Regular Member Arthur Posted October 22, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hi everyone. Just arrived back from what can only be described as a very smooth and very slick HT with Dr Feller. I've struggled with hairloss for over 12 years now, everyday dominated by hairspray and weather conditions and if I've got my bald spots covered (you know the drill!) then heading out in to work etc hoping it all stays in place! Constantly mocked by friends and workmates and 2 failed attempts at HT's here in the UK (thank you Hospital Group!) I'd finally had enough. I've been a silent follower on this site for some time, gathering info and tips along the way. I would be nowhere if it wasn't for this site it's helped me tremendously! I emailed several Docs and the first to reply was Spex. As everyone knows, Spex is one of the most respected people on here, and I can also say one of the nicest too! He gave me great advice and told me to do more research before I made the choice of Dr. He let me make my own decision and when I decided on going with Dr Feller he was more than willing to help out with any questions I had, he even came to my house for a look at my hair! I arrived in NYC on Thursday and my op was on the Friday. Such were my nerves that I arrived 20 minutes early, stomach churning, Dr Feller arrived and we headed up to his office. In the lift upstairs he complemented me on my hair saying it was in good condition, no one has ever said that before! He really put me at ease and filled me with confidence within minutes of talking to him, I found him to be a top bloke, friendly, funny but most importantly, professional. After a brief chat about what I wanted and what could be achieved he drew the lines on my head and we both agreed that that was the way forward. I got my gown on, got in the chair and the Doc started the injections in to the donor area. These aren't that bad and are over in a minute. When my head felt like a crash helmet he started taking the strip. This was done and stapled back up within an hour, unbelievably quick! We were chatting throughout but when it got to the serious business of making the incisions for the grafts he said he needed complete silence and I complied and lay there as still as I possibly could. Incisions made, in came the nurses to place the grafts, again in complete silence. This took about 3 hours. Dr Feller would come in, in regular intervals to check on the work and to see if I was ok. When all the incisions were filled with grafts there were 300 grafts left over so the Doc made more incisions (great news for me let me tell you!). After the last few incisions back came the nurses and placed the final few in there and that was that. From the first injection to leaving the building, the whole experience lasted just over 4 hours, I was genuinely taken aback at how quick everything went. The lovely nurses cleaned me up and I went to Dr Feller's office for my post-op instructions and final chat. He told me I was a great patient and would possibly not need to see him again for any future work (I really bloody hope so!). He managed to take out 98% of my previous scar and I was more than happy with that. He passed me a mirror to let me see his work and I was over the moon with it and if I do need anymore work done in the future then I wouldn't hesitate in going back. All in all it was a great experience with a great Doc! Thank you Dr Feller and Spex, early days yet but if my results match my op then I'm gonna look like Teenwolf! Attached are photos 3 days post op taken with an iphone, you can tell the swelling in my forehead on some photos. Hopefully Dr Feller will pass on the pre, post and during photos to Spex and he can add them to here. Thanks Doc for the extra 200 grafts, you are a gentleman and a scholar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GlasgoIrish67 Posted October 22, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hi Arthur Congratulations ! I had my treatment with Dr Feller back in August this year and can only repeat what you have said about both Dr Feller and Spex. Spex gave me the best advise you could ask for which was to take time out, find the best surgeon for you and go for it. I had originally decided to go for a UK clinic to ease the travel but Spex advice made me look at the long term and not just about the journey home which was fine as it turned out. My wound has healed really well almost invisible already and I am now sitting back waiting for my new hair to grow, early days still. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member SADbutTRUE Posted October 22, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted October 22, 2012 congrats on your recent procedure, heal well amd good growth to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted October 22, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks for the heads up guys! Glasgoirish67 I was tempted to stay in th UK again but after reading and researching on here I decided to bite the bullet and go for it and I'm glad I did! How are you looking in these early stages, anything exciting happening?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted October 23, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted October 23, 2012 Arthur, Congratulations and thanks for sharing a detailed account of your recent hair transplant experience with Dr. Feller. The work looks impeccable. David - Former Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raphael84 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Arthur, Congratulations on your recent session with Dr Feller. Your work looks amazing. Very clean and precise. I also have to agree with Dr Feller. Your hair looks great, and to be told that you hopefully wont need any further sessions must be an incredible feeling. Your hairline looks solid, and appropriately mature. Echo the sentiments of Spex. A true legend in the making. You are going to look great in just a few short months and Im sure that you will never look back. Good luck and grow well! GlasgoIrish - Congratulations to yourself also. Great choice of Doctor and good luck with your growth! Patient Advisor for Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic ian@bhrclinic.com - BHR YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcH4PY1OxoYFwSDKzAkZRww I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GlasgoIrish67 Posted October 23, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted October 23, 2012 Hi Arthur No growth as yet to really talk about, some little signs but nothing that would show up on a photograph. I guess it's important to remember to give it time, hard not to look everyday though. Dr Feller reckons I should have some significant growth within 6-7 months, fingers crossed !