M
MnM
Valued member
I started to see some very familiar names on this forum, so far be it for me not to share my most recent HT experience at SMG. I posted this on another site, and it was my 'top of mind' recollection of the events, so here it all is in excrutiating detail:
I'm back from Minnesota and proudly sporting 1105 new grafts in my hairline:
Stats:
1 s 541
2 s 492
3 s 72
1105 total grafts = 1741 total hairs
First, a little background: it's been about 3.5 years since my last procedure at SMG which did a great job of hiding my old Bosley mini and micro grafts in the hairline, which was the primary goal of that procedure. I've also continued to respond well to Propecia and Rogaine, so my crown and mid-scalp is holding up quite nicely, which gave me the confidence to add some more density to my hairline and to revise one side of my scar. I know everyone heals differently and clearly, my right side did not heal as well as it should have. Now, this is just human nature, but I must take my hat off (literally) to Dr. Ron Shapiro and Janna who not only emailed me, but actually provided me their personal numbers so that we could discuss my situation in detail. In fact, we spoke at length on more than one occasion. Similarly, Matt and Jason (BSpot) were also very supportive and helpful, speaking via email and phone. Let me put it this way - they are a class act organization and we discussed several options from FUE into the scar, to a scar revision to a scar revision + grafts.
I continued to watch the results come in on this site and again and again, I was impressed by Dr. Shapiro which reaffirmed why I went there in the first place. So, I decided to schedule another procedure for a scar revision and about 1,000 grafts to the hairline.
Before I get to the surgery, let me mention that I did a few things differently this time, which I'm hoping might help others as well. For my last procedure, I don't think I had my haircut for about 1-month prior to the surgery, meaning that it did a great job of covering everything up and allowed me to return to work within a week of the procedure, but I was dying for a haircut only days after surgery. I mean, it just looked messy and unmanageable. So this time, I went in for a very light trim 1 week prior to surgery with emphasis on cleaning things up, such as trimming the bangs and around the ears while leaving sufficient density and length in the donor areas. I'm sure my hairdresser was thinking to himself "what a bizarre styling request this is"!!
Then, on I traveled to Minnesota, stayed at the Country Inns in Bloomington, which I highly recommend, as they were very courteous, have a free breakfast (cereal, toast, juice, coffee, waffles, etc.), and I opted for a King Size Bed with flat-screen TV.
Back to the procedure: On the day of the surgery, I arrived shortly after 7:30, where some pre-op photos were taken. I'll be honest, even though this is not my first HT and not even my first HT with SMG, my heart was still beating at twice its normal pace and I was quite nervous still. But, as soon as Dr. Ron walked in, greeted me and shook my hand, nearly all of my fears went away. I immediately knew I was in good hands. You just know that he is looking out for your best interests.
We discussed my goals and my expectations and he started the hairline and temple work planning. My donor was still rather tight, so although I have sufficient donor for further procedures as required, I would definitely need to do some extended scalp stretching exercises in advance.
Given that I had 1662 to the hairline already, the rough figure we targeted for this procedure was about 1,000.
The new procedure for injections is great - a couple of shots to the forehead (yes, they sting a bit). At this point, Janna walked in and greeted me and it was like suddenly being greeted by a best friend you hadn't seen in ages. Whatever 'fear' or nervousness that still remained, completely vanished at that point!
Back to the surgery... for the donor removal, you lie face down, with one tech providing a wonderful back massage to keep your mind at ease, while some further injections are done at the donor site. The strip was taken out in two sections - about 0.8 cm on one side and 1.2 on the other. Again, added care was taken on my one side that seems to be extra sensitive to stretching.
By the time they turned me around to start the hairline, I think I was already asleep - valium obviously hits me really hard! The next thing I knew it was noon. It was honestly shocking how I remained passed out for the entire morning session. No more valium for me, so, I stayed awake (groggy, but awake) during the afternoon session. Again, what impressed me was that Dr. Ron only made incisions of about 50-100 at a time so that he could continually refine the hairline as he progressed. It is true artistry at work.
By around 4 or 4:30, surgery was completed, some post-op photos were taken and I was back at my hotel where I ordered some room service. There was no pain whatsoever - just a bit of tightness in the donor region.
The next day, I got up, had some breakfast and returned to SMG ... without a hat!! Yes, I was able to style my hair so that it covered up the donor and recipient areas one day after surgery! Now mind you, I'm not sure it would pass a visual inspection by friends and family, but I felt comfortable enough eating breakfast and going to the office without a hat.
Once again, I was back in caring hands of Dr. Ron and Janna - Dr. Ron took some more photos, inspected everything and Janna gave my hair a wash. I remained in town for one more day so that Janna could once again wash my hair and ensure that everything was looking great.
The next challenge was getting ready for work, which was only 6 days post-op again. But, given the length of my hair and the quality of work performed, it went off without any issues whatsoever.
I'll continue to post updates as time progresses, but don't look for too much over the next 3-4 months as not much happens in the first few months anyway and I'm quite confident that I will retain the title of a 'late bloomer'.
