Scar Grafting with Dr Cole

[topcat]

One really has to appreciate the honesty in this thread.

Good luck to all the repair patients.

[northeastguy]

NEguy,

Did a ton of vbeam research. Im 1 of those guys who gets red scars. I broke both bones in my forearm playing football 25 years ago and its still a bit red. I never got a 100% it wont harm hair follicles but I think Ive taken some good precautions. I did 3 test patches on the scar first and had 3 gorgeous derm ladies holding all my hair away from the scar and holding guards above the hair as well. Kind of embaressing. I did my first full vbeam 6 weeks ago and it reduced the redness a bit and had no hairloss. Planning on 3 more. Then gonna give Cole a crack with the beard hair. In your case you look so good now I wouldn't risk it especially with all that hair in your scar. You look awesome. And with 891 beard hair on the way your home free.

I doubt I will get as good a result as you as my scar is 5 to 12mm. Awesome I know...but if I could get to a 3 or 4 clip with say 800 grafts 3 times a year apart I would sign up for that fate. Im not up for a revision I have a ridiculously loose scalp and am prone to scar stretching and my donor is pretty week. I dont think my donor hair could take another full blown cut.

I think if you hit that scar with 3 sessions your going to do a lot better than a 4 guard. The first session will tell it all. you'll get a good idea of what to expect from the following 2. Keep in mind that beard hair has a larger diameter than scalp so your going to get much more coverage. I'm not sure why you don't think you'll get similar results.... no reason you shouldn't.
again, thanks for the support. very much appreciated.

[jetfan11]

Thx NE guy,

I hope so. The following docs told me "no way" hair would grow in that scar:

Bernstein
Hasson
Feller


So it kind of makes me less optimistic. When I look at your pics I want to cancel the vbeams and just go do this tomorrow! If I could get somewhere between a 2 and 4 clip even if it took 3 or 4 years I would be ecstatic. Doesnt even have to look perfect just enought to move on from this would be just fine with me!

[35YrsAfter]

Thx NE guy,

I hope so. The following docs told me "no way" hair would grow in that scar:

Bernstein
Hasson
Feller


So it kind of makes me less optimistic. When I look at your pics I want to cancel the vbeams and just go do this tomorrow! If I could get somewhere between a 2 and 4 clip even if it took 3 or 4 years I would be ecstatic. Doesnt even have to look perfect just enought to move on from this would be just fine with me!

I just put a side by side image together for our recent patient who had a rather large scar from necrosis (tissue death). He is not photo release, so I can't currently post the image. In the email I just sent, I'm going to see if he will allow me to post the photo. Beard hair is growing in this area very well at only 7 months post-op. Dr. Cole went with a low density the first pass to play it safe. I have no doubt Dr. Cole could get beard hair to grow in your scar tissue. I remember you from when you came in for your consultation. Don't let naysayers lower your expectations.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
forhair.com
Cole Hair Transplant
1070 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[gillenator]

jetfan,

Well thanks for the kind words and also for expressing your convictions regarding FUE. Yet I will need to also state the "facts" regarding what I do relative to this area of hair restoration whether we are discussing FUHT or FUE.

Let me first make it clear to you that I do not promote FUHT or FUE. I do not favor one over the other. IMHO, they both have their place. You show one post or thread where I am "promoting FUHT". You can't because they don't exist. I truly believe both methods still have benefits depending on each individual patient's case which includes their "goals and objectives". Anyone who comes out with a terrible strip scar is obviously a nightmare I agree however most patients who do their homework including carefully choosing the right surgeon do not come out with those bad scars including myself. Yet your choice of words never consider what others want, only what you think.

I have to date been through four separate FUHT procedures and still only have one thin and acceptable strip scar and was able to view it in its entirety when I lost all of my hair. I say acceptable to me because my decisions and goals are quite different from yours. And there are countless other FUHT patients with great results who are of the same opinion as myself. And BTW, I never intend to wear my hair cropt or buzzed at any point in my life, and whether you realize it or not, there are still many men that feel the same way, especially those 35 years of age and older.

The issue you are wrestling with is that because your strip scars were terrible by your own words not mine, you immediately take the position that FUHT is immoral. You are wrong about that and it's okay with me that you disagree. Who do you think you are to play judge and jury and impose your own convictions on the rest of us? Myself and tons of other patients would rather have FUHT than FUE and that's our decision, not yours. Get it?

