Transmed acting unprofessioanally

[salemsalem78]

Hi,

 

I've long been a reader. I chose my my transplant at Transmed based on recommendations out of this website! My hair is still thinning, and I decided to tackle it early on.

 

Last year (september of 2010) I did an FUT at Trasnmed, 2366 grafts. I was quite comfortable with the staff, and felt they were very professional and courteous. Now, almost a year later, I have not seen any growth whatsoever. Now I know there are no guarantees, so I e-mailed Transmed and asked them for advice.

 

All of a sudden, Trasnmed turned to this incompetent company who loses their patients files, are unable to "locate" old photos for comparison, and all sorts of weird stuff. It is as surprising as it is upsetting. I was really not expecting this at all.

 

It has been two weeks now since they last answered any e-mail, and apparently decided to ignore me completely. The last e-mail I got from them said: "Come by for a check up". I asked for clarification, and that was when they completely dropped me.

 

My question is this, what should a patient expect from his hair transplant surgeon? If a transplant doesn't yield any results, what are the responsibilities of a reputable surgery clinic such as Transmed?

 

The surgery was not cheap of course, and it's ok if it just doesn't work, but I am just upset that it seems like Transmed will only focus on successful patients and just ignore those that didn't go too well.

 

I'd really appreciate any comments, explanations.

 

 

Thank you,

Salem.

[salemsalem78]

Just a quick comment, it was NOT Dr. Kulahci who performed the surgery. I just read a few threads about on this site about patients not having the best experiences with the other surgeons.

[jessie1]

Salem,

 

I hear what you are saying mate. I had a bad experience with a notorious UK clinic (not Transmed) and the aftercare was awful. I received aggressive responses when trying to outline my concerns and was never afforded the privilige of direct contact with the doctor. 'Incompetent' would pretty much sum up my experience.

 

Being left out in the cold is an awful feeling.

 

Can I respectfully ask you a couple of quick questions?

 

1) have you documented your journey with your own photos?

2) what exactly do you mean when you say 'they dropped me'?

3) have you exhausted all communication options? Have you escalated your concerns to management level?

 

Salem, you have mentioned all sorts of concerning things in your post, not least of all the fact that Transmed have apparently lost your file. Would this include the consent form/ disclaimer? I think that it would be just as much in their interest as yours to get their hands on this....

 

I would consider the following unless already done so.

 

1)Record and retain all correspondence.

2)Ensure that you escalate your complaint to the highest level possible. This way you are giving Transmed every opportunity to comply, engage and ultimately resolve, should the matter finally end up in a civil court well down the line.

3) Identify a single point of contact ( I would accept nobody less than a manager bearing in mind your failed communication efforts to date). This way the famous 'breakdown in communication' doesn't come into the equasion should things need to escalate

4) start getting your photos together

5) If the clinic do not oblige you with a follow up visit go and see another reputable Doc and ask for an expert opinion. Before pics would come into play here.

 

Finally, I would personally try so resolve this matter privately opposed to getting too 'deep' in the forum. Sure you want to share your story, as would I, but give Transmed every opportunity to respond prior to showing your full hand. Forum member will also ask you to provide photos. I see no harm in this but try not to get too bogged down.

 

Other forum members may have different ideas and there are far more experienced members than me. I have endured two failed UK HTs however and can identify with some of the things you are saying.

 

Also, Bill- managing publisher, is a fountain of knowledge and may be able to give you some tips on how to proceed from this point onwards.

 

Regards and good luck,

 

Jessie1

[rich91403]

Salem,

 

What a patient should expert from a hair transplant physician is honesty, professionalism and accountability.

A medical procedure can never be guaranteed. A doctor should help you in determining a realistic goal by listening to your desire and explaining what modern medicine can do. Sometimes there is a perception difference that is difficult to overcome.

 

Your doctor should have the medical file with examination findings, objective, surgical protocol and certainly presurgical photographs. These must be maintained.

 

A patient is well within his right to return to the office for a follow up examination, progress report and assessment of status. The physician should be available to discuss the outcome of your surgery with you, listens to your concerns, objectively examine the results based upon the previous record and what the plan was for you. His duty is to be honest, objective and to operate in the patients best interest.

Loss of medical records is unacceptable in this day and age.

[salemsalem78]

Jessie, Rich,

 

Thank you for your replies. I do want to make one thing clear, I am not trying to bash Transmed. My experience with them last year during the transplant was EXCEPTIONAL. I will give them that. The doctor,nurses & staff were very supportive and helpful.

