Dr. Gabel

[Chris in Seattle]

I got a great hair transplant 4 days ago, from Dr. Steven Gabel, near Portland, Oregon. I must say that I am already ecstatic! It was well worth the 3 hour drive from Seattle.

 

For years, my hair loss has completely devastated me, to the point of absolute obsession which would torment me literally every single second of the day. No matter what anyone said, I just couldn't deal with it. My confidence was crushed and I was insanely self-conscious, especially without my hat. While some guys might look fine with their heads shaved or whatever, that look just isn't me or how I want to present myself to the world. I tried 10+ herbal remedies, plus Rogaine foam, but nothing seemed to work. I often just wanted to hide.

 

But then came March 8, 2010, when my whole life changed. Over the course of a grueling 13 hour mega-session, the amazing Gabel team planted 4,115 new grafts into my hair-hungry head. And now, with my thick, dark curly donor hair, I'm amazed at how well my scalp is covered in only 4 days! After thoroughly checking on me the day after surgery, they carefully instructed me on how to care for my "new do", and it appears to be healing really well. I honestly feel like I'm starting a whole new life now.

 

They took extreme care in every detail of the process and Dr. Gabel is a great guy, who you instinctively feel you can trust. He's always honest and very personable. He personally plants at least half of the grafts himself and is virtually always in the operating room overseeing what is going on. He and his staff (of 6 wonderful women) were both fantastic and fun.

 

My pics were taken in their pro studio and will be posted soon. I will also be posting my own pics of my process (possibly after the shedding period). My mission now is simply to help other hairloss sufferers, 'cause I want each of you in my situation to have the same positive experience.

 

Chris in Seattle

[youngsuccess]

Chris in Seattle,

 

Welcome to our community.

 

Congratulations on your recent hair transplant with an outstanding physician. Once you're prepared to upload pictures, consider putting together your own patient website which can be updated as you progress. Thanks for sharing your experience with Dr. Gabel in detail, and happy growing!

 

Best,

 

Anthony (youngsuccess)

[EpilepticSceptic]

Chris,

 

What's up with that disclaimer at the bottom of your sig. ?

 

Should I say that I am also not a medical professional every time I make a post too ?

 

Hmmm.

[the B spot]

Congrats on a good experience!!!

 

Dr. Gabel does fine work and I look forward to seeing your results in the coming months!!!

 

Take Care,

Jason

[Jotronic]

his rates are reasonable, especially compared to surgeons based in regions where overhead costs are extremely high.

 

Congrats on your procedure but I really am confused by this statement. What regions are you talking about and what does region have to do with overhead costs? Just askin.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Joe,

 

Who are you quoting? I'm not seeing this anywhere on the thread. Maybe whomever you're quoting revised their post?

 

Bill

[Jotronic]

Bill,

 

I was quoting the originator of this thread, "Chris in Seattle". As you can see I used the "quote" feature on my post per the format you see it in and did not simply retype what was there. He has changed his post. Odd.

[Chris in Seattle]

Joe,

 

Well why is it so "odd" that I would edit my post?? Being brand new to this community, I thought my original post was a bit too wordy. Isn't there an "edit" feature on here, just like the "quote" feature? I don't know why it's such a big deal.

 

Chris in Seattle

[Jotronic]

What was odd was your original comment. It didn't make sense. What's the big deal with asking?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Joe,

 

I think you are taking "Chris in Seattle's" original post (which has thus been edited) a little too personally. It's obvious you thought he was somehow comparing Dr. Gabel's pricing to Hasson and Wong's otherwise, you probably wouldn't have posted.

 

I agree that his original statement didn't make a lot of sense - especially since region and overhead costs aren't remotely related. However, since you represent Hasson and Wong, your question (as innocent as it is) comes across as a little edgy.

 

Since this Dr. Gabel patient is simply trying to share his experience, let's leave him to it :-).

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[Jotronic]

Bill,

 

Nothing about my question should be obvious and any assumption of such is incorrect. I said the comment did not make sense (which it did not), not that it was a dig at H&W and I don't see how it would be. And to be honest here, I could not care less about a cost comparison with Dr. Gabel. "Overhead costs" associated with "region" didn't make sense to me so I asked about it. You then asked me about the quote, I explained, so on and so forth. I am not impeding Chris in Seattle's ability to share, I'm asking questions and now it is moving away from Chris's intention of sharing. Let's let him share and not mention this any further.

 

Chris, share away brother! I know what it is like to have a great procedure so congratulations! I look forward to seeing you document from now to the final results of your procedure. This site has an excellent upload feature for any and all photos you have. If you want any advice on photos (don't know your competency in this regard) just let me know as I'm happy to help if you need it.

[Chris in Seattle]

Hi Joe,

 

I may be new to this forum, but why would you, as a salesman, have any sincere interest in my progress? It's especially perplexing, given that I had my procedure done by another surgeon, who just-so-happens to also be located in the Pacific Northwest. While it's no secret that Hasson & Wong do great work, so does Dr. Gabel.

