wanthairs,

It honors me to know that I've helped you in great ways! And now here you are encouraging and helping others! That is truly awesome!

Here I Grow,

Thanks for the encouragement. It's nice not to worry about my hair so much anymore. Sure I'd like some more - but I'm very happy with what I have.


Byehair,

Thanks for your support.

But you are confusing me with B Spot. He is in law school. I am not. I am working on a degree in Christian Counseling. So perhaps I should add in my disclaimer that my counseling services offererd on this site are free of charge and separate from the duties as Associate Publisher

Falc

For those of you who were asking for it!

Here I am as a baby with a bad case of Diffuse Alopecia



Ok ok...so I wasn't suffering from any kind of hair loss at this stage in life - just a newborn with peach fuzz

babyfalc.jpg (61 KB, 2482 downloads) Falc as Baby

Falc,

thanks for the clarification.

and lol at the baby photo. It's too bad we don't all stay looking like babies and then there would never be a need for hair loss sites, potions, tonics, pills, lasers, surgeries........

Falc,

You've certainly come a long way, both in your hair transplant journey as well as your mentoring for others. Makes a man proud to see your evolution Congratulations my friend.

Btw, check your PM please.

Congratulations Falc - and keep up the good work!

Falc, your hair looks great these days and it must be comforting to know the distress of hair loss is behind you.

You lost a lot of hair between in the 2 yrs between your wedding and 2004. Do you think much of that was due to stopping the meds? Or was it the stress of organising the wedding catching up on you!!!?

Thanks for your support guys!

gazza,

I am not positive why I lost a lot of hair in 2 years. It could have been that the minoxodil was helping a little bit - but I atribute most of my aggressive hair loss to genetics. I don't believe minoxodil would have helped during that time especially since was losing hair in the hairline and all over and wasn't using the medication there.

Falc

Falc,
This is an awesome recount of your life and hair trouble, it is so clearly documented and personal thank you for sharing it with us. I had never read it before and I can see better now how your experience does help other hair loss sufferers.
Again thank you for this and your continued efforts.

About 3 years ago, I had a hair transplant procedure (strip incision method) done at a private clinic in Maryland. Almost immediately after the procedure, I felt like I had made a horrible mistake. To start, the healing and procedure were dramatically different than what I was told. Apparently, there would be "no visible scarring, even immediately after the procedure". Yeah right. I was left with literally, a gash in the back of my head. It was unsightly. Apparently, my doctor felt that my hair wasn't long enough to cover the strip incision so he shaved a portion of it. When he removed the stitches 2.5 weeks later, I was left with a huge bald spot in the back of my head (in the shape of the incision). I had to play it off at work as an accident. I am in a very visible position at work (sales and business development) and was mortified. I still am. It's like I'm living a nightmare. I was told the procedure would be indictable, immediately afterwards. This was just a complete fabrication (in hind sight). In addition, when I looked in the mirror, the angle at which the transplanted hairs stood looked very unnatural. The new hairline was totally bogus --very uneven.

I called and left the Dr. a message, in hysterics. I was on the brink of the unthinkable, and the tone of my voice had to at least hint at this possibility. I was so upset. I have never been that upset in my life. I've never felt like I do now. It's so sad. Any how, I told him I wanted an explanation for my appearance and why my healing process was different than what I was told, etc. You name it, I wanted answers. Well, no returned call. I had to leave a few more messages, and his NURSE who assisted with the operation, returned my call, and told me, "don't worry, you're going to look great". Those words seem to still echo in my head. At the time, they were a brief sense of relief, or security. I mean, I was venerable so any encouragement was welcomed to say the least.

I'll speed up the story here... I had a few follow up visits. On the first one. the Dr opted NOT to take a picture of my hairline. I commented that I was concerned about the uneven appearance of my hairline and he said all hairlines are uneven??? This made zero sense to me. My new hair line was really funny looking. The right side of it literally angles to the right side in a horizontal fashion. You can't help but stare. Let me tell you what this has done to me over the past 3 years. It's been disastrous. I'm falling apart mentally and emotionally. Regret is my dominant emotion--it's hell. Nothing short. I've lost friends, damaged relationships.... I avoid all social occasions (weddings, any events where I can't wear a hat) and I'm never content.

Any how, I need to do something before I fall deeper into this depression and wind up doing something really stupid. I feel helpless and hopeless. To be honest, I'm ashamed and humiliated so I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks!

***EDIT***--forgot to mention, your scar can be revised as well. When/if you go in for another strip session, a good doc will revise your previous poor scar and leave you with a much finer trichopytic scar which will allow hair to grow within it. Also, most guys can at LEAST shave their hair down to a #3 clipper with no visibility of the scar.
searcher,
man really sorry to hear about your horrific experience.
I would consider starting your own thread, though so more people will chime in.

