Looking back to when I first noticed losing my hair, I would say it was 10th grade in High School.  Well, I didn't actually notice it - someone pointed it out to me.  I arrived early to one of my classes and was speaking with a friend of mine sitting next to me, when someone (a rather snooty, arrogant person) bursted in to the conversation and said, "nice receding hairline!".   At the time he said it, I didn't realize it was me he was referring to, so I was looking around for someone with 'less hair' than everyone else - then I realized he was referring to me.  I thought to myself, "I don't have a receding hairline, do I?  I'm only in 10th grade!"  So I went home that night and closely studied my hairline in the mirror and looked at the density of the top of my head compared to the sides.  Even at that age, I noticed that bald men (mostly) have hair around the sides and back of their heads.  So if I my hairline was receding, I could compare the density on top of my head to the sides of my head. 

After careful scrutiny for about 30 minutes, I realized that my density was OK, but my hairline and temple closure areas were in fact receding.  I felt crushed.  I didn't want to be bald.  At that time (late 1980s), I didn't even know about hair restoration, or even if there was such a thing back then.  However I knew that if there was something noticeable about my hair in 10th grade, what would it be like in 10 years?  I had the hair of my mother's father - bald as a queue ball.  My brother, who is 6 years older than me, has the hair of my father's father - a very thick Norwegian head of hair.  In fact, if it were possible to take half of his hair and place it upon my scalp, he would still have a full head of hair!

When I was in my early - mid 20s, I was in a long-term relationship.  Her father was balding, but was also having hair restoration completed using the cutting-edge technology at that time - plugs.  I remember seeing his head a few months after his hair had grown in - it looked weird.  He wasn't bald on his head anymore, but it didn't look like real hair either.  He spent a lot of time combing it out and it looked OK if he had it at certain angles, but it was definitely noticeable that he had work done up top.  Two things here: 1) I was poor, so even if I wanted to have a 'restoration procedure' completed, I couldn't afford to have it done at that time in my life.  2) We are all our worst critic, so even if I could have afforded it at that time, I wouldn't have wanted to walk around looking like he did.  Although I have not seen him in many years, I am sure he has taken advantage of new breakthroughs in the hair restoration field to repair his previous work.

Over the years I have seen my hairline continue to recede, as well as the density of my existing hair deteriorate.  As this process continued, I gradually felt worse about how I presented myself to others, and also (and most importantly) how I presented myself to me.  When I would bring it up to girlfriends over the years, they would say, "oh, it's only hair, it really doesn't matter to women anyway..."  So I asked one of them, "well, if that's true, why do you spend so much money on your hair - high end shampoos, conditioners, scalp exfoliators, $100+ hair cuts, hair colorings, etc?"  After which she replied, "well, it's different for a woman"  to which I replied, "and it's different for a man" - especially when it affects your self image and confidence level. 

In my observation, women I have dated treat hair like something to accessorize, such as changing it with a new promotion at work, or with a new wardrobe, or when spring or fall comes.  Men usually wear it the same way most of the time - those with hair that is.  When you don't have (much) hair, what do you do?  In the old days, you could do the "comb over" and spray it down with hairspray hoping it won't move, until an opposing wind came at you flipping your hair up like a schooner sail.  Or you can use the comb-over of today - shave your head  and grow a goatee.  But let's face it, that doesn't look very appealing on most pasty-white, 30-ish male types such as myself, so neither comb over option was an avenue I wished to pursue.

Being a single male and meeting women is not difficult.  The game and the playing field are about even.  However, put a man out there on the field with hair loss - and not just any man, but a man with a complex about his hair loss - and you just entered a completely different level of play.  Additionally, not just dating, but all facets of life - work, friends, social engagements, new surroundings with people you don't know - all of these have a direct influence on how you view yourself, because how you view yourself is what you project to others.  If you are not comfortable with yourself, that will show.  For me, my confidence level in social situations has always been directly associated with my hair loss -  and I have seen it deteriorate dramatically over the years.  

When meeting new people, the first thing they do after shaking my hand and saying, "nice to meet you" is look above my eyes and focus on my head - and that makes me uncomfortable, almost to the point of embarrassment.  It is almost like I feel I should be apologizing for not having enough hair - how crazy is that?! 

Enter Dr. Wong.

After finally struggling long enough with my hair loss issues, I researched and researched.  This is key for finding the right surgeon for your needs and results.  In all my time researching, two names continually surfaced to the top - Hasson and Wong.  After persistently seeing superior results as the standard for Hasson and Wong, I sent photos of my hair loss progression to Dr. Wong for an online consultation.  Additionally, Dr. Wong has been long renowned for his natural results with temple points - which was one of my key factors for deciding on a surgeon and most other surgeons in the field do not attempt them because of inferior results.  Temple points and temple closure points in to the hairline are key to bringing everything together for a frame-to-face, otherwise you may have a great hairline, but nothing to tie it in with the rest of your head (and why does the Norwood scale have all heads with temple points? - some of us don't have them, and personally think lack of temple points should also be a separate entry on the Norwood scale). 

Upon receiving his recommendation, I scheduled a restoration procedure with Dr. Wong feeling confident in knowing I was with one of the top hair restoration surgeons in the world, and very proud of myself for finally doing something about it.  I arrived in Vancouver the day before my surgery for a face-to-face consultation with Dr. Wong so he could confirm his initial recommendation about my hair loss, and to agree about the way-ahead for surgery the next day.  It was very reassuring to meet Dr. Wong, and I felt very honored to have one of the top surgeons (in my mind, *the* top surgeon) in his field affording me the best results possible.  Additionally, I met many of the staff members at Hasson and Wong that day, including Christina and Jotronic, and that reassured that I could not have been in better hands for my hair restoration procedure.

At the time of this writing, it has been 4 days post-op with Dr. Wong and his staff in Vancouver, for whom I can not express enough good praises about, as they are truly *the* top professionals at what they do - thank you.

And now, the waiting begins (I hate this part!)...

What happens during a Hasson & Wong hair restoration procedure?  There is a 4 part series on youtube, have a look!