Greetings my friends,

The Associate Publisher's Introduction

At this point in my life, most if not all of you know me on this hair restoration discussion forum as Falceros - the Associate Publisher and Forum Moderator of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

But where did it all begin? How did I get here?

I started just like most of you - our hair restoration forum community members and guests who surf our website daily looking for real hair loss solutions and hair restoration treatments that work.

My Hair Loss Story

When I was 21 years old I started losing my hair. Though everyone loses hair in different ways and patterns, mine started in the crown. At first, I could write it off as a birth mark because my hair was always extra blond in the crown area due to a light birth mark on my scalp that caused the hair to grow in brighter. Though I lived in denial for a short time, I had to soon face the disappointing reality that I was indeed losing my hair.

How could this be happening to me? I loved my hair and so did the girls. I wore my hair longer on top and shaved around the sides...it was the style back then. Many girls would tell me that I looked like Brad Pitt in those days (right after the movie "The Legend of the Fall" was released). It was the perfect pick up line and I was very confident in my appearance.

Here is a picture of me at the beach with a lady friend I was interested in at the time. I was 18 years old in this picture which would have been around 1995.

Here is another picture of me with some friends at the prom. I think my date took this picture. This was also taken in 1995.

My realization of the truth started with comments from others pointing out the ever so slightly balding crown.

Thankfully nobody ridiculed me for it but the occasional joke would come up and I would feel badly about it.

Various Hair Restoration Treatments Attempted

So I tried Rogaine (minoxodil) thanks to the advice of my father who was one of the lucky ones who successfully restored a lot of hair in his crown. Rogaine worked for awhile - I believe I regrew some hair. But then I foolishly decided to stop thinking I didn't need it anymore.

After about 6 months of not using Rogaine, I lost a lot more hair in the crown so I started it up again. But this time, it severely irritated my scalp by causing extreme itchiness. So I moved on to the diluted 2% generic minoxodil which still caused some itch but I could withstand it. But even after using it for a few years, it seemingly was not regrowing anymore hair.

So I turned to "miracle cure" treatments such as Folliguard (main ingredient is Saw Palmetto, Nism (a shampoo said to combat hair loss), and Revivogen.

Unfortunately, no matter what I did, my hair loss was getting worse.

Some personal information

By the age of 25, I got married to my beautiful wife. Besides becoming a Christian and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, marrying my wife was the best decision I ever made. From the front, I still appeared to have a pretty good head of hair (though even my hairline and forelock were now thinning as well). The crown however, was the worst and was pretty much bare.

Here is picture of me and my lovely wife at our wedding in 2002.

How Hair Loss Was Impacting My Life

After the wedding, I went cold turkey for awhile and stopped any hair loss medication I was using including the minoxodil. Unfortunately, things went downhill quickly after that.

I decided to get back on minoxodil and began obsessing about my hair. I would no longer go out without a hat and I was becoming very insecure about my hair loss condition.

Looking back now I often compare the way I felt to the Phantom of the Opera. When the Phantom wore his mask, he was charming, seductive, and easily won Christine's heart. When the mask came off and his ugliness was revealed, he was an entirely different person - ashamed of what he looked like. I felt similar with and without the hat. Because I wore a hat pretty regularly throughout high school and after, I could get away with wearing hat all the time with minimal questions. But when I had to take it off, I felt exposed and ashamed of how I looked. I felt unattractive to the opposite sex. Even though I was married, I still wanted to feel attractive to my female friends and other females I might run into.

Social events were great unless it involved a place where hats were inappropriate. I would often disclude some of my prettier female friends from these social events because I didn't want them to see my "ugliness".

My Hair Restoration Journey Begins by finding this community

By the time I was 27 years old, I was looking for real hair restoration options. I was tired of obsessions and hoping that there was some level of hope out there to do something about my hair loss situation.

I wish I could remember what I searched for on the search engines, but the very first website I came to was Pat Hennessy's (our very own Publisher) personal hair restoration website. After reading intently for some time, I became convinced that hair transplantation was for real. I learned a little bit about the history of hair transplantation and that state of the art hair transplantation is follicular unit hair transplantation. Now in 2007 with new refined techniques - the new "Gold Standard" is ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation. Finding Pat led me to our hair restoration forum in which I spent time surfing and researching before I ever posted (much like many of the guest readers of our community).

The Hair Transplant Network led me to my first hair transplant surgeon Dr. Katz who was recommended in PA at the time. I also started Propecia (finasteride) at this time and am still on it today. In retrospect, looking back: if I knew what I know today, I would have started Propecia when I was 21 years old at the first sign of hair loss.

By the time I had my first surgery (you can read about my hair transplant surgical details by clicking here), I had lost a lot more hair.

Here is a picture of my level of hair loss in 2004.

Here is a picture from the front:

I won't bore you all with every single detail of my hair restoration journey from this point on because my first, second, and third hair transplant surgery are well documented with pictures below from varying hair transplant clinics.

First Surgery with Dr. Katz - 1600 follicular unit grafts (Cost: About $8,000)

Second Surgery with Dr. True - 2249 follicular unit grafts (Cost: About $9,600)

Third surgery with Dr. Hasson - 3701 follicular unit grafts (Cost: About $13,250)

How Hair Transplantation Has Impacted My Life

After 3 hair transplants and 7550 follicular unit grafts - I feel great. I have not worn a hat out socially in over 6 months and my self confidence has been restored.

Because I had an extremely high level of hair loss (level 6 on the Norwood Scale), I was/am not able to recover a full head of hair - however, I was able to achieve very good hair coverage and hair density. The good news is, I still have some available donor hair left if I want to get another hair transplant. I will be planning a fourth hair transplant in the coming years, but now that I feel much more confident, I am not in a big hurry like I was to get where I am now.

Hair Restoration After Pictures

Below are some current pictures of me after all 3 hair transplants. Even though there is a HUGE difference between the before pictures you have seen above, understand that I have lost just about every natural/native hair on top of my head since then and I would be completely bald on top.

Here is a picture of me and my best female friend being goofy for the camera on Labor Day. It's nice to be able to not wear a hat in front of pretty females.

Here is a picture of my sister and I at her wedding. I know the attention is always on the bride - but I can't help but keep looking at my hair in this picture!

And finally, here is a picture of the top of my head 11 months after my third hair Transplant with Dr. Hasson.

Final Words

I am thrilled to have found this community back in the day and am honored in being the Associate Publisher and Co-Moderator of this community today. Because I know what it's like to suffer from hair loss and be impacted by it in all areas of life, I have a passion and desire to help others in their journey in finding hair restoration solutions that is best for them.

Feel free to add your comments or thoughts to this thread.

Best wishes,

Bill (Falceros)
Associate Publisher and Co-Moderator of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and Hair Restoration Discussion Forum