THREE MONTH PICTURES





After nearly 8 months of research -- mostly on this forum -- I took the plunge on December 22, 2006 with a strip procedure with Dr. Feller. My experience was just amazing. I’m very, very happy with how it is shaping up. Dr. Feller is everything as advertised on this board, and his staff clearly knows what they are doing. Dr. Feller is a no-nonsense, no-BS person.

I’m the proud father of 4, 39 years old, and happily married for ten years. I decided to do this because I simply didn’t like the way I looked. No one else cared. My wife met me when my hairline already had receded and never pushed me to do this, but she was supportive.

I want to thank everyone on this board that has shared their experiences with any of the doctors. This certainly helped me picked Dr. Feller, but it also made me very comfortable with the procedure. I can get pretty nervous at times even though I’m a trial lawyer, but I was not nervous at all before or during the procedure. I even slept well the night before.

I don’t know what Norwood class I was; I only had some bridge hair toward the back that I was able to comb over somewhat. We decided to fill in the hairline all the way back to (and ultimately into) the bridge hair area. The goal was to get 3,000 FUs, but we ultimately got 3,424.

We started at 7:45 a.m. and ended at around 5 p.m.

The most interesting thing was it took about 30 minutes to draw the hairline. We had pictures from the initial consultation, and I thought he had matched them pretty well after 10 or 15 minutes, but he re-drew the line two more times to get it exactly right. One suggestion that I would make to others is to have someone that knows you at the consultation/hairline drawing session. I brought my wife; she had some suggestions for some little nuances for the hairline that I never would have thought of and that we ultimately used. Another perspective never hurts.

As everyone has said, the most difficult part of the day was the injection of the anesthetic. Ouch. At least we got that part out of the way quickly. Then, the most difficult part was sitting still! More on that later.

I thought I was going to be grossed out by the removal of the strip. It turned out to be painless, and there was no ripping or tearing sound at all. The valium Dr. Feller gave me probably helped. After the stitches, Dr. Feller went about punching 3,001 holes in my head. This is a quiet time because of the intense concentration required, so I just zoned out.

Within just a few minutes after the last hole was punched, the techs came in to put the grafts in. This was pretty tedious. I didn’t realize that it’s not just about sitting in the chair for 8 hours; you have to be absolutely still while the grafts go in to ensure the right placement. What I didn’t know going in is that they pile the grafts on your head to store them before they actually put them in the scalp. At one point, I turned my head and the Doctor thought some of the grafts would fall off! He stopped me in time thankfully.

The rest of the day was a blur. I was lucky enough to have a fantastic lunch prepared by the staff for the office holiday party (thanks again!). I was even luckier when I was told at the end of the day that the doctor would be punching another 400+ holes because they harvested more grafts than projected.

I drove home afterwards only on the power of Dr. Feller’s new painkilling method (he gives you a syringe to pump more of the anesthetic through butterfly needles fastened with a headband).

I had some major league swelling over the next few days, but I was able to sleep comfortably. Too early to tell exactly how the scar is going to turn out, but it looks promising.

The staples came out today. Not fun. Because I have a sensitive scalp, I had to get 6 more pain injections! These were not as deep as the ones on the day of the procedure, so they didn’t hurt quite as much.

I’m trying not to get too excited about the new hair just yet, because I know it’s going to shed. It looks like it’s going to be pretty dense too, but it’s too early to tell.

Again, thanks to everyone for their insights on the process.

TEN DAY UPDATE

I’ve attached some pictures from Dr. Feller’s office (before and on day of procedure). I've edited the message to include pics from when the staples were removed (10 days out).


THREE MONTH UPDATE

Attached are recent pictures documenting growth as of approximately three months after a haircut. The hair is rather thin (can't be combed or styled), but the progress is encouraging.



4DAD

4dad,

Excellent account of your surgery with Dr. Feller. Thanks for posting your experience and I'm glad it was basically a "painfree" experience for you. I encourage you to post directly after surgery photos and as then weekly the monthly progression photos. You are in for a lovely ride. At about 2-4 weeks post op, you will begin to lose all the grafts that were transplanted, and then they will most likely begin to regrow around month 3. Everyone is different, keep in mind, that's only the average. If there is anything we can help you with, please let us know.

Falc

4Dad...

Welcome to our forum. Seems like you did your homework well, Feller is one of the top Coalition surgeons. BTW, I also chose him fro mine in October. So far so good on my end, so I am sure your results will be the same.

You have some exciting times ahead of you. Over the next few weeks just about all the transplanted hairs will shed and the process of regrowing will begin. I hope you have the opportunity to document this process for yourself and if possible post them. Looking forward to hearing your followups. Best of Luck!

Thanks for sharing your story. You probably feel like you've been there and back at this point but it'll get better..............especially when you start seeing the new sprouts in a few months. Best of luck to you post-op, look forward to seeing the after pics!

Thanks for the replies. I've edited the message to include pics from ten days out when the staples were removed.

Once the pink dots disappear from where the staples were, the scar will be undetectable (any suggestions on how to speed this up?). I've shaved down the back and sides to match the top, and it looks surprisingly good.

No shock loss at all.

I'll keep posting periodic updates as others have.

4Dad

4dad,

Photos look great! Thanks for adding those photos as well. Just keep in mind that shockloss occurs at different times for different people. My times of shockloss have been between around 5 and 7 weeks, so it's possible you may experience shockloss. If this happens, however, don't be discouraged...it will only be temporary.

I'm afraid that there will really be no way to speed up the healing process of the staple holes...but they do heal pretty quickly the natural way. I am currently using mederma on the scar, though you may want to wait until at least one month to star applying it, because it's rather strong and it's not meant for fresh open wounds like staple holes.

Falc

Thanks Falceros.

Is Mederma a concealer? Is it available in stores or just online?

4dad,

Not a concealer...it's designed to help aid the quicker and more efficient healing of scars. You can buy it in any local drug store. I personally think it's the best thing out there for scars. It's watery base makes it easy to apply and it cools the scar. Of course, it's best to keep the hair short around the scar otherwise your hair surrounding the scar will become hardened as the mederma dries. That part I don't like.

Falc

4Dad...

Excellent photos! You have documented your surgery very well, congratulations. Too bad those suckers have to fall out, would make the recuperation process so much better if they didn't.

Looks like Feller has given you good coverage and considerating almost 3500 grafts you should have some very nice results.

Never tried the Mederma, but have heard some good things about it. Its worth a try, really no downside, but considering Fellers usual trico closure, I am sure it will heal very well on its own. Keep us up to date. Good luck growing!

Congrats 4dad!! Heal and grow well!!