My second with Dr. Ron Shapiro

johnnie69 · April 11, 2006

Well, here goes guys...got a lot to say here...hopefully it will all come out right...Take a few minutes and read it to the end....

You guys might remember my posts and my apprehension regarding my second procedure, and my questioning my results of my first procedure. To start, let's focus on the first procedure....I had in done in Jan of '05...

At the time of the initial surgery, I had researched what I felt was a reasonable amount and narrowed my choices to H&W and Dr Ron Shapiro. Quite honestly, I don't remember what the tipping point was for me, both are top notch, but I eventually choose Doc. My hair is course, heavy, wiry and thick in diameter, excellent in regards to density and the appearance of fullness after surgery, yet hard to predict from a surgeons standpoint....i.e....in some cases, although a graph incision is angled perfectly, when the hair grows, the initial angle is correct as to symmetry to adjacent hairs, only to wave and change directions....making predicting the characteristics increasingly difficult...I was a NW 5v, yet my thinning was diffuse....had never used Propecia, but was using Minox 2x daily and irregularly the Hairmax laser comb. Basically, I had no hairline, and my frontal third was almost all gone minus a tuft in the frontal forelock. We decided to concentrate on creating a hairline and working back within the frontal third, ignoring the crown at this time....

The surgery went well and I was excited about the prospects....in my mind, I though that with this procedure and the minox and the other products that I was dabbling with at the time, and maybe some dermatch, I would be good to go.....I remember asking Doc after the procedure how happy he thought I would be, and he told me about an 8 out of ten, since I already have some hair.

The initial downside of the procedure was the haircut.....I was basically shaved up front, and since I never told anyone I had the work done, I was stuck in a hat for 5 months....just part of the process....My donor density is slightly above average as well as my laxity, kinda tight but not bad. I didn't have the trico closure and the suture method was staples....I photographically documented daily at first, then weekly, then month by month. My staples were painful, had a lot of crust on them and always seemed inflamed. I couldn't sleep much at all for the first week or two. I actually called Doc for a refill on the vicodens, which he agreed to, apprehensively. I remember him saying that it's not common that he sees the need for this, but, during the procedure, it also required an abnormal amount of anesthetic to numb the area, and had to be reapplied frequently, so he correlated the need to hypersensitivity in the area.

I found a girl to cut my hair that lives a good distance from my hometown...I remember asking her to take me in the back of the salon before I'd take off my hat...she even went as far as to make a file to document my growth....At about 7 months, I was finally able to get a haircut where all the areas could be blended....the donor had covered, and the front had grown in sufficiently....The transplanted area was thick and dense, but had some areas that concerned me....an area on one side of my hairline (approx 10-20 hairs) seemed to grow downward, and the transplanted hairs in the frontal forelock, although growing, weren't growing at the same rate of my preexisting hair. My scar was red and I got pimples on it a lot and was uncomfortable...where it commenced above my right ear it was a bit wider than in the occipital area. The thing that bothered me most is that it didn't blend at the lateral humps, therefore limiting my styling options. I was getting paranoid....Started thinking I had a yield problem, started thinking that everything had went wrong....As an aside here, no one had ever noticed that I had a transplant...I'd get comments like ."Hey, your hair looks good"' or "are you using Just for Men" and stuff like that.....but to me, it wasn't just right....

So I'm back to the forums....reading nonstop...for hours each day...Dr Shapiro is regarded as one of the best in the industry, but I was full of doubt....why wasn't my hair "perfect"? I talked with Matt on a number of occasions and he assured me that everything was fine and I just needed some fine tuning with a second procedure....but, what if that wasn't the case? I started seeing some things posted here about Dr. Shapiro that I though were questionable, only to find them deleted.....and all the buzz was H&W, on all the boards...the big sessions, the amazing one pass results. So I start thinking, hey, maybe Dr. Shapiro isn't the best one to go to anymore...maybe its H&W, maybe Shapiro's time has come and gone.....maybe he hasn't evolved and others have passed him up and he's living off reputation....a rep so strong that people don't say anything negative in a public forum in relation to him....

By now I'm doubting whether or not I should go back....I called H&W and talked with Ferkie on a number of occasions....sent him all my photos and considered booking with him....had a lot of long conversations...I even had him show the pics to Dr. Hasson...Ferkies reaction...."just as I suspected...awesome results"....Dr Hasson said the same thing....and even questioned what I expected, and if it was realistic......But I'm so paranoid now, I'm thinking its out of professional courtesy......Then, the subject of other docs come up and the tune changes.....not very much praise.....

By now I'm at the juncture where I'm seriously confused...it seems the more that I learn, the less that I know for sure, I mean, how do you really know? Obviously Matt is gonna be for Dr Shapiro and Ferkie is gonna be for Dr Hasson.

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I gave all the above details and scenario to paint a picture of what I was feeling and, more importantly, how I was made to fell that way...As the industry evolves, we as patients seem to expect everything to be perfect...with the new procedures and technology, everything should always be just right ....perfect in fact....a vision in ones mind....

