Dr. Cooley or Dr. Wong??

[shouldIdoit]

I've been reading this forum for a few months, and after looking at many profiles I have at least convinced myself to meet with Dr's. Based on what I've read in these forums it seems that Dr. Cooley and Dr. Wong are amongst the best (at least according to those who have posted on this site). I want to go with "the best". From the pics on each respective Dr.'s website, there are more patients on Hasson and Wong who show AMAZING success. Is that in and of itself enough to verify what I'm reading on these boards? I ask because their practice is a good 5 hours away and while a "virtual consulatation" is an option, I want to hear from those who may have had these 2 Dr.'s on their shortlist (to hear which of the 2 they chose, why they chose that Dr. and if they feel they made the correct decision). I expect most any responses to this post will tell me to visit both Dr.'s and then decide (and I may do that) but I also want to reach out to and hear from as many actual patients as possible.

 

The one thing that you rarely (if every) hear from the Dr's themselves are the "bad results" performed in their office....and as much as I want to hear about the positive results, I'm also interested to hear of any negative results OR "not quite as good as I expected" results you may have experienced from either Dr. Cooley or Dr. Wong.

 

Thanks in advance

[shouldIdoit]

I've been reading this forum for a few months, and after looking at many profiles I have at least convinced myself to meet with Dr's. Based on what I've read in these forums it seems that Dr. Cooley and Dr. Wong are amongst the best (at least according to those who have posted on this site). I want to go with "the best". From the pics on each respective Dr.'s website, there are more patients on Hasson and Wong who show AMAZING success. Is that in and of itself enough to verify what I'm reading on these boards? I ask because their practice is a good 5 hours away and while a "virtual consulatation" is an option, I want to hear from those who may have had these 2 Dr.'s on their shortlist (to hear which of the 2 they chose, why they chose that Dr. and if they feel they made the correct decision). I expect most any responses to this post will tell me to visit both Dr.'s and then decide (and I may do that) but I also want to reach out to and hear from as many actual patients as possible.

 

The one thing that you rarely (if every) hear from the Dr's themselves are the "bad results" performed in their office....and as much as I want to hear about the positive results, I'm also interested to hear of any negative results OR "not quite as good as I expected" results you may have experienced from either Dr. Cooley or Dr. Wong.

 

Thanks in advance

[MikeSf]

Hey shouldIdoit...you are being uber smart. Talk to these doctors, and get more and more opinions so that you have a wide variety of notes to look over. And, personally, I think its a GREAT idea to point blank ask doctors about negative results. A doctor who can say, YES THERE HAVE BEEN ONE OR TWO OR WHATEVER PATIENTS THAT DIDN"T WORK AS WELL, is someone that I would be more apt to trust. Most WON"T offer that up, and I don't like that. So, not liking it is not enough...be proactive, and do it yourself.

[latinlotus]

Dr. Cooley and Dr. Wong are world class doctors with an experienced staff. If you don't hear about bad results here, it is most likely because there are very little cases of sub-par results. Contrary to another forum where negative comments about a certain FUE doctor just miraculeously disappear.

 

Both doctors are on my short list and you made a good choice by considering both of them.

[Jotronic]

ShouldIdoit,

 

Your interest in our clinic is greatly appreciated. You obviously have this research thing down and I understand the need to know about the bad just as much as the good.

 

To be honest, even the best clinics have a case or two that didn't turn out as well as they had hoped and we are no different. I can say with absolute honesty however that issues like this are EXTREMELY rare. This is backed up by us being the most transparent clinic on the web and by having more patients that have documented openly on the web than any other clinic. If we were getting lots of bad results, you'd know it.

 

What you also need to ask yourself is if there are a couple of results that are just not so great, what kind of reputation does the clinic have for standing behind their patients. I'm confident in saying that we have an excellent reputation for standing behind our patients and making sure they are happy. When you choose us for your hair restoration you are not just getting us for one day; you are getting us for all of your questions and concerns after the fact as well.

