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Levrais
Valued member
Oh and I don't think anyone is getting tired of looking. In fact I look forward to your updates as I'm sure others do.
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topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Levrais thank you for the support. I always appreciate the comments as I all too often do not comment on the results of others. Your own result seems to be coming along nicely and more growth will soon be on the way. Most important, your result so far looks completely natural.
In the past I would have to sometimes force myself to go out and do things as sometimes my hair was so hard to style and looked like complete sh*t but I didn t want it to have too much power over me. Every so often I would just give in and decide to maybe stay at home on certain occasions as it was the easy way out. I don t have to do that anymore at this point so for me it s a big deal. I m sure many others can relate especially the repair patients.
In the past I would have to sometimes force myself to go out and do things as sometimes my hair was so hard to style and looked like complete sh*t but I didn t want it to have too much power over me. Every so often I would just give in and decide to maybe stay at home on certain occasions as it was the easy way out. I don t have to do that anymore at this point so for me it s a big deal. I m sure many others can relate especially the repair patients.
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mars
Valued member
I dont comment on threads much unless i see something and think 'whoa that looks good' and those last photos look really good i must say,congrats!!!
D
diamond8
Valued member
I understand completely about the staying home and missing opportunities over the years. I too have overcome that which I know makes us feel much better about ourselves. It will get even thicker at around the 12 month mark. Keep us posted-- I think it helps to see that repair patients do have hope.
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zionaxel
Valued member
Yea does look good Topcat , but if i were you i would start to work a bit and loose that beer gut
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Thank you for the support guys. I will try get up off the couch and work on the six pack for the next set of pictures and maybe try to post a close up LOL
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RichTea
Valued member
Yep I agree well hench
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hench
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hench
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
This young 23 year old has slight recession in the temple area and has received a few comments from a family member. Is he a candidate for a procedure?
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This young man is me 25 years ago and it is quite obvious that I in fact do not need a hair transplant procedure. What I needed was someone who was human enough to say to themselves, the small amount of money I am going to make from this young man that amounts to less than $1000 is really not worth ruining his life. He should have said listen kid you have a full head of hair you do not want to do this and here is why.
Unfortunately I learned a very hard lesson as Carlos Puig led me to believe he was just going to move a few hairs to the temple area. In my mind I imagined it was something akin to plucking. Instead he proceeded to core out my skull with a drill and implant approximately 40 giant 4mm plugs into my slightly thinning hairline. Of course out of desperation I did my best to try and fix the damage only to find out that I was only digging a deeper hole. Robert Michael Elliott and his partner Thomas proceeded to only do further damage while using the janitor to place my grafts and glue them in place. Dominic Brandy was hardly my savior and I guess I should count my blessings that I didn t die on the table. Did I deserve any of this, if you knew me the answer would definitely be no. But many who have had the same experience can say the same.
This specific post is not meant to gain sympathy only to point out that those who believe the industry has gotten better are sorely mistaken. I have watched it closely for 25 years. Some of the techniques have advanced but the industry is filled with what can only be described as psychopaths. Take the time if you can and view the websites of each of the doctors I have listed. It s amazing to watch as they carry on like everything is normal and they have not done harm to so many. Same as many doctors today that are touted as top in the field, be very careful of what you believe. Unless you have personally spoken to dozens and dozens of patients and those that work in this industry you don t know jack shit.
I have been attacked in the past and I take that very personal. Just like hundreds of other repair patients I am a real person with real experiences that had to learn the hard way. If I can save one person from being taken advantage of and making a bad decision than that fulfills me. Nothing disgusts me more than those that present themselves as advocates but their true motives are just the opposite. Sometimes my postings may come off as being rude but if it takes being rude to help someone from making a mistake then so be it. I certainly wish I had someone to slap me upside my head at the age of 23. And let me be quite honest here. I would never in my life enter a contest for one pro bono HT procedure if in fact I didn t believe that the doctor after all my research and all the people I had spoken to was the absolute best in the world and anybody that thinks different is out of their mind. I saw the pro bono offer as the kick in the ass that I needed to lose my fear of traveling half way around the world and get back into the chair after so many years and bad experiences and nothing more.
