Met with Dr. Feller

[paris_caine]

After cancellling twice (cold feet), finally met Dr. Feller this past friday, my birthday, sorta my gift to myself. Anyway, Dr. feller is every bit the professional many people on here have said over the years. Also, very easy to talk to. Listens to every concern u have. I had a list of questions that he answered each one. I am sure if i had more questions he would take his time and answer them all. Didn't rush me even though he was in the middle of a surgery.

Although the estimate he gave me ( 2800-3000) was much lower than i had expected, or had hoped for, truth is he could have easily have given me a higher number, and squeezed few more grands out of me, which speaks to is integrity and concern for his patients' long term benefits.

basically, i have very little hair left on my top, and Dr. Feller said that the first procedure would be all about dense packing the front 2/3rd. As much as i am ok with that, would it be possible or advisable to do a small number on crown as well ( maybe 500 grafts), just so there is some hair there that i can conceal with toppik? i just dont want a completely bald crown. Is that reasonable or you guys think i should wait? I know many of u have lot more experience with this, so please feel free with your input. i should have asked Dr. Feller but forgot.

Once again, many thanks to Dr. Feller for making my visit with him very informative and comfortable.

[CBenjaminHaag]

Good question...my understanding is that the crown generally requires more grafts, for adequate coverage, than other areas (?), so this may be something to consider.

 

Depending on the style and length of your hair, you may be able to conceal much or all of the crown with normal combing...

 

Good choice of surgeon, by the way -- I have had two procedures with Dr. Feller, and had the same initial impression of him that you describe: honest, sincere, and committed to his patients' welfare.

 

Benjamin

[hairthere]

It depends how much loss you have had and how much coverage you hope to get. I did my hairline and frontal third with 2000 and put about 1000 in the crown in my first HT. Then my crown loss and vertex loss progressed and I did another session of 2000 to address the whole head. So long as you have a plan in place and communicate with your doc, you'll be fine.

 

Oh, and Dr. Feller is a tremendous surgeon and really great guy, so you'll be in good hands!

[gottitgood4me]

If you plan to have more crown work done in the future, I would say go for the 500 grafts now. See what coverage it provides and then use that to plan the next session.

 

If you do not think you will have a second surgery done, then I would say do not do the 500. I wish we had pictures of you to see your current state, but 500 grafts in the crown is not much at all for many patients.

Look at my photos. Im going to need 2,000 or so to be happy with the results. That is hoping that the future does not result in more native hair loss.

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Dr Feller is an excellent surgeon!

[orlhair1]

It is difficult to say what to do with the crown. If your crown is completely bald, 500 grafts will do very little. It sounds like you might need two procedures if you want to do both the front and the crown. I had about 2000 to the front and 1000 added to the crown, but I also was lucky that I had a fair amount of native hair on my crown so the 1000 in that area was designed to thicken up what I had. Dr. Feller is a great surgeon, so I would talk to him about your concerns around the crown and see what he thinks.

[richie48]

Hi

 

I also had work done with Dr Feller in 2007 and your decription of the guy is spot on , he recreated my double crowns , this took 2100 grafts , so please don't under estimate how many grafts you will need to provide cover or even some for toppick and stuff .

 

However I do urge you to please talk to the doc , he does know best , when I started on these forums in 2005 i saw lots of work done where the top docs where packing the front with one session then having a clean area to pack on the crown with a second ht , this always turned out better overall , than having sparse low numbers of grafts to provide "a bit of cover" .

 

As with all hts think long term bud , you've cancelled twice so make this time count for a top final result .

 

You won't go wrong with Feller , hell I'm looking on here again to go and get my hairline done , and I won't be going anywhere else but back to him .

 

I've included two links,showing my latest 4 year update pics on the end of an older thread , thanks to spex for posting them last week and a range of pics and hair styles i have had over the years .

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/136000-dr-feller-uk-patient-richie48-2100-crown-grafts-15-month-update-pics-very-slowly-getting-better-better.html

 

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/138494-brand-new-dr-feller-uk-patient-richie48-2100-crown-grafts-19-month-update-pics-baldy-moody-emo-grungy-surfer.html

 

 

 

good luck

Edited September 27, 2011 by richie48
extra pics

[paris_caine]

Thanks. From all the respones, it seems the best thing to do is forget about the crown for now and focus on hairline. I guess i misspoke, my crown is not completey bald, just very very thin. i just thought that 500 grafts could thicken it up a little so that i could conceal it somewhat with toppik or those godawful sprays.

Anyway, i am almost 99% sure that i will go with Dr. Feller. From meeting with him as well as from all the patient reviews, i don't think i could do a whole lot better elsewhere.

 

I will post some pics soon of what my hair looks like now. Please feel free with your inputs. they are much appreciated.

[Cant decide]

You may want to take a look at the H&W and Rahal's of the world who do very large initial procedures since it sounds like you need it. I consulted with a doc who told me 3000 and I ended up doing over 5000 in one sitting with another doc. Thankfully I did because I needed it. If I did 3000, I would have been back in the chair a year later. It may be 3000 is all your donor will allow but thats what I was told as well by the first doc and the second doc pulled 5200 and could of gotton over 6000 if I wanted to do even more. You may have a more conservative approach and not want to do over 3000 which is perfectly fine as well.

 

Just somthing to think about.

[paris_caine]

Why is it that some docs will do these mega sessions and some won't. From what i hear, Dr. Feller is one of the best. I can't believe that its just the level of skill. is it just some docs being conservative by nature? i am from New York and i think it's great that a top surgeon is so close by. At the same time, this is a big decision, so i dont mind flying to canada but only if the results are "significantly" better. Help me out guys.

[Cant decide]

IMO someone like Feller can do procedures over 4500 but does not do many. It is a philosophy thing IMO. Many docs like to stay below a certain graft amount per procedure. The real question to get answered is did he suggest 3000 because a. That is what you need and best fits your approach preference, b. because that is all you can get out of your donor in one procedure, c. because that is what he prefers to handle in one sitting.

[paris_caine]

Dr. feller did mention that 3000 is what he thinks he can safely get from the first procedure. I guess, i am wondering now how much he can get out of the second one, which i most definitely will need.

[Cant decide]

Spex - I agree but there is a flip side to what you are saying and that is that a doc may tell you all he can safely get is 3000 (and he may be sincere) but another doc may feel he can get much more and does (Of course it would have to be a good reputable doc). That was what happened to me. If the OP met with H&W or Rahal and they said 3000 was it, I would take that to the bank as they approach these things very aggressively and if they dont feel they can get 4500+, then nobody can. This is not to impugn Dr. Feller in any way. I have seen way to many guys who end up getting 3000 because they were told thats all they could get when the reality was that with a different doc, allot more could be achieved. I think its worth getting a second opinion thats all.