thanatopsis_awry

Damnnnnnnn! Your hair looks incredible, dude, truly. Sick head of hair! Just be prepared for your kid to possibly one day go bald and look on up at you in sheer envy.

Cool. Sounds like you're going to be mint, for sure, and I'd have full faith in Dr. Shapiro's prognosis. Always a huge bonus where a little will go a long way.

Btw...in spite of the shed, the continued thinning, the mystery gaps, etc...I'm nontheless beyond happy with where I am at all things considered. Just looking at the pre-ops here and it's pretty remarkable where I'm at. And, if/when I do demand another session I will be all the better positioned towards conquering my MPB. Re: my donor question, I'm actually not sure how many grafts I have left. I seem to recall Dr. Feller mentioning "7k at an absolute bare minimum" the day of my procedure; I assume he meant including the 3k I had done. Even if I just have 7k I feel pretty confident. Of course, I could probably squeek out another ~1500 just from FUE, too.

Congrats in advance, Sev! I def expect you to end up supremely satisfied and can't wait to see your progress. Just curious -- what were some of the other graft targets/ranges that you got aside from 2500-3000?

Thx for the tip/heads up YS -- definitely a big red light if HT hair can become resistant at the roots towards coloring...good to know, for sure. Df always helps Spex to hear of another dude who has gone through the dreaded sheds and come out the other side alright. Your main thread on sheds that I came across was of huge help as I had never truly considered the possiblity prior. My anxiety was indeed beginning to skyrocket for a bit, but it's coming back down to earth slowly but surely. Thx Dr. F; I'll look to stop by sometime soon; would love to get your feedback on my continued thinning vs. shedding, and these hairline "gaps".

I see what Swagger is getting at, truly; but the horror show pic GIR posted looks like it is not just wet, but that there has been a *clear* loss of native hair all over. Even taking into account the effects of styling for better or worse, IMHO, water and continued loss *must* be playing a large role here. This combined with an admitted effort to expose the HT for its flaws (which can be said and done for most any HT) seem to complete the proverbial picture here. It's a picture that should be painted, perhaps, if not to just put it out there that you can make a good HT look quite bad quite easily, and that GIR's situation really isn't atypical. Styling his hair forward and his density seems excellent; this is obviously an illusion, but such is the nature of the beast for most intents and purposes. I would be shocked if GIR couldn't work in some paste or w/e and add some pinache to his doo that would compliment him.... In the next few days I'll post some pics doing pretty much exactly what GIR has done -- spray out my hair so as to destroy all surgical illusion/artistry of density, make my hair damp, and snap some photos. It will look horrible, trust me, and you'd wonder how I ever leave my apartment without a burka.

Thx Bill. Indeed, and Dr. Feller confirmed once, I have been experiencing gradual thinning over my top. That is so true: our hair restoration truly is a journey, and a dynamic one at that. The key is to inform yourself along the way to best deal with the hurdles as they come. And the idea behind the Coalition is so vital because it is so vital to *only* go to skilled, highly competent doctors who won't add an additional setback on top of what we all already have our hands full with: MPB. But yes, for the time being I'm going to keep on the meds, limit using excessive product or keeping it in my hair too long, and ride things out. (though, I won't lie, I've begun mapping out potential future sessions, especially if my hairline "gaps" linger...)

Incredible! Dr. Feller is def the man, and he truly has changed your life. This FUE sesh should really be the final icing on the cake. All of these FUE sessions getting bumped around (Spex, ahem...) are making me jones for one myself.

A skilled FUE surgeon could say for sure, but I'm also inclined to think that Maxxy could be on to something. My initial reaction was that even a few hundred grafts balancing things out could do the job(?)