Of course I still wonder on occasion what possessed a doctor to disfigure me at such a young age when it was quite evident I had absolutely no idea of what was about to happen. I m sure there are also those out there that would view it as the patient s fault. To that I would say speak to few 23 year plds and you will soon realize just how naïve they are and how easily they can be taken advantage of. Making a few dollars off of them is like taking candy away from a baby.
I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around. The people in this industry that are still destroying lives for a few dollars can only attract like minded individuals into their own lives. Maybe in time it will all even out.
This young man is me 25 years ago and it is quite obvious that I in fact do not need a hair transplant procedure. What I needed was someone who was human enough to say to themselves, the small amount of money I am going to make from this young man that amounts to less than $1000 is really not worth ruining his life. He should have said listen kid you have a full head of hair you do not want to do this and here is why.
Unfortunately I learned a very hard lesson as Carlos Puig led me to believe he was just going to move a few hairs to the temple area. In my mind I imagined it was something akin to plucking. Instead he proceeded to core out my skull with a drill and implant approximately 40 giant 4mm plugs into my slightly thinning hairline. Of course out of desperation I did my best to try and fix the damage only to find out that I was only digging a deeper hole. Robert Michael Elliott and his partner Thomas proceeded to only do further damage while using the janitor to place my grafts and glue them in place. Dominic Brandy was hardly my savior and I guess I should count my blessings that I didn t die on the table. Did I deserve any of this, if you knew me the answer would definitely be no. But many who have had the same experience can say the same.
This specific post is not meant to gain sympathy only to point out that those who believe the industry has gotten better are sorely mistaken. I have watched it closely for 25 years. Some of the techniques have advanced but the industry is filled with what can only be described as psychopaths. Take the time if you can and view the websites of each of the doctors I have listed. It s amazing to watch as they carry on like everything is normal and they have not done harm to so many. Same as many doctors today that are touted as top in the field, be very careful of what you believe. Unless you have personally spoken to dozens and dozens of patients and those that work in this industry you don t know jack shit.
I have been attacked in the past and I take that very personal. Just like hundreds of other repair patients I am a real person with real experiences that had to learn the hard way. If I can save one person from being taken advantage of and making a bad decision than that fulfills me. Nothing disgusts me more than those that present themselves as advocates but their true motives are just the opposite. Sometimes my postings may come off as being rude but if it takes being rude to help someone from making a mistake then so be it. I certainly wish I had someone to slap me upside my head at the age of 23. And let me be quite honest here. I would never in my life enter a contest for one pro bono HT procedure if in fact I didn t believe that the doctor after all my research and all the people I had spoken to was the absolute best in the world and anybody that thinks different is out of their mind. I saw the pro bono offer as the kick in the ass that I needed to lose my fear of traveling half way around the world and get back into the chair after so many years and bad experiences and nothing more.
Of course I still wonder on occasion what possessed a doctor to disfigure me at such a young age when it was quite evident I had absolutely no idea of what was about to happen. I m sure there are also those out there that would view it as the patient s fault. To that I would say speak to few 23 year plds and you will soon realize just how naïve they are and how easily they can be taken advantage of. Making a few dollars off of them is like taking candy away from a baby.
I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around. The people in this industry that are still destroying lives for a few dollars can only attract like minded individuals into their own lives. Maybe in time it will all even out.
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topccat29
29 year HT veteran
I know it takes time and effort for many to post to these forums but it is important and it s the reason why I make a point to take the time and make the effort. One of my favorite authors says it very well in this excerpt:
All experiences can serve as our teachers, provided we learn from the information and invest its value in our own lives. There are those who teach that associations with people who have not done well with their lives and their opportunities should be avoided at all cost for fear that we will learn their poor habits, and as a consequence, repeat their unfortunate mistakes. However, as someone wisely said, Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them. If we ignore the lessons of the past, from whatever the source, then we may become victims of the process of trial and error. By ignoring the lessons of history, our own trials will become inevitable and our own errors will ultimately destroy us.