 

The one thing that impressed me the most was the pain and swelling I was bracing myself for did not come. That does say something about the quality of their work.

 

Also, I bumped my head a couple of days after the surgery, and my head bled a bit. I went back to them, and 50 grafts had dislodged, they just put them back in immediately.

 

This is exactly why I am so puzzled and frustrated. A word of mouth is the best a clinic can get in this field, and since I left Turkey last year I was raving about Transmed to all my shiny headed colleagues! All of a sudden, almost a year later, I call them and get stuff about :"misplacing e-mails, cannot locate old photos for comparison with new ones I sent".

 

I am a college professor, and cannot just leave whenever I want to, not to mention it's $1000 for a ticket to Turkey. My last correspondence with them was when I simply asked them, what does Transmed do in such circumstances, when a transplant fails, "what is the next step?" They simply disappeared, and did not respond to me after that, or to my follow up e-mail.

 

Transmed did NOT ruin my scalp. The FUT scar is easily hidden underneath my hair. My hair is still thinning of course, I'll start propecia and rogaine, and I will definitely have a go at a hair transplant in a couple of years when I've saved up some more money. I still believe that one can get results from a transplant. I was just confused as to what one should expect from a hair transplant clinic, especially one as reputable as Transmed.

 

Another thing that confuses me is this: Majority of people who do hair transplants require more than one session. Also, the most solid advertisement a clinic can get is from word of mouth. Even from a business point of view, this is just ridiculous!

 

Thanks,

Salem.

[RCWest]

Dr. Kuhlaci is the only HTN approved physician at TransMed. I did not know they also had other physicians.

[Blake Bloxham]

Salem,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Although, as RC pointed out, we do solely endorse Dr. Kulahci at TransMed, this incident is still extremely important and needs to be addressed.

 

Because of this, I've contacted one of the patient advocates/consultants from TransMed and asked him to review this thread, address the problems, and leave an official response from the clinic.

 

If there is anything else I can do to help in the interim, please don't hesitate to contact me via this thread or private message.

 

Good luck!

[rich91403]

Salem

 

I commend your decorum and it is evident you are not bashing Transderm. There is only disappointment with the surgical outcome.

 

It appears your experience there was very professional and pleasant absent the result. There are a few reasons why your procedure may not have been successful. This must be evaluated by the physician and medical staff where services were rendered.

 

The lack of any growth (one successful transplanted follicular unit) is concerning. Absent some systemic condition this situation must be addressed by them.

 

Given your cordial treatment and the appreciation you expressed for the staff, I believe this company will maintain their good standing by performing their post operative duty and go over why the surgery was not successful and what can be done to satisfy you.

 

Sorry about the disappointment but don't give up hope.

[salemsalem78]

First, I really want to thank you guys for your support.

 

Jessie: Unfortunately, I did not document my journey. All I have are pictures I sent Transmed before the surgery, and ones I took just a couple of weeks ago (both from my cellphone). If it would help, I can take another set of pictures with a decent camera and post both sets, before surgery, and right now.

 

 

Blake: thank you so much for forwarding this to Transmed. Hopefully, if a rep from them will read this, I will post a couple of questions I would like them to answer, as to their procedure in dealing with patients. I'll post them in another reply...

 

RCWest, Blake: Transmed has a couple more surgeons. I can't for the life of me remember my surgeon's name, but I do know it's not Dr. Kulahci, because she did drop by to say hi.

 

I'll post a few questions to Transmed in the following message...

 

 

Salem.

[salemsalem78]

Dear (whoever is reading this from Transmed!),

 

I had received a phone call from one of your representatives sometime in June. At the time I was in Singapore on work. I sent my first e-mail on June 30, explaining that I am in Singapore, and explained how I have not seen any results, and asked for information. I also e-mailed you my number in Singapore.

 

It took until July 4 to verify who I am,and locate my old pictures. Honestly, even though I am using the same e-mail address, and sms'ed back to you from the same cell phone you used to sms me, this was a little tiring and off-putting.

 

After finally verifying who I am on July 4, your rep suddenly dissapeared. I had to e-mail another rep on July 19 (that is two weeks later!!), for the first rep to respond, saying she was unable to contact me through my cell. (I had told her I am in Singapore, and even if my cell wasn't working, we were communicating just fine through e-mail! Why didn't she bother to send one e-mail those two weeks!!! If I can't reach somebody through their cell I e-mail them!, I just don't get that!!!)

