Live Surgery with Dr. Gabel

[OtherSyde]

Yeah, I suppose I would have actually blended in somewhat in Hawaii, given the massive cultural diversity there, I just want go there looking as young and healthy as I hope I feel. Plus, now I won't have to put sunscreen on the top of my head as much... ;p

 

I chose Dr. Gabel for several reasons. I was looking at Hasson & Wong as well, as they are very revered on these boards too, but don't you need a passport to get into Canada now? I ultimately went with Dr. Gabel because, during the course of my research, I saw more results/testimonials posted from his firm (I may have just missed some of H&W's pics), they were great results, and he's also only 3 hours from me, with no border-crossing involved. Mind you, if I'd seen a significant level of superiority in H&W's results, I wouldn't have hesitated to journey into the Great North. I've been up there many times with family or the Navy, and I'm fairly sure I could manage it without much trouble.

 

I'm glad I chose Dr. Gabel and his crew though, they seem to have done a real bang-up job. I can't say anything (and haven't seen anything) at all negative about Hasson & Wong, but I can definitely recommend Dr. Gabel, as my photos and story should attest to.

 

And finally, to answer YouOnlyLiveOnce's query: Yes, as soon as I shaved my head I was aware that it's getting pretty thin towards the back/vertex, so I'm going hit the Finasteride steadily for the next year or two and see what turns up, but I already plan on have another HT in 2-5 years (depending on finances, plans, etc.). My wife and I have sort of deal as far as this kind of cosmetic thing goes; she had GB surgery a year ago and has lost about 85lbs, so she gets the next big expenditure devoted to suck-n'-tuck on her arms and belly so she can feel alright wearing a bathing suit in Hawaii. I'll shoot for another HT in a few years, Probably anywhere between 2,000 to 4,000 grafts (depending very strongly on how the Finasteride treats me). I will have the back/vertex/mid-scalp filled in, and touch up any thinned-out frontal spots.

 

As for right now, I just hope I'm one of the guys who responds well to Finasteride.

Edited January 9, 2011 by OtherSyde

[multiplier]

Looking good man, and good luck to you. I was confused what you meant when you said you got "strip FUE". I thought FUT was always strip and FUE was extraction? From the pics, it looks like you got a strip. Is the current length of your hair enough to cover it up?

[OtherSyde]

Looking good man, and good luck to you. I was confused what you meant when you said you got "strip FUE". I thought FUT was always strip and FUE was extraction? From the pics, it looks like you got a strip. Is the current length of your hair enough to cover it up?

 

No, you're probably right and I'm probably confused, I probably mis-typed

 

And I'll have to let my hair grow out another 2 or 3 weeks to cover it up I think.

[zo1279]

nice job posting! Hard to tell from the pics...what Norwood were you before the procedures? Why did they shave your head...i was always under the impression they didn't have to? I am new to this site and am trying to find a good doctor...I live in NY. You have any new pics for us to see?!

[Steven Gabel, MD, FACS]

Othersyde

 

I put together some of the photos from your surgery showing your before and immediately after photos, photos of the grafts, and photos of the surgery.

 

Let me know if there are others you would like me to post.

 

Steven Gabel, M.D.

Gabel Hair Restoration Center

 

[TakingThePlunge]

Dr. Gabel,

 

Thanks for contributing these detailed photos. As always, your work looks impeccably clean and refined.

 

All the best,

[OtherSyde]

nice job posting! Hard to tell from the pics...what Norwood were you before the procedures? Why did they shave your head...i was always under the impression they didn't have to? I am new to this site and am trying to find a good doctor...I live in NY. You have any new pics for us to see?!

 

As stated by the post directly above this one, Dr. Gabel does very clean and refined work. If you're willing to fly across the country, I definitely recommend him and his staff. He's well-known as one of the top surgeons on these boards and in the US, and for good reason.

