Well, like I said I was going to a few weeks ago, I finally retired Friday! Oh happy day! My wife surprised me with a limo and dinner with friends. Now I just have to get moving on the HT! Hey Gorpy, how are things going?

you are 40 and retired? Man I'm jealous! Of course, I'm only 28, but I doubt I'll be able to retire that young. I think I'll be working until I'm 85. Oh Sad Day!

Falc

Hey Pushing 40. It's going well. I'm in that painful waiting stage right now, where most of the grafts have shed. So I'm in that doubtful stage asking myself, "are these things going to grow?" Well, I hope so. I've got a few more months before I find out.

Hey Gorp, good to hear from you. I can only imagine that waiting game is very tough; we humans are seldom programmed for deferred gratification. Especially when the reward is a year after the expense and effort. I'm sure it will be worth it though. Please keep us posted!

Many congrats, pushing 40! If I remember correctly, you're going to take some time off to pursue researching/ recieving a hair transplant and then its on to new pursuits, correct?

Whatever it is, good luck to you and again, congratulations!

-Robert

Yes, that's my plan. I still want to start propecia soon and give that a year to see how it works. But, I'm not sure I can wait that long; I want my hair back now!! My wife's grandmother gave us a 30 foot sail boat yesterday as a retirement gift; can you believe that? I have no clue how to sail so it seems that may be a good first pursuit in retirement. First we have to figure out how to get it from North Carolina to here in Maryland. We live on the water here so it seems appropriate to have a boat; especially a free one! I hear salt water is good for the skin after a hair transplant..LOL. Anybody have good input on just how bad the shedding can be during the initial months of propecia?

If my largest problem was on how to get my sailboat from North Carolina to Maryland I would be a happy man, 40.

Seriously, though, there should be some good courses to take around Maryland that should get you accustomed, and if you felt it really necessary you could hire a pilot to help you sail her up.

Sailing north in the Gulf Stream is a breeze and you should have a blast.

As for the Propecia shed, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that it is more than likely not as bad as most posters would have readers believe. Personally, I did not shed on Propecia, but shed like mad on Avodart. Besides, even if you do shed it isn't necessarily a bad sign, since it is an indication that the medication is actually working for you.


-Robert

I didn't experience any shedding on propecia.

As far as the boat goes, congratulations. I took a basic sailing course a couple of years ago at my local community college. Sailing is pretty simple once you learn the basics. But don't try and take it out before you know them.

Good luck and contrats on you retirement. BTW - what branch of the military were you? I was Air Force, 77-81.

test

Air Force! 20 years to the day for me. It was a great but exhausting 20 yrs. I am looking into the sailing classes. And someone also suggested a great idea of having a Captain sail it up for me. I could sail with him and I'm sure that would be a great lesson also. I really don't want to have it hauled up by truck. I haven't seen it yet but it is supposedly a classic wooden design by some famous builder named Philip Rhodes.

Pushing 40.

I have a 30' sailboat as well and I have been trhu those waters as well. The best way to move your boat would be thru the intracoastal waterway. You can motor from florida to new jersey avoiding open water the whole way.

Really? That sounds great; the first few times I take it out there is NO WAY I'm getting out of sight of good dry land!

Ha Ha, good idea to keep land in sight. But even motoring, you better learn right of way rules. And some docking practice would also help. Getting a captain to take it up for you is a great idea. You could learn alot that way.

Yes, lots of beforehand studying. Now, on the propecia; what would be a good way to track my progress? Will photos be enough? I don't seem to lose so much that I find tons on my pillows. If there is no real re-growth, how will I know if its working. I did actually try to count hairs in a sq. centimeter but that proved almost impossible. And those counts they give like 35 hairs per sq. cent seem crazy to me.

This is actually quite difficult. I made one mistake of not parting my hair correctly when I took my before Propecia pictures. If you look at photographic evidence provided by Merck, they show the hair parted straight down the middle for one look. The other pictures are of the crown. I would try to mimic their pictures. The problem for us amatures is getting similar lighting and angles for all of the pictures. Make sure you hair is washed the same, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Gorpy:
This is actually quite difficult. I made one mistake of not parting my hair correctly when I took my before Propecia pictures. If you look at photographic evidence provided by Merck, they show the hair parted straight down the middle for one look. The other pictures are of the crown. I would try to mimic their pictures. The problem for us amatures is getting similar lighting and angles for all of the pictures. Make sure you hair is washed the same, etc.

I agree, Gorpy.

Similar, adequate lighting is key. The bathroom is usually well-light enough to suffice. Use the same camera, same hair part, same lighting, same room, etc. Space your updates apart at equal intervals.

A photo album would be a great way to document your progress on this.

You can start one by clicking on the "New" tab on the toolbar and selecting "Photo Album."

BTW, even going up the ICW it would be a good idea to have someone on board that has extensive experience. You will learn tons from someone by actually getting out there and sailing it with him/her. Good luck!

-Robert