Dr. Lindsey 3.5 months after 2nd case to treat radiation caused hairloss after cancer

[Dr. William Lindsey]

This 18 year old boy is about 11 years out from radiation treatments to cure cancer in the jaw joint. His entire right parietal scalp was without hair causing him significant distress. Readers may recall that I posted a similar case that we did last year with a one year update with excellent results, also in a young man. And readers may know that my daughter has brain cancer, so I am only too familiar with what these kids have had to endure.

This family came to see me and we discussed a strip procedure and our first case placed hair more toward the middle, hoping that gravity will allow hair growth to come down and camouflage lower down hair loss. It grew in quite well, and we did a second case at the end of July (11 months after the first case).

I was very frank with the patient and his parents that I have only done one other of these cases….but that I am highly motivated to help them, given my personal situation with my daughter. Our medical student is writing this case up for presentation and publication, and he’s been unable to find much in the medical literature so we are all in somewhat uncharted territory. Given the radiation, I am never sure that it’s going to work….but I’m certainly hopeful. His recipient area felt like normal scalp, it appeared to have good vascularity and he did great cleaning.

We did his case in mid July 2012. He got his sutures out and went off to be a freshman in college. I saw him when he got home for Thanksgiving break. Just like his first surgery and the other young man that we have worked with in similar circumstances, he is growing early. The first case has filled in nicely and does a decent job of camouflaging the lower area that is just now starting to grow. I asked him to spin by at spring break and again at a year. And hopefully either he or his mom will chime in to this thread.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Blake Bloxham]

Dr. Lindsey,

 

I love seeing cases like this. Great work! Thanks for sharing.

[Postdoc]

Dr Lindsey,

 

As a doctor myself, I'm really impressed by your willingness to go the extra mile with unusual and deserving cases. Sadly, there's little such interest in the UK.

 

Regards,

David (Postdoc)

[agenteye]

Dr. Lindsey-

 

Thanks for sharing! This is really awesome, and you are giving this young man a new lease on a happier life! I am looking forward to following this case really closely, and am keeping my fingers crossed that he continues to be blessed with more growth, and the rest of his life as a cancer-free individual! Big fan of your work here.....so keep up the great contributions you make to society!!

 

Best,

 

Mike

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks for the comments.

 

His mom emailed me that she'd press him to come on and add to this when he gets home for Christmas from college. Its all fine and dandy to hear my take on it, but I'd like his 2 cents too.

 

Dr. Lindsey

[heirloss]

I am the boy mentioned in this post, and I have to say that I am very impressed with the results. After a little more than half my life spent with a bald "parietal scalp" I wasn't very hopeful, and the lack of general medical knowledge about cases like mine didn't help. But now at a casual glance I appear to have a full head of hair! I would recommend this to any other ex-cancer patients who are suffering from similar issues as mine, and I hope that if my case gets published it creates more interest in dealing with unusual cases like mine.

 

John

[newbie33]

Nice work, Dr Lindsey. And I'm sure it will only get better.

 

Life sure is tough for some children. I sometimes helped out with Christmas treat events for kids who'd had a rough time. The children were always incredibly adaptable and fun-loving. Occasionally I'll hear of one of them who is now a bit more grown up and thriving. I hope that's the case with your daughter, Dr Lindsey.

 

John - enjoy college. It will go by quickly, so make sure you have a blast.

[Blake Bloxham]

John,

 

Thank you for sharing! Quite the inspiring story. I hope all is well. Good luck with the continued growth and maturation!

[SADbutTRUE]

awsome result so happy for this young man, great job doc,

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks for posting John. Have a good spring. See you in the summer.

 

Dr. L

[Dr. William Lindsey]

This young man stopped by today at 20 months or so out from his original case. Shown are in office pics and a couple out front with his mom, 2 of my staff, and me.

 

I wanted to get this up today. In the near future I'll try to do a small summary thread of his case from start to finish.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[RCKHair]

Looks great doc!

[greatjob]

Great job and very interesting case! Love seeing you post these kind of cases. It's nice to see good results for the average patient undergoing the op for purley cosmetic reasons, but its even better to see a HT help someone who has already gone through so much.

[GBU]

An example of the cure (radiation) being as scary as the disease (cancer). It will be nice when there is a day that cancer treatment isn't so poisonous to other areas of the body. Great case and I hope for the best for this patient.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Yes. Thanks for the comments. I did a little more complete thread on this site...not to generate more buzz, but rather to complete the entire story on this young man. I'm probably as psyched as he is. Or at least close.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[agenteye]

Awesome result Dr. Lindsey. Congrats to you and John.....was really hoping this would all turn out as well as it did for him! Hope you're enjoying college, John!!