 

As for what Norwood I was before surgery, I grew my hair out and got pretty good at styling it and giving it volume, but given the balding at the crown and mid-scalp, combined with the very-receded hairline (you can sort of see how far back it was with my hair pulled back and the lines drawn), I was a good bit past a Norwood III Vertex, almost approaching a Norwood IV Vertex. My hairline looks lower than it actually was because of the length of my hair, but the hairline itself was not only several millimeters higher than it is now, but it was very thin and sparse, consisting only of some wispy, super-thinned-out white hairs in their final stages of existence. I pretty much had to do that thing where you comb hairs from your frontal scalp area all the way down to your forehead and do some fancy cross-hatching work to make it look semi-plausible (you can see this demonstrated in the pics of me wearing the red shirt towards the end of the first page of this thread: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/158912-hair-transplant-soon-dr-gabel.html )

 

Now, thankfully, I'll never really have to worry too much about the frontal scalp area or hairline again. Looking at some of my Before pics, I didn't realize how good I'd gotten at hiding it. But I can't WAIT until 2-4 months from now in mid-spring, when the new hairs start poking through and it all gradually starts growing out! It'll seem so thick.

 

As for shaving it for surgery, I believe Dr. Gabel prefers to do this for the sake of cleanliness and clarity during the procedure. I think it lends much greater visibility and freedom for better precision in placing the grafts. I've heard they don't have to shave it, but it helps. It may vary from doctor to doctor. I didn't mind; I wanted a fresh start from a clean slate. Additionally, I've been experiencing a LOT of rapid shock-loss during the past few days (about 10-13 days post-op). This includes some of my original hair as well as most of the newly-placed follicles releasing their old hairs as they merge into their new surroundings and begin manufacturing new hairs. If I'd kept my hair long, this would have made me look SUPER-thin and scraggly at this point anyway. In my case, it's definitely better to just go through the "ugly phase" and not sweat it too hard, rather than try to cling to a few remaining hairs. Better to look like "guy who just chose to shave his head for no real reason" instead of "scraggly-haired balding guy with a bad haircut."

 

My scar seems to be doing very well also; My wife has some mild training in the medical/surgical field, and she says it is looking like it will heal very well and with very little visibility in a few months (especially under a veil of hair).

 

Some new pics are coming later today so stay tuned.

Edited January 13, 2011 by OtherSyde
Elaboration

[okay2land]

Very clean work, I'm impressed.

[OtherSyde]

Well crap, I got super-busy last night and didn't get a chance to re-size/crop/upload my new pics. It's not a lot to show, just basically looks the same as the post-op pics but minus a lot of density due to the shock-loss. I will get them up ASAP though.

[OtherSyde]

OK well, I'm on duty today and didn't bring my laptop, but I took a decent pic of my current state with my low-res cell phone camera. As you can see, I'm experiencing instense shock-loss. Good thing I had my head shaved, cause there would be no hiding this state of baldness, even with a huge emo-kid-style comb-over. Go back and look at my first pics (the in-surgery pics) on Page 1 of this thread, and you can see that I'm balder now than I've ever been. Then scroll down and see the 2-hour -post-op pics, and then the 2-day post-op pics on the next page, and you can see how much has fallen out. It sucks, but I guess it's just part of the process; It gets worse before it gets better.

 

I've noticed that I've pretty much stopped losing hairs at this piont (Day 16) though. An occasional hair still falls out, but from about Day 7 to about Day 13, many hairs would fall every time I would dab the mineral oil on my head. I could clearly see them because they would stick to the cotton ball very visibly. Now, very few do, if any at all. So guess it's now just mostly a matter of waiting for the new follicles to take root and begin making hairs, and for those new hairs to start poking out through my scalp.

 

I know it won't reach full density for 8-12 months, but does anyone have any input on a time-frame as far as when I could at least see some new hairs poking through, and when I could begin to look at least somewhat normal again? Two or three months? Four or five..? 0.o

Edited January 15, 2011 by OtherSyde
Spelling

[OtherSyde]

Alright, and while I'm at it, here are some pics of my scar at Day 16. The first pic is of the scar with a bright light shining directly up at it and illuminating it, thus making it very pronounced. You can also see that I've lost a bit of hair along underneath the scar, due to shock-loss I believe.

 

Under normal lighting, like in the next 3 pics, it is not really very noticeable anymore (and it's only at Day 16). I would imagine that in another month or two it will be very subtle, and with a little more hair length it will be essentially undetectable by any regular eye. Dr. Gabel is quite the expert at minimizing scarring.

Edited January 15, 2011 by OtherSyde
Spelling/Grammar

[OtherSyde]

Oh also, ChrisinSeattle pointed out that "Shock Loss" only refers to the loss of the original, resident hairs in the recipient area, not the loss of the grafts. I've lost most of the grafted-in hairs, but only a moderate amount of the resident hairs, so I'd have to say I'm not experiencing terrible shock-loss, just regular shock-loss. Nothing major. In any case, it'll look a hell of a lot better at 4-6 months.

