One Day Post Op with Dr. Cooley

[Middleson]

Gentlemen (and ladies)

 

Prior to my first HT, I was told by Dr. Cooley's assistant (Ailene) that they would take very good care of me during my hair transplant. Many of you on this forum also reassurred me that I would be in good hands with Dr. Cooley.

 

All of were absolutely right! Dr. Cooley and his staff made me feel as though I were the most important person in the world yesterday.

 

Dr. Cooley has an incredible passion for his work that is more than just inspiring, it is extremely reassurring when you're under the knife, especially when I consider that he was doing something that will affect how I will look for the rest of my natural life.

 

Simply stated, I am blown away by the whole experience in his office yesterday. That man is tireless! And his staff was just incredibe. I will go into more detail in a weblog (I'm a bit tired and sleepy at the moment and will be going to bed shortly), but I did want to quickly share some photos with you guys since you were so very helpful to me before my HT.

 

I intend to post follow up photos throughout the year in a weblog.

 

Sincerely,

 

Middleson

 

 

 

[Guest Cousin_It]

Middleson...

 

Glad you made it back in one piece! Happy to hear you were impressed with Dr.Cooley, he is a fine surgeon.

 

From your pictures it seems he has given you good coverage, ultimately how many grafts did he place? Also, the side view really does not show any grafts in the hairline, which you stated he reinforced. So I was wondering what exactly was done? Do you plan a followup to address this area?

 

Thank you for taking the time to post these photos, looking forward to more followups as time permits. Best of Luck growing!

[Middleson]

Cousin_It

 

There's a good reason the side view doesn't show any grafts...it's a "before photo".

 

I forgot to get a side or front view picture showing the grafts on the hairline, but I did remember you guys do like the stats:

 

Here's some stats (and since Pat says to count hairs I'm including that as well:

 

1's: 1061 grafts, and 1061 hairs (well okay, that's obvisous enough)

2's: 1416 grafts, and 2832 hairs

3's: 426 grafts, and 1278 hairs

4's: 64 grafts, and 256 hairs

 

I'm not sure about the breakdown b/w whats on the crown & what is on the hairline. I am very pleased with my hairline...I've been living with the receeding hairline for many, many years now and I think it's age appropriate for me. Dr. Cooley reinforced it very nicely I think, and I'll post some of those pics as soon as I can. If you look closely, the larger picture of the next morning does show some new grafts, just not very well at that angle.

[Guest Cousin_It]

Middleson...

 

Thanks for clarifying that, thought I was going blind from the meds! Seems like he upped the number of grafts to almost 3000, guess your questioning him on this issue proved to be productive. Now that I look at the other photo I can see a bit of grafts.

 

Like I said, it appears he gave you good coverage, and if you are happy with the hairline, then I consider it a success! Thanks again for sharing this with us.

[Middleson]

You're right Cousin_It.

 

After talking more with Dr. Cooley, we agreed to reinforce/refine my hairline.

 

So it seems you guys were right on target with your estimates on the number of grafts I would need.

 

I edited the before photo to avoid confusion. (thanks)

[Bill - Seemiller]

Middleson,

 

Crown looks great immediately post op. Very clean surgery...just what I expected from Dr. Cooley. Please keep us posted with your progress.

 

Bill

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Middleson,

 

Congratulations on your surgery and coming full circle on our forum from student to teacther in sharing your impressive results.

 

Thanks also for providing hair and graft counts.

 

Pat

[hairbank]

Middleson-

 

Thanks for posting the results of your great HT from Dr. Cooley. I've been a fan of his for some time now and always enjoy seeing the excellent work he does! Looks like that should give you nice coverage on the crown.

 

Keep us posted on your progress!

[Middleson]

Appreciate the positive comments fellas...

 

I was originally planning on taking the rest of the week off, but I felt good enough this morning to head back to work (not physically demanding). Everyone in the office was extremely curious about my experience and it was actually a fun "show and tell" event this morning. Actually, I had the impression everyone was pretty impressed. I work in a small office with 4 other guys (they are all lucky enough to have a full head of hair).

