refuse2lose

Just about 11 months!

I feel like I have pretty much stabilized so I probably won't be posting any more updates. Can't describe out great it is to have confidence in my hair, especially in the summer! Would never have been able to do this style with my old hair. Thanks again to Dr. Cooley. He is one of the best. Cheers everyone!

I didn't even know 5 hair grafts were a thing, thats pretty crazy. I only had 1s, 2s, and 3s.

Email dr cooley and he can send you some post op pics. Congrats and happy growing!

One of the best transformations i've seen! Congrats on such on awesome results!

33 days is plenty! Most people only take a week off. By 30 days most if not all of your grafts will have fallen out and you will look just like you look pre procedure. Just keep your hair semi long in the back like a #5 or # 6 that way the scar can be hidden. You then can evaluate before you go back to work if you can trim it closer.

This was very interesting to watch, thank you for posting. I love these kinds of "live" videos as it really shows you what is taking place.

Any idea on what contributed to his original wider scar? You would think excising it would put more pressure on it than originally but i'm guessing it was more of a poor closure from his first op?

Also, was fue into the scar ever an option or when it gets that wide excision is best? Thanks!

home run result! looks very natural. how long are you planning on growing out the top?

Dr. Cooley's office advised me that the yellow and brown scabs are normal and I should not worry about it. Things are going normal thus far. No major changes yet. Today I stopped wearing the plastic wrap and am doing the spray 3 times a day rather than every 1 hr.

That was my favorite time when the plastic wrap came off! Are you going in for your cleaning in a few days? The first week is such a pain but you are halfway there.

Looks great and very dense. Congrats! How long are you going to grow it on top?

Awesome progress for just 3 months. These next couple months are going to be fun!

Thanks everyone! And yes I am still on fin m-w-f.

Also want to note that my donor shock-loss has fully recovered and I am able to shave down to a #3 with no issues, so that was a huge relief.

My opinion: at 6 weeks you will be back to how you looked pre-surgery. I would just keep it to myself. It will also give you a good base-line to your progress once she starts complimenting you when it starts to come in. You are not lying to her, I don't think you have some duty to disclose it. You are doing this for you, not for her.

Now if she asks you about it point blank, then I would casually mention it, or you can say its due to meds. But if you tell her I think it will just add to the stress of waiting for results and she will be looking for them just as hard as you will be.

Are you doing fut or fue? Fue you will be healed up by then but FUT she may feel/see your scar during the first months.

Month 8!

Still loving my progress so far. I feel like I am in "thickening mode" as i'm pretty sure all the hairs have broken the surface, they are just improving in caliber. Going to try and grow it out to go for the "swooped back" look. Its an amazing feeling not having to constantly worry about my hair. Thanks again to Dr. Cooley!

Congrats on some awesome progress! Night and day compared to your pre-op pics. Some toppik on your crown should conceal it pretty well.

I also had some stitches "resurface" around month 3 and 4. I was told that they are internal stitches that can sometimes work their way out. It seemed a little odd to me as you would think they would have been dissolved by then, but I have had no issues since they were removed. Annoying to deal with though for sure.

did you lower your hairline? Also, after the surgery was completed, did you live a fairly social life still or was it too noticeable? Could you comment on how you "lived with that process?" thanks and looks great again.

For the hairline, he used the very front of my existing forelock to arc from. So we didn't go lower than that.

I took a week off work and had the procedure on Friday. The next time I went out was a week later, by then all the scabs were off. The hairs then fell out about 2-3 weeks later and I was back to how I looked pre-surgery. So other than that first week I went out just as much as normal (2-3 times a week)

Thank you all so much! I am thrilled so far and can't recommend Cooley enough. Very impressed with how natural it is turning out.

refuse2lose

Your hair on day 4 at the front looks nicely styled and has covered the grafts really well with your remaining hair. I have a meeting tomorrow and as i am putting on the copper peptide spray everyday and have been told not to touch the graftsites i am wondering how i can style my hair so it looks half decent...Did you blow dry it on a cool setting? Or towel pat dry? Please let me know otherwise i'm gonna have flat vile hair for this meeting!

Once again congrats on your result and hope to hear from you soon.

I just combed my forelock up and let it air dry, then carefully placed it over the grafts. The first couple weeks it looked sort of odd because the grafts were so short, but I made sure my forelock was long enough to cover them. Never got any comments about it.

I sometimes think Dr. Cooley's is not appreciated enough. This is a top ten world class result at five months out. It's not just the density, but the temple angles have been wonderfully blended into the existing hair. Not too sharp, not too rounded. Well done.

Couldn't agree more. The way he built up the sides above the temple points to then create the temple angles was really awesome. He basically created the angles from scratch where I had zero hair, and it looks very natural without being too aggressive. It really shows you how much artistry and experience is involved with hair transplantation.

