Battle Against Bald | A Battle Against Hair Loss Through Hair Restoration

Michael, one year later...

Tomorrow is the one year mark of my Bosley procedure, I think back over the last 365 days beginning with the day before, when I was in for my consultation.  How nervous I was and how I imagined the “what if” of every scenario in my head.  The biggest what if to me was “what if it doesn’t work” I guess that’s a normal feeling the day before a procedure that will forever change someone, right?  The good news is that even though I have had just about every emotion run through my mind since that day, I am extremely pleased with the results.  It’s so hard to believe that in the pretty recent past I looked so much different!  I recently saw my mom and stepdad and he again commented on how amazing the transformation has been, I nonchalantly thanked him for the compliment even though inside it was great to hear it! I never would have guessed that this opportunity would have given me such a boost in my confidence and I will forever be thankful!

Music to Michael's ears: It looks "so natural"

Over the weekend I met up with an old co-worker that moved out of the area about 5 years ago. It was great to see her! I was pretty sure I had told her about my Bosley procedure, but apparently I hadn't. I met some of her friends when we met up, and one of them overheard my friend and I talking about it. One asked “YOU had it done?” I responded with, “YES, would you like to see before pictures?” (I carry several photos in my iPhone, so it was pretty easy to show the before-and-after results). What's great is one guy actually said “I can’t believe it. I’d never have guessed! It looks great. So natural.” That alone was a confidence booster and just what I needed to hear! It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a full year since I began this journey.

- Michael

Old friends see the same old Michael

Back from vacation – a MUCH needed break from reality! It was great to see my friends and show off my new hairline! I didn’t get the reaction I was quite hoping for, and I think it's mostly because they still have this image in their minds of what I looked like many years ago. I did kind of bring it up at one point and my friend that I hadn’t seen in 6 years said “you look the same” and even though that made me feel good that she couldn’t really tell that I had anything done, it still made me a teeny bit sad. I showed her pictures of me from just before the procedure and that’s when I got the reaction I was hoping for from the get go. Of course there were some questions of what is Bosley? Did it hurt? Would you do it again? Etc. We really didn’t talk about it after that, which is fine. It shouldn’t be the topic of all conversation, haha!  All in all, the trip was great, the weather was HOT (over 105 every single day) but it really didn’t feel as bad as one might expect.  

- Michael

Michael's Sunburned Scalp

A couple weeks ago I got a pretty nasty sun burn on my face, arms and, yes, my scalp. I wasn’t expecting to be in the sun for very long but somehow, before I knew it, a few hours had passed and all of a sudden I felt the stinging burn setting in! I spent the first week applying aloe gel on all burned areas including my scalp, I wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with this situation but the aloe seemed to help.  Though I am still peeling a little from what happened on June 6th, I am feeling much better and never wish to experience that again! Lesson learned – carry sun-block with me at all times. Too bad I have such fair, easy-to-burn skin.  Other than the burn I don’t see much difference lately. Perhaps it’s because it’s such a gradual change? Perhaps it’s because we are approaching the 1-year mark soon? At any rate, I am pleased with how my new hairline looks and how it makes me feel. I'm more confident in my appearance.

A FULL head of frizzy hair

Thankfully I’ve not had any other weird dreams where I am bald, have patchy spots of missing hair or any of that weird stuff.  Things seem to be going fine and I am still trying to figure out what exactly I want to do with my hair, grow it out a little, go a bit shorter or keep it about the same length it is currently?  For the time being I will likely keep it the same and just play around more with how to style it. It seems that my hair has been getting a bit dryer lately doing two things, making it slightly frizzy and making it look a bit fuller.  I don’t exactly want frizzy, dry hair but the fact that it’s looking fuller is exciting, hopefully some new-to-me products will help tame the frizz down.