 

I asked for the rep's phone number, and called Transmed myself from Singapore. A couple of phone calls/e-mails later, I get an e-mail on July 25, asking me to come to Turkey for a control. (the e-mail did not have any explanations, or any plan of any sort. Just "Can you come to Turkey for a control?") I don't know if a lot of people have the luxury of dropping everything and traveling to another country, with no explanation whatsoever as to what is to be done!!

 

I responded on the same day, July 25, and asked for some information as to what she meant by control, what does Transmed usually do in cases where transplants do not yield any results. I expressed I will check my vacation days.

 

July 25 was the last time I heard from anybody from Transmed up to today, August 8. I have all the e-mails with date stamps, as I am sure Transmed does. I do have one question I hope is answered sincerely:

 

How should the above communication (and time delays) make a patient feel? Does it show that the clinic cares, even a little bit, about following up with patients, especially if the surgery was not successful?

 

My honest feelings here are that the minute Transmed heard that their surgery was not successful, they decided to move on... I apologize if this is harsh, I am just giving you a patient's perspective.

 

Regards,

Salem.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Salem,

 

I'm real sorry to hear that your hair transplant result isn't what you expected. Although given the responsiveness of TransMed when concerned patients have come forward in the past, I find it hard to believe that they would intentionally leave you high and dry. Thus, since you certainly sound sincere, I can only assume that perhaps some of your emails were caught in their spam filter and/or some other form of miscommunication has occurred.

 

In an attempt to help you get your concerns resolved, Blake, our forum co-moderator has sent TransMed an email encouraging them to contact you and post a reply on this forum. I also sent them a follow-up email today with additional information.

 

However, since you are posting anonymously on our forum without providing any photos, TransMed may have no idea who you are. Thus, in the interest of fairness in allowing them a chance to respond and address your concerns, please send me a private, confidential email at help@hairtransplantnetwork.com including your full name (first and last) and date of surgery. I will then provide TransMed with the information you've provided me so that they can contact you privately and post a response on this forum as appropriate.

 

You certainly sound sincere and thus, I trust you'll be willing to provide us with this information so TransMed can adequately address your concerns and post their side of the story as appropriate. Note, that your identity will be kept confidential and will not be published on our community. For additional information on how we handle patient disputes, see "Maintaining a Fair and Balanced Environment on our Forum for Patients and Physicians".

 

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing what I can do to help you resolve your concerns,

 

Bill

[salemsalem78]

First of all, again I'd like to thank all of you here for your support. I think I had confused Bill, so I'll clarify a couple of things:

 

I had both verified my identity to Transmed and sent them recent photos. The irratic communication started after all that, and that was what made it the more confusing.

 

Honestly, I was not aware that you guys here know the contact details of clinics, else I'd have put in more personal information, and would've made sure to post photos.

 

It takes years for a clinic to build a solid reputation, and they don't do that with lousy work or customer (patient) care. My choice of Transmed was of course based on the recommendations of this site. Of course, Transmed lived up to their standards during the transplant last year, I hope I had made that clear in my previous posts. This website has a reputation to maintain, and even if a patient is not satisfied, this is not the place to just come in here and tear a clinic a new one just because we're unhappy. Again, this website's integrity took time to build.

 

Clinics have to understand that even though it is a patient's decision to scrap up some money for a transplant, the one thing that would really kill a patient's morale is feeling they were bamboozled. This is no different than when you buy a car and you feel the sales man doesn't care anymore. I am not saying this is the care with Transmed, but given that after the identity confirmation and sending them the photos, I started receiving e-mails with minimal info once every two weeks. This was my first transplant, and so you have to understand how hurt that would make me feel. Again, it is NOT the outcome of the transplant I was complaining about, I am well aware that sometimes stuff just doesn't work out! I was just confused as to the rep's lack of concern.

 

So, just not knowing what to do or how to take this, I came to this website to explain by delimma. Again, Bill, apologies if I had confused you by jumping around with the info.

 

NOW, thanks to the moderators of this site, I did receive a call from Mr. Taner from Transmed. I will take a few days off, unpaid leave! , from my college, and travel to Turkey this coming Monday. I was not waiting for Transmed to give me definite promises to begin with, I just wanted information as to how they handle patients such as myself. Mr. Taner did that by phone and then through e-mail. Mr. Taner said they would check the yield and based on that we have a few options.

 

I will write a final update after my visit to Transmed.

 

Bill, in all honesty I blame Transmed rep for this miscommunication. In a professional environment it is really unacceptable to take weeks at a time to respond to simple questions from patients.

