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Thread: My experiences

  1. #1
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    Default My experiences

    This is a copy of the first post I have ever made regarding my HT history. I will post some before and after pictures of my latest surgery in a subsequent post.

    I have been finding it hard to get on a couple of hairloss forums. I registered with [name removed] and [name removed] but in both cases my login details have been rejected . I'm beginning to feel there is a conspiracy. But then again this could be down to the inferiority complex I've carefully nourtured over the years.


    THE NOBEL CLINIC

    Ok, here we go: I started to feel self-conscious about my hairloss at around 18-20 years old, and some 25 years ago I decided to do something about it. The internet wasn't really available in those days so options were very limited . So I acted on an article in the paper by 'THE NOBEL CLINIC' in Horley, Surrey! At that stage hairloss was just minimal in the temple region. So a private doctor in Guildford who was paid by Nobel Clinic recommended Minoxidil. I was on this for a couple of years until I felt more drastic action was needed. He said that if a transplant was required in the future the Nobel Clinic was the place to go

    To be honest the dates are a bit fuzzy. I probably blanked them out of my mind due to the trauma of the experiences. I went for my first transplant 20 odd years ago. I will have to look for the original paperwork. But the first op was for a couple hundred grafts and cost 2 or 3 grand.

    The first one was pretty scary. The clinic was in a 4 storey victorian detached building in Horley with its own car park. The staff were friendly enough and I think they thought they were doing a good job. I went throught the paperwork, they assessed me and I payed the money. The thing that gave me false confidence was the certificate they gave me. 'We guarantee that the transplanted hair will grow for the rest of the patients life'. I didn't realise at the time that any grafts that failed to grow would just be discounted off the amount I owe in any subsequent transplant.

    I had a medical by a doctor from a local surgery. They gave me a valium and they numbed me up - flippin' ouch! The clinician was not qualified as a doctor, I think she was a nurse. My hair was only cut in the donor area so hair would cover the surgey. They anaesthetised me front and back and set to work punching out 3 and 4mm grafts. This was quite traumatic to the scalp. I remember her getting frustrated when I sunk into the chair, under the force of her plunging the tool into my head. And had to keep pulling me back up! The holes were then sutured shut.

    They then punched 4mm holes in the recipient area the 3mm ones towards the front. How they could have believed 3mm plugs could look natural in a hairline is beyond me! They then bandaged up my head really tightly.

    The whole thing took only a couple of hours...it felt longer!

    At that time the clinic had hotel facilities. So I was able to have a meal there. Unfortunately I had a really bad night. The trauma made me throw up, and the tight bandage made my head really throb all night. The next day I had the bandage removed and went home.

    A couple of years later after I lost some more hair so I went back for more, a similar amount of grafts again. I was given a discount for the previous grafts which had failed to grow. I was so nervous this time that I had a panic attack on route to the clinic. I had to stop the car and get my courage back enough to go through with it. I arrived a bit late and was faced with the 'surgeon' who was pretty pissed off with me. The procedure was pretty much the same as last time.

    The last op was in 2001. The plugs were starting to be betrayed by my hairloss even more. There were gaps in my hairline and this was not remedied by this last go by the Nobel Clinic. This time the op was done by the nurse of the previous 'surgeon', (in affect the nurses nurse!). She had obviously risen up the ranks.

    RECENT YEARS

    Things looked ok with my hair brushed forward for a while but my confidence was waning year by year. As I started to lose hair from my crown my plugginess was starting to become even more obvious. I started to retreat into my shell. I didn't want to go out and meet people, but when I did I would wonder if they were looking at my hairline. I found it hard holding a conversation when I was thinking they might consider me a bit 'freakish.' After all a bad hair transplant isn't like a disfiguring illness it's the result of a lifestyle choice.

    I had some useful conversations with Spex. I did a lot of research and considered my options. I had previously had a consultation with DR MWAMBA in London. He works in Brussells but consults throughout Europe. He recommended 1000-1500 grafts in the frontal 1/3. He said the scarring means that blood supply isn't guaranteed. So a staged approach would be sensible. Also after three op's the back of my head lacked laxity.

    I emailed some pictures of my hair to Spex and he reconed I would need at least 3,000 grafts. He said that a strip procedure was the best way to get good results more quickly. He said money and geography shouldn't be a factor in making a decision. He is obviously right. But my concern was the strip scar. I will attach an image of my 'shot gun blasted' back of my head to illustrate my point. Spex had only seen a picture with my hair covering the area so He could not have known how mutilated it was. I considered that I needed FUE.

    So I decided to go to DR MWAMBA in Brussells. And he has given me my life back.
    Dr Mwamba is a highly skilled surgeon and a real gentleman. The whole team were unbelievably attentive, skillful and competent. They worked from 9am to 11pm in rotation on two consecutive days. I can't express how fantastic they were.

    I will post my experiences and results of this surgery in another post if I haven't outstayed my welcome.

    Chris
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  2. #2
    Administrator tbtadmin's Avatar
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    Default Welcome To The Forum

    Hi Chris -

    You are welcome to post your experiences here. Currently we do not have a great deal of information about Dr Mwamba, so we are pleased to learn more about his practice and your experience. Look forward to seeing more photos.

  3. #3
    Administrator SpencerKobren's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum Chris!
    Spencer Kobren
    Founder, American Hair Loss Association
    Host, The Bald Truth Radio Show

    I am not a physician. My opinions and knowledge concerning hair loss and its treatment are based on extensive research and reporting on the subject as a consumer advocate and hair loss educator. My views and comments on the subject should not be taken as medical advice. Always seek the advice of a medical professional when considering medical and surgical treatment.

