Irish Dr Feller Patient

[Shayshay1]

I have just turned 42 and have have about 2,300 grafts on top of my

> head. These were inserted about 19 days ago by Dr Feller. Thats where

> I am today, my hairloss history probably starts about 25 years ago in

> school. I remember guys at school noticing my hair was fine and that

> my scalp was visible when my hair was wet. Its not quite that it

> bothered me greatly, more that I was aware of it, what I did know was that if

> I could keep my hair, I would do what I could to do so. My hair was

> always brushed backwards and stood up so it gave me a little extra

> height, at best I am 5 foot 7 inches tall. Around the age of 30 I

> noticed the hairloss starting. When my first son was born, and there

> were pictures taken of me looking down at the new arrival, a visible line

> accross the top of the skull was appearing. This was not really

> noticable to me most of the time as the hair as the front of the

> hairline was thick enough to hide it. Fast forward a few years, the

> hair is slowly getting thinner, we are lucky enough to have two sons

> now. My wife decides a family of four is nice round number and there will be no more additions. Propecia

> ( I'd think carefully before taking this product, consult your doctor)

> is available, not a threat to my wife or future kids so I start taking

> it and it works...for the time being...there is a slight development

> of moobs which is one of the potential side effects. Around 2010 I

> have not lost much more hair, but it is still fine on the top. In the

> summer I go to a clinic in Dublin where the actor James Nesbitt who

> tell I need 2500 grafts. High definition pictures shock me about how

> much hair I have lost. However the cost would be €25,000 and I

> ultimately decide its not worth it and would put too much pressure on

> our families finances. It was also not that easy or not easy enough to

> find examples of the clinics work. In spring 2011 I did contact Spex

> but did not really pursue looking into a transplant, to be honest I

> was probably confused and did not know what I wanted. My mind was made

> up however as that summer my hairloss suddenly increased, not sure if

> this was related to switching to a generic version of propecia that

> was cheaper and sourced from Spain. It was time to change what I was

> doing or get the buzz cut. There was a gap appearing in the hairline

> above both eyes. I dont like this new look and now it is bothering me.

> I contacted Spex again last sping. He

> advises such products as Rogaine foam 5%, Saw Palmetto and Nizoral

> shampoo. I started using these and recovered some of the hair I had

> lost. Spex sends pictures of me to Dr Feller who suggests about 2300

> grafts. The cost is much more afforadable, about $10,500. Luckily a

> work savings scheme matures and I have funds for the $2,500 deposit

> that are not needed for family matters. Within a couple of weeks of making

> contact with Spex again and after checking out Dr Feller's work, in

> March I book a date with Feller Medical for August 27th and book

> flights that same week.

> I have found Spex an amazing help. At times I was surpised that he was

> so patient and so helpfull in answering all my emails and questions,

> never making you feel like you were asking stupid questions and

> probably responding to questions he had answered thousands of times.

> If I am honest I went with Dr Feller, not so much because of all the

> positive things on the web about his work but because it occured to me

> that Spex, given his growing profile, would only align himself to one of the

> very best surgeons.

> Fast forward to August 27th. I stayed in the Adria Hotel the night

> before and am booked in for tonight, I went for a less expensive hotel

> and treated myself to hiring a Chevy Camaro ( what midlife crisis) hire car .

> The Adria is fine, a little small, the room was clean, had good wifi

> and a lot of movie channels. Breakfast does not start till 7 so I

> missed this as I did not want to be late for Dr Feller. There are however many

> restaurants very close and a Dunkin Donuts and Burger King / Wendys accross the

> road.

> Dr Feller himself exceeded the tales of making you feel at ease and

> being very witty. He made me feel like I had known him for years and

> we chatted for about 15 mins about his hobby of flying. He is a very

> likeable person and just enspires confidence. After 5 mins in his

> company I was sure that I had made a very good choice and was in good

> hands. He told me has been doing this for 15 years and I was really

> surprised by how personable he was.

> I guess the procedure started about 9am. Dr Feller talks you through

> each part. He gave me some meds to relax me and started with shots to

> numb the donor area, the first few shots I could feel a bit, slightly

> more so when he worked on the left, however, as the area became numb I

> would feel less of the shots. He told me some guys dont like the shots

> but said I did pretty good, in general I dont llike needles but knew

> it had to done so didnt mind them too much. After a while I feel

> shivery and cold, the doc tells me why this is but now I forget what

> he said, they give me a blanket. What I didnt mention to him was I

> seemed to find it a little harder to hear.Soon, while I was aware he was

> soon taking a donor strip I couldnt feel anything. The top of my head

> was buzz cut and then shaved. Then there were shots into the

> transplant area. Again I could feel the first few but they were ok.

