1999

February 5 - study group meeting at Barber's Edge. It was a short meeting, mostly just to refill everyone's bottle with the treatment.  The sponsors also showed us the videotape that they put together for marketing.  It looks good, altho a bit amateurish...the sound sucks, it's hard to hear the testimonials. Apparently they are going to do a more professional video soon.  Talked to a few of the guys, everyone is still reporting occasional new hairs coming in, although as always everyone wishes it would happen faster!  The sponsors are still waiting to hear if New Vision is going to start carrying the treatment as one of their products.

January 23 - study group meeting at Barber's Edge barbershop (owned by one of the guys in the study). Almost all of the guys showed up this session, and the ones I managed to talk to were reporting more hair coming in, one guy said that his barber had noticed some new hair in his crown.  A guy was there tonight from New Vision International, the network marketing company that is looking at carrying the treatment as a product...looks like they have some interesting products already, mostly vitamins and herbal extracts.  The sponsors of the study were taking more videotape of our heads, i think they are getting together a tape they can use for a media commercial, at least to start with.  Every week or 2, i am seeing a few new hairs in the middle of my hairline and on the very top of my head...altho still not much action on the temples.

January 20 - noticing more terminal hair coming in on top.  my wife says there is definitely more in back now, getting a little more color in the crown when viewed from a distance.  Missed 2 applications in the last 2 weeks. Talked to one of the sponsors regarding the treatment, they have given it a product name of Strand, and they are designing the packaging and materials so that they can start selling it as a retail product (still some months off I am assuming).  Haven't heard anything about the network marketing company, other than a rep from the company is supposed to be at our next study group meeting.

January 9 - meeting at travel office. They took more videotape of each guy, a few short questions & responses and then a close-up of the front, sides and back of each person's head.  They were also taking written result statements from everyone, basically testimonials.  Also found out that a local network marketing company will probably be starting to carry the treatment as part of their product lineup soon, I guess it's a good way for the sponsors to start selling it initially and get it out on the market.  I listened to a few of the guys give their responses in the videotape session...every guy is reporting new hair regrowth, a couple of guys stating that they noticed their bald spot being smaller after stepping out of the shower and looking at it.. One guy is reporting that his scalp psoriasis is gone, and I overheard the sponsors talk about setting up a study group for using the treatment on psoriasis.

January 3 - noticing more new terminal hairs in the middle of my hairline. Crown is continuing to get more terminal hairs, they are filling in all along the existing hairline at the back. I noticed a new temple hair today! It is definitely a terminal hair, and is at the very top of my temple on the right side. It's much shorter than the rest of my hair, as if it has just appeared...but defnitely firmly rooted.

1998

December 23 - Sent email to John Ertel (editor of Regrowth) to find out if I can get someone impartial to test the treatment and report results back. If he isn't interested, I may pick someone I don't know off the internet and let them try it. Noticing that some new hair seems darker than it used to be, although my sides have darkened a lot in the last 10 years.

December 22 - had a few beers with the study sponsor, he gave me more information about his plans for the treatment. He said that UpJohn had contacted him and wants to meet with him in the new year. Also told me that he was going to use network marketing to sell the product in the short-term, until he can get more investors to help launch the product commercially.

December 21 - put this web page together. As i look now, I have quite a few new hair shafts in my front hairline, and the edge of my existing hair bordering my bald areas is quite vague. Lots and lots of vellus hair, seem to be getting more terminal hair in the crown now.

December 19 - meeting at travel office. couldn't go! I already had a company christmas party I didn't want to miss (there was free alcohol). Running out of shampoo but I should be able to get some directly from the sponsor. Found out that the study group has been extended another 3 months...woohoo!

December 17 - progess continuing, although definitely not at the pace I started out at...maybe its levelling off?

December 8 - noticed another "mutant" hair appeared at the very top edge of my left temple...wasn't there a few days ago! Seems to be quite thick and strong, I can pull pretty good on it.

December 5 - meeting at travel office. Got a new jar of goop, now its in a small-necked upright bottle with a glass dropper attached inside the screw lid. Much easier to apply. More videotaping. Everyone saying they are growing hair, a few guys reporting that their hairstylist/barber has noticed. Went for a few beers with the guys after the meeting, the sponsor has invited some people in as possible investors, but they want to monitor the progress of the study some more.

November 25 - wife says that my hairline in back and up on top is not as well defined as it used to be...she thinks new hair is growing at my hairline. More discernible growth in front hairline, but temples still bald as bald can be.

November 21 - meeting at local travel office. More videotape, and the sponsor was giving new jars of the treatment out to those who are running out. All of the men are now reporting new growth, especially in areas that they most recently lost hair. The herbalist said this was correct, that the first hair to reappear would be the last that was lost.

November 10 - definitely seeing a few new thick hairs growing in my front middle hairline, where I had a small tuft of hair before I lost it. Also today I noticed 2 new terminal hairs on the top of my head that seemed to be longer than the rest (I buzz it to 1/8th of an inch every week). Found out later that this has happened to a few other guys...some sort of mutant hair follicle that grows at an alarming rate.

November 7 - meeting at Euro-canadian club. They started taking videotape footage of everyone today, in the form of informal interviews with the herbalist/naturopath that is helping with the study. They asked basic questions in the interviews, i.e. how long you had been losing hair for, what other treatments you have tried, etc. Several of the guys had tried minoxidil, one had tried propecia, none had reportable success with either product.

November 2 - noticing new vellus hair (or rather my wife is noticing it). She says there is definitely more vellus hair in the crown, a little bit in the middle of my head and a few new ones (she thinks) in my front middle hairlne. She said she has been watching a small patch of head on my crown about the size of a loonie (Canadian dollar coin) that was completely bald when I started, and now she cannot find it..so it must have been covered in vellus hair.

October 28 - noticing grains of something on my head after I shower. I was told later that these are "sebum plugs" that are being pushed out of my hair follicles, either from the new hair pushing up or from the shampoo working them free. Also noticing that I'm not losing as many hairs in the shower. I cracked the lid on the jar today, probably from excessive banging.

October 24 - meeting, at a local marketing office. Turned me off already, having the meeting at a network marketer's office (I have the same aversion as a lot of people). Kind of feel funny sitting in a room with 17 other bald guys, looks like I'm one of the balder ones, although a few older guys have me beat. Several guys wearing baseball caps (its a redneck city). Nobody else besides me has a buzz-cut. 2 middle aged guys have comb-overs and look ridiculous.

October 20 - started using the treatment, one of the guys dropped some off at my house, along with the shampoo and conditioner. The treatment is in a small, squat brown jar that I have to bang on my hand 30 or 40 times before using.

October 10 - first study group meeting - and I missed it! I didn't get my name in early enough to find out about the first meeting. Talked to the study sponsor and he said I could still get in.

October 9 - saw an ad in the classifieds of the local paper, looking for bald or balding men for a study group, participation free. called the number and left a message.