But of course you are going to feel the way you do. An extremely high percent of patients who have unbearable scarring from FUHT are going to have that opinion. But what you don't get and may never get is that there are many of us FUHT patients that are very happy with our results and could not give a hoot about the linear scar in the back of our heads because again we never intend to buzz our scalps, and the strip scar is very fine and ok to us. Quite frankly, we don't care what you think about our goals. You have no right to push your opinions on others by tagging it with accusations and demeaning statements. That only displays your immaturity.

Now in an extremely high percent of the cases where strip scars came out bad, it is without a doubt related to the incompetence of the surgeon. In a smaller percent it's the physiology of the patient which may very well be the case of Victim. Yet some of those individuals that went to an incompetent doctor never take any responsibility for making that poor uninformed choice. And I am not trying to attempt to condemn your own decisions however "if" your strip scars came out thin and fine like many of us, your opinions would be very different, and you know it.

Look, before FUE was ever an option, the dialogue in the online communities was more related to end results, and who did the best work, dense packing, etc, etc. Oh sure, every now and then when someone's results were poor and had visible scarring, the dialogue was then confined to bashing the doctor who did the procedure. But rarely if ever did anyone bash FUHT methods because FUE was not known except in Australia. A very small number of guys would bash doing "any" hair HT procedures and call all HT doctors bad. They simply blame their own ignorance on the industry as a whole.

And the other very important fact that you fail to comment on is the fact that there are plenty of very poor FUE results! Again, it is more attributable to the competence of the surgeon but then should the patient who got a bad FUE result bash FUE like you bash FUHT? That's crazy! Get a reality check.

By the way, you falsely accuse me of promoting surgery to others yet my posts are overwhelming informing patients to wait, use caution, or not do the procedure at all. And I also told Victim "not to do any more surgery" and it does not matter whether it's FUHT or FUE.

Now, another clarification. You don't have a clue what I do in this industry. And I don't get paid to push HTs either. I am a independent advocate and I spend an extremely high percent of my time offline as well as online helping patients in need of repair. REPAIR. Why in the world do you think that I reached out to Victim many times which takes endless hours of typing time to try and help him in his suffering? You don't see me jumping on other threads trying to surf for business as you imply and I detest your accusations. They have no merit and you know it. Just read my posts on "any thread" or topic.

I am here to help those in dilemma, PERIOD. I know who I am. I sleep with a good conscience. I have no problem looking in the mirror buddy.

And by the way, the five doctors at my signature "endorse" what I do to help other patients. I don't earn a salary. I don't earn commissions or bonuses. I am not employed by any of them. But they are men of high integrity and they do have the patient's best interest in mind, every time, and they have my highest respect. And for your information, they all do both FUHT and FUE. They offer both methods.

I am not in this for the money because if I was, don't you think I have the background and ability to get rich in this industry "if" I wanted to? Get real man. The only and I repeat the only reason they support me is so that I never have to charge any patient for my help and/or support. I have been doing this for a long time, ten years next month, and I have never charged anyone one red cent for it, and I never will. When I take on a case, I have to get written consents, copies of B4 and after pics, there's a fair amount of phone and mail expense involved.

Now why don't you put your money where your mouth is and come to my office so you can see for yourself firsthand what I do rather then just ignorantly and falsely make your baseless accusations? I promise to show you my bank account and the tax return that I file for my advocacy. What you will discover is that I take in a mere $1150 per month to cover my overhead. That's it buddy. And I will show you every tax return for the past ten years so that you will also see that my words are true.

And just what do you think these other "doctor reps" make including their bonuses if any? Ever think about that? Yet they are in fact employees of the clinic and I will guarantee you that they make far, far more money "in salary", and other incentives.

Got any other questions? Now look, obviously I am a little peeved right now having to spend my time explaining to you and anyone else who thinks I may be here to "sell" HTs. But every now and then someone who got whacked from their own decision, not mine, decides to take their aggression out on someone else who is sincerely trying to help other hair loss sufferers so that they can get on with their life. What I do in these forums has the same motives whether I am helping someone dying from cancer or someone addicted and homeless. You don't see anyone else doing it for free do you?

If I offended you, I am sorry, yet you types get under my skin sometimes.

You know I do believe in God but please realize it's not you.

