My hair transplant experience with Dr Feller

[hair_care]

I have been around on this site for almost two years now. I would like to give a special thanks to Pat and Bill for running this site. If it was'nt for these guys I would have ended up getting my hair transplant with some big hair mill and would have regreted my decision.

After doing quite a bit of research about different HT docs, I finally decided to go ahead with Dr Feller because I was impressed with the consistency of results that he was producing. I had a consultation in Dr Feller's office sometime in January and we deciced to target the frontal 1/3 with about 2500-3000 grafts. The doc said that I had pretty average donor density and we should be able to acheive our target number of grafts.

 

Pre Ht day:

 

I got into New york the evening before and checked into the Andrew hotel, recommended by Dr Feller's office. Went to a nice restaurant attached to the hotel itself ( Can't remember the name) food was pretty good. The Andrew itself is a nice hotel , it is one of those small chic boutique hotels , very nice. However I could'nt get much sleep that night , thinking about the next day's procedure. It was a mix of nervousness and excitement ( more excitement though!).

 

Ht day:

 

Woke up really early and got to the clinic by around 6:50 am, waited around a while and promptly at 7:30 the Doc arrived and opened the door. From the moment I entered the clinic till I left in the evening, everything went like clock work. Got into the Doc's office and the Doctor took some photos and started drawing the hairline. We agreed on the hairline relatively quickly. The Doc told me this process usually takes him an hour but we were done in about 15 mins. He quickly took some pre op pics. In the meantime one by one all the nurses and technicians started walking in . The doc promised me 2500 grafts but later gave me more than promised.

By around 8 am I was in the chair and one of the nurses brought me a valium, which helped a lot. After this I don't quite remember what order things unfolded but will do my best to narrate them. The nurses and techs were all super nice. I'm sorry the only two names I remember were Anna and Marcia ( Dr Feller's secretary ), however all the nurses and techs were super nice, they made me feel completly relaxed and at ease which I needed because I had built up a lot of anxiety before this procedure. They then proceeded to shave the donor area and then we went into the next room for the numbing injections. I lay on my stomach and Dr Feller began injecting the donor area ( This is the second worst part of the entire process ) Once we were done I was taken back to the other room and was in the chair just waiting for the anasthetic to kick in. About 10 mins later the Doc and nurses came in and were ready for the strip removal.

The strip removal was not half as bad as I thought It would be really.This process took about 30 mins or so I think. The Doc removed the strip in three stages. He told me I had pretty good skin laxity ( I started my scalp exercises almost 3 months in advance, this really helps guys so do them !!) The strip was removed and I could feel a crunching sound as the staples were being put in. Doctor Feller then proceded to numb the recepient area ( This was the worst part of the entire procedure!!) The injections in the forehead , for some reason sting much more than in the back of the head, however this only takes a few mins. Dr feller then began to make slits in the receipient area. By now I am totally relaxed and there was great music playing on the radio and am chatting away with the Doc. ( I felt as though I was in a spa getting pampered rather than in a clinic getting surgery!! ) . Once the doc finished making the slits the techs come in and start placing the grafts. All the techs know their job perfectly and everything is going smoothly. The nurses take rounds and come in two's and start placing the grafts. My neck was a bit uncomfortable from sitting around in that position but other than that I was OK.

Few hours later , I think it was Marcia who came in and asked me what I wanted for lunch, decided on a sandwich, however I did'nt have much of an appetite and decided to go right through lunch. I just took a short bathroom breaks and went back. The techs too were back in a couple of mins and we were at it again. Dr Feller was in and out of the room , making sure everything was all right. I think it was about 3:20 pm or so when the final grafts were placed. The final number was 2721. More than what the Doc had promised. Then I was given some post op instructions by Anna and chatted with the Doc for a while, who took some post op pics and was out the door by 4 PM where they had a cab waiting for me. It was a long , tiring day but I could'nt have been in better hands or with better people!

Had slight pain in the donor area the night of the surgery but took two vicodins and was quite ok, had some dinner in the room itself and tried to got a little sleep.

 

Overall Experience:

 

Compared to what I expected the surgery to be in terms of pain and discomfort it was way way better. Dr Feller is one of the best surgeons in the world and at the end of the procedure you really understand why. The entire team was super professional and everyone knew exactly what they were doing. I would definetly go back to Dr feller again when needed and would certainly recommend anyone thinking of getting a HT to go to him. The guy is GOOD ,believe me. Another thing I liked about Dr Feller is he is straight and to the point and does not sweet talk his patients. This is a very important feature for any Doc.

 

PLEASE check out my weblog and would love to hear your comments and input. I will try to update my blog periodically.

[hair_care]

Thanks Spex!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hair_Care,

 

I'm glad to hear that overall you had an excellent experience. Injections are never fun and can be rather painful at times. Thankfully, the rest of the experience is relatively pain free :-).

 

Your photos look right on track. Thanks for creating a patient website. I look forward to following your progress :-)

 

Bill

[richie48]

hi hair care

 

Well done for chosing one of the best sugeons , I too went with Dr Feller ,your pics look great and you have nothing to worry about , below is a link to my own 19 month update with Dr Feller .

 

http://hair-restoration-info.c...66060861/m/449105092

 

One thing that concerns me thought , in your blog you say your hairloss has stopped , but you say you havn't got on meds yet , buddy this curse doesn't stop so I think it would make sence to start on the meds to help limit any future loss , please talk to Dr Feller about this imprortant point .

 

Richie

[hair_care]

Bill - Thanks Bill! I will keep my blog updated with pics once a month.

 

Richie48 - Thanks for the comment Richie, I have talked to Dr Feller about meds but decided against it. I somehow don't like swallowing pills. If need be I will have another HT, Dr Feller said I have enough donor area. BTW your crown looks great!