 

It's perfectly understandable that you'd have specific agendas, goals and motives to fulfill. After all, you're just doing your job and you've gotta make those quotas, right?!

 

However, most of us are only here to help eachother out. I appreciate the encouragement, but I will post my pictures when I'm ready. I haven't even had my sutures removed yet. But thanks for your concern and willingness to offer advice.

[hair_me_out]

I don't see any reason to make references to "quotas" or the like. Why not just answer Joe's original question? Seems simple enough.

[Jotronic]

Chris,

 

I have no quotas, make zero commissions, and have been around for eight years helping others which is two years longer than I've actually been in this field. I have a pretty good track record of helping others, Chris, so just understand that I offer my advice and tips regarding photos because I want the next guy that looks at them to get an accurate view of what your progress will actually look like. I'm not saying your photos won't be just fine, but a lot of times photos are not nearly as good as they can be. I think that the next guy trying to make his life changing decision deserves at least that much, don't you? So, my "job" has nothing to do with asking about strange statements that you make. They were odd, I asked, move on. It's done.

 

My offer still stands or you can just read this. It will help for when you decide to take your photos.

 

http://hair-restoration-info.c...851063083#6851063083

[lorenzo]

I may be new to this forum, but why would you, as a salesman, have any sincere interest in my progress? It's especially perplexing, given that I had my procedure done by another surgeon, who just-so-happens to also be located in the Pacific Northwest. While it's no secret that Hasson & Wong do great work, so does Dr. Gabel.

 

It's perfectly understandable that you'd have specific agendas, goals and motives to fulfill. After all, you're just doing your job and you've gotta make those quotas, right?!

 

However, most of us are only here to help eachother out. I appreciate the encouragement, but I will post my pictures when I'm ready. I haven't even had my sutures removed yet. But thanks for your concern and willingness to offer advice

 

 

Salesmen? Quotas?

[Chris in Seattle]

OK...since a few of you are so confused or curious about my original line regarding "overhead costs", I'll clarify so that we can move on. :-)

 

All I was basically trying to say is that those who conduct business in a more remote, rural place or even in a modestly affordable city or suburb, obviously do not have to pay nearly the same amount for office space (and the like) as somebody who practices in an extremely expensive urban area. That's a simple fact. And of course, the average cost of living varies significantly from place to place, including what would be considered a liveable, suitable wage for experienced staff working in that particular region and trade. This is all I meant by "overhead". I wasn't referring to costs directly related to the medical field, 'cause I know nothing about that. It was merely a general statement that I later decided to delete 'cause I wanted to shorten my post and stick to the more important points.

 

Of course I was not comparing costs between any specific coalition clinics and certainly not to any based in Canada, where there's an entirely different healthcare system altogether (frankly, I wish we had some form of universal healthcare coverage in the US too, but that's a whole different subject).

 

I should add, however, that I was also vaguely referencing the worldwide HT "chains" that we've all heard of, who charge an incredible amount of money, largely to merely cover the costs of more advertising.

 

So now that I've clarified, I hope we can put this to rest and get back to why we're all here: HAIR!

[Chris in Seattle]

Hi Joe,

 

Despite our earlier exchanges and sarcasm, I just wanted to commend you for your reply that I just read on another post, to the guy who is interested in Dr. Gabel. You were kind enough to actually pass along Gabel's phone number which was really cool of you!

[TC17]

Bill and Joe,

 

Can you guys explain your belief that geographic location doesn't affect overhead costs?

 

I think we can all agree that the cost of rent is heavily influenced by where the clinic is located, the salary of the staff will be affected by the cost of living in that region, and insurance rates will differ depending on the state or country. When you add those things up, what would cost physician A in Manhattan $100, might cost physician B in Bismarck $75, thus making it possible for physician B to charge less, yet still have the same profit margin as physician B.

 

What am I missing?

[Jotronic]

TC17,

 

Can you guys explain your belief that geographic location doesn't affect overhead costs?

 

Sorry, but I don't see where I said this. I only said the statement didn't make sense as I did not know what Chris in Seattle was saying. I didn't say I agreed or disagreed.

 

Chris in Seattle,

 

It's all good. Peace!

[Bill - Seemiller]

TC17,

 

In the context of Chris from Seattle's post, I couldn't imagine how or why he was comparing region and overhead costs thus, my comment about them not being remotely related.

 

To a certain extent, one can argue that location can drive up costs. But so can so many other things like the size and experience of one's surgical staff as related to salary, equipment, size of the facility and how modern it is, etc. All that to say, the majority of hair restoration physicians are quite competitive. That said, if you compare procedure costs from different nations, due to currency conversion among other things, prices could be cheaper or more expensive.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[growingnow]

you guys crack me up lol