like this explained. I have heard it is possible, but unlikely. Now it is expected? Why would anyone have a second procedure if a streched scar is expected?

[Slaps]

... I would like this explained. I have heard it is possible, but unlikely. Now it is expected? Why would anyone have a second procedure if a streched scar is expected?

 

Because HT is a prison, once you've had one procedure your locked in, as you keep losing hair you will need more procedures. You've no choice unless you want to look a freak.

[BigBill1234]

I understand you will always need more HT's but I did not think this guaranteed a stretched scar? What if your origional scar streched?

[phil mascallpen]

what you do see is an area of stretched scar which is mostly limited to the left corner of his donor area. This is quite common when a patient has had multiple procedures. All ht doctors include the possibility of stretched scars in their consent forms because they all have patients like malloy.

 

As for the rest of the photos posted by malloy. I saw him only a month ago and he looked far better in my office than he does in those pictures. When i inspect the photos closely, however, i noticed that the hair has been wet down by either sweat or some hair product and that a complete lack of styling is evident. Furthermore, the angles chosen for the photos were also the most uncomplimentary possible.

 

 

This is his second surgery I believe. I seriously doubt most doctors tell patients who are getting a second surgery that a 1/2 inch stretched scar in 1/3 of the scar length is "quite common." Yes they have them sign the consent forms but they certainly don't spend much time on them and they certainly don't have the "quite common" part written into them. If that is written in yours Dr. Feller and then weeks before you did point it out to him then you are in a small minority and I applaud you.

 

As for his photos being unflattering, well, he took them outside in what would seem a normal life situation. That's what patients want to see, not photos perfectly styled in controlled lighting. And in real life people look at your hair from all angles, not just the most complementary ones. So I'm not sure about the validity of this complaint. And please forgive me Dr. Feller, because I do think you are one of the good guys in this field, but I do find it slightly amusing to hear a clinic complain about the "realness" of photos.

 

Bottom line for me: John's recipient looks better, the scar unfortunately does not. I think Dr. Feller has been trying his best to make John happy.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Slaps,

 

I don't mean this in any derogatory way, but why do you continue to participate on a forum dedicated mostly to surgical hair restoration when you're completely against hair transplants? I know you've had a bad hair transplant experience however, your statements are often biased toward your own negative experience and often, downright untrue. Yes, patients often require more than one procedure to meet their goals, but I'd hardly call it a prison. In fact, for many members of this community (including myself), hair loss was the prison and hair transplantation was the get out of jail free card!

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

I don't want to speak for Dr. Feller however, I think when he said a stretched scar is "quite common", he was thinking of repair cases like John. That said, I do think it's worthwhile for Dr. Feller to provide an explanation for his statement. His professional input would go a long way in helping to educate this community on today's revolutionary donor closure techniques, their benefits and drawbacks.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill Seemiller

[getitoverwith]

getitoverwith,

 

I think you have formed an unfair opinion of Dr. Feller based on two recent patient posted concerns, both of which have been thoroughly addressed.

 

 

Bill, the point I was trying to make was the miscommunication that seem to be consistent with Dr. Feller patients, not about the scar.... as you can see here from Malloy's post :

 

... I have no idea why the doc did not use the original scar. It was never discussed. Like I mentioned numerous times, after reading the docs reviews on this site combined with the doc's confidence of an easy fix, I thought I would be extremely happy by now.

 

This thread particularly is very perplexing..

 

And for the scar, I dont see anything so far anything to side with Malloy's argument or Dr. Feller's... I would love to see pictures from Malloy to substantiate his position.

Edited June 21, 2010 by getitoverwith

[Maxxy]

I don't want to speak for Dr. Feller however, I think when he said a stretched scar is "quite common", he was thinking of repair cases like John.

 

Bill,

 

I also don't want to speak for Dr. Feller, however, as John was so pleased with his original scar and has spoke of how fine it was - the fact that this was a repair case shouldn't be an issue should it? I mean if John's first scar turned out so good, this wasn't a repair case where the scar is concerned.

