KD2020

I just had my surgery last week with Dr. Cooley (3,840 grafts). The grafts were wetted with a vitamin enriched solution and then covered with some plastic wrap held in place by a small piece of tape at the top of my forehead. They gave me a ball cap with an adjustable Velcro strap in the back to wear when I left. Every hour thereafter I would lift the plastic wrap and spray the solution they provided on the graft area, I called it "watering the new grass". I was also told to wake every two hours for the first two nights and spray then too, as the first 3 days are the most critical. They also gave me 3 or 4 surgeon caps to wear over the plastic wrap while I slept, and a plastic feeling pillow cover for my pillow. Good luck!

That's awesome!!! Congratulations!

I thought I'd also mention my stay at the Hilton Garden Inn that Dr. Cooley's office uses; it's less than a mile and a half away. I usually stay at Marriott because I maintain points with them, so this was a little different for me. The room was very nice, and had a mini fridge which I like to have. It also had a Keurig coffee maker, which worked better than the typical 1 shot coffee makers (with the pancake style coffee containers) in hotels these days. The bigger point to make about the hotel though was the hospitality of the people, including the Assistant General Manager Kevin. As I mentioned, my father, who is sympathetic to the hairloss issue since he's been through it too, didn't have anything else to do and wanted to go with me so I brought him along (he's retired Army and lives by himself). The hotel was sold out, so it was a good thing I had made an extra reservation in advance. Anyhow, Kevin gave both my Dad and me free breakfast coupons ($9.95 value each) for both days we stayed (Dr. Cooley's office paid for my room, and I paid for my Dad's). Breakfast was good, in addition to having sausage gravy and biscuits, bacon, fruit, cereal, etc., they will also cook eggs however you like. And their dining areas have a couple of TVs going, and the waitress gave me the remote to find whatever we wanted to watch. After I had my surgery, Dr. Cooley's office had given me a number of covers that slip over pillows to protect them. They also gave me 3 or 4 surgeon caps to wear while sleeping (with Saran wrap over your hair to help the grafts stay wet with a spray they give you). Somehow, I had a couple of drops of blood from my suture get on an adjacent pillow and the floor, so I called Kevin at the front desk and told him I'd buy the pillow. He said don't worry about it at all - they would take care of everything. I received a survey about our experience after getting home, and I took a minute and filled it out, leaving great feedback about our stay (although I did comment that their internet log in process is a bit cumbersome, and their one piece comforters are a bit hot). Typically when you do these, you never hear back. However, I received a personal email from Kevin: Dear ___: I wanted to personally “Thank you” for taking the time out of your busy schedule to fill out our online survey for your recent stay. Your satisfaction is always the key to accomplishing our goal of ultimate service and clean guest rooms. Your response gives us the proper amount of feedback we need to ensure all of our guest’s have a similar experience. I do want to apologize about the internet and comforters. I will definitely pass this information on to my GM and Hilton. If there is anything else you feel we could do to improve your future stays, please do not hesitate to contact me. Once again, thank you for your response and comments about me. You were a pleasure to have at our hotel. Sincerely, Kevin Dillon Assistant General Manager Hilton Garden Inn Pineville All in all, it was a very good experience. And they have a good relationship with Dr. Cooley's office, even offering transportation to and from his location for the surgery if you need it. There are other hotels in the area, but Dr. Cooley's office has picked a good one, I can definitely recommend it.

Thanks Since21! And I for you as well. I have seen the following growth timeline that today's transplant patients average, anyone know if it's standard? I realize everyone is different, but on average, is this what people are experiencing? Except perhaps Matt1978, I think he was way ahead of this 3 months - 10% 4 months - 25% 5 months - 40% 6 months - 60% 7 months - 70% 8 months - 75% 9 months - 80% 10 months - 90% 11 months - 95% 12 months - 98% 18 months - 100%

Thanks Matt. Funny that you wrote as I just read all 100+ pages of your results last night (just kidding, there weren't that many but you did generate a lot of activity!). I'm hopeful to see results half as good as yours! Thanks again - Steve

Attached are photos of my scar on day 6 post op. Seems like it's healing well. I keep applying the cream Dr Cooley's office gave me which can be seen in my hair in the photo, about to run out now. I just confirmed my regular Dr.'s office has agreed they can remove the stitches in a couple of weeks locally.

FYI, I added my graft count in my signature like some others are doing, and I also added that I am using the Help Hair shake in my morning smoothies. I have been making smoothies with a Vitamix for over a year now, and I was using egg white protein (along with almond milk, a banana, an apple, a pear, some kale, and chia seeds, which I split with my wife), so I have simply swapped the egg white protein with the Help Hair powder. Although it was derived by the now infamous hair Dr. in Fl, it does have good ingredients in it. Anything that might offer extra benefit to getting my grafts off to the best start possible is worth trying given the investment I just made. Anyone else trying it?

Awesome. Thanks for the info, good to know. I'm really excited that a couple of other doctors expected 2,500-2,700, and I was able to get over 1,000 more than that. Now it's "hurry up and wait"

Any idea how the graft counts compare? Are they typical?

Yes, I'm using Mupirocin, 2%. It's really not bad on the suitures as it is elsewhere. The shower and shampoo helped a lot. I'm also feeling a lot better today as I did not wake up every two hours and spray my head last night (that was recommended the first 2 nights).

Just heard back from Dr. Cooley, here are the graft counts of my procedure: 1-1302 2-1652 3 - 815 4 - 71 Total 3840

This is where I am at on Day 3, feels much better today. I washed my hair today, using the shampoo and conditioner provided by Dr. Cooley's office, and used a cup to pour the shampoo and conditioner over my head as they had recommended rather than letting the shower spray hit directly. Feeling some itchiness at times around the sutures and on top of my head, hard trying not to scratch!

