Middleson

I think that about sums it up. I hope the man gives his wife & kids some slack...

You know, as soon as I posted I knew someone was going to ask me when I was going to update the blog. I have said before I would update that blog and didn't follow through, but I will make a commitement before God & everybody here on the Hair Transplant Network that come hell or high water I will update that blog sometime during this holiday season. To be perfectly honest, I rarely ever think about my HT anymore...I just happened to pop in here out of the blue & noticed the thread with Dr. Cooley's name on it. I am happy to be able to speak of my experience with Dr. Cooley. I can't contribute anything to your point about nurse's (or trained staff) services vs. doctor's services in terms of placing grafts...I'm pretty sure Dr Cooley had an assistant helping him place grafts as well...i didn't have a problem with that at all. I also recall several very capable staff working a small bank of microscopes behind the surgical chair (they seemed very dedicated as well). You'll be impressed with your surgical experience with either one of the surgeons you mentioned latinlotus. I did a lot of research myself before selecting Dr. Cooley. He did not disappoint, for sure. For what it's worth, I haven't heard a bad word about the other doctor you're comparing with Cooley either. Someone already said they are both world class HT surgeons. I don't think you would go wrong with either one of them.

I'm almost 2 years post op from having mostly crown work from Dr Cooley. I have nothing but the highest regard for Dr Cooley and the work he did for me. Someone posted something about him as a man...his artistry, his genuine concern for his patients, etc.. I have to echo those very same comments. In fact, his dedication and "super-human attention to detail" in the surgery process nearly surpassed my ability to endure it...what I mean by this is that I had to practically push him away from my head (i remember thinking "enough of the 'fine tuning', it'll be alright..lets go home already"). Of course I didn't say anything of the sort but I was thinking it while I also recall being genuinelly blown away by his obvious dedication to his work. I mean, for me it would be boring as hell doing what he does...planting all those little hairs all day long year after year...i don't know how he does it... I guess I'm not really adding much to this thread but from what I've read you wouldn't go wrong with either of your choices. For what it's worth, if I ever decided to go back for more I would definitely go back to Dr Cooley. If Dr Cooley wasn't available for whatever reason I would not hesitate to go to H&W based on all I've seen & heard about them. Right now I don't believe I will ever have another HT surgery since I'm quite satisfied with where I am at this point...but who knows? I realize that just because I've had HT surgery and I'm taking the finesteride tablets my hair loss is not going to stop. Time will tell. Good luck to you!

Hello dewayne, Don't want to hijack the thread but I just checked out your log & noticed you're just under 6 months. That was about the most frustrating time for me as there wasn't much going on at that point. I would bet by the time the holiday season gets here things will be improving more rapidly for you. Good luck! Edited to add: regarding the topic of this thread, it looks to me from your after surgery photos that the most noticable thing for you would be where the plugs were removed, and not where you had hair transplanted.

Hey readyand40, My HT was not so dramatic compared with many others. You mentioned you already have hair on your head so you might be similar to my case? I will tell you that in my case it was not easy to tell I had a HT a few days after the surgery unless you looked closely. Take a look at the photos on my blog (post op pic) and you'll see how clean it looked right after the surgery. Each day got better & better. I think the worst part for me was the scabbing at about the one week point..it looked kind of messy for a day or so until I got rid of them.

Oh boy, this thread hit home. This website was INVALUABLE to me when I was looking to educate myself about hair tranplants. I spent hours and hours reading old posts, and posted many questions myself before making my decision pursue this course of action. It's been about 21 months since I had my hair transplant and many months since I've posted on these forums. I do think about this forum from time to time and wonder how things are shaping up for all the folks who've posted here. My reason for not posting as much anymore is mainly that I don't feel I have all that much to contribute. Many regulars here are much more knowedgable than I am. Another reason is that my hair transplant is probably not all that spectacular in terms of dramatic before & after photo shots. It's much more of a subtle effect. I will also say that nearly 2 years after my surgery I am THRILLED with my own results. I guess this thread serves in a small way to provide that little kick in the butt I apparently need to update my blog. Regards to posters old and new.

Rarely do I have anything very useful to contribute on this website, but this I can say from experience. 7 months is indeed too soon to make those kind of sweeping assessments on this type of surgery. Mrjb is absolutely correct. At this point it's like judging the outcome of a football game at halftime. Patience buddy. The best is yet to come.

Dewayne, I don't have recent closeup pics of my crown, but I think I can find someone to help me take some this weekend. It hasn't been a high priority for me but I know it's about time for me to take some photos and update that blog! I've only recently returned from spending a few weeks in a distant time zone so I'm still jet lagged but I'll do my best to update the blog sooner than later. As for the cost for roughly 3k grafts, it was a bit less than whatever the cost-per-graft was for 2 reasons that I recall: 1. I paid in cash which qualified me for a discount (i think it was 10%?). 2. There were more grafts removed and transplanted than was estimated. Best of luck to you Dewayne. If you do elect to go through with a HT, you won't regret doing all this research.