[Stimpson]

Funny. I am down to the same 2 doctors for my choice. I go back and forth, and every time I think my mind is made up, I change it again.

 

Basically, Cooley is a 6 hour drive, whereas Wong is WAY FAR AWAY....

 

But...

 

The reason that I am leaning towards Wong is because they have provided such thorough documentation of success with the *type* of procedure that I want. No, I do not just mean a large procedure, as that is not guaranteed by anybody. What I mean, is simply that they go *back* on the head, and into a little bit of hair if need be. I have already had some prior work, so I have quite a bit of hair in the frontal area, plus I have some native hair lingering in the crown and just forward. Even if I do not address the crown, I would still like hair ALL THE WAY BACK TO the crown. I have high temple corners, and am fine with that. I just want the hair tied into the sides of my NW 5a/6 pattern, and BACK TO the crown, or maybe even a dusting in the crown. I would like the density to be tapered as you travel back, of course, but yet more uniform than is typically seen by most HT doctors, who have a tendency to weight too front heavy IMO.

 

I have seen AMPLE photographic evidence where Dr. Wong does this REPEATEDLY. Cooley, while without doubt an *outstanding* HT doctor (my number 2 choice, well maybe 3 behind Hasson), simply does not provide documentation wherein they do these types of procedures regularly. The pictures I see from doctor Cooley are typically documenting the hairline/frontal third. H@W frequently document the ENTIRE HEAD, and thus they CLEARLY SHOW that they address my particular concerns regularly.

 

I don't know if it's a genuine style difference, or just a documentation issue, but it's likely going to be my deciding factor for Wong. I will not let geography be the deciding factor. This is too important. - Stimpy

[Dewayne]

I had these two (or three if you don't count H&W as one....) in my top three or four as well. To be honest, I got it down to six very excellent clinics that I thought were just about equal and finally decided to go with Dr. Cooley based on cost and convenience.

 

I know, I know, those aren't supposed to be in anyones top reasons; but in my view if you get it down four or five that are in anyone's top 10 list.....there's not a whole lot of difference.

 

Charlotte is but a four hour drive, and the cost for 2500 grafts was a mere $9,000 (pre-paid with certified funds = 10% discount). Dr. Wong is a master, for sure, but that difference was what I used in my decision making process.

 

I will say though, I drove past a coalition doctor's office on the way to Charlotte because he didn't end up in my top 5.

 

At the time, I thought it best to not go 'mega' session all at once. However, I can tell you now I wish I'd asked for another 1,000 grafts for my crown. As good as I feel about the whole experience, I've still got a bald spot. And I thought I'd be fine with that but now I'd like to turn back the clock a few more years and get some grafts there. I'll probably go back in a year to get 1,500 or so in the crown.

 

Are you on the coast? I lived in Wilmington for a while back in '02 - '04.

[3v_2008]

In terms of quality of service they both are exceptional. I think Dr. Wong requires you to shave your head in the region where HT will be performed (You should confirm it with them) and Dr. Cooley doesn't. Also, Dr. Cooley's price is lower than Dr. Wong. From the various posts that I have come across, Dr. Wong seems to have more postings on work done in the crown area than Dr. Cooley.

[yourcoach]

I found it helpful finding my own Dr. references. There are plenty on these boards. I reached out to them with emails requesting to speak with them on the phone. I got enough responses to have the conversations I needed to help me make my decision.

 

If it is possible, an in person consult really can make a big difference in making you feel comfortable with your decision.

 

I chose Dr. Cooley. I am only one month post op, but, so far, I am extremely please with my decision. As others have said, when you are choosing between doctors that are all at the top of their profession like you are, the biggest differences are going to be the intangibles. For me, Dr. Cooley has really shined in that area. I have felt extremely well called for in all respects.

 

Keeping asking questions until you are comfortable.