  4. #4
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    Default

    Hi Chris, great to see you on here matey! Glad its all starting to work out for you finally. Dr M does great work and I am chuffed for you that you got appropriate numbers via FUE in the end - i know we spoke at length about appropriate numbers over the phone a couple of times hence the FUE/strip dilema. Dr Fellers recommendation off the pics provided was only an estimate but seems like you got close to it via FUE so congrats. This is a real corner turned for you I know and I am made up for you bro so grow well and please keep us all informed on your progress.

    Drop me an email or call me and i will speak to Bill the owner of the forum you are having issues registering with as be great to share your story and updates there too for all to see. Various people are having a similar issue which i will make him aware of - Think its due to numerous spammers at the mo.

    Grow well!!
    Spex
    Last edited by Spex; 01-08-2009 at 03:17 AM.

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    Cheers Spencer

    Hi Spex
    Thanks for your reply. Your input was a definite help in informing my choice of treatment.

    It was as good an experience as I could have hoped for. Although 10 + 10 hours in the chair was pretty tiring, (although Dr Mwamba treated a patient for 20 hours straight and the patient didn't bat an eyelid).

    I took the Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels, (got a free first class return offer ) Then got the metro to my hotel. Surgery was a 8 minute walk to the surgery.

    My aims were discussed and I expressed my desire for a more natural hairline and more density in the middle of the frontal 1/3 rd. It's been 5 months since the op. Most of the hairs are growing but there are a couple of lazy areas. Dr Mwamba filled in around the grafts. Because of the pluginess of the hairline he used single hairs to surround the existing tufts. He put 2200 hairs in the frontal 1/3 rd and just around 150 in the crown. With hindsight I should have asked him to place them forward of the crown as there is a bit of a gap there, (he gave me the choice). I had no swelling after the op.

    He said from the outset that I would benefit from a 'touching up' procedure later on. In an ideal world I would want more grafts to fill in between the frontal and the crown, but the credit crunch won't make that possible for a while.

    A shaved recipient area combined with the graft hairs falling out and shockloss revealed the cobblestoning and plugs. So there was no eureka moment when I suddenly had new hair. It was 3 months of little joy after the procedure.

    I know I'm not destined to have a head of hair like Shrek's Prince Charming, BUT For the first time for some 15 odd years I now have a hairline!

    I will email you re the other forum - cheers.

    Here's a pic six days post op.
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    Here are my pictures before the procedure and at 6 days post op. The donor areas had to be taken from numerous areas which is why the op took 20 hours over two days. The red areas in the back view are donor sites. I'll take some pictures now I'm 5 months post op.

    Hair pre-op



    6 Days post op


  7. #7
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    Just a note about density:

    Dr Mwamba talked about density before the op. Because of the scarring in the recipient area he didn't want to overdue things because of the blood supply. He said I should have another procedure to touch things up after. But I'm quite happy with the way things are starting to look.

    The density may look less because the grafts are between existing plugs. The doc reconed I had 60% coverage in the area, despite unfortunately some of the original grafts having failed.

    He put 2,200 grafts in the frontal third - singles in the hairline and 2's and 3's elsewhere. He put 150 in the crown just to give a small amount of coverage.

    With FUE, big sessions are really time consuming and 20 hours over two days was enough for me. And because of the expense it may be a while before the next procedure is possible.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mythek1 View Post
    Just a note about density:

    Dr Mwamba talked about density before the op. Because of the scarring in the recipient area he didn't want to overdue things because of the blood supply. He said I should have another procedure to touch things up after. But I'm quite happy with the way things are starting to look.

    The density may look less because the grafts are between existing plugs. The doc reconed I had 60% coverage in the area, despite unfortunately some of the original grafts having failed.

    He put 2,200 grafts in the frontal third - singles in the hairline and 2's and 3's elsewhere. He put 150 in the crown just to give a small amount of coverage.

    With FUE, big sessions are really time consuming and 20 hours over two days was enough for me. And because of the expense it may be a while before the next procedure is possible.
    Hey Mythek,

    Things are looking good! Grow well and keep us updated on your progress.
    Spencer Kobren
    Founder, American Hair Loss Association
    Host, The Bald Truth Radio Show

    I am not a physician. My opinions and knowledge concerning hair loss and its treatment are based on extensive research and reporting on the subject as a consumer advocate and hair loss educator. My views and comments on the subject should not be taken as medical advice. Always seek the advice of a medical professional when considering medical and surgical treatment.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpencerKobren View Post
    Hey Mythek,

    Things are looking good! Grow well and keep us updated on your progress.
    Cheers Spencer. I'll take some pictures at 6 months, (2-3 weeks time), to see how things compare.

    Regards
    Chris

  10. #10
    Administrator SpencerKobren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mythek1 View Post
    Cheers Spencer. I'll take some pictures at 6 months, (2-3 weeks time), to see how things compare.

    Regards
    Chris
    Hey Chris,

    Sounds good.

    Take care,
    Spencer Kobren
    Founder, American Hair Loss Association
    Host, The Bald Truth Radio Show

    I am not a physician. My opinions and knowledge concerning hair loss and its treatment are based on extensive research and reporting on the subject as a consumer advocate and hair loss educator. My views and comments on the subject should not be taken as medical advice. Always seek the advice of a medical professional when considering medical and surgical treatment.

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