eric_d

A bit of additional info… Dr. C did do regenera stem cell treatment post HT. I’m not taking finasteride bc I was one those that experienced the sexual side affects, which were very bad for me, so Dr C recommended oral minoxidil, RU 58841 topical which I’ll try and will closely monitor side affects but hope there will be none and lastly I’ll do the help hair shake and the intention is to maintain hair not necessarily grow more though that would be nice

After 20 years of being unsatisfied and self conscious of my baldness, I decided to go forward with a hair transplant with Dr. Cooley. I've decided to post because this was such a big decision and hope it will help others contemplating a HT. I think the most fortunate thing I did was wait so long. In the photos that I will attach, y'all will see me at age 36 with a full head of hair and over the next 24 years I progressed to a Norwood 6, IMO, though no one told me. I discovered Dr. Cooley through JT's review of Dr. C's clinic and after my experience he was spot on. Still I was apprehensive and continued to research and discovered this site, and saw a video of Dr. C reconstructing a bad hairline. A soft natural hairline was and is very important to me. It be hard for me to say how valuable this site has been to me. The most important things to me were to find a doctor who cared; a doctor who would take a holistic approach; a doctor that would consider the future, in the event I wanted or needed another HT; a doctor that had an experienced team; and most importantly a doctor that would be actively involved in the entire process and cared about his patient and his patient's result. With that said, this is how it went for me.... I had a phone conference with Lollie after sending her pictures. Lollie determined I would need about 3000 grafts but that seemed a bit low to me so we bumped it to 3500. After sending the deposit we scheduled the HT for November 1. The day started at 7 am with a meeting with Dr. C where we set expectations. This is where all my internet research confused me because I tried to compare myself with other NW 6 and these folks were getting 5000+ grafts and the results seemed amazing and here I was only getting 3500. The thing that eased my mind was viewing photos of recommended HT surgeons on this site and seeing the results of high NW class men with less grafts or equivalent numbers transplanted. Dr. C eased my mind tremendously. We discussed my previous 36 year old hair line and he point blank said if that was what I wanted he wouldn't do it. I appreciated and respected his candor. My main concern was to get good density in the front and gradually lessening the density all the way to the crown. I did not want to look like a monk and wanted a hairline the was consistent with my age. He drew what he was planning to do on my scalp and asked for my input and it was very representative of what I wanted. He then said I had a good donor area which pleased me. We then proceeded to the surgery room. Dr. C first took the strip and the next thing I saw were the techs separating the hair follicles. His techs are diligent and worked tirelessly until all the follicular units were separated. I don't remember the exact numbers but it was approximately 1525+ 1's, 1580+ 2's, 270 ish 3's and 250 ish what was classed as D. I asked and it seem to me it was either 4's or MFU and I believe it was the latter. All total, the grafts were slightly less than 3700. While the techs were separating the follicles, Dr. C stitched me up and began preparing recipient sites. And, he personally did it. The man is a machine and was involved in everything. After this, it was already time for lunch. I had selected several movies before entering the surgery suite but the Valium caused me to go in and out. Lunch was catered and was very good. Around 2:30 my neck began to hurt or I thought it was my neck; however, the pain meds were wearing off and Dr. C numbed the donor site and pushed a little more pain medication. I probably suffered like this for an hour or so. If you think your neck is hurting, it's a good chance the meds are wearing off, so tell the doc so he/she can help make you more comfortable. After lunch, He began implanting the follicles into the recipient sites and after all strips were separated, another tech help him finish implanting the grafts. The team worked really well together and the procedure lasted until about 5:45. He gave me post op instructions and I went back the next morning for a wash and set a follow up appointment for 3 weeks. During the first 2 nights I had to apply ATP spray every 2 hours and every apply hourly while awake. Pain the first night was present but not unbearable and I only took extra strength Tylenol every 6 hours. Dr. C prescribes Hydrocodone but I have an allergic reaction to the drug and felt I would be ok with the Tylenol. The pain was much less the second night but I still took Tylenol every 6 hours. The next morning, after my hair washing I spoke with Dr. C and asked him about my donor area in the event I would want more work done. He said I would have approximately another 2000-2500 grafts available through another FUT and more via FUE if needed. However, his goal and mine is for this to stand alone and look great. With the attached photos. The young 36 is a crappy photo from an old ID but gives an actual representation of my hair at 36, so those of you that are young....seek sound advice before a HT because you don't know where you'll be 20 years later. The other photos are very recent before the HT and y'all see 2 post op pictures 2 hours after the HT. I'll post more at other intervals so the results will be transparent to all.

Thanks I don’t live in Atlanta but will travel to get an elite doc

Anyone have any experience with Dr Danyo in Atlanta? Still trying to decide FUT or FUE.

No doubt and just had consult yesterday with Dr Cooley’s office

I contacted the office bc the results looked amazing and even put a deposit…dumb move, should have asked question first and when I did ask the clinic how much involvement Dr B would have during the HT and a couple days later I was told he won’t be doing procedures for the foreseeable future and would refund my deposit. When one looks at posts on InstaGram, it appears the clinic recycles old HTs going back as far as 2017.