 

Good Luck,

Carl

[shouldIdoit]

Thanks all for the feedback. Just when I thought I felt ready to reach out and make a few appointments, something inside has caused me to think about not moving forward. I've been looking at the pics on Dr. Cooley and Dr. Wongs respective sites, and it's just hard for me to understand how someone like myself (who is in stage 7 hair loss) can actually get a "full head of hair" again. When looking at the relatively small donor area, it's hard to believe that little bit of hair can successfully be transplanted into my expansive dome and give me a natural looking head of hair. From looking at the pics on the Dr's sites it looks to me that most of the guys who are in my stage of hair loss don't have such natural looking, full heads of hair and many have grown their hair long to "fill in the open spots".

 

Maybe it's normal to have such reservations, and obviously I'm thinking (and sharing the reservations) out loud here....

 

Carl, I read your blog and appreciate the "full disclosure" commentary regarding the pain you were feeling at the 12 day mark....have you entirely overcome the pain you were feeling?

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by shouldIdoit:

Thanks all for the feedback. Just when I thought I felt ready to reach out and make a few appointments, something inside has caused me to think about not moving forward. I've been looking at the pics on Dr. Cooley and Dr. Wongs respective sites, and it's just hard for me to understand how someone like myself (who is in stage 5 hair loss) can actually get a "full head of hair" again. When looking at the relatively small donor area, it's hard to believe that little bit of hair can successfully be transplanted into my expansive dome and give me a natural looking head of hair. From looking at the pics on the Dr's sites it looks to me that most of the guys who are in my stage of hair loss don't have such natural looking, full heads of hair and many have grown their hair long to "fill in the open spots".

 

Maybe it's normal to have such reservations, and obviously I'm thinking (and sharing the reservations) out loud here....

 

Carl, I read your blog and appreciate the "full disclosure" commentary regarding the pain you were feeling at the 12 day mark....have you entirely overcome the pain you were feeling?

 

You should post some pics and get some feed back on here. I know Carl probably hasn't grown a new hair yet, but 4900 grafts is a heck of a large transplant. Check this guy out, whom I emailed with a couple of times. He was a 5.....

 

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=1594&WebID=364

[Dewayne]

And, since congress might take up the "Fairness Doctrine", check out Dr. Wong's patient at 17 months.....

 

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=428&WebID=128

 

 

Sometimes the photos posted by actual patients are much better than the ones on their websites.

[yourcoach]

My pain almost completely subsided within a few days of writing about it. I get a lot of different types of headaches: migraines, tension headaches, and icepick headaches. With icepick headaches, they are a short lived headache that feels like you were stabbed in the head with an icepick. The pain I was feeling was like very minor icepick headaches. Dr. Cooley, who had never heard of a patient having this pain, consulted with other doctors. None of them had heard of anyone having this discomfort. Considering that my pain has passed, and no one else has had the pain, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Carl

[Stimpson]

"And, since congress might take up the "Fairness Doctrine", check out Dr. Wong's patient at 17 months...."

 

LOL!

 

It took me a second to get that.

 

Anyway, outstanding results both. But what really stands out to ME in these logs, is the way Wong filled so much into existing hair. True for the Cooley case as well, albeit to a lesser extent (going by the 2 month photos anyway, and assuming not TOO much shock loss). I say this stands out to me not because of doctor skill per se, but simply because I personally still have some native hair towards the crown and also some transplanted hair up front, so being able to transplant a fairly large session comfortably into existing hair is a KEY point for me (I will be happy to shave to aid with this). Great examples of work by both Cooley and wong.

 

Stimpson

[Hair Apparent]

ShouldIdoit,

 

I was Dr. Cooley's patient and received three HT's from him. You can run "Hair Apparent" through this site's search engine for details about the procedures and experiences. To cut to the chase, they were all positive.

 

You say your hair loss is stage 5. I wish I'd been so lucky. My initial hairloss level was Norwood VI and pushing VII in the back. With so much space to cover, I knew I wasn't going to look like Elvis at the end, and frankly, at my age, I didn't need to.