[Tsakalos]

the scar aint that bad for being his second.. as far as the front it whould require some more FU to look fuller imo

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Stretched scars are “common” in patients with very flexible skin and those who have had prior surgery. The latter becomes ten times more significant when the first surgeon clearly didn’t know what he was doing-which can be said of the Malloy case simply based on the unacceptable treatment of the recipient area alone by his first doctor.

There are several techniques that should be used to create a minimal scar:

1. Keep the scar thin in width by simply making it longer.

2. Narrow the strip over the corners of the donor area. (Mastoid Processes)

3. Cut through the first scar IF it is in the appropriate place AND the skin isn’t too tight

4. Trim either or both the skin edges before closure. The famed “trichophylic” closure

5. Use cautery to minimize chance of hematoma and subsequent necrosis

6. Use staples to close the wound

7. Use dissolving suture in a two layer closure -maybe-the jury is still out, but should be used for all high tension closures if the situation presents itself)

These are the main techniques used to minimize scar. Most of the top docs perform most or all of those in the list (the staples vs. sutures debate will probably never end). It really isn’t that difficult. After this, it’s up to the physiology of the skin to do the rest. The surgeon does not have any more control.

ALL top docs, and I mean ALL, have patients with stretched scars so if some of you are looking for absolute perfection, then look outside of the HT industry. Again, if any Coalition doctor can come on here and refute a word I’ve written then I’m sure we’d all like to hear from you.

[TC17]

Dr. Feller, I take some offense at your challenge to coalition doctors to come on this post and dispute what it is that you have said. You and I both know that irrespective of the truth of your statements, no doctor is going to engage in an online pissing match with you over this. I have no doubt that physical characteristics play a role in scar formation, but you can get that point across without attempting to bolster that point by asking for doctors to chime in when you know that they will not do so.

[Danielkiwi]

Slaps,

 

I don't mean this in any derogatory way, but why do you continue to participate on a forum dedicated mostly to surgical hair restoration when you're completely against hair transplants? I know you've had a bad hair transplant experience however, your statements are often biased toward your own negative experience and often, downright untrue. Yes, patients often require more than one procedure to meet their goals, but I'd hardly call it a prison. In fact, for many members of this community (including myself), hair loss was the prison and hair transplantation was the get out of jail free card!

 

Bill

 

I think you are being unfair with your criticism Bill..i think it is in the best interest of everyone that we see both sides of the story....If this is what slaps feels, so be it..why should you, i or anybody else try to change that!!

 

I have a question for you slaps...why would you like a Freak if you did not go for another surgery...Assuming your surgery has not gone well, you could very much shave of your recipient area and FUE the scar...you pretty much will be able to get back to where you started...correct me if i am wrong...

 

As far as dr. feller is concerned, we should appreciate the fact that he is transparent and stands by his work on forums..how many top doctors do that? We need to realize that there is a big IF factor in these surgeries as we are fighting nature and the results are never going to be 100% perfect...all we can do is try and achieve max benefits

[Slaps]

Thanks Dan, I dont mind at all being perceived as bitter and twisted, its a condition I acquired during my HT journey, if those considering a HT happen to read my comments and contemplate the risk that they may wind up bitter and twisted then they serve as valuable research material.:cool:

 

Im afraid im not optimistic about FUE in scar tissue, i dont tend to feel the grafts take well or grow naturally, in my case the recipient area is a mass of thick lumpy scar tissue which looks as bad shaved as it does with HT pubes growing from it, I know I can never look normal again.

 

I get the impression Alan Feller is angry with John Malloy, thats too bad, he was happy to take Johns money and in doing so, the risk that John would be dissappointed and vocal about it.

[Blake Bloxham]

I get the impression Alan Feller is angry with John Malloy, thats too bad, he was happy to take Johns money and in doing so, the risk that John would be dissappointed and vocal about it.

 

Slaps,

 

While you're more than welcome to share your honest transplant experience and help educate others on potential downfalls, I personally think this statement is quite unfair. Despite what you may think about Malloy's results or Dr. Feller's response, it's pure conjecture to state the doctor is "in it for the money," or ambivalent to the patient's wellbeing. In fact, Dr. Feller's presence on this board, dedication to proven methods, and past actions (such as performing free repair cases) portrays the exact opposite. These boards are definitely encourage discussion, but I don't think accusations or assumptions will do anything besides ruin any helpful conversation.