Hasson & Wong Surgery patient Sept2011

[ParraPhil]

Marginal

Whilst there is a definite improvement, with donor site being rated as "marginal" prior to commencing the work, is there a point where you don't take on a case, because you know there won't be enough donar hair to finish the job?

[CVAZBAR]

Well, looking at your donor, it seems they did all they could. Your donor is extremely thin but it is strange that they didn't explain much to you. Knowing your situation, I'd figure they tell you not to expect much. That was a shit load of money.

[mattie123]

No question about some improvement!

While I didn't question that there was some improvement based on the number of grafts that was used, it is more the fact that there is some negative feedback from the "clinic" that performs this type of surgery considering the amount of money spent! As I had previously mentioned as well, no one there ever asked what my expectations were and how I wanted to look given the grafts available to use. There was absolutely NO follow-up after the surgery after having had the over 20 or so "staples" removed from the back of my skull! You would expect more for the money you are spending. Almost every guy out there who is losing their hair/or thinning would prefer NOT to continually spend money and time on this after going through this type of surgery!

I completely expected some feedback from this office and for them to post pictures which is why I wanted to share my experience. I don't know if I would ever consider doing this again but there is NO way I would go back to this particular clinic. After having gone back over nine months later for a follow-up, they were mostly interested in seeing if I wanted to do another transplant surgery...and of course...more money!

I am just trying to be as honest as possible here, not trying to bad-mouth anyone but in comparison, I had another surgery called a "bleparoplasty" with a Plastic Surgeon not far from H & W for 1/4 of the cost and have had regular follow-ups for this and far more care and attention than I had ever expected! My experience there has been amazing!

For what I spent at H & W, I can definitely say that it was NOT worth it. Anyone who is interested in contacting me directly is welcome to do so as I would love to share my experience and offer any feedback or advice. Email is mattsplce1@hotmail.com

[Jotronic]

Paraphil,

Yes, there is a point where we tell patients it's not a good idea to have surgery. I personally turned down four patients only yesterday and have been in dialogue with another patient, back and forth, since yesterday explaining our position. He's now going to Dr. Rahal for a second opinion, which I fully agreed he should do. I turn down patients all the time due to any number of factors; false expectations, not enough donor hair, not enough loss, age, etc.

Mattie123,

I apologize for any mis-communication that may have occurred during your experience and it's unfortunate that you feel the way you do. Your input however is appreciated because it is the only way we can learn and move forward as a more informed clinic. It's why we include an evaluation form in all post-op packages and is how we learn about our patient care. However some of the points that you have shared are unfortunately not the actual facts.

When you had your initial consultation you started out with Dr. Wong and then my colleague Doug Kline came in to assist in the consultation. He noted in your consultation form that you appeared to have realistic expectations. Doug Kline is very thorough when he discusses our procedure so the only way he would state that you appear to have realistic expectations is if these expectations were discussed. Doug then had more correspondence with you in July 2010, as well as the following Aug. 7th and Aug. 9th.

On the day of your procedure you were in the same chair that every other patient has sat in and we rarely hear of how uncomfortable it is. In fact, most patients say that they are comfortable and that the only issue is the time spent in the chair. I don't care if the chair is made up of the most comfortable substance on the planet, sitting for an entire day will wear on anyone. However, patients are not only welcome to get up at various intervals to stretch their legs they are routinely encouraged to do so. The technicians are aware of this issue and ask patients about their comfort level throughout the day. I see this all the time. Regarding your lunch, I can say that if you waited for your lunch then it was most likely brought in while Dr. Wong was making your incisions. However long you waited to eat it is irrelevant as you said it was cold. If it was an issue however you could have mentioned something. No one likes a cold burger!

I never received a call from their office to see how I was doing but went back in to get them removed finally and was so relieved. I think this was actually the worst part of the whole thing to be honest.

Your surgery was on a Friday and it was Labor Day weekend so we were closed the following Monday. I see in your surgical chart that you were called the first day we returned, as is standard practice, and it is noted that Candice left you a message to be sure you were ok and to see if you had any questions. We do this for all of our patients that are reachable by phone and for our international patients, if there is a large time zone difference or we know they are in transit on their way home, we send an email.