 

Doctor Cooley and his staff pointed out my limited options. I opted to have him distribute the grafts from the first HT all over my balding area, rather than just using them in the front and top, to "frame the face", as they like to say. I underestimated the results in the crown area, but I am still happier to have even a faint dusting of hair back there.

 

On my second HT with Dr. Cooley, I concentrated on the front and top. Dr. Cooley uses what he terms a "reverse hairline" approach for that. He places the greatest density forward and gradually fades it back to wherever the number of grafts ends at the crown.

 

One of the things that pleased me the most about Dr. Cooley's skill (as a person, he is also top drawer. I've rarely known someone as genuinely decent and considerate and generous as he is) is his sense of artistry. In sketching out my frontal hairline, he took into account my age (in my 50's) and general shape of my face. One thing I noticed during my research of HT's is so many people, even those with as much hairloss as myself opted for a more rounded frontal hairline, filling in the the entire front. In my considerations, that always struck me as unnatural, particularly for one of my years.

 

My preference was to build my hairline from the front centre of my forehead and widen it as it went back, leaving the temple sides receded. Before I could communicate this to Dr. Cooley, that was precisely the hairline he sketched out for me.

 

My third and final HT was at Dr. Cooley's offer. He wanted to put some final touches on the second HT. It was only 500 grafts, but it made the front work look 100% better (and it looked good before). It was his eye for artistry that told him how he could get so much improvement out of such a low number of grafts.

 

Bottom line: yeah, I still have a big, honkin' balding spot on the back of my head. I have enough grafts remaining for another HT, but another 2,000 grafts, I don't think, would make enough of a cosmetic difference in that balding spot--at least, not enough to drop a big chunk of $$$ to do--so I will just wait for future developments, such as hair cloning, to catch up.

 

But from the front, and to a lesser extent, the sides, I still get thrilled when I look in the mirror. No, as I said, I'm not Elvis, but it is a natural hairline and the hair on top has a natural thickness for a man my age. I don't know how old you are, but it is perfect for a man in his 50's. In fact (I never made a secret of the fact that I had hair transplants), that is the most common compliment from my friends and associates: that is a realistic and natural appearance for my age.

 

Sure, I would love to have a full head of hair, or at least have thicker hair--who wouldn't?--but with what he had to work with, Dr. Cooley got the maximum benefit in my appearance. And it's so nice no longer being "the bald guy" in the room.

 

I don't have any direct knowledge of Doctor Wong. From all of the other positive comments here about him, I think it's a sure bet that you couldn't go wrong with him, either. My experiences with Dr. Cooley were so satisfying, however, that--if another HT for me was worthwhile and I had an unlimited wallet and my choice of any HT surgeon--I would still go with Dr. Cooley.

[latinlotus]

Shouldidoit:

 

You will never get all your hair back. You will only get an illusion of hair, thus your donor hair can be spread out on at least twice the donor area. On top of that, depending on the way you comb your hair, proper hair placement can help to spread the coverage to 3 or 4 times the donor area.

 

Please check this article written by dr. Bernstein: http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/resources/publications.php

 

Look for the article with title: 'Aesthetics of Follicular Transplantation'

[Stimpson]

These last few posts point out a CRITICAL factor in HT's. It needs to get better as you age. In my case, I have a much higher hairline than most people (even on this forum) would accept, and I also have quite high temple corners. It's all give and take. In my case, my NUMBER ONE concern is burying some stupid Bosley minis from the early 90's, which were thankfully placed well behind the hairline (at least that much was good). And as an initial repair, Dr. Parsley created a nice mature hairline with about 3000 grafts in the frontal 2/3rds (2 sessions), which basically succeeded in hiding the mini's, but I want a little more density to bury them for good, especially in the midscalp area. So, for me, the desired tradeoff is a higher more mature hairline, in exchange for a little more density behind it than might be typically found, and perhaps a dusting in the crown if donor permits.

