thanatopsis_awry

Thx h-slice, my life has really been radically altered, and I can't wait to see my end result. I wasn't ever really cognizent of experiencing shockloss (I still seemed to have roughly the same amount, and my results w/ concealers seemed to be equivolent), which is a testament to how little, if any, I did experience; however, after a while when I really tried analyzing things and comparing photos within my "vault" I do believe I experienced some minor shockloss. Lighting, and hair placement, can play such a large role in perceived density, though; so, when I was looking at my pics I did notice a trend were some "perceived density" differences *could* be chalked up to those aforementioned variables.

Nanogen and Dermmatch, emphasis on the former. Consult with a few clinics, see what they have to say -- don't necessarily take it as gospel, but most definitely take their advice into serious consideration. I had a HT when I was 22, fwiw.

Thank for the comments everyone, much appreciated! The entire process has really been very smooth, thanks to the forum (all members, Bill particularly who is the bedrock), helping me find Dr. Feller (when I easily could have gone to some hack), and the continued support, especially during those fragile first few months. tofue -- I agree, the immediate post-ops and my initial healing was pretty remarkable; and I was far from a "simple" case (due to a bit of nervous drinking the night prior when my mind just shut off). balody -- o', I'm back, so be prepared for long weird words. faceless -- the first shot is indeed a "before" shot; my digital camera, which I rarely use, isn't at all properly tuned, so stuff like the dates are way off.....man, look at that "before" shot! Key word "before"!

It sickens me reading that story about this degenerate. His assistant did the donor removal and suturing......!?! Thankfully, you have lots of options; MANY people who have been duped/butchered have recovered TREMENDOUSLY, and some docs are true maestros w/ repair. Keep researching, do a few consults (live or online), see what's what. No doubt, your situation can get *MUCH* better.

You seem "paralyzed" by your hairloss; if things don't improve talk to your family, doctor, anyone that knows you personally. You shouldn' be going through life like this, and while a HT is one way to combat what ails you, there are others also. Did you end up getting some consults? Getting a HT isn't out of the question for you, and a top clinic can assess your individual case and let you know if they can help you. Concealers, plus a physical hobby, in the meantime -- look into that, for real.

Thanks bro, appreciated. When I took these last night it was honestly the first time in ages I had looked at myself w/o being caked in concealer and with an open mind -- fear of how I looked had been ingrained into me. Btw, I'd prolly take an ass kicking to have gotten where I am now @ 6months! And I'm not sure if the red pill helped my hair, but the hair certaintly has made me take the red pill more.

In a word: don't. At best they produce sub-optimal results; at worst, and most realistic, they are a totally fraudlent business and make a living making suckers out of people. I personaly know MULTIPLE people who were extremely dissatisfied with them, and countless others I have read through the forums that basically said how horrible they are. In fact, the one "decent" report I have ever seen of them wasn't even at all good and contained tons of negatives about their aftercare. You hit the nail on the head when you said: "they just good in marketing".....hope this helps.

Well, time has moved in a predictably swift fashion and I am now just a bit under 6months post-op. The pics I had assembled in this thread itself got all messed up, but my weblog is still functional -- plus, I will include an additional pre-op and my various updated photos right now as part of the comments section. All photos were taken by myself, under bathroom lighting (all the post-ops, at least). Also, for the hairline shots I simply used a paste/creme and just tried to push the hairline up as much as possible; when I've been going out now I have added a layering effect to the hairline, which improved perceived density and also ameliorated some of the "kinkyness" and just is an all-around good style for me. Without further ado: It's been quite a ride so far, and I've truly been througha gamut of emotion since DHT came knockin' on my door -- if I didn't improve an iota from where I currently am I would probably be pretty cool about it. And I prolly' should/will improve more in the coming months, though it's kinda surreal. Dr. Feller and Co. have been great in every way that they should and could; combined with research, and an objective analysis of my hair-related decisions the entire process has been exceedingly smooth.