- Michael

Michael's bald nightmare

I’ve been having strange dreams lately and I am unsure why. The point is that as I was waking up this morning, alarm clock screaming at me to get out of bed, I was dreaming a horrible dream… I was bald but, not totally bald, more like weird patches of complete baldness and some other weird patches of peach fuzz I guess it was sort of like alopecia, mixed in with the hair I had previous to my Bosley procedure. Needless to say, I flung myself out of bed and ran to the closest mirror to be sure that it was just a dream, or in my mind a nightmare. Lucky for me it was.  I am still extremely happy with my results and continue to get reactions from people that haven’t seen me in a while. Recently I saw my mom and step-dad, we were driving in the car, sun shining in the sunroof and my mom commented how much hair I have now! I tried to just move past it and not act TOO excited but it’s nice to hear these things. I am slightly overdue for another haircut and sadly because of that fact I feel like I have a huge mop on my head but, this is a good thing, right? I mean the alternative was to be extremely receding and balding!

- Michael

Michael – Looking forward to unveiling his new hairline for old friends

I'm still stuck trying to decide between hairstyles each mornings. It was much simpler when I didn’t have the choice! However, I am so very thrilled with my decision months ago and the opportunity to have Bosley perform this procedure! This has been a great experience in so many ways and every day I am thankful to have regained a bit of my youth. In July, I am planning to see a couple friends I haven’t seen in a long time. It's been nearly 2 years for one, just over 6 years for the other. I can't wait to see their reactions in person. They have seen recent pictures of me, of course, but I don't think they do my progress any justice. It’s amazing how much it really has helped me feel more confident which has also made me want to get out and be more active. I know it sounds silly to say that but, when you are self conscious it really does make a difference – especially for a guy in his early-30s who prior to Bosley felt as though he looked closer to 40 years old because of a receding hair line.  

To backtrack a little, before I had this procedure I was having mixed feelings. I mean, I knew a couple people that had gone through Bosley in the past and of course I asked them a million questions, but what if things hadn’t gone as expected or as I hoped they would? Thankfully, things have been great and I can honestly say that I would do this procedure again without one moment of doubt or question. 

Michael faces a new challenge – which HAIRSTYLE to go with!

Recently, I’ve been getting even more compliments from the people that I see daily, as well as those whom I see less frequently. It has really been a great ego boost! Almost every day when I get out of the shower and look in the mirror, I decide whether I want to go for the more conservative look or if I want to go messy, or spiky. It’s funny because for the last few years, I didn’t have these options! I like having the choice and it’s been a very uplifting experience. I find it hard to believe that it’s been over 8 months and the results I have thus far are way beyond what I expected after going through only one procedure.

- Michael

Michael Gains Confidence

I am still pleased with my last haircut and the product I purchased, even thought I don’t tend to “style” my hair very often. I am feeling more and more confident every day. Since I looked back at the pictures of 6 months ago I realize that I am looking younger and feel much better about my overall appearance. The hair looks great and I keep getting compliments not only from people I haven’t seen in a while but friends that I see daily. What a great feeling!

Michael Finds a New (and Great!) Barber

Two weeks ago I decided it was past time to get my hair trimmed, as it had been approximately 2 months. I went to what I consider my “regular” place only to find that none of the barbers I have had recently were working, so, I took the first available. I did my normal routine of explaining that I had a scar and that I did not want it visible. The barber had never heard of Bosley, or any other hair transplant company. This frightened me a little- a barber that has been cutting hair for many years and didn’t know about this. Wow! Needless to say, I was not pleased with the results of this hair cut. I left unhappy but I am not one to make a scene so I thought I would go back a few days later to have it fixed by one of the people I trust there. Much to my surprise, every time I walked by the fellow that gave me the bad cut was working and I did not want to go in while he was working.

I decided that I could not live with this bad cut any longer and went to a different barbershop. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I get the assistant manager for my barber, and we seemed to click pretty well, but, as I was explaining that I had a Bosley procedure done she stopped me in mid sentence and said, “I’ve had at least 10 clients over the last 8 years that went through that procedure”. Instantly I was at ease. I also explained that I was severely let down with the cut I received a week before at a different shop and that ultimately I would like to find someone that I could keep coming back to. After sitting in her chair for the next 20 minutes and chatting while she cut my hair, she also suggested a couple of styling products that I might like so I splurged and picked them up. The best part is that I think I found a stylist that I will keep going back to over and over.

-Michael