Disappointed with Dr Farjo's Clinic

[gtz101]

First of all, can i just say this isn't any complaint with Dr Farjo himself rather its the people that he employs. I sent pictures via his site and i got a response from one of his staff who failed to address my concerns and simply rejected offering service simply because by just looking at the pictures felt in the long run its not advisable to do HT. How on earth can he say this without any in person consultation??? I have a lot of hair compared to the average person who does HT but he simply refused to listen what I asked for. Bearing in mind that person isn't a doctor or a HT surgeon so he shouldn't made a decision on this anyway but I would seiously question how this practice is run and am very dissapointed with their services.

[youngsuccess]

A lot of these offices get inundated with emails from prospective patients, so you're usually not going to receive a truly in-depth evaluation unless you schedule a real consultation. It sounds like you got an honest response from a patient consultant based on whatever information he had to work with.

 

Your disappointment is understandable; however, this doesn't mean you can't pursue the issue further if you're not satisfied with the response. If you really want a thorough assessment of your situation, I'd plan on visiting the clinic if it's feasible, or meeting with a few other recommended doctors before you form a full opinion on the quality of their services. Good luck.

[Maxxy]

To be honest, I wouldn't be happy being turned down for a consultation based on a rep's/patient coordinator's opinion or even a doctor's opinion based only on photos (if this is what happened). I'm assuming you asked for a consultation, if not in the first instance, then after your dissatisfaction with the rep's/patient coordinator's response.

 

If you really want a thorough assessment of your situation, I'd plan on meeting with a few surgeons in person.

 

The above is a lot easier in the US than it is here in the UK. In the UK the Farjos' are the only clinic worth consulting with in my and many others' opinion.

 

If GTZ101, has been turned down for a consultation by a Farjo rep/patient coordinator, then his choices are severely limited, if not non-existent as far as the UK goes.

 

GTZ101, I'd write an email to Mick and explain your situation and ask for a thorough explanation as to why you are being refused a consultation with either Farjo. There is absolutely no reason I can see for being refused an in-person consultation, no matter what stage your loss is at, or any other reason for that matter (unless there has been some sort of threatening Behaviour, which I'm sure there hasn't been).

 

If you get no further at that point, there are some excellent clinics in Belguim, that I am certain would be happy to see you.

 

Please be aware though, if you are offered a consultation with the Farjos', after reading recent posts, I believe there is a 3-7 months wait.

 

If I've read your post wrong and you were requesting a surgery date based on a online consult which was refused, then I also believe this is wrong. At the very least you should be offered an in person consult.

[Rachmunas4life]

I have a similar experience with a different scenario.

 

A highly respected surgeon told me in my in person consultation that he thought I wasn't a candidate for a transplant from the pictures alone. He had to see me in person to tell me I was a candidate and that the pictures were deceiving.

 

So I agree that he should see you. That is unless you are a NW8 or are really young. Then I could understand.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Gtz101,

 

Unfortunately, virtual consults can never replace a real in-person consult. And while the consultant possibly shouldn't have turned you away without scheduling an in-person consult, perhaps they or the doctor saw something in your message or photos that was a red flag to them. You may want to contact Mick McHugh on this forum and send him a private message or call the clinic directly to share your concern and schedule an in-person consultation as a follow-up. At least, that's what I'd do.

 

Maxxy,

 

Please be aware though, if you are offered a consultation with the Farjos', after reading recent posts, I believe there is a 3-7 months wait.

 

I spoke with Mick about this and despite what one poster in particular said, I'm sure they can get prospective patients in for consults sooner.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[gtz101]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The thing is I haven't lost much hair from the crown. There has been hair lost (no doubt) and from the sides its starting to reside. The front is where i have lost a bit of hair and I wanted to treat this area for now. I was simply told they would not consider this as in the long run he thinks its not advisable. But why should that be their decision? I am fully aware I will lose more hair and plan on getting further HT in future so I fail to understand why he (Mick) even bothered to suggest that. Anyway, I won't be contacting them as obviously that won't lead to nowhere. They have made their decision. I am thinking of possibly the US or Europe depending on whats on offer.

[Raphael84]

gtz - Im sorry that you didnt get the answer that you were looking for, but it was certainly recommended in your best interests, not the clinics. If it was for the Farjos best interests he would tell you that you are a quality candidate and that they can certainly treat you. Therefore receiving 5-10k and they would be all the better for it. You on the other hand, may not be. If more clinics were as honest and forthright as this, all of the guys who had a HT at a young age and have low and overly heavy hairlines would not be in the irreversable situation that they find themselves in today. Your attitude is all wrong. Why not take the comments from Mick on board and respectfully explain your feelings and your misunderstanding of why you have been advised to wait right now. You would learn much more this way, and with further correspondance, you never know, the Farjos could be the perfect clinic for you!!!

I wish you luck!

[Maxxy]

I also think Gtz101 would be making a mistake by not corresponding further with Mick and/or the clinic. From Gtz101's post I get the impression that his main issue at this point is the fact he feels a decision is being made solely on photos and email correspondences with Mick. It may be that one of the Farjos' have reviewed his photos (I'm sure this is the case) and advised Mick that moving forward wasn't advisable, however, Gtz101 seems to be under the impression that Mick has turned him down without the insight of either Farjo and that an in-person consultation isn't being offered before making their decision.