> What happened next I didnt expect...I started falling asleep. He

> encouraged me to sleep saying 80% of guys do for a while. I'd guess I

> slept for most of the time while he worked on the area to receive the

> grafts as his team prepared them. I woke up when he was finished

> and his team then took over and started implanting the grafts. There

> were two teams of 3 ladies. 1 on either side and 1 at the back keeping

> the transplant area wet. The girls work in silence and seem very

> focussed, I cant feel a thing up top but am aware of where they are

> working.During the procedure Dr Feller shows what is happening to

> someone who I assume is having a consultation, I dont see his face. I

> did however get to meet a nice English guy who had 2 transplants

> already, he tells he had lost all his hair on top, what he has now

> looks really good.I did regret not getting a coffee before we started

> as I feel

> I need one and my neck is kinda killing me...this happens to me when I

> change cars e.g. getting a hire car on hols, and I should have remembered this.

> Its all finished about 2-3pm. They gave me lunch ( you order this

> around noon from a deli menu ) and a coffee which I was really glad

> to get. One of Dr Feller's ladies explains to me what to do for the

> next few days, washing the donor area as normal but only using a cup

> on the new hairs for 2-3 days, very important to keep clean but dont

> touch at all. Then Dr Feller tells me is very happy with how things

> went, shows me pics of my new hair and answers any questions I have.

> While I feel good for some reason I'm a little out of it. I could

> drive back to New Jersey in the mid life crisis mobile where I am staying with relatives but am glad

> I am just going back to the hotel in a taxi with a larger baseball cap that

> the doc gave me. I brought one but its not large enough. The head

> feels numb but not sore at all. To be extra cautious I sleep in a

> chair that night. If you remember I said the Adria is small, not

> fancy, but now I am glad of its good wifi and close proximity to food

> outlets and Dunkin Donuts which I walked over to, I guess I'm back in

> the hotel about 4.30. I didnt sleep really well but it was ok, could

> be the chair, the doc gave me painkillers in case I need them but I

> only take one the next day. There is no pain, more an awareness of the

> 65 staples in the donor area. The second night I wake up as I feel the

> top of my head touch a pillow, it felt like there are very strong

> stalks in my head, luckily no grafts are lost. Over 3 days, this is

> the only time the grafts touch anything. The HT was done a Monday, I

> get home to Ireland Saturday. While you probably need 3 weeks off work if you

> dont want people to know you had a HT, I only took a week as I didnt

> want to impact our family summer hols. Before I go back to work to

> work I get my remaining hair cut down more, I

> have prepositioned a hairdresser who has had guys with HT's before and

> we have a plan for the next few months, the hair on the sides growing

> much quicker so we need to keep these trim. Tuesday I go back to work, my boss is very supportive.

> Up to now I had only told my wife and him about the HT. He has no

> problem with me wearing a baseball cap but points out it might look

> odd with a suit and tie. As it happens we are too busy at work for me

> to worry about what people think so as I think I need to I explain to

> people that I had a HT. I feel I need to do this due to the visible

> line at the donor area, the top of the head now just looks like a buzz cut.

. My wife took out the staples after 12 days,

> these were a bit itchy. The redness and flakyness in the new area went

> in the second week. The grafts are still all there today but growing

> really slowly, if at all. If the new hairs are to fall away as happens

> in 80-90% of cases, that should start this week. Hopefully the visible

> donor line will blend in soon, I am concious about that line and have bought nanogen fibres in case I have a meeting to attend. My wife and I did a test and these do conceal the gap nicely, I am however giving it 3 weeks before I use these fully as I want the donor area to remain clean and heal properly. There are 1 or 2 itchy spots where the staples were and if my head touches the car headrest the donor area is noticeably numb. All par for the course from what I read on the web. So far so good. I will post time and again with pics so you can see how it grows. It may take a while for it to grow but again that's to be expected. I guess you need to patient....my boys don't really like the buzz cut look... I'm stuck with it for a while though! 3 pics for you. first is early this year, second 19 days post op, third is 16 days post op

[chrisdav]

Very detailed write up Shayshay.