I can speak directly of experience with Dr. Cooley (and his staff). I had quite a few hairs relocated to my crown and a bit to fill in my hairline by Dr. Cooley a little over a year ago (i think it was around 3 thousand?). The surgical experience itself was far beyond my expectation at the time, and my level of personal satisfaction with the results at the one year point is nothing less than outstanding! I am very, very happy that I found this website and selected Dr. Cooley. Let me know if you want to know more.

I had about 3k transplanted mostly to my crown area and some along the hairline. I don't believe casual observers would have noticed I had a HT at the 2 week post op point since all the scabs were gone. I recall that I still had pretty much all my transplanted hair in place and at that point it felt like stubble and could be seen up close. But even so, I really don't think anyone would have thought "that guy had a HT" when I was 2 weeks post op. Even my donor site was sufficiently concealed from the casual observer. Your barber will definitely notice, your wife will notice, and females who might have more than a casual interest in you will notice if given an opportunity, but in my opinion, most guys probably wouldn't notice/spot a HT after 2 weeks at least for cases similar to mine. I realize people will heal differently, and as others have already said.. "it depends". I would think your surgeon would be able to give you a pretty straight up answer about what you might expect at the 2 week post op point given your own factors (hair/skin color/number of grafts/areas transplanted, etc..) Good luck to you.

I usually don't post in the "who's the best" threads that inevitably pop up every now & then. But... In my opinion your list is incomplete if it doesn't include Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte, North Carolina. Also, I would second the recomendation from wanthairs. Your hairloss does look pretty minimal and it's hard for me to tell from that photo where you are headed in terms of hairloss. Honestly, you look pretty good in that photo. Best

Hey birdy, I think I was about where you are now, twenty one years ago. At that age my hairline started receeding. In my case the recession was relatively slow and in my late 30's I also started thinning on my crown. The first pic in my HT weblog will give you an idea of how far that proceeded by the time I hit my mid 40's (I'll be 48 next year). So that is the context with which I'm offing you advice. I always looked older when I was younger, and now at 47, people tell me I look younger, and honestly, when I see others my age I actually believe I do look younger than most of them. Bottom line: I would not get a HT to fill in your hairline at this point, based on the limited information I'm able to get from your post and from your photographs. From what I'm able to see from you photographs, you appear to be blessed with a fine head of hair, even though your hairline may be maturing a bit faster than many of your buddies. If you get your hairline filled in or reinforced at this point, then you should know that more than likely you will be committing yourself to more HT's down the road if for no other reason than to avoid the "awkward apperance" you already seem know about. Someone else will be able to better adsise you regarding the use of propecia, but be sure to ask them how effective it is on the hairline...I seem to recall that propecia was more effective on the top/crown, and not effective on the hairline, but I might be mistaken. I may also be mistaken about a HT to restore your hairline being appropriate for you. There are many veterans here who will be able to better inform you (once you've answered more questions). However, I do want to office this unsolicited piece of advice from what I do remember about being close to your age. Make sure to listen to and consider all of the advice you get, especially the advice that might be contrary to what you most want to hear. And be warned, there are many impressive looking, and impressive sounding people out there with medical degrees and impressive offices who will be absolutetly delighted to lighten your wallet, and the cost to you may involve more than dollars and cents. Listen to the fellas here on this website, most all of them are unbiased and will be quite honest with you. The guys here do a very good job of keeping each other in check.

NN, Thanks for posting this topic. I've also considered the very same things. I'm not really a veteran poster here, and I don't consider myself an expert. But, as most folks who've had HT's with good surgeons, I do feel a strong sense of respect, admiration and loyalty to Dr. Cooley and his staff. Naturally, I want to share my enthusiam with others, even though I understand I am biased because of my own experience in with Dr. Cooley & his staff. Other than expressing my own satisfaction with my HT, and answering any direct questions regarding Dr. Cooley and his staff (based on my own experience), I have purposfully not steered anyone toward him and try to avoid the "who is the best HT surgeon in the world" threads I've noticed every now & then. I have even disagreed with the highly esteemed Bill! If I recall correctly, Bill favors "dry healing" and I am a strong believer in "wet healing" (or using massive quantities of salt water rinses after a HT, and using oil (Vitamin E or others) to "melt/soften" scabs instead of mechanical message to remove them). Bill would tell you it's not necessary to rinse with salt water and use Vitamin E oil, and I would tell you that you would be better off if you did. So there we are. I also recall spirited disagreements over using "hair counts" and I was strongly on the "use hair counts" side of the argument and I still have a great deal of respect for many of those who were on the other side of the argument. I wasn't aware that some members left over stupid agreements but I'm not surprised. Seems to be a common occurence in most every forum out there. Cheers!

Well <STRIKE>damn</STRIKE> darn. I've been watching the back of my head a little more since I had my first real growth spurt on my crown at about the 7th month...thinking each week would be better and better until about the one year point. NOT At month 9, everything still looks pretty much like it did at month 7-8. Seems like it's back to "hurry up and wait" all over again before another growth spurt. I was wondering if the HT veterans here also experienced similar "on again-off again" growth rates for their hair transplants?