Many of you remember my feelings about the first procedure
that I underwent a year ago. It
wasn’t a terrible job but there were some issues; average yield, slight
cobble-stoning, 2’s in the hairline, and very low density. I couldn’t go out in public without
caking the dermmatch and toppik on.
Well, this past Wednesday I underwent my second procedure
with Dr. Paul Shapiro for 2,348 grafts and I could not be more pleased. Here’s the story.
At about 7:30 AM, I met with Dr. Paul to discuss a strategy
for the procedure. There were a
few things to address. One was how
to deal with the bumps / cobblestoning in my recipient region. Dr. Paul grabbed Dr. Ron to get a look
and they both agreed it’d be best to do a number of punch-outs, especially
removing the 2 haired grafts in my hairline. They also thought that the added density from this procedure
should disguise the rest of the bumps.
One interesting thing is that Dr. Paul noticed a few bumps in my
recipient region that were not producing any hair.
The next issue was what to do with the scar from my first
surgery. I have been happy with
how the scar turned out, but apparently it was taken fairly high. The Shapiro Bro’s agreed that it would
be better to leave the original scar alone for now and extract a new one below
it. My first strip was taken so
high that it might’ve had a negative effect on the net yield. So the bad news of the day was that I’d
be left with two scars. If my
crown continues to bald further where my first scar begins to show, I’ll have
to undergo a FUE procedure to disguise it. But it was certainly reassuring to have two world class docs
agree on what would be the best approach for me.
Now onto the surgery.
It lasted from about 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. I know many surgeons leave the graft placement to many of
the techs and I have no problem with that. But Dr. Paul didn’t just say “see ya” after the donor
removal. He was there for much of
the graft placement, placing many of the grafts himself. The technicians at SMG were outstanding,
friendly, and professional throughout the entire day, even with a tornado watch
going on! The guy on the weather
channel actually said, “We are just really happy that no one is ok.” LOL
I did shave for the procedure and I look pretty damn funny right
now. I’m hoping for a quick
recovery as I’m starting a new job in about 20 days and I can’t wear a
hat. But after a disappointing
first procedure, I was willing to do whatever necessary to make it easier on
the SMG crew to do what they do best.
I’ll be posting some pictures and hair counts from the
surgery for you once I receive them.
Much thanks to everyone at SMG with special shout outs to Jason
(B-Spot), Janna, Matt, Pam, Dr. Ron and especially Dr. Paul. This looks to be a first-rate job and I
can’t wait to see the results. You
all were more accommodating than I can say and I won’t forget it.
Now the let the growing begin. J
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