Hi Everyone

Now that I've safely placed myself in the "waiting lounge" after my procedure I just wanted to post my positive feedback on Dr. Epstein.

Roxy which handles the daily management of the office was as nice as she was on the phone. I remember thinking that she was just the sort of person to have this job. Here I am "the patient", over-anxious, completely self-absorbed and anything but my normal self.

Roxy skated through all that without even paying too much attention to it. But instead she made me feel comfortable and I sat down to wait for Jeff to arrive.

I had basically had only one phone-conference with him prior to me booking the 10 hour flight and doing all the other logistic arrangements, and I think it hit me in the waiting room. "Maybe a few more conversation to let him know what I want", but once we starting talking about my hairline (I had brought in pictures from my teens...) I became obvious that I HAD done my research right, because we connected instantly.

For hair restoration, the saying "the devil is in the detail" couldn't be further from the truth. The detail is ALL that matters, I've been looking at my hairline my whole life and this scrutiny makes me want to discuss details all day long!

I believe Dr. Epstein was very good in knowing what I wanted and that is KEY for me.

In addition I've chosen him because of his ability to get the job done in one procedure. I know that the field is scattered here. Some advocating many small procedures for a more natural look, others going with at least 2 procedures, even for moderate hair loss.

My schedule doesn't permit these kind of "time off" very often and I knew that I wanted a doctor who didn't mentally set himself up for a "2 stage situation", and I recommend seeking out a clinic that works INSIDE parameters that YOU like, and for me ONE trip weighed heavily as well.

I'm 14 days post-op and it'll be a while until I know if 1 procedure was enough, but so far it seems like it.

I cant say enough good things about Jeffrey Epstein. I think there are a good handful of doctors these days that will make your restoration perfect, so rather than saying he is one of the best I'll just say that he is at a stage where its obvious to his patient, that he's skills are ALWAYS there, and that's what I think is important.

Consistency!

I'm glad if this post can help you feel more safe if you've already scheduled an appointment with him, because chances are you'll be very happy with your experience.

Br, Anders

PS: My picture - 11 days out. Its 14 days now and I'm still carrying my stitches, but they're coming out today.

11_days_postop.JPG (21 Kb, 658 downloads)

Hey Anders

I'm happy to hear that your surgery was successful, Congratulations! I'm from Miami, and I am considering him to do my surgery also. I have some questions to ask you before i schedule my appointment with Dr.Jeff Epstein.

- Did you had a consultation with him before the
surgery?
- Did you have to follow a certain diet, such as no vitamin c or garlic product?
- Did they draw blood out to test your blood?
- On the day of the surgery, was it painless? or there's a small degree of pain?
- Also, is the stitches visible without your hair covering it?

I would really appreciate if you have time to answer some of my questions. Thank you.

- Miami305

Hi Miami305

Sorry for keeping you waiting....

I'll deal with them 1 at a time.

I didn't have the option of doing a face to face consultation, so instead there was correspondence with pictures sent.
After that I had a phone consultation.

- for you, going in is MUCH better. Dr. Epstein has a lot of overseas patient I think, but its my understanding that he will meet with you if you prefer.

I had my first real consultation on the day of the procedure. It made me extra nervous I'm sure, but those where the rules for me.

I asked about the diet. It was mostly standard pre-op instruction. No garlic mentioned. I've read myself that vitamin C and E are good to take, but I didn't really touch on this with Jeff.

They didn't draw blood. I've seen this on checklists. I'm sure if you have a medical history there'll be further procedures for that, but I don't. There's no rush about it at the clinic, and all the people there are really attentive to you.

There was pain on the day of the surgery. It wasn't much. I was out almost immediately when I got back to the hotel due to jetlag, so when Dr Epstein called I vaguely remember us talking about my condition. Epstein makes you take a regimen of drugs for swelling, infection and pain, and I took these and felt like sleeping, so it couldn't have been that bad

Last one is as important as how the doctor makes your grafts look I would think. I'm on day 18 post-op today. I'm uploading some more pictures today, so that you might judge for yourself. I chose to buzz-cut my hair on day 14 when I had my stitches removed.

