Dr. Glenn Charles 2052 graft FUT 2nd Proc. Better than 1st with other Doc

[steveholmes2]

I am writing a review of a 2000 graft procedure (ended up being 2052, but didn't get charged for the extra 52) that I had done 11 days ago with Dr. Glenn Charles in Boca Raton, Florida. This was my 2nd procedure, and I had only discovered Dr. Charles from coming to these forums and posting my results from my first procedure to then get an alternate recommendation. I would have to say that it was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 

Let me give a little background to my personal story: In finding the doctor for my first procedure a year ago, I was naive. There was so much I didn't know. I only knew of 2 doctors locally from my research, one of whom couldn't even make the time for me to have a consultation, the other I had heard radio commercials and swore I would never go because of the radio commercials. BUT, when I researched radio commercial guy, the Google reviews were favorable (should've looked deeper, I know, I know). So I got a consultation, kinda liked the guy, kinda not, but the one thing that changed my mind was a guy walking out from getting his stitches out was really positive and was like "Bosley messed up my hair. This dude will put hair on your head!" So that confidence kind of rode through with me while I going through the procedure with this doc. This first doctor was Larry Shapiro. I felt like it was okay at the time, but I recently learned that it could have been so much better, so I've been kicking myself for not being more proactive about researching doctors. In the end though, you have to shrug your shoulders and move forward.

 

My baldness was about a Norton 5A before I started. I paid for 3000 grafts for my first procedure with Larry Shapiro, and wasn't quite satisfied with my results after 10 months of growth (I never actually counted the number of grafts, but it didn't feel like my results compared to some other Before/Afters I had seen with 3000 grafts). Which brought me to this forum, and Dr. Charles was recommended to me by one of the forum members as a local option. I scheduled a consultation to meet him. Super cool, nice guy. Told me about how rigorous and "OCD", as he called himself, about hair transplant procedures he is. He talked fast during the consult, but seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. He was patient and would stop to listen if I had a question or something to say. Didn't seem douche-y (an important quality). The office was nice and seemed like a trustworthy, classy, and professional environment. Dr. Charles said he was going to load up 2000 to 2500 grafts at the front of my head, and said to basically "finish what was started". He said I would have a bald spot on the crown and a scar on the back of my head still, but I may still consider future procedures and I want the front looking better. Apparently, I could've had an FUE done to begin with, but I was no longer a candidate since I had a big scar now. I could have lived my life without a scar, but I have one now, and this is probably my biggest regret about my last doctor, MY LAST DOCTOR NEVER TALKED ABOUT THAT! I'm mad about that, but I'm just moving on because I have to. Anyway... Dr. Charles said he would make the hairline more natural looking, and the newly planted hairs would look more natural than the last procedure and they would also weigh down (or something like that, I'm going off memory here) the hairs transplanted from the last procedure. I was fine with the price, and I scheduled myself to have it done a month later. I would be the only person scheduled to have work done that day (there was definitely no one else there being worked on that day either).

 

Now to the FUT procedure: I waited a month. Followed the pre-op procedures like a good boy. I was getting pretty nervous about the discomfort of the procedure and the uncomfortable recovery that was to come. But I got driven to Dr. Charles' office. They made me fill out the customary paperwork. Right when I was done I went in to talk to Dr. Charles himself. We talked business, it was very light and easy conversation about what we were gonna do. We agreed on 2000 grafts (apparently, a "real" 2000 grafts). I got my drugs =) Went to the back, which still looked as professional as the front. Went into what looked almost the same as a dentist's chair. Had a flatscreen mounted in the wall above me with the morning news going on. The staff came in to greet me, they were very nice and chattery amongst each other, they seemed like they enjoyed working together. I was starting to feel the drugs more and more =) and I wearily picked the Italian dish was to be given for lunch and the two movies I wanted to watch. I get a bunch of anesthesia injections to the top and back of my head (the worst part) to numb me, but I'm drugged up =) so it's half as bad as it would be sober.