[gillenator]

jetfan,

One other thing. I joined this community six years ago. My YTD posts are 1200. Divide 6 years into 1200 and you get 200. Divide 200 by 12 months and you get 16.67 posts per month or 4 posts per week.

Someone who posts an average of 4 posts per week is hardly someone interested in earning an income from it.

Even the math tells all...

[VictimOfDHT]

Thanks again, Northeast and thanks Gillenator for sharing your story and for offering to help. I just want to say that I'm not saying that hair loss is worse than cancer because I know it isn't, however, this is what my point is : I don't have cancer. What that means is that I DON'T know and I'd NEVER know what it would be like to have cancer UNLESS it happens to me. It is not possible for someone who doesn't have something to feel it. But what he will feel is what he actually has (whatever ailment or whatever that's causing his suffering). That's just the way we are. This is like telling someone who's lost a finger to not cry and complain because the guy next to him lost half of his arm. And telling the guy who lost half his arm not to complain because another guy lost his whole arm, and telling the guy who lost his arm to just be happy and thankful because another guy lost both of his hands..... It just doesn't work this way. Yes, the guy who lost a finger is in a much better place compared to the guy who lost both hands BUT at the end of the day he doesn't know what it feels like to have lost both hands, and the fact that someone else has lost both hands doesn't actually take away the fact he's lost a finger and he'd have to deal with the consequences and his own problems....

If we all sat down and just started comparing our problems with those of others around us we would have NO problems any more and suddenly our lives would be cream and peaches. Yeah so what I'm blind in one eye? That guy is blind in both. So what I've lost 2 kids? That guy lost 3 kids.... Right? No. I don't think that's how things work no matter what people say. Yes I know, some people are much stronger and can take sh*t and still have a smile but not all of us can. This is just another fact. Again, if hair loss hadn't bothered me in the way it did I would not have run to get HT after another and spent $22000.

And yes I don't have cancer but I've already lost my life (in many other ways). You guys don't know the amount of suffering and hardships -not hair loss related- I've gone through just about all my life, yet I kept going although barely. But this hair loss hell is the one I cannot deal with. I have been living like a hermit for many many long years. No social life or whatsoever. No dating and no women. Not even male friends except one. Looking for a decent job isn't even an option for me because I'm held hostage by my battle with hair loss and all the HTs... Like I said before, my whole life has literally been on hold for the past 15 years and now looks like forever. I can't go into all the details about all the things that are happening in my life and that are a direct outcome of my hair loss hell but all I can say is my life isn't better than a life of a prisoner. Yes, he's alive (in a cell) but what good is that? Add the mental anguish (in my case).

I know we could go back and forth on this forever and neither one would probably accept the other's opinion but unfortunately, for me it is what it is. Yesterday I went to see my doctor and told him about what's happening for the first time. He prescribed some anti-depressant and he's going to try to find my a psychiatrist but he said it would take a long time to see someone, if ever. Meanwhile I'm waiting for some counseling. I don't know if any of that will help though if I continue to lose my hair...

Anyway, I'd still would love for a doctor here to give his opinion/advice on what's happening in my case and if there's anything at all I can do to try and hold on to the hair I have left.

Thanks all for the replies. I hope we all realize we're here to at least talk about problems whether we agree on how we see things or not.

[gillenator]

Victim,

It takes a lot of courage to share you inner feelings in the place that you are.

And listen my friend, that's a good start. As hard as it is, and believe me I know firsthand, things will get better.

One thing that I have observed from folks that suffer from hair loss, is that there is a broad range of psyche involved. The same is true about people dying of cancer or someone who has lost both legs.

Roughly two years ago I met a young man at Walter Reed Nat'l Medical Center here in DC who was 32 years old, an Army Sergeant who lost both legs and one arm from an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

For the first year or so, all I did was sit in silence, no words. I waited and silently just prayed. He clearly was not interested in conversing but eventually every time I asked him if he wanted to be alone, most times he shook his head no. So I stayed.

One day, his wife stopped me as I walked my way down the corridor to the elevators , and she said, that was a huge step for him to acknowledge his feelings.

She was an angel. She knew and believed he would eventually talk but it had to be on his terms. So we all waited.

Eventually he said hi to me and said thank you. That's it. But that was enough for him and certainly enough for his wife.