I had a doctor remove them and he was impressed by the scar. Its minimal and there are no bad alignments (Meaning that the skin wont stretch funny).

The hair in my neck angles funny at the moment and I'm sure this will become less as the surrounding tissue relaxes. I'm constantly looking at the development in this area (as the recipient site has now calmed down...) and I'm hoping the angulation difference will subside in a week more or so.

Did you call him already? He's very nice. Don't expect him to be very pushy. I think he wants his patients to absolutely ready by themselves.

Come back with more questions if you have them. I'll be happy to give you as much assurance as I can.

Anders

Anders,

Congratulations on your surgery with Dr. Jeff Epstein. He is certainly one of the very best and well worth the 10 hour flight.

I've seen him perform surgery in Miami and I thought he and his staffs work was very first rate. His very extensive patient after photos are also very impressive.

I look forward to seeing more of your photos, especially a top view and a before photo.

Hi Pat

Excellent that you went to see a procedure.
I suspect you probably know a lot more about the market than most, so you'll appreciate that I taken teh time to put together the full story - in pictures.

First picture is 1 year prior to the operation

2004.06.28.jpg (116 Kb, 413 downloads)

Here's one taken by Dr. Epstein on the day of the operation.

2005.05.31_-_1.jpg (143 Kb, 435 downloads) Day 0

- taken by Dr. Epstein on the day of the operation.

Before he cut down those sorry pieces of hair

2005.05.31_-_2.jpg (104 Kb, 396 downloads) Day 0

- taken by Dr. Epstein on the day of the operation.

Intra-op picture.

2005.05.31_-_3.jpg (201 Kb, 369 downloads) Day 0

- taken by Dr. Epstein on the day of the operation.

A closer look at the units.

2005.05.31_-_3_closeup.jpg (162 Kb, 343 downloads) Day 0

A lot of flakes / yellow stuff coming out now.
I had some graft-cyte left, so I kept spraying.

2005.06.07.jpg (163 Kb, 362 downloads) Day 7

Right after a wash.
The yellow stuff even more visible, but no infection to be seen.
Still using graft-cyte.

2005.06.09.jpg (194 Kb, 314 downloads) Day 9

Unchanged situation.
Although the scalp was becoming far less irritated at this point.

picture's a bit fuzzy....

2005.06.11.jpg (175 Kb, 273 downloads) Day 11

Suture removal day!!

I waited a little longer - to be on the safe side.

I read somewhere that early suture removal didnt speed up healing and that a scar still having sutures which hurts is a sign to keep the sutures in a little whiel longer...

This picture is before removal.

2005.06.15_-_1.JPG (69 Kb, 370 downloads) Day 15

I opted for a real doctor removing the stitches and not myself

This one taken after the removal.

A lot of old blood was making the it very hard to pull the thread out. Likely this is why I was feeling a lot of discomfort sleeping on it...

2005.06.15_-_2.JPG (176 Kb, 316 downloads) Day 15

Went for a buzz-but although the scar would then show as I had chosen for Dr. Epstein to trim away the hair on the recipient site. This makes it much easier to pack in the grafts.

As you can see all the flaking is out.

2005.06.15_-_3.JPG (190 Kb, 369 downloads) Day 15

From the side...

2005.06.15_-_4.jpg (191 Kb, 252 downloads) Day 15

Scar is showing on this one.
I wasnt too happy with the visibility, but thats the price I pay for getting back my hair

2005.06.15_-_5.jpg (62 Kb, 348 downloads) Day 15

After a longer wash. As you can see the scalp is much less red now.

2005.06.16.jpg (105 Kb, 283 downloads) Day 16

A scar shot.
Wanted to see how much crusting was left...

2005.06.18.jpg (166 Kb, 284 downloads) Day 18

This morning.

Heres the scaring. I think its coming along nicely. There continued shedding in the front, but at a very slow pace.

The scar is still a bit elevated as you can see. I'm wondering when this will go away... maybe someone knows?

I'm also using the Rogaine given to me by Dr. Epstein now to speed re-growth along.

2005.06.20_-_1.JPG (213 Kb, 467 downloads) Day 20