Edited January 16, 2011 by OtherSyde
Spelling

[Broker]

Dude

You rock for doing this. It just goes to show that in the right clinic like Dr. Gabel’s that the procedure is totally doable and not a big deal. Not much pain, and when I did start to feel it, he would fix it and put more numbing meds in.

Sounds like you had a similar experience to me - I just chilled throughout the day and he did his business to get it done - listened to some music, watched a flick, and chatted.

 

The one thing I remember and still laugh about is when he was shooting me up with the numbing meds, he had an electric razor on my head - I thought he was shaving my entire head (which he did not) and I asked him what was up - he uses it so it vibrates my head to distract from any pain while putting the meds in. Did he do that to you? I thought that was cool as no one had done that before; then last month I had a tooth pulled by my dentist and he did the same thing.

 

Awesome post. Can’t wait to see the results. My results kick and I’m sure yours are going to be great. Good luck.

[OtherSyde]

Dude

You rock for doing this. It just goes to show that in the right clinic like Dr. Gabel’s that the procedure is totally doable and not a big deal. Not much pain, and when I did start to feel it, he would fix it and put more numbing meds in.

Sounds like you had a similar experience to me - I just chilled throughout the day and he did his business to get it done - listened to some music, watched a flick, and chatted.

 

The one thing I remember and still laugh about is when he was shooting me up with the numbing meds, he had an electric razor on my head - I thought he was shaving my entire head (which he did not) and I asked him what was up - he uses it so it vibrates my head to distract from any pain while putting the meds in. Did he do that to you? I thought that was cool as no one had done that before; then last month I had a tooth pulled by my dentist and he did the same thing.

 

Awesome post. Can’t wait to see the results. My results kick and I’m sure yours are going to be great. Good luck.

 

Yeah, I wondered what he was up to with the clippers! I knew it couldn't take that long to shave my head lol.

 

I didn't see any of your pics anywhere. I'd like to see them if you have any, since we have the same doc and almost the same # of grafts... Your progress could be a rough indicator of my future.

Edited January 15, 2011 by OtherSyde

[OtherSyde]

OK, here are some updated pics on Jan 17, or 19 Days Post-Op; I'm just posting them because I got ahold of my camera and these are way better than the crappy cell phone pics I posted a few days ago. Here you can clearly see that practically all of the donor hairs have now shed, along with a fair amount of my original hair from shock-loss. This is probably about as bald as I'm gonna get (knock on wood). A little tough to walk around and see people I know, as they definitely notice; I wasn't this bald before, plus I had much longer hair and I was also pretty good at hiding it with creative combing and product; so no one thought I was really balding, per se. I just tell most of them that I shaved my head, or else simply the truth. I don't really care, since I'll be moving and breaking ties with most of them in 8 months or so, which is an advantage I know many of you don't have.

 

Thinking of it, I might point out that if any of you are really bothered by people knowing or giving you crap over it, then it is greatly to you advantage to schedule your surgery right before a move or a time of social flux (job change, etc.), then shave your head or do the buzz-cut thing and tell your new colleagues/social acquaintances that you simply shave your had because you like it that way. Then they won't think anything as you start to let your hair grow out in 3-6 months.

 

I also posted a pic from around Day 9, of the kind of hair loss I was experiencing at that point. You can see on the cotton ball that I lost quite a bit of the new grafts from roughly days 8 to 12. Which, although alarming to some people, if you look at them you can see that they have no hair follicles attached to them; they are simply segments of hair that have been released by their respective follicles as they take root and begin to produce new hairs from stage one.

 

Finally, these might be the last pics I post for a bit, since most activity has subsided. I'll probably post 1, 2, and 3-Month Post-Op pics, but I won't keep posting daily/weekly pics, since I'll just be bald for a month or three. Only if there's some major change or if someone requests pics.

Edited January 18, 2011 by OtherSyde

[multiplier]

Just wondering if you had any recent pics? Looks like it's going to be a nice result eventually.

[OtherSyde]

Yeah, I made a new thread to continue, starting with the 2-month mark. See here...

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/160273-two-three-month-marks.html#post2261731