I'm leaning towards the younger guys because it is much more traumatic and out of place in your 20s than say your 50s which is much more common. Also the younger guys probably have less available funds to get it done themselves.

Keith - I would vote for him as he is the youngest with the most advanced loss and it would provide a huge transformation. However there is no point to getting a transplant and not taking fin which he says is not an option for him.

David - Its tough to see his pattern and if he would have enough donor to make a visual impact because he is shaved slick in the video. His video resonates with me though.

Roger - His actually looks pretty good and age appropriate after his first transplant, so there may not be as much as a "visual impact" as some of the other guys.

Ty - I feel for him. I can't imagine the stress and disappointment of a failed transplant, so assuming he has enough donor it could make a big impact.

Ryan - I think he has the potential to make the most visual impact and wow-factor of all candidates. His crown is pretty good so grafts wouldn't need to go into the "black hole". His forelock is there but his temples are gone. I would think 3000 - 3500 in his temples (and temple points) to give him his hairline back would make a huge transformation.

Mark - His hair does not look bad at all. Some concealers and meds to maintain and he could do a small transplant down the line to fill in. The way he wears it now, it looks great though. I wouldn't look twice.

Abbas - Very tough to see in the video but his hair looks pretty good for his age.

Matt - His hairline looks intact, I bet if he buzzed it shorter it would look great.

David - Ha come on man you have a head full of hair!!

So my vote would be Ryan since Keith can't take fin to maintain the transplant.

5 months.

Still filling in. I'm also happy to say that the shock-loss in my donor has been recovering very nicely. Still has a little more to go but I have been able to buzz the back down to 10mm which is very nice.

I recently went home for the holidays and did not get any comments from anyone (I haven't told anyone I have gotten anything done). I attribute this to my constant battle to hide my temples pre-op, as well as the fact that "lacking hair" is very noticeable, where as having hair people kind of gloss over it. Sort of like having eyebrows or not. I think people can tell something is different but just don't know what it is. Its also given me quite a bit more confidence. I love being able to style my hair up and show my entire hairline without dealing with the "combover" to hide them.

I also was able to get my pre-op pics that Dr. Cooley took. I made this collage comparing them and my 5 month progress. Pretty amazing! By far the best decision I have ever made.

Rufuse2loose

How did cooley close you up?

Was it staples or the old needle & cotton way?

 

Double layer trichophytic closure. Sutures came out around 2 weeks.

Got ya on the prp. Yeah I did not elect for that. It may thicken diffused areas but in the end I feel like $1500 in grafts will make more of an impact.

I paid for 2000 grafts per Lollies recommendation. One of the little talked about benefits of FUT is that its obviously impossible to estimate exactly how many grafts your strip will be. So the number you pay is the MINIMUM you will yield. I paid for 2000 and my strip actually yielded about 2500. So Cooley does not charge you extra for that and he implants every last graft. With fue they can obviously extract exactly what you pay.

My thread is here http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/176341-29-yr-old-2300-fut-dr-cooley.html

I am super impressed so far with my results. Coming up on month 5 and its been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Its so surreal to not have to constantly worry about my hair.

FUT vs FUE is always a big topic. I have read that if you do FUT first followed by FUE you can maximize your donor. I have also heard that FUT yields better quality grafts and are "safer" because they come from the heart of the "safe" zone. This was a good article on the subject that was helpful for me FUE vs. FUT Hair Transplants | Pros and Cons of FUE vs Strip Harvesting | Bernstein Medical

I think cooley will cut you a deal $1500 on PRP/Acell when you have HT the same time.

Stand alone he would charge $2500

 

I still think its a bit pricey & not a cert that you would get good results from it anyways.

Ah yeah I declined that option and put it towards more grafts. Getting good growth so far though!

4200 grafts

Great write ups. You are right about Lollie she is great, I really enjoyed talking to her. Are you sure that Acell is extra? I know that he offered PRP as an "add-on" but I thought all his transplants used acell in the closure. I could be wrong though.

Was Vories FUE quote on par with Cooley's FUT? If so that is a hell of a value, especially in the US. I would have gone for FUE if it was affordable, but it is SOOO expensive in the states.

I would really caution you on the cheaper "hair mill" type places, its not only about the graft number, but if they mess up your transplant and you get a low yield, those grafts are gone forever and you have a limited supply. We can't afford both monetarily and physically to not get things right the first time during the surgery.

I would still give the Turkey and Belgium guys and ping for a consult. They really are on the cutting edge of FUE right now, and Turkey has very competitive prices if you are looking to go for a more aggressive hairline. Good job researching so far and good luck.

I have never seen grafts placed in diagonal lines like that before. Not saying that it is wrong or it will have a bad result, just interesting. He certainly packed them in there!

Any pictures? Preferably pre-op and current?

And are you saying he did not discuss grafting the beard hair before-hand and just did it without your permission? Are you on fin?