 

Dr. Charles came in to the operating room. Everyone is still chattery, the doctor jumps into the conversation with the rest of the staff, it feels like a comfortable atmosphere. I get a band wrapped around my head. The cuts to the donor area are made. The doc tries to cut out my old scar and use some new donor area. For instance, my cut now goes up above my ears (refer to pics), which it didn't before. I can still slightly feel some cuts when they are being made on the top of my head (I'm not supposed to feel anything, so I let them know), Dr. Charles gave me more anesthesia injections and we resumed. The work resumes, with Doctor Charles working on my directly while the staff prepares the grafts under microscopes. But I begin feeling the cuts again, just a bit, on the top of my head, so I get more injections. Apparently, I was metabolizing the anesthesia too quickly, the doc said it happened to some people, not everyone. Eventually I got my lunch, which was much a much needed break for me because you can still feel the pulling and soreness at the back of your head, so I needed to sit up and eat for a minute. We took a break for a while, don't ask me how long because time has no meaning when you're on those drugs =) Work resumed again, I think I felt better able to handle the discomfort after I ate, it was like the carbs in the Italian dish had fortified my skin in some way. So I felt okay. Time flew by for another 2-3 hours, and then they were done!

 

I went into the debriefing with Dr. Charles, my underwear stayed on though.... (little joke there). He said I used about 2 and a half times the amount of anesthesia as is used on a normal person; I'm genetically skinny and in my 20s so go figure. He also said he was able to do a better job with my donor area scar, remember he cut out the old one and said my new scar should be half the width of my old scar, which I am still very excited about and I hope it remains true. He said we did 2052 grafts, but I was only charged for 2000, so good guy Dr. Charles. He gave me a goody bag with pills and sprays and Propecia samples and explained what I have to do post-operation. Then I paid at the front desk for my procedure, I was introduced to the lady on staff that I could contact any time for help or if I had questions. Dr. Charles also said he himself would call me later to check on how I'm doing. Then I got driven home because I live fairly local.

 

I got home. Followed the post-op procedure to a T. I called Dr. Charles earlier than the time he said he was going to call me because I wanted to go to sleep. I called him, I thanked him and told him everything was fine. I popped a pill and fell asleep. For the next few days I was pretty zealous about putting ice on my forehead to prevent any kind of swelling, because last year, after my procedure I had a swelling nightmare. My eyebrows and cheeks were so puffed out at one point that I could barely see. I really didn't want this to happen again, so I stuck with the ice, along with the other post op recommendations, and I have had a relatively comfortable recovery process. It's been 11 days since my procedure and I get my stitches out tomorrow, and I'm excited for that because I know I will feel better. The grafts are scabbing up into tiny little balls, which sounds gross, but is actually nicer than the wider chips of scabs that I got last year. I guess I'm in the "shock loss" period of my hair regrowth, and for those of you newbies that aren't aware of this, it's normal to get the procedure done and then look bald again for 2 months. The hair falls out but the follicle is still there and regrow, so it's all good.

 

The work done has looked really good so far too, now I just have to wait a few months to see what it really looks like grown in, but I'm sure it will be great. My friends that saw me after my last procedure say it looks really good and say I should be kissing my doctor's feet lol. I might.... lol because he did a really good job and was super cool and made the entire experience so much better than my last one. I would highly and repeatedly recommend Dr. Charles to anyone, he is a great hair restoration doctor.

 

Check out the pictures to see the results. One is what my hair looked like before. 2 are from the day after. 1 is from today which is 11 days post op. Reminder: This is my 2nd procedure, 2052 FUT grafts were done towards the front of my head.

[irishsailor]

Congrats on your HT. You chose one of the best docs around

[Gettinold]

Dr. Charles was a great choice...I'm only 2 months out from my procedure with him and already seeing growth....will most likely be going back in the future..