I chose Dr Shapiro for my second surgery. Am I glad that I did....ABSOLUTLY!!!! And here is why....Hair transplantation made simple....Harvest the donor without damage to surrounding tissue and without follicle transsection....Closure....Dr Shapiro recently posted about his views on this....Instrumentation....Shapiro uses custom cut blades.....trimming the surrounding tissue from the donor harvest as much as possible to avoid follicle damage....magnification.....10x for Shapiro,....now through this, he has created an incision that is customized to the finely trimmed graph...the 10x sorts rules out transsection....where else is there to go....incision angle, artistry, skill, experience, approach, placement ....Doc has all of them...

In reference to my above concerns about my first procedure, first let me address the issue of the scar.....I told you that I had redness and discomfort....Dr Shapiro and I were talking about the suture method, staples or stitches, during my second procedure. Also, we talked about the possible reasons that could have caused my scar to be larger that anticipated. He ran through a long checklist of which I cannot remember all, but one of the factors was infection....I told him that when my staples were removed they were crusty and bled, and that it was very painful.....the pain continued after the removal along with swelling....I didn't know any better, I thought it was normal...I also used products on my donor area other than were recommended. And, on top of that, I was back at the gym lifting way too soon after surgery.......forget about not tuckin my chin; I was bustin out squats....

We had a long consult the day before my surgery and the day of the surgery....I ended up getting the trico closure and having a small section of the scar excised at the expense of a few less graphs.....Not only do I have staples, but Dr Shapiro put internal stitches to help ensure that I did not have issue again, along with the preventative measure of prescribing an antibiotic to prevent infection this time.

The lateral humps just needed a slight blend and the vertex and crown were also addressed. .I spoke above about magnification....Doc uses a 10x magnification....I was even privileged to see it in action as he linked it to a screen and let me view some incisions....With the recipient area being shaved, coupled with this magnification, the incidence of transsection of native hairs is virtually eliminated....also, imo, the added magnification will help to prevent shockloss. For those of you in the know, the standard in the industry is 6x....

I sit red faced as I reflect on my doubts...The lengths that Dr Shapiro went to ensure that I get the best possible result go far and beyond what one could expect....His attention to detail, his artistry, his compassion and empathy cannot be understated....I mean, I had a great result with awesome one pass density and I'm still questioning....He is also one of the most humble and gracious men I have ever met....This may sound over the top to some, but I actually feel honored to have been afforded the privilege to have him perform my surgery......A lot of it stems from my guilt of having apprehension....

Lots of things can get twisted in an internet forum, and the slightest hint of a bad result can lead to an avalanche of criticism and doubt....I feel that I owe this to Dr. Shapiro....I owe it to him because if I can doubt him even after an excellent result considering , just due to hearsay and innuendo, what about the people who have never been affiliated with him....or had the pleasure of meeting him...or viewing his work....I know both Matt and Dr Shapiro are aware that I had my doubts and could easily have brushed me aside......instead, they went the extra mile to make sure that everything went right, that we were all on the same page this time, and that plans for the future were mapped out. I was treated with complete respect and received a world class procedure....I could include so much more, but this post is ridiculously long already.....

Shapiro can and will do the big sessions, if you are a candidate.....for me, I'm glad I did mine in two.....we learned how I react to surgery, my yield, my hair characteristics, and were able to establish a base to build from......Would I like to have done the whole thing in one shot, had it come off without a hitch, no need for any fine tuning and a perfect result....yeah man.......I also wish I never lost my hair...and a 12 in. dick would be cool too....

Now, before everyone starts bustin on me saying that I'm doubting the mega session that Hasson is doing, or trying to discredit them or their clinic, I want to say that that is not the intent of this post. Nor is it what I am saying....Although I have never had work done by Dr Hasson, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to sit in his chair....In fact, the post really doesn't pertain to H&W at all...I think it's a matter of approach....We live in a fast paced world dominated by instant gratification, and the thought of one pass procedure is very appealing.....If you are a candidate for it, I say, by all means, go for it....But weigh all the options....meds, laxity, donor, future recession, hair characteristics, realistic expectations, age, ethnicity...the list goes on.....

What is my intention?...Clarification....These forums are a powerful venue. I don't want to see a man of integrity, who operates at the highest level of professionalism and is at the cutting edge of his field, get an undeserved blemish on his reputation......especially if I helped to create it...or to see people doubt his skills, approach or capability. The man CARES about his patients, his reputation and his work....Its not all about the $$$...its about empathy and humility....making his patients happy and getting them back to a normal life...It hard to grasp how he relates to the pain and fear related to hair loss, because he does not suffer from it....but he does...

Don't believe everything you read guys......don't believe this if ya don't wanna.....but I can promise you this, if you have surgery with Dr. Ron Shapiro, you are with one of the best, if not THE BEST, hair transplant surgeons in the world. Educate yourself fully on what to expect, and know that this is a bumpy road to say the least....

In an industry filled with scams and deception, it's refreshing to know that someone comes from the heart...

To Dr Shapiro...all my respect to you...as both a physician and as a man....I'm humbled as a result of our association.

johnnie69 · April 11, 2006