It is unfortunate, perhaps, that those who fail do not share their experiences. If we had more opportunity to learn from the negative experiences of others, we might well save ourselves from certain disaster.
All experiences can serve as our teachers, provided we learn from the information and invest its value in our own lives. There are those who teach that associations with people who have not done well with their lives and their opportunities should be avoided at all cost for fear that we will learn their poor habits, and as a consequence, repeat their unfortunate mistakes. However, as someone wisely said, Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them. If we ignore the lessons of the past, from whatever the source, then we may become victims of the process of trial and error. By ignoring the lessons of history, our own trials will become inevitable and our own errors will ultimately destroy us.
It is unfortunate, perhaps, that those who fail do not share their experiences. If we had more opportunity to learn from the negative experiences of others, we might well save ourselves from certain disaster.
L
Levrais
Valued member
Thanks for sharing this. Is Puig still around?
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Levrais, if you go to hairrestorationhouston and add the dot com and then hit the hyperlink for Dr. Puig he walks on to the screen and starts speaking. It s interesting to watch as he appears quite normal and convincing. It would be very educational for anyone considering a hair transplant to view this. In reality this man has damaged the lives of hundreds of young men but it probably runs more into the thousands. There are websites that have been put together and dedicated to the hate of just this one man. Only a psychopath would be capable of doing what he and many other doctors have done now and over the years.
You can also google The Hair Transplant Industry is a Disgrace to hear what others have to say about him. This is all very important in understanding the marketing and why we continually see patients going to clinics that are doing complete sh*t work and just there for the money. Prospective patients need to exercise extreme caution and spend plenty of time learning before making any decision.
You can also google The Hair Transplant Industry is a Disgrace to hear what others have to say about him. This is all very important in understanding the marketing and why we continually see patients going to clinics that are doing complete sh*t work and just there for the money. Prospective patients need to exercise extreme caution and spend plenty of time learning before making any decision.
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baldasabadger10
Valued member
Hi your thread makes an interesting read and i am happy you are now getting repaired by a great doctor after everything you have been through.
I have one question though if you don't mind. Several times in this thread you have stated that your doctor is the best in the world, how can you know this if you have not been to every doctor?
I genuinely believe the work you are now getting looks superb, but are there really no more good doctors out there?
I am fairly new to this as you can see, but reading through this website i have seen many examples of some great work from a variety of clinics and am now very confused by your bold statements.
I wish you well and thankyou for posting your progress as it is a great education to everyone.
Best Jon
I have one question though if you don't mind. Several times in this thread you have stated that your doctor is the best in the world, how can you know this if you have not been to every doctor?
I genuinely believe the work you are now getting looks superb, but are there really no more good doctors out there?
I am fairly new to this as you can see, but reading through this website i have seen many examples of some great work from a variety of clinics and am now very confused by your bold statements.
I wish you well and thankyou for posting your progress as it is a great education to everyone.
Best Jon
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Hi Jon that is a very good question and I will give you my own reasoning. Just judging from the work alone seeing patients both in person and through pictures I believe Dr. Bisanga is incredibly gifted at giving a result that looks completely natural and always on a consistent basis. In my opinion I think he is no different than a great painter only instead of working with a brush he is working with a punch. He seems to be able to know which hairs to use and where exactly to place them keeping in mind the unique characteristics of each patient. He has the ability to work with a very small punch unlike many other doctors performing FUE. He is a good person and you can only pick up on that through conversations, body language and how it interacts with those around him. There are only a very few doctors that offer FUE along with BHT that have the skill to excel with this technique. For those that choose strip his work is equally as natural looking. Having a choice between the 2 different procedures gives him a distinct advantage over doctors that do not offer a choice as one type of procedure might have a distinct advantage over the other depending on the patient s goals and circumstances. But what really sealed the deal in my mind was that I spoke to several people that worked in the industry for years and still do and they agreed that he was the best in the world at FUE. I have never posted this to the forums until now.Those were the actual spoken words and that is the God s honest truth. Unfortunately, this is a business and there are no awards given to doctors from those actually in the industry that think he/her is the absolute best.
