Before and after photos? Yes I did. They were pretty good. Not over e top and represented a realistic result.
My consultation was better than ai thought it was going to be.
I got to the clinic in Hammersmith. Coming from South West it seemed a bit of a grotty place, but I found the clinic easy enough. Inside was clean, stylish and welcoming. I was greeted by two receptionist and I was shown to a waiting area that looked like something out of Habitat. I was offered coffee and waited for about 10 minutes until Dr Katona came out. He was drinking a Starbucks coffee and dressed in 'scrubs' as he was working on a client that day in for about 2000 grafts.
I was shown to a small, very White clean office. Nothing fancy but well equipped.
He was a welcoming guy, seemed easy going and he told me he was from Florida.
Talked though my experience so far with the Southampton 'advisor' who I wasn't impressed with at all. He was genuinely interested in my opinion and I did grill him with difficult questions including why did he come to UK from US to work for a place with a bad rep like THG. He said that Dr Zeiring had linked up with THG in a sort of take over, and the name was meant tocbe changing. I did note on the clinic entrances there were more 'Zeiring medical' signage than hospital group.
He said that the UK was very far behind US in terms of hair surgery and wanted to 'make a difference' here.
He asked me all the right questions concerning what I wanted to achieve, my current regime etc. He then examined my head and I showed him photos of my hair taken over the last 20 years from holiday snaps etc on my iPad. He liked my style!
He was honest and said that I couldn't achieve the the density but could get the illusion of it, and we discussed what would be the best way forward for me.
I asked about Propecia but he didn't think I needed it, advising I continue with Regaine as it seems to be working on the crown, and he advised a 2000 graft FUT to replace my front hairline and fill in the front top area.
I asked many quesrions about aftercare and what my long term plan would be, and he advised that I had enough donor area for 3 procedures, but that I shouldn't rush anything, seeing how I felt with the first procedure results, and maybe moving to Propecia in a years time.
While there we also discussed the entire procedure and I also met on of the surgical teamcresponsible for graft cutting.
I was also told I could have telephone numbers of people who had had procedures.
Dr Katona also gave me his personal email and mobile number,
I left after about 90mins of talk and planning, and was left feeling confident with Dr Katona. Either it was a very clever soft sell or a genuine care of not overdoing it and care for clients. To be honest, after reading the horror stories about THG I felt that I had visited a totally different place.
My next consult will be with Dr Rogers, hopefully in May, and then in August with Dr Farjo, after which zi'll make a final decision on who to proceed with. But as a first consult with an actual surgeon, I feel much more confident about going ahead with my plan, even if it's possibly with Ziering medical (at the Hospotal Group).