A Day in the Life of Dr. William Rassman

This was a busy day. I started early this morning – today’s surgical patient (Patient A) had a Class 6 balding pattern. He had great donor and scalp laxity- we transplanted 5069 grafts in 7 hours! Patient A’s “before” photo is just below, on the left — his “after” photo was taken immediately post-op and is below, on the right.

My clinical staff is amazing; they are so efficient and focused on the needs of the patient. I hope Patient A enjoyed his shrimp cocktail, his Thai lunch, and the movies he watched.

I got to see the patients from earlier this week, when they came in for their hair washes. They are healing really well. I wonder if I could talk the staff into doing my hair every morning.

Starting mid-afternoon, I saw a series of consultations, some new patients and a few old patients coming in for follow-ups.

Patient B came in today. He has had 5870 grafts with us in three sessions many years ago. He told me an interesting story today. A friend of his came over to him, looked at his hair and said, “I know that you probably don’t follow this hair transplant stuff, but I have just seen a doctor about getting one. Do you think that I am foolish?” Patient B confided in his friend, “Well that is one funny question. Didn’t you know that my entire head is transplanted?” His friend had no idea. They both laughed.

Here is Patient B’s before (on left) and after (on right). He had a procedure in 1997, 1998, and 1999. Six years later, his hair is still looking great. Please note that the quality of the “before” photo is from a scanned photo, so it is not as clear as the “after” photo, taken with a digital camera.

Then I saw Patient C. He had a total of two surgeries with us, the first being only about 7 months ago to repair an old hair transplant. Many years ago he had the older technique of large plugs done by another clinic, and had been wearing a hair piece to help cover them. Every morning he had faced himself in the mirror and saw this:

I removed many of the big plugs, dissected them into follicular units and then relocated the hair. I replaced his frontal hairline zone with 1501 grafts of single hair units. The entire frontal presentation is what you see here:

After his first NHI surgery he tossed away the wig once the new grafts grew out. His second and last surgery was just a couple of months ago. The photos below were taken less than two weeks after this second procedure. I was able to place 992 grafts into his frontal hairline. The hair is still very short and beard like in length. I told him that I expect this last surgery will finish his reconstruction. He now sees a normal man in the mirror every morning and he is pleased. So am I.

I love it when my previous patients come in to see me and to show me their results. Prior to surgery they are often anxious, and frequently during surgery they are so relaxed that they sleep through some of the movies they selected. These follow-up visits really give me chance to bond with them and share in their ‘hair happiness high’.

This is Patient D. He had three procedures with us totalling 4391 grafts and he stopped by to say “hello”. The “before” photo is on the left, the “after” is on the right.

Also, four new patients were on the schedule and it is the adventure in meeting new people that is most fun. Today I was able to spend at least 45 minutes with each of them. In my career I have personally consulted with tens of thousands of hair loss patients and their families. They are each unique, but they share so many of the same concerns. It is a pleasure to discuss their options, to encourage them to research, to seek out the best!

At the end of my day, I got a call (on my cell phone at about 7pm) from a very successful LA area businessman who was 4 ½ months out from his surgery. He just wanted to tell me that now his favorite activity is shaving in the morning. He said “Each and every morning there is more and more hair. It is exactly the reverse of what I saw when I was losing my hair. Back then, my nightmare started in the morning when I looked in the mirror to shave- all I could see was me getting older and older. Now, the mornings are the bright spot in my day.” His thanks and appreciation was a nice way to end my long day.
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