Regular Member fugly Posted July 25, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2012 Greetings all I am new to the forums & been reading for awhile now...anyway I am a veteran HT patient going back to the 80's with plugs from Bosley then double flap surgery at Fleming/Mayer so consequently I have extensive scarring and slightly better than horrific results. Last week I underwent a 1200 graft strip surgery (last one) to rebuild temple points and try to soften the bold hairline however the surgeon really wants no part in scar/lump or FUE repair where the flaps were rotated into place...the lumps actually make the divits from the scars look much deeper and the hair always parts there along with growing in a backward direction as opposed to forward. And since most of my donor hair has been depleted BHT will have to be an option. Hasson/Wong turned me away, Umar said 5500 grafts to start with...no one is addressing the scars other than trying to cover them up. Any recommendations and opinions from a few more experts would be appreciated as my goals at this point are fairly modest. Feel free to comment on the pics below Comment from one doc already "you were raped":eek: very true:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member RCWest Posted July 26, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 26, 2012 I believe Dr. Umar is the man for you. I've seen cases worse than yours turned around by his skill. Finasteride 1.25 mg. daily Avodart 0.5 mg. daily Spironolactone 50 mg twice daily 5 mg. oral Minoxidil twice daily Biotin 1000 mcg daily Multi Vitamin daily Damn, with all the stuff you put in your hair are you like a negative NW1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 26, 2012 RCWest Ya you are probably right, I am just trying to get a consensus among the surgeons online as well as the docs I have already seen. Made contact with Stephan at Bisanga today and they are reviewing the Fugly file, LOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member aim4hair Posted July 27, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Greetings allI am new to the forums & been reading for awhile now...anyway I am a veteran HT patient going back to the 80's with plugs from Bosley then double flap surgery at Fleming/Mayer so consequently I have extensive scarring and slightly better than horrific results. Last week I underwent a 1200 graft strip surgery (last one) to rebuild temple points and try to soften the bold hairline however the surgeon really wants no part in scar/lump or FUE repair where the flaps were rotated into place...the lumps actually make the divits from the scars look much deeper and the hair always parts there along with growing in a backward direction as opposed to forward. And since most of my donor hair has been depleted BHT will have to be an option. Hasson/Wong turned me away, Umar said 5500 grafts to start with...no one is addressing the scars other than trying to cover them up. Any recommendations and opinions from a few more experts would be appreciated as my goals at this point are fairly modest. Feel free to comment on the pics below Comment from one doc already "you were raped":eek: very true:) IMHO: If you wanna go for BHT, then dr. Umar is the one you looking for. If you wanna try to get the most out of your donor, you might wanna consult with dr. Gho and see what he thinks about your case since according to him he can perform on weak donor area with a number of grafts less than 2000. However, you can repeat the same op many times using the same donor area (with 9 months period between sessions) since he claims that after each Op 80-85% of the donor area will regenerate and can be reused in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 AIM thanks for the reply and tip, time to check him out and find out if his procedure is for real...from what little I have read so far there seems to be alot of skepticism, however he is still in business and I have yet to find any complaints. Does he have anything published out there? Are there any real before/after pics anywhere or full debates with real evidence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member aim4hair Posted July 27, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 You can have a good idea about HST by reading all posts in the following thread: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/166196-hair-loss-cure-hair-stem-cell-transplant-procedure-gho-procedure.html Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted July 27, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Fugly, Cool name and interesting case. Do you wish you would have just shaved you head? On the bright side I have seen worse flaps, but you scarring is some of the worst. Unfortunately I am not surprised you were turned away. I feel bad for you and wish you the best.You were a victim of timing and greed. I feel like the of the docs are offering a product that improve peoples lives today, not so in the past with surgeries like yours. I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. View Dr. Konior's Website View Spanker's Website I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Spanker Thanks, although the name definitely fits and yes shaving my head was never even considered in the 80's and I have been chasing my mistakes ever since:o. Make no mistake about it-the intense greed at any expense is still out there however with websites like this one it is easier to find the cream of the crop...heck when I had the first plugs done at the Bosley hack shop by the infamous dr Straub, the cell phone did not even exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 27, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Hi Fugly, no matter who you decide on I wish you the best of luck ... please keep us updated on your journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks Bluesteal I have already started more repair work about 10 days ago with Dr Shelly Friedman in AZ to rebuild temples and soften the bold flap hairline for now, 1380 grafts via strip. He has been around the HT block himself and embraces most of the new techniques available now while adding in new procedures along the way. Dr Friedman is also boldly honest about expectations after surgery. Pics below are 24hrs and 7 days after... The facility in Scottsdale is very impressive, very clean with an awesome staff as well as the 2 main techs (Adriana, Jessica C.) who have both been there over 15 years and are very skilled, thorough, and patient with gentle hands (especially with the needle). The after surgery care and procedures are extremely detailed to prevent infection, graft loss, shock loss and maximize scar line healing. Carly, who has many postings here was out of town on a family emergency so I did not get to meet her personally however she was in touch constantly via text/email... Carly, please call me when you are available... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member almostdone99 Posted July 27, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 I am not a doctor-basher by any means, but I saw someone mention Dr. Umar so I will tell a short story. About one year ago I sent my pictures to Dr. Umar for possible scar repair; he never returned my email. Followed up with an email a month later........no reply. I can't speak for his work on heads, though customer service, to me, is just as important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Almostdone You are correct, matter of fact customer service is at the forefront of any business. I cant comment on his email replies however I did meet with him in person...there are gentlemen and true gentlemen and he most definetly is a true gentleman, soft spoken, answered all my questions and did not give me a sales pitch at all. He is so busy that there were only 2 openings for procedures for the next 3 months... Did you try calling his staff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member almostdone99 Posted July 27, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2012 Good to hear "good" things about Dr. Umar. I've decided to try SMP since I feel it is my best option (tons of research). Course, I am on a different path than you (says in my profile). Bottom line.....wish you the best fugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted July 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 28, 2012 Almost, I'm sorry to hear about this. As you're probably aware, Dr. Umar is recommended by our community and I've never personally heard any complaints about his patient communication. If you'd like, I can send him an email about the situation to make sure it doesn't happen to any other prospective patients. Let me know. Fugly (I hate typing that - hahaha), Sorry to hear about all the 80's "plug" transplantation and flap procedures. It definitely was not the golden age of surgical hair restoration, and my stomach always drops a bit whenever I see the long-term "results" from some of these flap procedures. It just brings so many unfortunate questions to mind, and I truthfully feel for any patient who underwent these procedures with less than satisfactory results. I'm glad to see you underwent surgery with Dr. Friedman. He's truly an excellent hair transplant surgeon, and I think you'll see some definite results in the frontal hairline/temple regions. Furthermore, like a few others are stating, if you've truly exhausted your donor region and still need repair, Dr. Umar is likely "your man." His repair work with body hair transplantation is wildly impressive, and I'm not sure many others could attain his level of results. Additionally, while Dr. Gho's procedure is very new, exciting, and promising, I'm not 100% certain it would pose many advantages over a repair with Dr. Umar. While I always recommend scalp hair over body hair grafts (simply because scalp hair will always look more natural), I'm not sure how practical it would be to undergo multiple procedures with Dr. Gho at this time. Granted (and like Aim was stating), you really have "nothing to lose" with Dr. Gho because of the donor regeneration aspect of the surgery, but, again, I'm wondering whether or not a BHT repair with Dr. Umar would be more practical. What's more, I'd have a few surgeons evaluate your donor region for the potential of more FUT/FUE before trying either route. Please, feel free to ask any additional questions about any of the potential procedures. I'll give objective advice. Good luck! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 28, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2012 Future RE: Fugly-Not to worry, I chose that name in true candor about my situation and I am very comfortable in my own skin, now if I can get my hair to cooperate just a little LOL!! Since I have plenty of time for more doc opinions and research, I will more than likely see Dr Bisanga when he comes to DC and possibly a couple other repair specialists as well like Shapiro, Lindsey and Umar again etc...I only have one more shot at this and all opinions count, thanks for your valuable input... Fugly ole' duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 28, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2012 Future RE: Fugly-Not to worry, I chose that name in true candor about my situation and I am very comfortable in my own skin, now if I can get my hair to cooperate just a little LOL!! Since I have plenty of time for more doc opinions and research, I will more than likely see Dr Bisanga when he comes to DC and possibly a couple other repair specialists as well like Shapiro, Lindsey and Umar again etc...I only have one more shot at this and all opinions count, thanks for your valuable input... Fugly ole' duck Fugly do you live in the phoenix area? did you ever talk to Dr. Alexander? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 28, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2012 Blue No I live about 700 miles away from Phoenix and believe it or not did not find out about Dr Alexander until after the surgery with Dr Friedman. I did a whole lot of reading for a couple of months before I did the physical interviews and for some reason his name just did not pop up. Judging only by the pictures posted online he has some of the best looking final results that I can find anywhere. I'm sure transparency has been discussed here before and I did have that discussion with Dr Friedman about posted results and he made 2 valid points on the topic: 1. No surgeon is going to post mediocre results (although I have seen some less than flattering results on these forums) 2. The majority of men who opt for surgery do not want their pics posted anywhere (understandable) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted July 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 28, 2012 I will more than likely see Dr Bisanga when he comes to DC and possibly a couple other repair specialists as well like Shapiro, Lindsey and Umar again etc... All great physicians. Sounds like a good plan! Please, keep us updated! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 29, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 29, 2012 BlueNo I live about 700 miles away from Phoenix and believe it or not did not find out about Dr Alexander until after the surgery with Dr Friedman. I did a whole lot of reading for a couple of months before I did the physical interviews and for some reason his name just did not pop up. Judging only by the pictures posted online he has some of the best looking final results that I can find anywhere. I'm sure transparency has been discussed here before and I did have that discussion with Dr Friedman about posted results and he made 2 valid points on the topic: 1. No surgeon is going to post mediocre results (although I have seen some less than flattering results on these forums) 2. The majority of men who opt for surgery do not want their pics posted anywhere (understandable) I agree with 1 and 2, but most people are comfortable if their face is blotted out. Also here on the forums the nice thing is that many ppl will come and complain about their bad results from a doc, or post great results with pix as proof that a doc is legitimate. It is the community that makes this place powerful, not the doctors representatives. I know that many people on the forums like Dr. Alexander, but personally I was a little surprised by his recommendations and wasn't comfortable with him. He told me "laser cap" would be my best choice. I wasn't in agreement then or after doing research, but who knows maybe it works. I just felt weird around him, especially because he told me people with arab hair had xyz qualities. I just didn't know what to say it got weird and silent because I'm not arab, my ethnicity is southern Indian. There were other things in the interaction that just were weird, like the fact that he started talking about the price of the laser cap and how he'd get me a good deal on it (??). I left feeling awkward because I wanted to like him... I really did, I live in Phoenix about 3 minutes from his office. I hope that at some point you talk to Dr. Umar and find out what sort of repair cases he has done that are similar to yours. The guy has some pretty crazy results for repair patients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 29, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 29, 2012 All great physicians. Sounds like a good plan! Please, keep us updated! sorry to digress, but i am just curious future... where are you in your training to be a doc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 29, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 29, 2012 Future: Will do... Hey Blue Did you have a procedure done somewhere? Who and how did it go? I have yet to see anything negative about Dr Alexander... I also had the low level laser treatment at dr Friedmans the day after surgery, I believe it has something to do with blood flow possibly opening up the tiny arteries in the scalp a "smidge" (technical term) however I doubt it is some kind of magic bullet. Maybe there is a surgeon online here that can give an honest assessment of the treatment with short med and long term results and not just the salesmans pitch from the manufacturer of the units. And other than one small issue that still needs to be ironed out with Dr Friedmans office the whole procedure start to finish was top notch with all the latest equipment/instruments, well trained caring and experienced staff, cleanliness (one of my priorities) along with a clearly defined day by day care routine to follow to protect the grafts and heal the scar properly. Perhaps the moderators of this forum can come up with an actual satisfaction ratings system 1-10 stars by patients for each surgeon based on factors that got them recommended here or even something like the Ebay feedback system since sifting through 20,000 posts is nearly impossible...just a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 31, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2012 Future: Will do... Hey Blue Did you have a procedure done somewhere? Who and how did it go? I have yet to see anything negative about Dr Alexander... I also had the low level laser treatment at dr Friedmans the day after surgery, I believe it has something to do with blood flow possibly opening up the tiny arteries in the scalp a "smidge" (technical term) however I doubt it is some kind of magic bullet. Maybe there is a surgeon online here that can give an honest assessment of the treatment with short med and long term results and not just the salesmans pitch from the manufacturer of the units. And other than one small issue that still needs to be ironed out with Dr Friedmans office the whole procedure start to finish was top notch with all the latest equipment/instruments, well trained caring and experienced staff, cleanliness (one of my priorities) along with a clearly defined day by day care routine to follow to protect the grafts and heal the scar properly. Perhaps the moderators of this forum can come up with an actual satisfaction ratings system 1-10 stars by patients for each surgeon based on factors that got them recommended here or even something like the Ebay feedback system since sifting through 20,000 posts is nearly impossible...just a thought... There is no evidence that lasercap works. I wish it did, I would wear it everyday I think that there are several doctors that are "go to" and they are in the coalition recommended list (surgeons like Rahal H&W Lindsey etc) heres my story.... I haven't been through as much as you my friend. I sincerely hope you find a good surgeon. There was a recent case from Umar that is beautiful. Check it out here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BlueSteel Posted July 31, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2012 google "mr 4000 alexander" and you will see one opinion of Dr. Alexander. I am not out here to be negative about Dr. Alexander by the way; I just felt uncomfortable with him and his plan. Everyone is different though, we are here just to share opinions and stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted July 31, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted July 31, 2012 sorry to digress, but i am just curious future... where are you in your training to be a doc? Third year medical student. "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fugly Posted July 31, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2012 Hey Blue Just saw your bio-you are only 2 weeks into your procedure, WOW your results are very impressive so far. It appears you also have excellent donor area leftover for a bit more FUE and your scar looks great. Looks like 1 more procedure and you are going to be very happy. The back/sides of my head is riddled with strip scars, flap scars, plug scars and shock loss (Extreme Fugly) LOL!! My hair shafts are also very thin .38mm so it will take some BHT and an artist to fix. Keep us posted Fugly ole' Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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