[steveholmes2]

Was is it your first ever procedure Gettinold?

[Gettinold]

Was is it your first ever procedure Gettinold?

 

sure was..

[steveholmes2]

Yeah, I wish my first was with him too. Definitely don't change docs.

[schase]

Hi, I'm considering Dr. Charles. Are you happy with your results so far?

[steveholmes2]

Well I'm 3 months in so the little sprouts are starting to come up so I'm not able to see the full effect of what was done yet (I'm taking month by month pics and I'm waiting a few more months before I show the results), BUT AS OF NOW I am very pleased with the cuts and incisions that have healed already. For my last procedure, some areas of my skin were numb or the nerves were feeling funny for many months. This time I really feel like I was cut up by an expert lol. Granted, depending on your procedure you probably won't be cut like I was, since mine was a repair procedure, but I would say you are in good hands regardless.

[schase]

Are you happy with the results so far? Would love to see an updated photo if its not too much trouble. Thanks for the info, it really helps.

[Raphael84]

Any further updates here?

[steveholmes2]

I took a picture every month for the last year and you will see the results compiled in the attached PDF.

 

My hair is a bit more plentiful than it was a year ago and Dr. Charles placed the hairs much better, but it is still quite thin and seems like there is a long way to go for even just full coverage. It's kind of upsetting after 2 years of waiting and many thousands of dollars spent to still see my scalp clearly every day.

 

What does everyone think? I'm in a rough place mentally right now because I was hoping for a bit more, was I right to expect more than what I have?

HairPictureTimeline.pdf

[Spanker]

cant see the photos

[bingunginter]

I'm about to schedule mine with dr glenn. Its kind a alarming that I don't see significant change from first picture compare to the last picture.

[1978matt]

Damn. That's a bit alarming as it's hard to see any growth. You will have to keep the faith for at least 12 months though.

 

What was growth like for the first transplant?

[tacolinowest]

what the hell? it looks like the same pic over and over, not gonna lie id be all sorts of concerned

[1978matt]

Sorry for some reason i thought it said 8 months in the attachment. You're 12 months.

 

I've no idea what went wrong but Dr Charles is a great guy and I'm sure he will do his best to put things right.

[hairIcome]

Steve I am not able to open the PDF in the Chrome browser.

[Arrie]

cant see PDF

[1978matt]

Took a screen grab of month 11

[Arrie]

Yeah bud talk to the doc ASAP as something def has not taken... Hope all goes well!

[hairIcome]

Yeah bud something looks Off here. Hopefully all will be well.

[steveholmes2]

To those that can't see the pdf file I attached: I have a before procedure, 1 month after, 6 months after, and 11 months after here in pics.

 

I'm upset to hear that there should be more =( I guess I'll book an appointment soon to talk it over with Dr. Charles.

[tacolinowest]

im frustrated for you

[TakingThePlunge]

Steve,

 

After reviewing your photos, I have to agree that you should have seen much more growth at this stage of the game. Unfortunately, at 11 months, it's unlikely to improve much from this point forward.

 

Given that this is your second low yield transplant, I"m wondering if there could be some physiological issue at play. I highly recommend contacting Dr. Charles. In addition, I've taken the liberty of emailing him and requesting that he comment on this thread.

 

I hope that Dr. Charles can shed some light on this result and recommend your next course of action. He has my full confidence and I know that he'll do whatever is in his power to ensure that you get the results you deserve.

 

Best of luck!

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

I did speak with this patient today. I told him I agreed that there appears to be sub optimal growth from the procedure that was done in May of 2012. I do have immediate post operative photos that clearly shows the large number of follicular unit grafts we transplanted. He agreed to come to clinic for follow up visit to determine what options he has at this point. I assured him that I am seriously concerned about his situation and will try all I can to make him as happy as possible under the circumstances. The reality is that hair transplant patients do not all get great results and unfortunately most of the time we do not have an exact answer as to why this happens.