 

So, day two post op was pretty easy going all things considered. I was able to keep my head moist all day with the foligen spray and I think that helped keep the itching at bay. There's really hardly any redness to speak of and I'm not sure if that's normal or not. I have been popping Tylenol to stay ahead of any possible pain (haven't had any).

 

In addition to using the folligen spray, I've rinsed my head a few times with a pitchers of lukewarm water with epsom salts. I'm taking Ambien at night (boy does that stuff give you bizarre dreams?)

 

Tomorrow I plan to clean the donor site a bit more thoroughly in the shower with the shampoo Dr. Cooley gave me. Other than that, I guess it's a waiting game. I have the feeling that the most annoying thing is going to be the itching (hopefully that won't last too long??).

[NervousNelly]

Damn Middleson, are you sure you just had 3000 Fu or is that dust particles on your scalp? That is one hell of a very clean surgery that is difficult to even detect when we know you had it. I can imagine that it was no big deal to head back to work but usually a day or 2 post op will scare most people that see it. Dr. Cooley has done some very impressive work. I'm happy for you.

 

Did he know that you were going to post on this forum? Not that all physicians don't make every effort to do their best work each and every time, but I think it can't hurt to let them know that the world is going to be witness to their work. Give it a few months and it will be awesome. Glad to here that it was such a great experience. Another reason this site can be invaluable. Keep us posted.

[the B spot]

Congrats Middleson--- I think you did a great job choosing Dr. Cooley, in addition to adding 500 or so grafts. The crown is a black hole for grafts, but you are blessed with a strong hairline and mid-scalp region to work around, so I think you are going to be very happy in the coming months.

 

All,

it is important for us to recognize the effort a Doc and team puts forth to control bloodloss and trauma to the scalp. Pictures such as middlesons prove that controlling bloodloss and continually cleaning the recipient area, reduces scabbing, which in turn can prevent accidental loss of grafts, and can reduce the amount of time our scalp stays red/pink.

 

I think this is a great example of Dr. Cooley's work and a great example of how a new member can benefit from additional advice even AFTER a consult with a top notch physician.

 

Happy Growing Middleson!!!!!!!!

[Middleson]

NervousNelly,

 

I did not mention to Dr. Cooley that I was posting here, but I did tell him that I did a lot of research in this forum. When I left his office the next day, his assistant did give me what looked like a pretty standard form inviting me to participate anonomously (wish there was a spell check feature in here?) on a weblog and share photos of my progress. I thought about telling her that I'm already posting here, but I was more preoccuppied with my head/new transplants and hadn't yet made up my mind about the weblog. In all honesty, I would wager anything that posting here wouldn't make one bit of difference in the work he did on me. I actually wondered where his passion and committement to his work comes from, and I can't say that I know anymore having gone through the HT with him, but I can say that I don't think he's motivated by ego or profit (and I wouldn't begrudge him either of those things)...his motivation, wherever it comes from is genuine, and sincere. It's a tangible thing.

 

A close friend just finished looking at my crown & hairline & she is stunned. Very impressed with the obvious coverage on my crown and improved hairline, also with how quickly everything is healing! It's a bummer to think I'm going to probably lose these grafts as part of the process!

 

B Spot,

 

I think you're right on the spot with what you said about continually cleaning the recipient area. Dr. Cooley did a lot of rinsing of my scalp throughout the surgery and advised me keep it clean & moist for a while. And I'll say this again, it also helps with the itching.

[NervousNelly]

Middleson,

 

I wasn't implying anything about Dr. Cooley's motives or ethics. He has a great reputation and obviously is quite skilled. I guess what was meant is that if I were to tell a surgeon that I was going to post and document everything and they had reservations, it would throw up a red flag. But a little motivation never does hurt anyone either.

 

He has done excellent work and I'm quite impressed. Yah it stinks that you'll likely lose the hairs for awhile, but it's short lived. With your existing density you'll be in good shape.