Good stuff, man! And you really still have a ton of thickening and growth to come within the new swirl patterns that are emerging, especially as far as crowns go!

Look into Nanogen (and possibly Dermmatch), in addition to getting on propecia (and possibly rogaine foam 5%). In ~9months get some consults with some elite clinics and get their opinion on whether they think the route of HTs is appropriate. There are some decent volumizing shampoos, which can't hurt, also.

Honestly, I've seen both clinics produce marvelous hairlines; I'm not even sure that the majority of people go to Shapiro for hairlines, in and of itself, or whether Shapiro gets *that* many more people going in for hairlines as opposed to Alexander. SMG certaintly has a greater online prescence, which is certaintly in part due to their excellence, patient satisfaction, and also eagerness to immerse their work within the e-community. Alexander by all indications is an upstanding person, in addition to surgeon. However, I *personally* would be more inclined to go to SMG for one reason: I would more confident in how they would react to any sort of problem, abnormality, etc. **this isn't to say Alexander is not superb in this area, as well; but, if we are talking about the minutiae of a decision such as this, the fact that I could practically bet my life on Shapiro, Bspot, Janna, et. al. standing behind the work and myself would certaintly be a splitting-factor.

I believe I paid <10k for 3k and change w/ Feller -- not totally, sure, however I do remember thinkng his prices were "competitive", which I surmised as being a result of him not being *in* New York City itself. Absolutely don't let price be a major consideration in your decision. In fact, the "top" docs do not actually charge absurd premiums for their services -- actually, many of the most wack clinics charge the most. Ironic, huh? You get what you research.

It would be a mistake to make the decision based soley on "that", for sure; it would also be a mistake to base your decision, from the get-go, in large part upon that. However, it seems that you have narrowed your choice down to two excellent surgeons, both who have shown exemplary hairline work, and you are now looking for a tiebreaker. You won't be choosing "wrong", however you choose. I think the price/package is certaintly a legit consideration if you are truly split between the two; but, if you haven't already, I would place their respective prognoses on a pedestal and compare/contrast the two and see which makes the most sense to you.

Wrenching stuff, and I can imagine the perspective it gives you; you have my definite respect for taking part in such a caring, helpful endeovor. When I was younger I took part in a mission trip, and it is something I would like to do again at some point in my future.

Congrats on moving forward! Questions....hmmmm.....the basics, for sure: graft #s, your NW pattern/level, what kind of density you should expect. Relating to these: before and afters of a case(s) similiar to yours. I'd also ask him to assess your donor (quantity and quality), which is a critical player in not just the outcome of your impending HT, but your overall gameplan. Depending on your loss (and laxity/donor density) you may or may not want to attack a specific region with this HT and shoot for maximum density, or go moresoe for coverage. Best of luck!

Honestly, I have a friend who wears a piece -- Hair Club For Men, at that. He had figured I was getting a HT; we went out for dinner one night, and I asked him how he guessed. He smiles and says: "I had one". I was flabbergasted, as I had secretly damned him for having such insane hair, and I was also perplexed as I then could not understand how he had the hair he has. It turns out he had went to Bosley when he was 20, and later on decided to just piece up. And a HCFM system, at that.....

Flip a coin. Really, if you haven't already, do some online consults with both; get some prognoses, and perhaps one of them will meet your fancy moresoe. Also, given some things you've mentioned, you may want to see if you are a prime case for FUE, as Arrie mentioned.