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member krisl Posted October 23, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted October 23, 2012 Look forward to seeing your progress Arthur. I'm a London lad and off to Dr Feller this weekend!! Good to hear all went well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted October 24, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 24, 2012 Good luck Krisl Your in safe in hands with Dr Feller. Keep us informed of your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 1, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 1, 2012 Arthur. The work looks superb. The hairline shape looks superb and most of all that scar is gonna be super fine. Just hold on now and be paaattiieennnttt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 2, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 2, 2012 Here are my 2 weeks post op pics. I'm totally back to normal now, no pain anywhere, no numbness to speak of and hardly any redness. Been at work for the past 2 days with no hat and totally flew under the radar so I can't really complain! Any thoughts and comments on my short progress are more than welcome. Be good to hear what others think. The las pic is what my hair looks like when I've combed it forward, my HT is pretty much un-detectable. Thank the lord for ultra strength hairspray! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 2, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 2, 2012 Get in. A fellow combover bro You are killing it mate. Nobody is gonna have any idea you have had any work done. You just gotta avoid those heavy gusts of wind for a few months. Haha. Mate I know. I have been there The work looks great as expected and that scar will be paper thin I recon. Time to just wait now. Forget all about it. Don't scrutinise it and just wait for the good times to roll in by the latter part of next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 2, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 2, 2012 Cheers fella! I'm gonna try my best to forget about it. reckon it will be easier said than done tho! Did you suffer any shockloss? If I do suffer any, when will it happen? Any idea? I feel as tho its all gone too well so something has to give somewhere along the line! I do know after a period of time if no shockloss has occured then I think I'll be in the clear, is this correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 2, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 2, 2012 Easier said than done for def. Haha. As for shockloss, I don't really know if I got it as I had not had my hair short in years before the HT. All I know is that at 2 weeks my HT looked ok then by one month after the shed it looked the worst that it did the whole time. By two months it was a touch better but not much. Then it got a little better each month. I'd say by 1 - 2 months it will look the worst it is gonna look. After that it is all slowly uphill. Mate. Here is my honest adice though. Forget shockloss, forget 2 month mark, forget the 3 month mark. They are such small, irrelevant little things in the grand scheme of things. Style your hair each day, look how you look, get on with stuff and remember that in 8 or 9 months you are gonna look great. You will look back at all this and realise it wasn't worth worrying about. If you are ever feeling in doubt or having a crisis, feel free to message me. I can pretty much remember exactly how I felt month by month post op. I just imagine that after 2 bad HT's your anxiety will be even worse. If I were to break it down. Month 1 and 2. Just felt weird and new. Newb jitters and nerves. Month 3. Thought I was getting some early growth. Month 4 and 5. Realised I wasn't getting early growth. Plodded on. Month 6 and month 7. Things were happening but I had some weak patches. Looked at some results online where I realised other people had better HT's than me at month 6 or 7. Thought I had all the growth I was gonna get and that the HT hadn't worked like I wanted. Started to have a crisis and think I'd had the wrong procedure, wrong doctor, never should have had it etc. Month 8. Saw loads of improvement and thickening. Eased my mind a lot. Realised that with toppik my hair looked great. Month 9 till now. Complete cosmetic change. Hair looks great. Main thing is that for 3 weeks solid I have felt like my hair has looked good every day after styling. No bad hair days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 3, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks for the info man I really appreciate that. I keep telling myself that I'll be able to forget all about it and expect growth after 3 months but I gotta be realistic and change my expectations. As you say its a 12 month process and with me having 2 failed attempts then yeah you could say im I'm quite apprehensive about things and maybe being a little ahead of myself. I reckon Christmas will help take my mind off things. I'll bear what you say in mind if i get a few down days in the coming few months, reckon I'll have my fair share of those! Don't think the shedding will affect me as all the transplanted hair is covered by my false fringe! Thats one of the good things I've got going for me, when my hair is done I cant see anything and I can't touch it as it will move out of place and will reveal everything. Roll on next summer is all I can say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Iamx121 Posted November 4, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted November 4, 2012 Easier said than done for def. Haha. As for shockloss, I don't really know if I got it as I had not had my hair short in years before the HT. All I know is that at 2 weeks my HT looked ok then by one month after the shed it looked the worst that it did the whole time. By two months it was a touch better but not much. Then it got a little better each month. I'd say by 1 - 2 months it will look the worst it is gonna look. After