Ya, cosc, I can't say for sure...but my suspicion is that *many* people who get HTs and go to the best docs could work their hair in similiar ways; if not exactly, could work their hair as to make it look a lot better than they do. Just my personal hunch, but I see a lot of HTs and just think about much better they could make it look by taking but a couple simple, easy steps. Gotta give big props to Dr. Feller no matter what since he knew exactly how I wanted to style my hair and did the HT in such a way as to best maximize this. I live in Connecticut, and spend a lot of time in NYC. It's a pretty solid area as a whole where I'm at for funky styles and what-not.

Ya, when you've been around the forums for a while and have seen and analyzed so many HTs it is easy to be able to detect the nuances of the HT that might defy something "God-given", that any layman might not notice. This is one of those results that I truly would call 100% natural, and everything about it fits the patient perfectly. It really is one of those examples that can show the power of a HT, and I'd agree w/ Rach about putting this bad boy on any new website!

Not sure what exactly happened to Epstein, but he became pretty "inconsistent" in his results; there was a wave of extremely troubling, extremely clear-cut complaints. That notwithstanding, I found his reaction to these patients -- some of whom I would say to have been truly *butchered* -- to be both arrogant and sorely lacking in ethical compassion. It was surprising and very disheartening to see this once-esteemed physician have such a reaction as if he is beyond reproach when peoples' lives had been ruined at his hands -- even *if* he wasn't truly and totally culpable (and that's a huge "if"), his reaction to these patients was totally unacceptable, IMHO. Go to Wong > Epstein. I practically beg of thee. And I would have said this prior to his banishment from the Coalition. If those are the three you have it narrowed down to I can unequivically endorse either doctors Hasson or Wong; Epstein can't hold a candle to them in pretty much every single facet of the HT.

It's somewhat counter-intuitive, but the few products put into my hair are -- if anything -- insanely good for it. Many quality products are formulated to actually improve upon your hair and scalp, vs. the products of yester'year. Same goes for using a quality dye, too. Also, it might seem like a lot when I type it out in detail, but the entire regiment takes well under 5minutes. What did take time was the years of constantly buying, researching, and trying out new products. Ironically, during the period of time prior to my shed, continued thinning, and "gaps", I was using virtually zero product day2day.

Couldn't agree w/ bSpot more....while we can't -- and likely never will -- know for sure the reasoning behind everything about this clinic....I would bet so much that there is something truly amiss with this clinic and that it is an instance where you will -- truly -- get what you pay for. That said, by all means go and do your own intensive research into this place; I'd just echo to take extreme caution before comitting to anything.

I agree with much of what has been said. And I agree with Bill that FUT seems best suited for you. *Unless*.... You intend to do but 1 FUE session in the forseeable future, and you use this FUE session to artistically construct a hairline, which you then buzz down and just forget about hair. You'd essentially be looking to achieve a very attractive shaved look, best defined by that which still has the constructs of a strong, pleasing hairline. Then, going forward you can always play things by ear and have more options as to whether you get a HT, and whether you continue with FUE or switch to strip down the road and blast things. That said, I think a HT with Dr. Rahal could do you wonders. You remind me a lot of myself. We have different types of MPB, of course, but the bones of our cases are quite similiar, and I think we share/have shared similiar expectations and reservations. One thing to keep in mind is that the HT is essentially an investment that can cary different risk-reward ratios depending on which route of the HT you take. And no matter what, it is possible to think up a scenario that is unfavorable -- the question is how that objectively stacks up to the potential, and almost certain positives. There are risks to getting a HT, there are also risks in not getting a HT. How deeply does your current loss affect you? Only you truly know, and can comprehend and appreciate the ramifications for not doing anything. My personal take is that Dr. Rahal will do you a huge solid and you will get a "wow" result. How huge having a nice head of hair vs. having what you currently have is really something that only you can ultimately know. If you go this route, I would saying that being prepared (financially and emotionally) for going in for another HT to combat continued loss is the biggest thing. And the worst case scenario truly isn't horrible, and I'm not sure I'd even call it "worse" than the alternative. If over the next several decades, and assuming no new advances, if you have a below-average donor and you end up being someone very unlucky who rapidly ends up progressing to some NW7+ you might not have enough donor to get a full look of coverage. With a great doctor and great gameplanning this scenario's force can be blunted considerably. Again, even if this happens, you are essentially juxtaposing it with simply being bald without a doubt and going all of those years/decades as such.

