Hello Everyone

[ScienceHair]

First of all, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I've been lurking here for a few weeks and finally decided to post.

 

I'm 44 years old and my hair loss started when I was in my early 30's. I had my one and only transplant at age 35, in early 2005. I went to Lawrence Shapiro and it's the single biggest regret of my life.

 

I had consultations with 2 other doctors prior to Shapiro. At age 33, I still had a solid head of hair, but I noticed it was thinning and I wanted to be proactive, so I met with Dr. Greco (when he was still in Vero Beach, Fl). He was a very cool guy, had plenty of good before and after photos on his laptop and wasn't pushy at all.

 

Even though his results looked solid, though, I found that he wasn't actually an M.D., but a PHD, with an MD on staff.

 

The next consultation was a local Dr and he told me that he really didn't like to perform ht's on men younger than 40. He also said that he felt I didn't need a transplant and that he would just prescribe me propecia.

 

I declined the propecia and over the next 2 years my hair thinned at a drastic rate. It's quite possible that had I started propecia at that time, I'd still have a solid head of hair. However, I stand by my decision and have no regrets.

 

I went to see Larry Shapiro and I did some research on him and in late 2004, there wasn't really much I could find, good or bad. Maybe I just didn't look in the right places.

 

The whole process was high pressure sales. His before and after photos were pictures in a photo album. I honestly don't know why I went through with it. I'm so much smarter and more savvy than to be roped in by people like that.

 

We agreed on 2500 grafts and right before my surgery, the girl came in and they wanted to sell me more grafts. So, we went with 2750.

 

Larry cut my strip and sewed me up, otherwise I didn't see him unless he was parading prospective customers into the room to "show off the fabulous work on my donor strip."

(In all fairness to him, he asked me if he could show someone the sutures and I said ok, but that turned into 5 or 6 different people.) I could also hear him going room to room working on other patients.

 

After I had my stitches removed, I didn't hear from anyone until about 10 mos. post-op. They said I needed to come in and have my 10 mo. checkup. I was unhappy with my results, so I definitely wanted to go see them, but couldn't until my 1 year mark.

 

When I went in, the girl asked me how everything was and I said I have some issues and I'm not happy with my results. She said, your hair looks great , this is healthy hair, 3 or 4 more procedures and the top will look like the sides. I laughed and told her I wanted to talk to the Dr.

 

Larry comes in and says, so let's get you set up for your next session. I proceed to list the following things to him:

 

1) I was promised 2750 grafts and I felt that my density was very poor for that many and I felt that I hadn't received any where near that amount of grafts. He told me it looked great.

 

2) I also told him that my hair didn't look natural ( the plugs stick straight up) and that I had 2, 3 even 4 hair grafts in my hairline. He said they had to do that for density, because I have fine hair. ( I have coarse hair by the way).

 

He then told me we should set up another session. At that point it took every bit of self control I had not to punch him in the face.

 

My two biggest concerns with an HT were an unnatural look (which I now have) and having a scar on my head. He assured me the hair would look 100% natural.

 

Sorry this is so long winded, hopefully anyone reading this who has never had an ht will take this as fair warning. Do Your Research.

 

Also, I can't place all the blame on Lawrence Shapiro, part of the blame lies with me.

 

On a positive note, though, I have a consultation with Dr. Glenn Charles in 2 weeks. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can finally get this repaired.

 

Thanks for reading

[Blake Bloxham]

Science,

 

Welcome to the forums! I hope you'll keep us updated on your consultation with Dr. Charles. He's a highly respected member of the community and a part of our elite Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. Good luck!