that it is all slowly uphill. Mate. Here is my honest adice though. Forget shockloss, forget 2 month mark, forget the 3 month mark. They are such small, irrelevant little things in the grand scheme of things. Style your hair each day, look how you look, get on with stuff and remember that in 8 or 9 months you are gonna look great. You will look back at all this and realise it wasn't worth worrying about. If you are ever feeling in doubt or having a crisis, feel free to message me. I can pretty much remember exactly how I felt month by month post op. I just imagine that after 2 bad HT's your anxiety will be even worse. If I were to break it down. Month 1 and 2. Just felt weird and new. Newb jitters and nerves. Month 3. Thought I was getting some early growth. Month 4 and 5. Realised I wasn't getting early growth. Plodded on. Month 6 and month 7. Things were happening but I had some weak patches. Looked at some results online where I realised other people had better HT's than me at month 6 or 7. Thought I had all the growth I was gonna get and that the HT hadn't worked like I wanted. Started to have a crisis and think I'd had the wrong procedure, wrong doctor, never should have had it etc. Month 8. Saw loads of improvement and thickening. Eased my mind a lot. Realised that with toppik my hair looked great. Month 9 till now. Complete cosmetic change. Hair looks great. Main thing is that for 3 weeks solid I have felt like my hair has looked good every day after styling. No bad hair days. Nice breakdown of events. Cheers for that. I went to Dr Feller the same as Arthur. I think i was in the chair three days after. Good to have someone on here who is at the same stage as me and pretty much the same area done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 5, 2012 Thanks for the info man I really appreciate that. I keep telling myself that I'll be able to forget all about it and expect growth after 3 months but I gotta be realistic and change my expectations. As you say its a 12 month process and with me having 2 failed attempts then yeah you could say im I'm quite apprehensive about things and maybe being a little ahead of myself. I reckon Christmas will help take my mind off things. I'll bear what you say in mind if i get a few down days in the coming few months, reckon I'll have my fair share of those!Don't think the shedding will affect me as all the transplanted hair is covered by my false fringe! Thats one of the good things I've got going for me, when my hair is done I cant see anything and I can't touch it as it will move out of place and will reveal everything. Roll on next summer is all I can say! I think this is a really wise idea. I know I would have been better off if I had jus forgot all about month by month comparisons, 3 month marks, comparing my ht to other peoples etc. Easier said than done like but as you also rock the fake fringe you can do it. By 3 months however you will be in a better position than you were. I rocked the fake fringe and grew my transplanted hair as long as possible. Then at 3 months I cut the rest of the hair to blend it with the length of the transplanted hair and started using toppik to boost the fullness at the front. Toppikis amazing stuff for def. @LAMX. Congrats mate. If you ever have any questions about the recovery period feel free to hit me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Iamx121 Posted November 5, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted November 5, 2012 @LAMX. Congrats mate. If you ever have any questions about the recovery period feel free to hit me up. Cheers mate. Just had a look at that toppik product. Looks good stuff. Might start using that when i'm around three months post op. What about putting wax/hair products in your hair using toppik? Would you have to style it then put toppik in your hair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 5, 2012 Yeah. I started using a bit when I cut my pretend fringe at 3 months. You can use before or after wax. I have tried both ways. Its really simple stuff to use actually. Just experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 5, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 5, 2012 I've never used toppik before. Is it the same type of stuff as nanogen? I've got some of that which i sometimes use on my crown but shy away from using it on the front as it always leaves a black tide mark around my hairline. Is toppik easier to apply? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 5, 2012 Never used nanogen but I believe its essentially the same. However if you are getting a black mark I think you are a) using too much and B) probably have the wrong colour. Looking at your pics you'd either want light brown or maybe even blond toppik. Use very little and tip it into the hair instead of on the hair if that makes sense. Then kind of comb it through if necessary. However don't use it yet. As said I started using it after 3 months when I first cut my pretend combover fringe off. Oh yeah. And wash it out each day too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 7, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 7, 2012 Nice one man. Think I'm defo gonna give it a try. I've noticed a few hairs falling out, I think the shed phase is coming up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member spreadlocks Posted November 7, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted November 7, 2012 That sounds bang on man. I would say I shed pretty quick and pretty much all of my shed happened between 2 weeks post op and 1 month post op. It looks like you are right on que with that. If that is the case it will look about the worst it's gonna look at 1 month to 6 weeks. All (slowly) uphill from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Arthur Posted November 9, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 9, 2012 Thanks Spex! Photos look good. It all seems just a distant memory now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Since13 Posted November 9, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted November 9, 2012 Congratulations! I cannot believe how people dare to mock you hair. I think that it's in good condition as Dr. Feller said. I think that it will be fantastic soon. Just be patient! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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