Thx Raph. I mainly got it colored to help mask these "gaps" that I've incurred, and also help mask my thinning on the top. It seems to have achieved in helping the latter, but not so much the former, which is why I might bleach my roots, too. I also kind of like the color, too, even though it's a bit scary and somewhat bizarre to be bringing *extra* focus to your hair as being one who was so ravaged and decimated by baldness in the past. That photo that's datemarked 04' is wrong. The camera I was using at the time had it's timestamping all messed up. The 2 pre-ops were taken 1.5-2 years ago, when I was ~22. The pic following those two is recent, and I included to show how different a HT can look simply if you do or don't maximize your doc's efforts. I'll be including more later that show just how radical a HT can look depending on but a few easy steps that aid -- or destroy -- the illusion that a doc's artistry is often based off of.

Thx for the remarks/insight. And I agree. I'm not truly sure, aaron, how to tell what is and is isn't a shed -- at least until you wait out so many months and see if the hair has come back. Also, if you can recall or tell if the hairs being lost where terminal....it likely is a shed vs. weak hairs that could very well have been on their way out. And maxxy that's an excellent question and one I am not sure of. Given how little hair I had pre-op, I'm inclined to think the hairs lost are transplanted hair. But I'm not positive. And I also can't even tell if the "gaps" are coming back with more hair; that they still seem to be persisting makes me think it could be permanent loss, in which case the hairs being HT hairs makes little sense (as far as I know). It's been kind of puzzling to me; the interplay between a shed or simply continued thinning, coupled with these mysterious "gaps". Needless to say, I won't be making any decisions in haste, but these "gaps" do trouble me. My plan has been to wait till my top and vertex thin enough to where a HT could make sense; and then a 3rd and hopefully final HT down the road from then when I am older, my MPB has more fully revealed itself, and I can do one last carpet bombing of any thin areas, if I continued to thin. Also, fin has def worked well for me -- my crown was thinning but it's been halted and even reversed with thickening. It's really my top, and, perhaps, loosing the filler in my HT recipient zone that has taken hits.

Thx. Added 2 pre-ops, and 1 pre-styling. I'll include some better pre-styling and intra-styling later. Also, as for products: I used Aveda's Pure Abundance line of clay conditioner and shampoo; Samy Fat Hair Creme (which is mainly for taming purposes and conditioning the hair for styling; blow dry; Dirt (generic FX version). One thing you can still notice nonetheless are these two "gaps" I have in my hairline. I went through an incredibly stressful period a bit ago and I nervously was working my hand through my hairline a lot, and I think this has been the cause. But it could be just part of this shed I'm going through. Going forward, I might be bleaching my entire head of hair from the roots up, but I'm not sure. I think it would help further the illusion of density, but I might just go get a touch up job focused on my hairline to further help things along. I will say, coloring the hair has truly helped out my top and zone behind my HT; in and of itself it looks much fuller, but it has in turn helped bolster my hairline up close under bright lighting.

Ya, don't get me wrong, I totally hear ya man...trust me....what you just said is *precisely* why I can be such a hardass on people about graft #s...it kills me to see you say what you've said because it's said so often and it is precisely such a situation that I am constantly trying to help people avoid. I don't know if it was you who posted pre-op about your Alexander HT, but if you had I would have strongly cautioned you to re-evaluate your expectations, likely result, and the # of grasfts conjoined to these two things. Again, I don't consider the HT some massive fail, but I question the gameplan, as it clearly has not actually been in sync with your expectations. I honestly believe there is a non-malicious disconnect between a lot of doctors' expectations projected onto patients, and what patients' actual expectations are. Sometimes patients' expectations are unreasonably high, sometimes doctors' gameplans are peculiarly modest. A doctor can only do so much, and miracles can't be worked, but I feel that this "expectation gap", largely defined by # of grafts, needs to be better illucidated and discussed between patients and doctors. I have as good a donor as can be, and had/have a decent amount of native hair to back up my HT zone -- I got 3k, which I think was a great # and Dr. Feller did an excellent job intuiting my expectations based off of our talks. Nonetheless, I was "lucky" in the sense that I myself was partially in the dark at the time about the impact grafts will likely have on individuals -- thankfully, my instincts, a bit of luck, and Dr. Feller's keen eye and apprectation gave me an ideal graft #.