Once again, thank you to the entire SMG Team - you are a class act organization!
M&M
I'm back from Minnesota and proudly sporting 1105 new grafts in my hairline:
Stats:
1 s 541
2 s 492
3 s 72
1105 total grafts = 1741 total hairs
First, a little background: it's been about 3.5 years since my last procedure at SMG which did a great job of hiding my old Bosley mini and micro grafts in the hairline, which was the primary goal of that procedure. I've also continued to respond well to Propecia and Rogaine, so my crown and mid-scalp is holding up quite nicely, which gave me the confidence to add some more density to my hairline and to revise one side of my scar. I know everyone heals differently and clearly, my right side did not heal as well as it should have. Now, this is just human nature, but I must take my hat off (literally) to Dr. Ron Shapiro and Janna who not only emailed me, but actually provided me their personal numbers so that we could discuss my situation in detail. In fact, we spoke at length on more than one occasion. Similarly, Matt and Jason (BSpot) were also very supportive and helpful, speaking via email and phone. Let me put it this way - they are a class act organization and we discussed several options from FUE into the scar, to a scar revision to a scar revision + grafts.
I continued to watch the results come in on this site and again and again, I was impressed by Dr. Shapiro which reaffirmed why I went there in the first place. So, I decided to schedule another procedure for a scar revision and about 1,000 grafts to the hairline.
Before I get to the surgery, let me mention that I did a few things differently this time, which I'm hoping might help others as well. For my last procedure, I don't think I had my haircut for about 1-month prior to the surgery, meaning that it did a great job of covering everything up and allowed me to return to work within a week of the procedure, but I was dying for a haircut only days after surgery. I mean, it just looked messy and unmanageable. So this time, I went in for a very light trim 1 week prior to surgery with emphasis on cleaning things up, such as trimming the bangs and around the ears while leaving sufficient density and length in the donor areas. I'm sure my hairdresser was thinking to himself "what a bizarre styling request this is"!!
Then, on I traveled to Minnesota, stayed at the Country Inns in Bloomington, which I highly recommend, as they were very courteous, have a free breakfast (cereal, toast, juice, coffee, waffles, etc.), and I opted for a King Size Bed with flat-screen TV.
Back to the procedure: On the day of the surgery, I arrived shortly after 7:30, where some pre-op photos were taken. I'll be honest, even though this is not my first HT and not even my first HT with SMG, my heart was still beating at twice its normal pace and I was quite nervous still. But, as soon as Dr. Ron walked in, greeted me and shook my hand, nearly all of my fears went away. I immediately knew I was in good hands. You just know that he is looking out for your best interests.
We discussed my goals and my expectations and he started the hairline and temple work planning. My donor was still rather tight, so although I have sufficient donor for further procedures as required, I would definitely need to do some extended scalp stretching exercises in advance.
Given that I had 1662 to the hairline already, the rough figure we targeted for this procedure was about 1,000.
The new procedure for injections is great - a couple of shots to the forehead (yes, they sting a bit). At this point, Janna walked in and greeted me and it was like suddenly being greeted by a best friend you hadn't seen in ages. Whatever 'fear' or nervousness that still remained, completely vanished at that point!
Back to the surgery... for the donor removal, you lie face down, with one tech providing a wonderful back massage to keep your mind at ease, while some further injections are done at the donor site. The strip was taken out in two sections - about 0.8 cm on one side and 1.2 on the other. Again, added care was taken on my one side that seems to be extra sensitive to stretching.
By the time they turned me around to start the hairline, I think I was already asleep - valium obviously hits me really hard! The next thing I knew it was noon. It was honestly shocking how I remained passed out for the entire morning session. No more valium for me, so, I stayed awake (groggy, but awake) during the afternoon session. Again, what impressed me was that Dr. Ron only made incisions of about 50-100 at a time so that he could continually refine the hairline as he progressed. It is true artistry at work.
By around 4 or 4:30, surgery was completed, some post-op photos were taken and I was back at my hotel where I ordered some room service. There was no pain whatsoever - just a bit of tightness in the donor region.
The next day, I got up, had some breakfast and returned to SMG ... without a hat!! Yes, I was able to style my hair so that it covered up the donor and recipient areas one day after surgery! Now mind you, I'm not sure it would pass a visual inspection by friends and family, but I felt comfortable enough eating breakfast and going to the office without a hat.
Once again, I was back in caring hands of Dr. Ron and Janna - Dr. Ron took some more photos, inspected everything and Janna gave my hair a wash. I remained in town for one more day so that Janna could once again wash my hair and ensure that everything was looking great.
The next challenge was getting ready for work, which was only 6 days post-op again. But, given the length of my hair and the quality of work performed, it went off without any issues whatsoever.
I'll continue to post updates as time progresses, but don't look for too much over the next 3-4 months as not much happens in the first few months anyway and I'm quite confident that I will retain the title of a 'late bloomer'.
Once again, thank you to the entire SMG Team - you are a class act organization!
M&M