3,245 Grafts with Dr. John Frank

[vanhalen]

My background

I'm a 50 year old male, (mostly) happily married w/ two boys and professional office worker. I started losing my hair on the top & front of my head starting in my mid to late thirties. 5% minoxidil definitely helped grow some hair & slow-down the hair-loss progression for several years but hair loss started back after discontinuation; I’m now a Norwood 5A / 6. After a lot of research I finally made the decision to have the FUT procedure done vs. FUE. I don’t wear my hair short, and am not concerned of the FUT scar that will be covered with hair. FUT made sense to me personally as it required less time and potentially a larger graft size from my average donor size (very robust back and average to below average sides). I researched the various HT procedures online over the past 1-2 two years. I had five HT consultations with: 1. Bosley, 2. NJ Plastic surgeon utilizing the Neograft FUE, 3. Feller / Bloxham, 4. True / Dorin and 5. Anapelli Hair Clinic. I chose Anapelli which is run by Dr. John Frank.

Dr. Frank

Dr. Frank conducts the phone and in-person consultations personally and never delegates this important aspect with potential patients. It was very refreshing if not shocking to actually have a doctor call you directly more than once to discuss a potential procedure. Dr. Frank is a very experienced and polished HT doctor but a truly decent person as well. He is not arrogant, he is a confident yet humbled doctor. Dr. Frank is a very nice, personable, calm, and easy to talk to kind of guy. He certainly has top-notch bedside manners and a very good listener to boot thus ensuring he exceeds the patient’s expectation – thus far he has accomplished this for me! In short, Dr. Frank is a top-line highly recommended HT doctor with excellent reviews that happens to be a compassionate and caring human being – a true gentleman!
Dr. Frank definitely attempts to understand the patient’s hair situation while assessing their alternatives. When he learned of my past (limited) success on minoxidil, he suggested trying minoxidil again or try finasteride to see if hair growth could be achieved again – as it did early-on while on minoxidil. In other words, his focus was on me the patient and not his monetary gain from pushing an HT first. After I described my family history with balding and my genetic pre-disposition, he agreed an HT is in order. Again, he arrived at this conclusion after carefully taking the time to discuss and understand my history first.
The phone and in-person conversations lead him to really complete learn / understand my needs. This was clearly very evident when we went over all details the day of the procedure – we were totally on-the-same-page. Based on my discussions with Dr. Frank, I decided to focus the grafts on the front & top and not touch the crown. The crown is the least of my concerns and I could always re-visit in one year.

HT Procedure

I got to the office a little after 7:00AM. I was immediately greeted by one of the staff, she was setting up for the day and was actually the only one there at that point. She sat me down and went over some things regarding what to expect for the day and had me fill out some forms. Not too long after she got through explaining, in walked Dr. Frank. He immediately sat down with me and also went over some things. Dr. Frank set me up in my room and started the surgery. He first took the strip from my donor areas after they were adequately numbed so I didn't feel anything. The needles stung a little bit but nothing unbearable, almost like the needles a dentist administers. Dr. Frank was always concerned about my comfort throughout the whole process. After the strip was cut, the technicians proceeded to microscopically arrange the grafts by 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, etc. While this was being done, Dr. Frank made the incisions for graft placement by the technicians. Dr. Frank would definitely check-in as the technicians proceeded to ensure efficacy – Dr. Frank was personally involved with the entire HT. This was a very efficient process – I was impressed by how well his team worked seamlessly together! There were four technicians in the room plus Dr. Frank. Mostly, two technicians were separating the grafts while two others inserted the grafts into my scalp. The entire process ended at around 6PM – a very long day!

Post-HT

When I returned after two weeks for suture removal DR. Frank and I once again had a good conversation on far-ranging topics from my hair to his NFL/ Super Bowl experiences that I inquired about. During the visit we discussed finasteride. He wrote a script for it at 1mg daily; I’m currently trying it out.
It’s been three weeks now after the procedure. I have seen quite a bit it of growth in all areas, albeit relatively small at this stage.
I highly recommend Dr. John Frank to anyone that is interested in getting either the FUT or FUE procedure done. A consultation with Dr. Frank is definitely worth your time as you do your due diligence in evaluating your options. In summary, he is a great person, tremendous professional, fun individual and again I highly recommend Dr. John E. Frank for performing your hair transplant.

Lastly, many thanks to this very informative website and all the members that have shared their collective experiences! Your insights have been invaluable in navigating the many options, procedures, HT doctors, etc.