I've been going through a *brutal* shed the past several months; additionally, I have lost ground since my HT and thinned behind the hairline, further exposing density issues as it cracks open the illusion of density that we are all about. That said, I went into hyperdrive attempting to perfect a hair regiment to get me through things since the situation was becoming untenable. Boosting naturalness and density was what I concerned myself with. When I get back from the gym later and shower I'll post some pics of my hair w/o *any* product in, and "styled" in a way I see *many* HT patients go about things. I'll also take photos step by step of each product and tecnique I use in my regiment to show their incremental effects. That said, here are the afters, and some pre-ops included. I wanted to take shots in the sun but it's incredibly overcast where I am recently. Total time between getting out of the shower and going through the steps....~3minutes or so. You should be able to zoom in on these pics, and the clarity won't take a shot -- I wasn't sure how to zoom and get them uploaded though as is.

You had practically zero native hair pre-op, and 2500g isn't a tremendous amount given that; but, your hairline design was quite conservative, so I'd have expected a bit better density, nonetheless, especially the sides of the hairline. Honestly, though, I don't consider this a massive fail, and you could still have some more growth; I wouldn't say the growth was perfect, but given your level of balding I think you would need virtually flawless yield with 2500 to expect that much more. As well, you aren't doing your HT *any* favors. I can't express how strongly I'd reccommend you style your hair to maximize your HT and use some legit products, too. I started a thread recently about boosting naturalness and density in HTs, and I think you could be a poster child. I think cases like yours are quite common, and while I personally wouldn't be satisfied either, I think even given everything with the right regiment you could make leaps and bounds.

Haha, I just hope the products will work as well for you as they have for me. Individually, they all work quite well -- but they have a synergistic effect, too. Again, I think the Samy Fat Hair creme is the most amazing in how how well it tames HT hairs and facilitates such easy styling opportunities. The Aveda products are indeed pricy, but a little goes a *long* way with them. Out of the Aveda line I would rate the Hair Potion as the most vital -- the clay conditioner I do believe to be really good, but you can find a similiar volumizing shampoo/conditioner on the super cheap that could be more cost-value. After blowdrying my HT hairs become almost totally seamless with my non-HT hairs and how they behaved pre-MPB. I took some pics of my mop with these products and also after I just got my hair bleached. I'll be posting them this evening.

Looks really good; he honestly couldn't ask for much more going into things, and with one more session he should really be rounded off nicely. It seems to me like he has lost ground elsewhere, which may be contributing to his attitude -- I went through a similiar feeling briefly when I continued to thin outside of my recipient zone.

Pictures look good; if you have some top-downs pre-op I'd like to see them, but no biggie, just curious as to how much native hair Dr. Feller went into. You seem to have an unusual pattern; regardless, I def expect you to be elated but months down the road. Can't wait to see you grown out.

Lock the thread lest' Hope throws another hissy fit over not getting the recognition he so (thinks he) deserves! Or will this simply happen in any thread; perhaps Hope can answer and explain some, since he seems to have such a righteous read on the quality of posters on this site, and can make sweeping statements as to the quality and effectiveness of peoples' words in every thread including future ones...? Other than a hissy-fit rearing its ugly head (yet again), I could see leaving the thread open in case another "Bspot" might post and enrich things; but my personal read is that everyone has had their fill so locking it and stemming any potential acrimony seems perfectly reasonable, too.