 

I seriously do not want to step on toes here, but I cringe a little every time i see a fairly young person get thousands of grafts to bring back what is almost a juvenile hairline by filling in slightly receded temples, etc. I know Armani is the king of this, but I see it done to lesser extents by others also. I hope I am wrong, but there might be difficult days ahead for some of these people. If you only have 7000 grafts total, and you put 3000 in the 1.5-2 cm around the hairline, you are commiting yourself to an AGGRESSIVE approach. I know it is not really natural to think ahead to when you are 30, 40, 50, but a really extravegant hairline with baldness or even excessinve thinness behind it will register as unnatural. Forget Elvis. Think Kiefer Sutherland. Receded hairline, high temples. He's my hair idol (we seem to have identical hair characteristics too).

 

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3509556992/nm0000662

 

Stimpy

[latinlotus]

Stimson:

are you sure we only have 7000 grafts of donor? dr. Armani claims that he can get 20,000

 

As for having young patients with low hairline, I think the patient should be king and get the hairline he wants, as long as he knows the impact of future hair loss. It is the same situation with smokers...

[Middleson]

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!

[Stimpson]

"are you sure we only have 7000 grafts of donor? dr. Armani claims that he can get 20,000"

 

I know. That guy is the undisputed MASTER of feeding on the insecurity of early 20 somethings. At least most other docs, when taking an aggressive approach, consider other circumstances, like age, family loss history, medication, and so forth. Armani just says "yeah, we'll give you 5000 grafts for that 100 FU/CM^2 density that you probably didn't even have in your 16 year old hairline, don't worry about the future...". Not even to mention the yield and waste issues.

 

There are seriously going to be a LOT of weird looking people courtesy of Armani. We all HOPE for cloning soon. These people are going to be DEPENDANT upon cloning. Not an enviable position.

 

Stimpson

[latinlotus]

Middleson:

can you please update your weblog?

 

It is comment like yours that helps me make a decision to go with dr. Cooley. I am paying lots of $ to get a doctor's service, not some nurse's service. That being said, i understand that a doctor can't do all the work and has to delegate some to his staff. But with dr. Cooley, i am under the impression that he is a very hand-on doctor, and this is the main reason why i decided to go with him.

[Middleson]

Originally posted by latinlotus:

Middleson:

can you please update your weblog?

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.

[JW]

I am also a patient of Dr. Cooley. I echo and second all of the superlatives that have been said about Dr. Cooley and his skill and artistry. I had my first procedure with him over two years ago. I was a Norwood 5. I had 2500 grafts placed in front. What Dr. Cooley did with just 2500 grafts is amazing. I went from bald to having hair. My barber says that my transplant looks totally natural and it is the best cosmetic job that he has ever seen. My barber told me that if I had come to him and had not said anything about having had a transplant, he would never have suspected a thing. My hair is not see-through. It is full and thick looking. Not teenager thick but 50 ish thick. Dr. Cooley made my hairline age appropriate and left some recession at the temples. This past summer I ran into an old friend from college. I had not seen him in years. We had dinner together and he blurted out during dinner: "So you kept all of your hair." I told a half lie and said that I use Propecia. That is how good my hair looks. Dr. Cooley can work wonders. He took me from bald to having hair. He has changed my life. He is a perfectionist. In my opinion, Dr. Cooley is the best of the best. I am getting a second procedure from Dr. Cooley in December. I trust him totally. I would not even consider another doctor.

[Middleson]

Originally posted by JW:

He is a perfectionist.

 

I think that about sums it up.

 

I hope the man gives his wife & kids some slack...

[shouldIdoit]

JW do you have any pics? Are any of you "Cooley guys" in Charlotte? I would be interested to meet some of you guys (lunch is on me) so I can see Dr. Cooley's work in person. I have a first consult scheduled for the 26th of this month.