1600 grafts with Dr. Jerry Cooley (Charlotte, North Carolina) to fill in the temples and the sides which have been receeding slowly since I was 18 years old and was bald in the temple regions by the time I was in my mid-twenties. I'm 32 now. Photo taken by me 3 days after the procedure. I still have some excess dry blood on my forehead which I will clean off soon. I'm kind of nervous cleaning any where near the grafts right now. Extremely satisfied with the look and results. Although there is a lot of redness (which is expected of course) where the newly-placed folicles are, I felt no pain after the first day except for a slight tightness of my head. By the end of the second day the pain in my donor area also went away.

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1600 grafts with Dr. Jerry Cooley (Charlotte, North Carolina) to fill in the temples and the sides which have been receeding slowly since I was 18 years old and was bald in the temple regions by the time I was in my mid-twenties. I'm 32 now. Photo taken by me 3 days after the procedure. I still have some excess dry blood on my forehead which I will clean off soon. I'm kind of nervous cleaning any where near the grafts right now. Extremely satisfied with the look and results. Although there is a lot of redness (which is expected of course) where the newly-placed folicles are, I felt no pain after the first day except for a slight tightness of my head. By the end of the second day the pain in my donor area also went away.

Thanks for the informative post and pic. I take it that you didnt need any work done on the crown?

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Check out the results of my surgical hair restoration performed by Dr. Jerry Cooley by visiting my Hair Loss Weblog

I've been thinning around the crown area, but I still have "light" coverage. Dr. Cooley refused to touch the crown area, and he's right. I've been on Propecia for only 8 weeks prior to the transplant and he said Propecia alone will thicken the crown area, giving me the results I want in that area. Like everything else, it'll take time to notice results from Propecia.

Smoothy,

Thanks for the additional insight.

Brian

Brian K,
I am scheduled for a 1200 graft HT procedure w/Dr Cooley in August. Looks great, by the way! I believe you're 6 days post op now. How's it looking? Can you wear a hat? Are you still pretty red? Did you experience swelling or shock loss? Thanks alot.

Hi Brando,

Most of the redness is gone, and I can better see all of the grafts that Dr. Cooley meticulously put in. Looks good. Looks like a 5 o'clock shadow in all of the places where I was bald (the temples and hairline).

I've been wearing a hat since the day of the surgery, but I only wear a hat when I have to go out. You can put saran wrap on the inside of the hat (or stick a piece over your hair to cover the grafts) so this way the hat does not stick or disturb the grafts. For the first two nights I wore a surgeon's cap with saran wrap underneath when I went to bed to prevent myself from rolling my head all over my pillow or itching my head by mistake.

I spray tap water (with some special medication mixed in it) on my head about four times a day. Dr. Cooley had me start applying Rogaine to the grafts twice daily on the third day until finished.

I am able to take a bath and pour water over my head, but I am still not allowed to use the shower stream on my head.

I still have slight throbbing of pain in my donor area. I have dissolvable sutures and it only throbs when I apply pressure where the suture is knotted. I have no swelling.

No shock loss yet. I think I am recovering pretty good. I am excited about the results I see right now, but I know the transplanted hair will fall out in a few weeks and then I have to see what actually regrows.

You're in good hands with Dr. Cooley. I think he did an excellent job, and he has a great staff. Initially I was scheduled for 1500 grafts, but he had 1600 grafts in the end and spent the extra time putting all of them in. The procedure lasted from 8:30 AM to about 6 PM.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Brian

Looks good so far...after 4 weeks or so approx. 80% of your hairs will fall out and you will suffer some shockloss...don't be discouraged though...we all go thru it!!

I'm at 3 months post op and I'm having great growth but I'm only entering the exciting stage...it's nice when you see someone that you haven't seen in a while and they comment on how great your hair looks!!

Good luck

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Is it 6 months yet??

Thanks alot Brian. Seems as if you've had a wonderful experience. Is there any way you can keep us updated with pics? Every few days the first couple weeks? I may go with the dissolvable sutures as well because I live about 4 hours away from charlotte and would have to go back 2 weeks later.

6-Day Post-Op. 1600 FU with Dr. Jerry Cooley to fill in the temples and hairline. Getting some scabbing. Redness is going away. I have blotches of white residual between the new hair follicles because I sprayed too much Rogaine on my head and it won't wash away with water. I can't scrub my head with shampoo yet b/c it's still too early.

I know I have a big, Conan O'Brien-size head, but I was born that way.

Brian

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