[notjustyet]

uhm... go to another doc and see what they say.

[Fallenstar]

hi gtz101,

i know Mick and the team at Farjo's. They have decent ethics and generally know what they r talking about.

it would be better to provide more details on ur situation bfor making judgment.

qu's like

1) what is ur age

2) what stage NW are u currently

3) has ur loss stabilized

 

there r many more qu's bfor u can make a decision.

btw do u have any photo's for the forum to give their view ?

 

FS

[balody]

i echoe what fallenstar stated.

i too have been told by mick personally that he turns down dozens of patients based on age,future loss etc and i'm sure he had a very good reason for refusing gtz(and saving him a consultation fee).

mick is one of the good guys here and his expert opinion i would have thought would only be repeated at a consultation with bessam.

[Maxxy]

i too have been told by mick personally that he turns down dozens of patients based on age,future loss etc and i'm sure he had a very good reason for refusing gtz(and saving him a consultation fee).

mick is one of the good guys here and his expert opinion i would have thought would only be repeated at a consultation with bessam.

 

To be perfectly honest, I don't feel this is Mick's decision to make (if this is what happened).

 

I personally wouldn't be happy with a consultant turning me down without at the very least the insight of the doctor. That isn't to say I wouldn't respect Mick's or any other rep's/consultant's opinion, however, it should be just that, an opinion and not a final decision.

 

I know this isn't exactly the same thing, but let's imagine you or I got a cut and you believed it may be infected, you call the surgery and tell the receptionist or doctor's PA and they tell you it's most likely nothing and not to worry about it; you aren't happy with this so you email some photos of the cut and again the PA says don't worry about it and that the doctor won't treat you. Would we be happy with this? Maybe even the PA said they had shown the doctor the photo and the doctor's advice was to forget about it and wait... would we be happy with this or would we expect to see the doctor and have him/her evaluate the situation before being turned down for treatment?

 

Where as I respect every clinic's consultants' opinion and the work they do, I honestly believe the decision to accept a patient or not should be left solely to the people who are trained to treat us.

[balody]

maxxy,i agree with alot of what you say but i dont agree with comparing a suspected infected injury with a non essential cosmetic proceedure and the risks involved.

i'm certain aswell that mick would have dicussed/shown gtz's case with the dr before contacting him.

[Maxxy]

Lol Balody, you totally missed my point, but let's forget the whole cut thing; imagine you were considering trying and getting Propecia from your G.P., and the same chain of events happened (as per my previous post).

[balody]

 

obviously i did

[Sparky]

You gotta be kidding? They charge a consultation fee?

[Maxxy]

Sparky, a number of clinics do. I believe Farjos' consultation fee is ??65.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

I emailed Mick informing him of this post so he could properly respond to the concern. I expect he'll be able to provide a better explanation from the clinic's point of view as to what happened. That said, Mick is away until Wednesday, but I'm sure he'll respond shortly after when he returns.

 

One more thing to keep in mind is that in most cases, consultants do garner the input of the physician prior to responding to prospective patients, especially when determining whether or not someone is a candidate.

 

But I'm sure Mick will clear this up for us once he returns later this week.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Mick from Farjo]

Bill,

I think this is pretty easy to clear up.First of all at no time did we turn down this patient for a consultation but we gave an opinion based on pictures that we assumed were a reasonable representation of his hair.Our thoughts were made clearer simply because he had indicated on these pictures how he would like to change his appearance.In our opinion this would not be viable. In reality it was a very low reconstruction that in this case we certainly would not have felt happy with.This was NOT my opinion but one of our doctor's because i had asked for their opinion on them.I do this in all cases where surgery may be a possibility or is requested.I am of course not a doctor but over the last 17 years have gained a good insight in to what and what is not the path to follow.This would actually have been my thoughts as well simply based on what i have learned over the years.This is not to say that we are always right because everything is not always black and white. Let me expand on one point though.An online consultation is a guide only and cannot be anything other than this,until that patient actually visits.Quite often dialogue can go on for months before a patient will decide to take the next step.Therefore i was very surprised by his response on here.Perhaps his understanding of this process is different to ours but if he visited i have no doubt that the result would be a recommendation not to proceed with how he first thought.We may have come to some sort of compromise i dont know but this would have been open for further discussion.Perhaps it would be a good idea for him to put the pictures up that he sent to us.I have got no doubt that the opinion would be the same of all who see them.

Mick

[Maxxy]

Hey Mick,

 

Thanks for giving your side and clearing a few things up for us.

[Fallenstar]

to be fair on Mick, we need to see some pictures of gtz101....

 

always good to see/hear from both sides to make our own judgment...so let see those pictures dude !

[Bill - Seemiller]

Mick,

 

Thanks for providing an explanation on this thread. Your response is very reasonable and as usual, Dr. Farjo has what's in the patient's best interest in mind.

 

gtz101,

 

Whether it was misinterpretation or unrealistic goals, it sounds like the Farjo clinic is looking out for your best interest. In my opinion, it would be worth it to discuss your areas of concern and goals on the phone or in-person with Mick or Dr. Farjo to see if they can help you. The truth is however, if your goals are set too high and can't be achieved, it's better than they don't proceed with surgery on you.

 

Best wishes in moving forward,

 

Bill

[Fallenstar]

gtz101,

 

any chance u can provide some photo's for members views & advice...

 

cheers

 

fs