After the surgery and staples being removed, I NEVER heard from anyone in this office again until late July in which they asked how things were. I told them that my hair had grown back of course (from being shaved) and that it was a bit fuller on the top but that I wished there was more in the back. They asked if I wanted to come in for a follow-up so I accepted. All the doctors had to say was...everything looks great! See! I told them I wasn't too happy about the back and their response was that it was due to the number of grafts they had to work with initially. Well, it seems to me that the back of my hair was where most of my hair loss was in the first place and if they really listened to what YOU (the patient) wanted, it would have been a lot better! They looked at my scalp and did some stretching exercises and it was determined that they could get another 1400 grafts if I wanted to go ahead with ANOTHER surgery and another $5000! I was so appalled by this as it really seems like they have become all about the MONEY here and not about the people who they've made their livelihood from!

When every patient leaves our office they are given not only post-operative care products they are also given explicit instructions to call us should they have any questions or concerns. You not only have the email addresses of Christina our office manager and Doug Kline your main point of contact you also have our main office phone number as well as Dr. Wong's PERSONAL cell phone # should you need immediate attention. Once you returned for your staple removal you were looked over to be sure everything looked clean and healthy and if you had any questions this was another opportunity to present them.

Since that time you were not ignored as it is assumed that if you have questions you will use one of the multiple ways available to contact us. Our policy is that once the staples are removed we assume you are following the post-op care instructions that describe how you should proceed for the next few months. We then contact each patient approximately ten months post-op to see how the result matured as this is about how long it takes for the result to mature.

Regarding Dr. Wong's assessment when you returned for your follow-up visit, I can see why he said it looked great because it does. Frankly, for 2281 grafts, it looks amazing and I dare say that you got better coverage with 2281 grafts than I did with 2400 grafts in the same area from my first procedure with Dr. Wong almost ten years ago. Plus, while you are not particularly happy with the crown it was noted in your consultation form that you were looking for a stronger frame for your face and some coverage up front and that you were experiencing a good result, in the form of thickening, for your crown so the approach not only makes sense given your characteristics it was also noted in your chart that this was the plan from the beginning. In addition, we never would have told you that your crown would be full or even have a fraction of the coverage as the front due to the small number of grafts you were told were possible in one session.

I had more care and follow-up from Biothera clinics in which I just spent $1,000 and from a doctor which I had a Blepharoplasty done for $4,500 by far! I don't feel that I got what I paid for and like I said, they never really explained things in detail for you or really took the time to listen! Now they want more money to do more surgery to fill in the back of my head when this could have been done with some of the 2300 grafts beforehand? There wasn't the need to just fill in the top of my head! I understood if they didn't have enough to do the front receding hairline but give me a break!

I think that the reason why you had more follow up from Biothera is because it is not a one time deal. With laser hair clinics you return a few times a month, usually, for continued treatments that generally last up to one year. There is a big difference between follow up calls and reminders for the next treatment. And with regards to your blepharoplasty, the immediate post-op period is much more crucial where your vision can be greatly reduced thus preventing even the most basic of functions for several days. It is completely different than hair restoration thus it has completely different protocols which are understandable.

The bottom line is this. In the past ten years that I've been online as a patient and eventually as a patient educator I have never seen anyone complain about the issues that you have mentioned. This means that either your particular case went completely awry and deviated greatly from the normal standard of care that we provide or there was some other issue at work here but at this point we cannot go back in time to right any wrongs that may have been committed. While it is unfortunate that you did not utilize the many options available to you to contact us in the first ten months after your procedure I am grateful for you posting your opinion. This helps us to grow and learn and ultimately make us a better clinic. If you ever do decide to speak to us about your experience you are always welcome to call. Regardless of what you decide to do we wish you well. Thank you again for sharing your experience.

[DAVE52]

........ There was absolutely NO follow-up after the surgery after having had the over 20 or so "staples" removed from the back of my skull!

lol.......well once the sale was made , there wasm't anything they could do but for you to wait a yr for the hair to grow .