 

Again, thanks to everybody for your support. I'll write another update once I come back from my trip next week.

 

Regards,

Salem.

 

P.S. It is telling me I am receiving messages, but for the life of me I cannot open them. I can't even join groups or do anything. So if anybody has sent me a message, I apologize, I am not ignoring anybody!

[jessie1]

Bill, is there any way you can help Salem out with his messages?

 

Salem,

 

It is regrettable that these communication issues crop up in this day and age.

 

I hope that Transmed resolve your issues.

 

Bill, spot on for facilitating a prompt response from Transmed.

 

Jessie1

[HARIRI]

I dont want to be judgemental. But according what i hear from my Turkish relatives. Transmed is Bosely (Turkish version) as they have powerful marketing tool. I just dont get it how they be recommended strongly here. I have been viewing the results all the time but never moved me that much while other great Turkish surgeons are not allowed not to be mentioned. Sorry for your results buddy. Its just that Middle East is rich with oil but damn poor in great hair transplant surgeons. That I had to travel all the way to Canada just to be repaired. North America is the greatest place to have a HT. Europe very few...

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hariri,

 

And how exactly would your Turkish relatives know anything about TransMed?

 

For the record, we recommend hair transplant surgeons individually, not entire clinics. Thus, while Dr. Kulahci is a member of the Coalition for her consistently in producing truly ultra refined results and her dedication to her patients, the other surgeons working at TransMed have not been prescreened by our community. That said, I know a number of TransMed's employees personally and feel confident that they're dedicated to standing behind their patients. This has been proven already in several cases.

 

Perhaps TransMed did drop the ball with Salem however, I highly doubt it was their intention.

 

What concerns me however, is your blatant blind promotion of Dr. Keser all over this forum while dismissing Dr. Kulahci's excellent reputation and results. If you need more evidence of Dr. Kulahci's high standard of care, I encourage you to view the results on her Coalition profile.

 

Best Regards,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Salem,

 

I'm glad to hear that TransMed has been in touch with you and that they're working with you to satisfy your concerns. I do agree that several weeks is a long time to wait for a response, especially given your concerns about your results. I'm not sure what happened, but hopefully now that you've been in touch with them, they'll follow through in helping to assist you.

 

I do however, encourage you to take some photos of your scalp and present them on this forum. Of course, it would also help if you had pictures showing your scalp before surgery. That way, the members of this community can see your results for themselves and provide their opinions.

 

Regarding your account, I just checked and you should have access to your private messages. By default, all new members go through moderation. This helps eliminate spammers from sending mass messages to all of our members. However, I made your account a full member account earlier today.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

[salemsalem78]

Bill,

 

I just uploaded three sets of pictures, the first is the set I sent Transmed for their initial evaluation. The second is one picture right after surgery, this is just to give folks here on this forum a chance to see where work has been done. The last two pictures I just took 20 minutes ago!

 

Again, I do want to stress, the sole reason I came to this forum was not to discuss results. When one does a transplant, you stare at your scalp every day in the mirror, especially if it is your first, waiting to see those new hairs come out. You guys can see from the pictures that results are not great, but that's besides the point. I say "that's besides the point" because I was quite happy with the way I was treated at Transmed last year.

 

Now I read a few threads here about how they were treated the second time round when they visited Transmed, and that's making me feel a little apprehensive.

 

I would really appreciate it if viewers here can give me their opinion on the results of the transplant. Again, I posted a few pictures in my profile.

 

 

Thanks again to the moderators of this forum, I have my checkup scheduled for Monday morning.

 

 

Salem.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Salem,

 

Thanks for the update. Without seeing pictures of your scalp before surgery, it would be difficult to make an assessment of the results. However, given the rather large area of thinning that was covered by the transplant, 2366 grafts won't provide you with a great deal of density depending on the amount of hair loss you had prior to surgery. Thus, I encourage you and/or TransMed to present pictures of the top of your head prior to surgery. That way, we can ascertain a better understanding of the growth you experienced.

 

As for TransMed, I feel confident that they will assist you and do what's fair and reasonable to stand behind you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[salemsalem78]

Bill,

 

I posted pictures that I sent transmed for evaluation. These pictures were taken a week before surgery.

 

 

I have posted a total of 5 pictures, two before surgery, one just after surgery, and two taken today, 11 months after surgery.

 

 

Salem.