"The strip clinics want to keep the status quo going" So Feller, Hasson, Wong, Shapiro, Alexander, et. al. are statists that are resistant to evolutionary improvement and innovation? And, I suppose, in turn, Armani is some fantastic progressive embracing change? "In 2008, the FUE results from certain clinics look to have about the same yield as the top strip clinics" Which? And if you could show grown out examples of their respective work in cases comparable to strip -- preferable with some 2k's, 3k's, 4k's. You also mention that another reason why aforementioned strip doctors are opposed to FUE is so they can be greedy bastards and pump out more cases in a day (nevermind price differences between FUE and strip to begin with, which has a vast discrepency in some cases); well, as far as I know, Feller, H&W, Shapiro, etc. do not "pump out" multiple cases in a single day. Moreover, if we were to talk about doctors milking people for $, would it not stand to reason that they would be in the FUE-realm, with robust pricing, and offering a "revolutionary", "modern", "state of the art" procedure? Your pics of the strip procedure, despite their starkness, are nothing new and you showing them smacks of really simple fearmongering. For what its worth, FUE (which causes far more trauma, fyi) is no Monet to look at -- thousands of holes punched into somones scalp....? I am truly sorry you got butchered, which I am guessing you did to some extent, and if you were making such declarations to me in private, or to a group of people, I most likely would not say a word, but I can't help but speak up when I see potentially harmful information being spread onto an open landscape.

Don't sweat it; you have almost assuredly chosen well. The procedure(s) outlined in that website are in a different stratosphere than what you will be experiencing. The past (present and future, too, unfortunately) of HTs has a good deal of baggage, a wee bit of substance, and mammoth mound of hype. Fortunately, a select group of clinics perform hair restoration on a level that is truly advanced (natural, potent, consistent, comfortable), and a select few communities exist to aid in revealing -- to the public -- what is essentially out there. Not knowing your exact situation it is difficult for me to really say whether or not strip or FUE is best for you; however, the doctor spamming you sounds like a total FUEmonger, which really isn't all that rare of a breed these days....in fact, it seems to be the "in" thing for some..... Unless you are intent on having the option of buzzing your head super-tight I wouldn't even consider the "strip scar" a true disadvantage, either, especially since so many beautiful (trichophytic and otherwise) scars are being pumped out by top docs time and time again.

Apparently this can be a touchy subject, though I really don't think it should be, as to me it really revolves around transparency for the patient: Shooting to get 2500 grafts on a NW6, while I think it can be appropriate, I also think warrants some extra-considerations on the part of the patient. Ending up with 2500, and aiming for 2500 are also two very, very different things. From people I've spoken with privately, as well as various public declarations, I've seen too many people who've ended up "surprised" by the outcome, which I don't think should ever be the case. As Nick still seems to have a lot of general questions, I just say this to make sure that he is fully aware of every aspect of his procedure, including a good sense of "expected outcome". I am always startled by the "surprise" some people have when their results come in. Anyways, as for your 3 questions, I wouldn't be concerned in the slightest about any of them. Not actually seeing Nick's pics, and just going off the #s (NW6, 2500) I would never make any delcaritive statements, and I don't intend to, as I just say this as a simple inquiry for his benefit.

The reason why a "thinng head" is so horrific is that it sits at the precipice where it inflicts maximum damage amongst those afflicted, yet it also is "not so bad" to the point where it gets zero public sympathy, and is actually a point of vicious mocking. The worst of both worlds, and when MPB pimp-slaps you at a young age it is a true psychological affliction in addition to the purely aesthetic carnage. Jupiter, shave your head to a #2.5 or so, or try some concealer as a last resort. Your hair isn't at the point where it won't look very solid buzzed down -- I don't think you "need" to bic it.

Cheers back @ ya! Let's swig a round of brew in honor of our rapidly growing follicles.

If you perform a 5k session once, does this mean that any prospective patient is inline w/ the possibility of a ~5k session himself, and it is just a question of what that patient's individual donor charachteristics happen to be. 5k is an arbitrary number; 4k, 6k, etc. could be substituted. Having a robust-enough team is also required, and you need to have the right techs; but, if you perform X-session one time, assuming your staff remains the same, you should be able to replicate the session size again, and it just an issue of the aforementioned (donor, patient-desire). (?)

"hairline optimizer" -- works very well, too, I agree.

The grafts looks quite large and spaced far apart; I'm running behind in my coffee intake today so my perception might be askew (I hope). How many grafts did you receive and which doc did you go to?