I can completely imagine how you must feel,
but don't feel like your in utter despair.
the good news is that you have only had one procedure ( a bad one) and can have repair work.

your situation is (unfortunately) NOT rare.
many people come to this forum after being butchered by a pathetic excuse of a doc.
I would recommend looking at: Hasson and Wong, Dr. Feller, and Shapiro...
All of these docs are seasoned in dealing with repair work such as yours.
good news is it can only get better.

I don't know what docs you've been researching, but check out Jotronics story who now works for Hasson and Wong:
http://www.hairtransplantmentor.com/

Wrenching having to read that, man, seriously....the good news is that the butcher who worked on you wouldn't be fit to shine the shoes of a number of elite docs (of which NG2GB mentioned) who are not only masters of hair restoration, but masters of repair. Definitely look into a "repair session", I have seen some AMAZING results.

As mentioned, I'd start your own thread, as well, to get more responses. But, basically, you need to start a journey of educating yourself, decide if a HT is really for you, begin searching for your doc, etc.

searcher,

That is a terrible story. Unfortunately as the ht business is completely unregulated it allows for greedy, incompetent surgeons to make a lot of money disfiguring patients like yourself.

However, don't lose heart. You've come to the right place and the good news is that there are many ethical and skillful surgeons who will be able to help you.

As was suggested you should start your own thread for a better response as there are many wise posters here, some of whom have had equally shoddy results in the past.

searcher,

My heart goes out to you after reading your hair restoration experience. It sounds like you went in without a lot of knowledge of what to expect. In my opinion, part of the physician's responsibility is to educate their patients so they know what to expect before, during, and after hair transplant surgery including all the benefits, limitations, and risks.

The good news however is, if you are dissatisfied with the way your hair looks, you can always get another hair transplant with a physician with a proven track record of producing quality results.

However, this does mean that you would have to undergo surgery again, which would mean more sutures/staples in the donor area, another healing time, more waiting for the new hair to grow, etc.

I want to encourage you however, to please don't let this experience ruin your life. Go out, have relationships, live your life. Hair loss and a bad hair transplant may be upsetting, but it is NOT worth losing your life over. If I can help you in anyway, feel free to send me a private message.

I do encourage you to post your experience and photos in a new thread by going to "New" and "discussion" so that you can receive optimal support and encouragement from our hair restoration forum members.

Falc

Hi Falc

Your hair looks good man, and can see your doing a great service on here.

Can I ask if it'not to personal, your reasoning behind restoring your hair with 3 diff doctors instead of sticking with the first doc if you were happy with the results? Just trying to understand, as I find in Australia our patients are very loyal, with whichever doctor they're having a transplant with.

By the way, any update on searcher78? really got to feel for him. i remember one case about 5 yrs ago with a patient who had his hair line placed way too low, you know like across his forehead, it was tragic. He wouldn't socialise and always wore his hat. It was quite an emotional time for all of us as he was such a nice guy and always trying to stay positive. Anyhow after 3 small procedures spread over 18months, we were able to get him back looking "normal'' although his hair looks pretty decent now his emotional scars still remain and I still can't get him out of that damn hat.

The great news for searcher78 is his situation is quite easily fixable in the right hands...I hope he is under the care of an understanding hair surgeon.

hair for life,

Thanks for the compliment.

Long story short, though I was satisfied with each hair transplant surgery, I found myself quickly needing larger sessions if I was going to cover any ground on this large bald head . I ultimately chose Dr. Hasson for my third surgery because of the consistent "wow" results I've seen for years. I also know that he is known for the large megasessions, and I needed the largest one possible by the time I got to the third one.

Cheers,

Falc

Falceros,

Great transformation; your doctors have done admirable work...!
Benjamin

You got very nice results...congrats! You told your story well and I'm sure visitors to this community can learn alot from you.

Jupiter_jessica,

Thanks for the encouragement. It's been a long and interesting ride. Much like a roller coaster, it had its downs, but now with my new head of hair, I'm quite content .

I must admit however, hair greed has got me, and it may soon be time for number 4

Best wishes,

Falc

Hi falc,

Thanks for sharing your story. In reading it, I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could help answer:

1. Is it true that, since Propecia acts as a DHT blocker, if you used it for 10 yrs and then stopped, you would NOT lose the hairs that you managed to save from loss during those years (not talking about any NEW hairs you might have grown, just the ones you saved from falling)?

2. Having gotten almost 6000 hairs implanted on your head while you're only in your 30s, do you foresee needing more since you'll still be losing hair well into your 40s? Or do you figure you've pretty much lost all the hair you could've so there shouldn't be any need for more transplants in the future (unless specifically to thicken your current mane)?

Thanks once again for sharing all this information, hope you can help.

hey falc,

amazing tramsformation. I am only one month in already and its so hard waiting, I can not beleive you had the patience to do this 3 times, how did you manage to not stress out and obsess conpletely. One thing I was wondering as i have started propecia regularly, do you think at all, anytime about the long-term effects of being on this drug? Also if you could do it any differently, what woruld it be, if anything?


thanks

tommyf