[Blake Bloxham]

Salem

 

I apologize if you mentioned this before, but are you utilizing any sort of preventive medications (minoxidil/finasteride)? Like you said, it's difficult to tell what type of growth you've seen when comparing the "before" and "11 month after" pictures, but there is a chance that the procedure did produce results while your natural hair loss continued progressing. Altogether, this could create a "result" that mimicked the "before" appearance pre-surgery??

[jessie1]

Salem,

 

I have studied your pics.

 

I agree that the pics are not completely conslusive, however I would say that in excess of 3000 grafts are required to tackle this. That may even be a conservative estimate.

 

I note that you received less than 3000 grafts in your first procedure.

 

It's difficult to judge a persons situation with photos alone but I respectfully believe that there has been no cosmetic improvement in your case. I appreciate that I have no knowledge of any progressive loss since the HT.

 

Salem, it would be interesting to see what other forum members think. As I have said, 3000 plus seems to be more like the figure we need to be talking about here.

 

I will be interested to know Transmed's perception of your yield is and how many grafts will be required to take you forward.

 

Good luck,

 

jessie

[Spanker]

I think 3500 is a good guess. The pics are not in the same lighting so lit seems hard to tell. Your hairline looks a little better after but your top and back look much much worse, so it could be a lighting thing. You usually do not see that much of a difference in one year on a 33 year old man.

[Albion71]

Apologies for not responding to this thread earlier.

 

My experience with Transmed has been well documented here. Obviously I didn't have a good result, but in the end, the clinic came back with what I felt was fair compensation.

 

It is hard to tell from your pictures how unsuccessful your HT has been, certainly compared to mine. If you are sure it has been a failure, get some good close-up pictures taken, and send them to Transmed, and ask how they compare to those taken pre op. Keep the dialogue reasonable and I'm sure you'll be satisfied with their response, based on my experience.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Salem,

 

As others have already noted, given that you're a diffuse thinner, experiencing moderate hair loss all over the top of your scalp), it's difficult to tell whether or not you've had successful growth of the transplants. It could be that the yield from your hair transplant wasn't optimal. Or, it could be that you had terrific growth and experienced a bit more natural hair loss. Unfortunately, there's no way that photos (no matter how high resolution they are) can tell the whole story in your case. Thus, an in-person evaluation is necessary to determine the kind of growth you've had.

 

I know that the primary purpose of your post wasn't to discuss results but thanks for sharing them. I'm also glad that TransMed has been in touch with you and they're working to resolve your concerns.

 

Please keep us posted.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[salemsalem78]

Hey guys

 

Last year when I was at Transmed, during the consultation, Dr. Ozge Ergun (I found out his name! ) said I needed around 2500 grafts to for proper coverage. He was quite a nice doctor by the way, we talked for a while, I showed off with the 10 words of Turkish that I know! Today I just feel that my hair loss has just progressed normally, with no sign of the transplanted hairs!

 

The results of the transplant itself are not that relevant, but I say that to stress a point. Every single thread on this forum about a Transmed experience is stellar. Wonderful staff/doctors, pleasant transplant, etc...

 

Honestly, Transmed do not seem to have a protocol as to how to deal with patients with transplants did not have a high yield. I say this because in comparison, when I had questions after the surgery, my e-mails were responded to quickly and efficiently. So why the erratic correspondance now?

 

I had a couple of phone calls with Mr. Taner, one of their managers. I already posted that they asked me to come in for a consultation, and I had booked my flight and hotel. After we talked a couple of times more, a couple of bells started ringing.

 

Transmed only used the word "retouch" in all our phone calls. We all have limited donor site, we cannot afford to waste them on retouches when the transplants results themselves were not optimal.

Also, I asked who the doctors would be, the response was Dr. Kulahci would do the consultation, but "we will discuss who the surgeon will be to perform the retouch". I could not get an answer to that.

 

After scouring this forum, I realized that previously, Transmed had graciously paid for hotel and air travel. In my case, they didn't. Why am I different? Is it because I didn't know that they could (or maybe should?) pay for at least part of my travel/hotel expenses?

 

One last thing, during our phone calls, a couple of times they brought up the number 70% yield. This does not require a rocket scientist to understand this will probably be the number they tell me after my consultation.

 

So to wrap this up, I do not have the stomach or time to go through with this. I apologize but I have lost faith in Transmed. I prefer to take my grafts and money somewhere else and start fresh with another clinic.

 

I do want to add though, this site is amazing. The moderators and members have been of great help and support. Thank you guys.

 

I also learned that when I do a second transplant, I will maintain a regular blog with pictures.

 

 

Thanks,

Salem.