 

Keep us posted with your progress.

[richie48]

Great write up bud !

 

Maybe use paragraphs next time though hahaha

 

You're in the right hand and you will be fine , good luck and try to forget about it now , well atleast for the next 3 months , after that things start to turn around .

 

Richie

[Raphael84]

Wicked write up! Good work! Photos look good! Spex inspirational as usual! How was the experience with your wife taking out the staples? How did it feel? Did she feel it was a tough task? 65, is that genuine or more for the dramatics of the story? Sounds like a hell of a lot!

[Shayshay1]

Howdy.

I think Dr Feller said it was 65, I never gave it any thought that this was a lot. The staples were simple to take out.My wife had no problem doing them. I was given a tool that made it very easy, it places pressure on the middle of the staple and they sort of pop out. Did'nt hurt too much and I was glad to see them go as they were getting itchy.

She has been very supportive in a sort of remodeling the kitchen type of way. I would'nt have expected her to be as supportive if I had to pay the €25,000 it would have cost at home. What she is not too fond of is the line at the back. Hopefully this will blend in soon.

Rgds

[Raphael84]

Your well on the way Shay. Best of luck and keep us updated!

[Shayshay1]

Howdy

So we are about 4 weeks out now. The scar is less visible as you can see, or not see, in the pics. I had to attend my first work meeting last week and was more concious of the line than the lack of hair on top. Its funny that as I meet people I have'nt since since before the HT, some of them keep trying not to look at top of my head as we speak but they can't avoid it and their eyes keep darting up and down.

The hair on top is growing very slowly and I don't think all the new hair has fallen out as I can see more hair in some areas where I know there was'nt much before. The head looks pretty good inside but go out into the sun or under lights ( two pictures were taken outside) its fairly fine up there and I guess I'm stuck with the look I was trying to avoid for a few months while the hair grows. This part is perhaps not as easy as I thought it would be as I look like someone who has lost a lot of hair really quickly. I guess if you are thinking of getting this done you need buy into the fact it can get worse before it gets better and takes time.

[Shayshay1]

Howdy

So we are about 4 weeks out now. The scar is less visible as you can see, or not see, in the pics. I had to attend my first work meeting last week and was more concious of the line than the lack of hair on top. Its funny that as I meet people I have'nt since since before the HT, some of them keep trying not to look at top of my head as we speak but they can't avoid it and their eyes keep darting up and down.

The hair on top is growing very slowly and I don't think all the new hair has fallen out as I can see more hair in some areas where I know there was'nt much before. The head looks pretty good inside but go out into the sun or under lights ( two pictures were taken outside) its fairly fine up there and I guess I'm stuck with the look I was trying to avoid for a few months while the hair grows. This part is perhaps not as easy as I thought it would be as I look like someone who has lost a lot of hair really quickly. I guess if you are thinking of getting this done you need buy into the fact it can get worse before it gets better and takes time.

[Shayshay1]

6 weeks out and the lined at the back has blended in nicely. My wife tells me it still looks red but I am happy as the hair is now all the same lenght and no longer screams " hair translant" The top is growing reallly slowly and I am wearing baseball caps more than I thought I would. There are close up pics so that you can see how it is growing, I can see progress on the sides of the hairline. It is now a waiting game.

From a distance it looks very fine so I am glad I told people why that is and no longer have to explain it to work colleagues. To help it along I have started using Rogaine 5% once a day, Nizoral once a week and MSM. I had stopped all treatments two weeks before the HT but am gradually easing myself back onto these. What is common at this stage is that patients can feel depressed as the new hair has fallen away and the hair looks less dense and you may suffer shockloss. I'm kinda kicking myself that I didnt get a few more baseball caps when I was in the states. The head has a shiny look in bright lights that I dont like. I find Topic fibres blend in better than Nanogen which sorta looked like I had spilt pepper on my noggin

[drloriafan]

Good write up Irish

I was with the Great Dr Feller today 2100 Grafts (what a nice staff he has)

Looking forward to your progress.