Thanks Azura, Scooter!

Here's a "selfie" I took while undergoing the surgery. I would have posted it earlier but I waited until Dr. Cooley gave me the ok to do so.

No worries! Have a great weekend and Happy Easter.

A couple of additional photos that show a little more detail of the hairline work. Dr. Cooley was working on me the entire time! Very impressed with everything they did.

As for the two previous donor scars, I had two separate procedures, each about 500 grafts. Back then, 500 was a pretty good number of grafts, if I recall correctly.

FYI, a little more about my visit with Dr. Cooley. I met at the Carolina Dermatology office at 7am, and went over expectations with Brandi. I can't say enough good things about EVERYONE on Dr. Cooley's staff - Lollie, Brandi, Amy, and all of the others whose names I don't recall, they're all great! That morning, I picked what I wanted for lunch. They had great choices, including Firehouse subs, and Taste Unlimited. I chose Firehouse. I also was given a folder that contained a large number of titles of DVDs, and I was to pick out a few movies to watch. I chose Gladiator to start with, followed by Bourne Identity. And then for laughs I went with Two and a Half Men. We did not finish until 9:30pm that evening. Attached are a couple of photos of Dr. Cooley's facility. Obviously I won't know until perhaps a year from now what the results will be, but thus far, I'm very happy with the choice I made.

The first two photo sets are the "before" photos. You can see in one of the photos from the back the two small scars from my surgery in the mid 1990's (I had two HT, about 500 each, by a Dr. in Maryland - I don't recall his name). I wanted this surgery to be the last one, so I went all in and asked for as many as he could, and as I mentioned, Dr. Cooley was able to get 3,840. Dr. Cooley asked me what my goals were, and I said I wanted to strengthen the hairline and fill in where we can going back. He asked me if the back was equally as important as the front, etc., and I said it was half as important. I also told him I part my hair in the middle, so he said he would aim to fill the middle going back, and then branching out near the back (I may not be saying this exactly right). I did the PRP / ACell as well. And, since I make a smoothie every morning in a Vitamix, I'll admit it - I also started on HelpHair this morning. I know some will say it's crap, but after reading the ingredients, I don't think it can hurt to try it. I want to do everything I can to give this effort the best chance to succeed, not just because of the investment, but because of the obvious reason - I want more of my hair back where it should be! I am EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR THIS FORUM, as I would have never found Dr. Cooley without it (the only ads I see are those for Bosley). I also am extremely grateful for the participation by everyone, it is so encouraging to all. Thank you all for being such a wonderful and helpful community.

Thanks Spanker, glad to see your input. You're a valued member of the community, I've read many of your posts, the forum is lucky to have your participation. I am going to meet Dr. Cooley at 9:00am this morning and he's going to give me a CD with photos, will post after I get back to VA and can get on a computer (no cd drive on an iPad ). I can truly say TGIF!

Well, it's all over, and I'm happy to say it went great. As I mentioned, I planned for 3,000 but said I'd really like 3,500 if possible. After meeting with Dr. Cooley, I signed a form that said if they could get 3,500, I'd be willing to pay for the additional 500 grafts. Well it went even better - I got to 3,840, and was only billed for 3,500. I had not been to the facility before, but it exceeded expectations and was an easy 4 minute drive from the Hilton Garden Inn. The staff Lollie, Ailene, Brandy, everyone I met was extremely helpful. If I hadn't found the forum I would have never learned about Dr. Cooley as an option. Extremely happy on all counts.

Thanks! Getting on the road to Charlotte soon. Can't believe tomorrow is the day!

No, there are a number of factors why I chose Dr. Cooley, he just happens to be only a 5.5 hr drive. If you look at the list above, I did speak with Hasson and Wong and sent photos, I also tried to have a similar conversation with Ron Shapiro's office as all of them are very highly respected. I also spoke with Dr. Konior's office, but he requires shaving, and I just can't do that because of my job. I believe I made the right choice for me, anxious to see how it goes.

Thanks Pete!

This is the week I've been waiting on since February when I made the appointment, I'm scheduled for 3,000 grafts with Dr. Cooley. It will be interesting to see what happens, as I have not seen or talked with Dr. Cooley in person yet, so I don't know if 3,000 is even possible (I had two much smaller procedures in the mid-1990's for a total of about 1,000 grafts). In researching where to go, I started by following the hype on TV with Bosley and visited the center in VA Beach, VA about 45 minutes from my house. Dr. Epstein recommended about 2,500-2,700. I also visited Dr. Lindsay in Northern VA, and his guess was in the same ballpark. The rep from Hasson & Wong, after viewing photos, recommended 4,000. I never heard back from Ron Shapiro's office. And then I spoke with Lollie at Dr. Cooley's office, and sent photos. She believes 3,000 -3,500 is possible. So I scheduled it for 3,000. However, I know I really won't find out for sure until I meet with Dr. Cooley Thursday morning and he gets to see things firsthand. Really glad to have found the forum, and especially the support and participation by all of it's members. There was nothing like this when I had it done back in the 1990's. Thought I'd also share a funny story about the procedure I had done back then. My dad and I did it together, the same day. His objective was to correct the terrible job that was done by Walter Reed hospital (he's an Army vet). He had the dreaded doll-hair looking plugs. Back then, when you're done, they bandaged your head entirely (I have no idea if that is the practice today), wrapping it almost like a turban. Both of our heads were still wrapped the next day, and we were bored so we left the house and drove to a garden center to get a few things he needed. While walking around, a guy walked by and kind of stared at both of us, wondering what was going on. My Dad noticed this and immediately, without hesitation, said that we had been practicing karate, to which the guy responded "You wuz bustin boards with your head, man?????" Obviously we both said yes. We still laugh to this day about the story.