I still visit him but now he has prosthetics and going through some very difficult physical therapy. Present day he is talking and even has a dry sense of humor.

He has come a long way and still has a long way to go.

Just start from wherever you are and try to keep your mind focused on getting better.

It's a start Victim, don't worry about tomorrow too much because tomorrow will come and each day is a move in the right direction.

I wish you peace my good friend. And you have two friends now...

[gillenator]

Victim,

One other thing that you may want to consider when you are ready. Your handle is "Victim". As long as you call yourself Victim, might there be the chance that you will always see yourself as a victim?

If you give yourself a more positive name, it may help you to see yourself as someone different such as "MovingFoward" or "FormerVictim".

Just a thought...

[jetfan11]

I am not trying to start some argumentative thread here but we can agree to disagree on a lot of things. You get paid 1100 dollars a month by HT docs who perform a surgery that has an extremely high probability of ending in disaster. Some right away some down the line. Because you dont make much money doing does not absolve you. Maybe it makes you feel important or knowledgeable? Maybe you want to help people? Either way its irrelevant. There is no question about that. I mean this site is paid for by the docs to promote hair transplants and its littered with tortured souls trying desperately to live a normal life. You need to take a good look at yourself and stop justifying your role here. To quote my last post "some guy here is going to be swayed by your advice and end up regretting the rest of his life you will have played a hand in his demise"

And if you sleep at night knowing your presence on here is without a doubt swaying people to get this procedure thats on you. Because its veiled as "patient advocate" or "do your research" means nothing. Every high profile doctor have patients that get bad growth and bad scars. If you blame it on the patient then shame on you thats very low. If you have been on here 10 years and can only imagine the # of guys who got horrible results because of your input here. You can get angry, deny that very fact but its true. Completely true. Strip surgeries are a dirty dirty business. Many end in failure or a ruined life. Thats a fact. Nobody knows this better than you being in around the business for so long.

I realize there are fantastic results. But for every amazing result Id venture to guess there is at least 1 disaster. The good result doesnt outweigh what this surgery can do to peoples lives. Look at this Victim guys thread.

Is it ok NE guy has 2 scars on his head probably never probably had a decent look with 5 transplants because someone else had a good result?

Is it ok this victim guy wants to kill himself because somebody else had a good transplant?

You need to look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions as you promote transplants for these docs.

As for the scars most of it is not due to surgeon skill. Its do to patient physiology. My brother in law is a prominent NYC plastic surgeon and he has confirmed this. I have also done much research and talked to lots of high end HT docs and they agree. Why do you think the best surgeons can have some amazing scars and some horrible scars. Moreover very few people get 1 transplant. Opening and closing those scars 2 3 times is asking for disaster no matter how good surgeon is.

Look I do believe that you think you are doing a good deed here. And there is some merit to researching this surgery beforehand and having someone like you be knowledgeable about the risks and conveying that. But doing these surgeries is very risky its a game of russian roulette. Ive read your posts and they are much more to side of promoting transplants than playing russian roulette.

If you want to be an honest advocate here are the things that can go wrong and go wrong everyday in strips feel free to use this exact list when you are acting as an "independent patient advocate":

1-poor growth
2-need for multiple surgeries
3-stretched scars inability to cut hair short
4-shock loss of existing hair that may not grow back
5-shock loss of donor hair
6-thinning of donor hair reduced blood flow beneath the scar
7-Once you do a strip you may never be able to cut your hair short
8-you may lose the rest of your hair irregardless of propecia
9-if you maintain propecia your dick could stop working and the hair around your transplants can fall out
10-transplants are not permanent donor zone hair thins too
11-most people dont have enough donor hair 8000 grafts max over 2 or 3 surgeries wont give you a full head of hair

I could probably make the list a lot longer and you know it.

Bottomline this is risky business and all I ask of you is to take a long hard look at your role here and see it for what it really is. We all have to be challenged by other people to see the truth. You seemed very angry in your response. Sometimes those who anger us and challenge us do the most good for us in our lives. I believe you are a good person and I believe you think you are doing good here. The reality is you are doing more harm than good. You can dismiss me and get angry or you can challenge yourself to see the truth in what I am saying.

Again Id implore you to take a big step back and ask yourself the question

"How many men on here took my advice and ended up getting a transplant and how many of them are miserable because of it?"