[Shayshay1]

Not too much to report. If anything there is very little up there right now. There are a few pics below so you can for yourselves. The hair behind the tuft at the front had been about half as dense as that small island you see now before the op. As can see it is very light there at the moment. Spex tells me this is classic shockloss. There is some hair there and what I do for work now is use Toppik which makes the hair look very full. One of the pictures below shows a full head of hair, thats with the Toppik in. Its spooky how good it is but I dont use it when I'm off as I want to leave the hair alone. If you were gonna use these type of fibres, just make sure you match the colour correctly.

looking at the pictures I took tonight, I can see that it seems slightly thicker on the actual hairline. I am 3 weeks away from the 3 months stage where hopefully the grafts will start to grow. This current stage is not fun to be honest, my wife does'nt like this ( hopefully ) temporary look. She bought me the Toppik!

[Shayshay1]

Howdy. Yup, the staff are very nice, and very professional. Perhaps they dont get enough credit in general when these things go well. While they are trained and hired by the Doctors, I guess their skill is just as important to the overall success. I found it a bit spooky how quiet they were but the doc said this so they concentrate on what they are doing.

[Arthur]

Hi Shayshay. Good write up, your 2.5 months in front of me. I was tempted to shave my hair down but I would look a complete tool so I just couldn't do it! I'm currently sporting a decent combover job at the moment. Everything you say about Doc Feller and Spex is bang on, my procedure went smoother than a snakes belly!

Whereabouts did you buy your Toppik from? I've got the nanogen but like you, i couldn't apply it right without it making a mess. Not tried Toppik yet but i would like to give it a whirl.

[Shayshay1]

Hi Arthur

Only today some one at work said the hair had come along very nicely, that's the Toppik. I didn't start using it until about 6 weeks out and by that stage there was some fine wispy hair for it to attach itself to. We bought in on Amazon. I couldn't get Nanogen to work either. My Wife said it looked like we put pepper on my head. Tomorrow I will put up a better picture of how it looks. I deliberately didn't use it for the first few weeks though as I didn't want anything to irritate the grafts

[Shayshay1]

Hi

With Toppik. Again I waited some weeks before using this but I find it does the trick.

[Arthur]

It looks good mate! Where can i buy Toppik from?

[Shayshay1]

Try Amazon or Ebay

[Shayshay1]

Howdy

The hair is starting to grow now. I am around 3 months after the procedure and there is a reasonable amount of hair but it is very thin and wispy. I'm surprised that some of the hairs are actually quite long, 3.5cms on the right, those on the left are not as long. Its not thick in any real terms and if I dont use Topik and enter room with bright lights, the scalp has a very visible shiny sheen. I am attaching some pics. 1 taking two weeks ago shows the hair still very thin. Pics taken today and yesterday show better progress after ten days. There is a pic with Topik which is how it looks at work. In dark light or when I get up for work it looks full.

While I did not mind telling people at work I had a transplant I did'nt want to have to explain to a lot of people what shockloss is and that the grafts fall out initially and then start to grow over after 3 months ish. That's why I keep using Topik. Hopefully come Christmas in 4 weeks or so I will able to style the hair like I used to.

[Shayshay1]

Its about 3 months and 2 weeks out now. The hair is steadily improving and seems to do so almost every day.The last two weeks have seen a lot of progress. It looks better than it is as its still fine and is thicker on the right for some reason. There is not much volume yet but that will come and we are really on the way now. Don't use the Toppik anymore for work.

[Raphael84]

Shayshay,

 

Big congratulations. Your coming on grand. Whilst you were obviously pretty skilled with Toppik, and Im all for concealers (they can make an incredible difference), but for me it can be a bit of a drug, its so difficult to get off them. But the difference over the last 2 weeks in your photos are sensational! Your looking great. Well done and enjoy the Christmas season and coming months of improved results!

[Shayshay1]

Hi, your so right about the concealers. Today is my first day going to work without it. Nobody seems to have noticed which is even better ( or they are very polite)

[Shayshay1]

4 months out and much more good progress. Looking at the older pictures its hard to believe how light it was for a while. Spex tells me the transplants are only starting to grow so it will get even thicker. It is however thick enough now for me to style it like I used to which was a personal goal for Chistmas. The middle picture is under very bright light and is about a week old.

[Shayshay1]

4 months out pictures

[chrisdav]

Shayshay,

 

You have got through the most difficult stage of the surgery. It looks fine.

 

Try to remain patient and it should start to take off in the following months.

 

Nothing happens really in the first 4 months.

 

Keep us posted.

[Shayshay1]

Hi. I'm delighted right now. if it didnt get any better and stays the way it is, I'd be perfectly happy. Any further improvement is a bonus