L
lcsulla
Valued member
Well I just arrived home after spending three days in Minneapolis at Shapiro Medical Group. And first let me tell you that I was immensely impressed with the skill, dedication, professionalism, and more importantly the friendliness of everyone, from the staff to Dr. Paul.
After arriving at the hotel around 11pm, I crashed and work up bright and early for my 8am meeting at SMG. Once I got there I filled out some release forms and decided on my lunch (Fried Chicken for me!!) I then got some pre-op pics taken and then move into Matt s office to discuss goals and what Dr. Paul thought was the best approach for my particular situation. For me I wanted to get as much done as possible, but I wanted particular attention to focus on my bald spot. I had a procedure in the mid-90 s at Nuhart in Pittsburgh. While they didn t butcher my hair like others I have seen on this board, the results were less then stellar. I had large plugs (15-20 hairs) throughout my crown in a grid pattern. It seems the only thing they did well was not give me a crazy scar. Even Dr. Paul surprised how it looked.
After discussing hairline and the option to shave the crown or not (at first I was reluctant because I didn t want anyone to know I had anything done, but ultimately decided I would rather do it right the first time). I also decided on the Acell to help the grafts and the Vitrese (sp?) to help elasticity.
Dr. Paul then noticed where I was from and we started talking about different areas around town (he grew up right down the road from me). And then we found out that I used to go to his younger brother s restaurant when I was in HS! How weird is that? Anyway we had a good laugh and talked a little more about the area and how it had changed.
From there we went into the operating room and Dr. Paul introduced me around to the team. They were all very nice and were genuinely happy to meet me. After some preliminary BP tests and whatnot, we got down to business. First they gave me a couple pills to help with everything. From there they began giving me nerve bloke and local anesthesia above my eyes, temples, and back around the back hairline. Dr. Paul then trimmed the areas of hair he wanted to work on. He then moved to removing the grafts, constructing the hairline, to making incisions, and color coating them for proper placement.
We then took a lunch break and began the process of planting the grafts. Let me stop here and tell you that the techs at SMG must have super-human endurance and patience. They will sit there for hrs and precisely plant the grafts; sometimes 3000+!! I never would have thought it would be that meticulous. I mean it makes sense ¦but to see it ¦just wow.
Anyway we got done around 7pm and Dr. Paul, being the great guy that he is gave me a ride back to my hotel. We joked around a bit about my weird constitution and how it seems that it takes the maximum amount of drugs to work on me. LOL
The next day I came in and had my wash and Dr. Paul and Janna came in and took a look and commented how good it looked ï. Now all I have to do is wait for all the growth!
PS I again want to thank Dr. Paul, Janna, Erin, Song, Matt and everyone else that was such a tremendous help!
And if anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them.
Surgery with Dr. Paul Shapiro
2/9/12
Graft/Hair Total & Breakdown:
1's - 506
2's - 1800
3's - 728
4's - 131
3165 Grafts = 6874 Hairs
After arriving at the hotel around 11pm, I crashed and work up bright and early for my 8am meeting at SMG. Once I got there I filled out some release forms and decided on my lunch (Fried Chicken for me!!) I then got some pre-op pics taken and then move into Matt s office to discuss goals and what Dr. Paul thought was the best approach for my particular situation. For me I wanted to get as much done as possible, but I wanted particular attention to focus on my bald spot. I had a procedure in the mid-90 s at Nuhart in Pittsburgh. While they didn t butcher my hair like others I have seen on this board, the results were less then stellar. I had large plugs (15-20 hairs) throughout my crown in a grid pattern. It seems the only thing they did well was not give me a crazy scar. Even Dr. Paul surprised how it looked.
After discussing hairline and the option to shave the crown or not (at first I was reluctant because I didn t want anyone to know I had anything done, but ultimately decided I would rather do it right the first time). I also decided on the Acell to help the grafts and the Vitrese (sp?) to help elasticity.
Dr. Paul then noticed where I was from and we started talking about different areas around town (he grew up right down the road from me). And then we found out that I used to go to his younger brother s restaurant when I was in HS! How weird is that? Anyway we had a good laugh and talked a little more about the area and how it had changed.
From there we went into the operating room and Dr. Paul introduced me around to the team. They were all very nice and were genuinely happy to meet me. After some preliminary BP tests and whatnot, we got down to business. First they gave me a couple pills to help with everything. From there they began giving me nerve bloke and local anesthesia above my eyes, temples, and back around the back hairline. Dr. Paul then trimmed the areas of hair he wanted to work on. He then moved to removing the grafts, constructing the hairline, to making incisions, and color coating them for proper placement.
We then took a lunch break and began the process of planting the grafts. Let me stop here and tell you that the techs at SMG must have super-human endurance and patience. They will sit there for hrs and precisely plant the grafts; sometimes 3000+!! I never would have thought it would be that meticulous. I mean it makes sense ¦but to see it ¦just wow.
Anyway we got done around 7pm and Dr. Paul, being the great guy that he is gave me a ride back to my hotel. We joked around a bit about my weird constitution and how it seems that it takes the maximum amount of drugs to work on me. LOL
The next day I came in and had my wash and Dr. Paul and Janna came in and took a look and commented how good it looked ï. Now all I have to do is wait for all the growth!
PS I again want to thank Dr. Paul, Janna, Erin, Song, Matt and everyone else that was such a tremendous help!
And if anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them.
Surgery with Dr. Paul Shapiro
2/9/12
Graft/Hair Total & Breakdown:
1's - 506
2's - 1800
3's - 728
4's - 131
3165 Grafts = 6874 Hairs