Evening knowing all of this I still did nothing. The thought of traveling half way around the world really intimidated me and it was easier and safer not to take that step and just keep dreaming. Most repair patients know exactly what I m talking about. It didn't keep me from continuing to research and I even considered testing a very small FUE BHT session with clinics that I very well knew had less skill and interactions with other patients that were less than pleasant. I thought what harm could 100 grafts do, maybe 50 BHT and 50 scalp FUE, well thankfully it didn't happen.
Something that seems irrelevant to most was posted on one of the forums not too long ago. A HT doctor that has been in the business for 31 years claimed the human head had 200,000 hairs and if 75% were lost 50% of the remaining balance of 50,000 hairs could be harvested through FUE. How does someone that has been in this business so long need me to point out that is complete nonsense. But this is what we are dealing with here. Most of these doctors are very good at projecting expertise and skill but that is quite different than actually having expertise and skill. This industry in filled with greedy incompetent psychopaths and it s amazing that they are still in business.
Evening knowing all of this I still did nothing. The thought of traveling half way around the world really intimidated me and it was easier and safer not to take that step and just keep dreaming. Most repair patients know exactly what I m talking about. It didn't keep me from continuing to research and I even considered testing a very small FUE BHT session with clinics that I very well knew had less skill and interactions with other patients that were less than pleasant. I thought what harm could 100 grafts do, maybe 50 BHT and 50 scalp FUE, well thankfully it didn't happen.
Something that seems irrelevant to most was posted on one of the forums not too long ago. A HT doctor that has been in the business for 31 years claimed the human head had 200,000 hairs and if 75% were lost 50% of the remaining balance of 50,000 hairs could be harvested through FUE. How does someone that has been in this business so long need me to point out that is complete nonsense. But this is what we are dealing with here. Most of these doctors are very good at projecting expertise and skill but that is quite different than actually having expertise and skill. This industry in filled with greedy incompetent psychopaths and it s amazing that they are still in business.
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
2nd procedure 9 month update
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
2nd procedure 10 months
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sl
BHR Clinic Patient Advisor
Hi Topcat
As usual thank you for your updates and you posts. Interesting reading for sure and hope a help to many.
As usual thank you for your updates and you posts. Interesting reading for sure and hope a help to many.
L
Levrais
Valued member
Hi tc,
It looks like you have more in the very front since your last pic. How does it look on your end?
It looks like you have more in the very front since your last pic. How does it look on your end?
topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Hi Levrais, I would say it s probably all grown out by now but I really don t obsess about it too much. At this point it s much easier to style my hair and thank you for asking.
To be completely honest I am less worried about my own hair at this point in my life but that doesn t mean I wouldn t try and improve it. That s my nature to always try and do well at whatever I m doing. No sense in putting in half an effort.
It s actually more important for me to post and try to help someone else make a better decision. I know this might be a foreign concept to many clinics but that is how I feel.
To be completely honest I am less worried about my own hair at this point in my life but that doesn t mean I wouldn t try and improve it. That s my nature to always try and do well at whatever I m doing. No sense in putting in half an effort.
It s actually more important for me to post and try to help someone else make a better decision. I know this might be a foreign concept to many clinics but that is how I feel.
L
Levrais
Valued member
I remember you posted a pic with product in and it looks amazing. In the current pic, I was also wondering if I would be able to tell which are scalp hiars and which are not but it appears they have blended perfectly
