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2,800 Grafts with Dr. Cooley


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Thanks for sharng your story. I am having mine done April 17th with Dr. Cooley (I too have been on the wait list for 3 months), so I'm on the countdown.

 

Did you do the laxity exercise? If you did, be honest - for how long each time? I've seen a video and the presenter said to do it for 30 minutes, which I can't imagine.

3840 FUT grafts + Acell/PRP with Dr. Jerry Cooley April 17, 2014

And, I'll admit it - I'm trying the Help Hair Shake in my smoothies

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174893-3-000-fut-my-visit-thursday-april-17-dr-cooley.html

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I did do the laxity exercise, but certainly not for thirty minutes (although perhaps in the last few days leading up to the procedure). Whenever I had some free time or was sitting at my desk, I would do them.

 

Whatever I did must have worked as Dr. Cooley said my scar closed really well. Most of that was probably his skill, but he said my scalp laxity really helped.

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I am coming up on a month since my procedure with Dr. Cooley. I am still waiting on his office to get me the actual number of hairs.

 

Everything has gone back to normal for the most part. About 60% of the transplanted hairs have fallen out and I believe I have experienced a little shockloss. But my hair looks pretty good overall. The hairs that haven't fallen out yet give my existing hair some great density. I am sure they will fall out over time though.

 

The recipient area is just the slightest bit pink. I am confident that no one could detect it unless they closely inspected my scalp. And even then, they would have to know what they were looking for.

 

The donor scar is healing nicely. It is super thin, like someone drew a line with pencil. It is still a little red and some parts are a bit raised, but it is progressing nicely.

 

I was on a date awhile back and the girl I was with kept running her hands through my hair and I was totally relaxed about it. I say this only because I have gotten a few questions about whether my HT would be detectable under such a scenario. In my case, I don't think it is/was.

 

I'd post some pictures but there really isn't much to show except that I need a haircut.

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On second thought, here are two quick photos. You can see the recipient area is healing nicely AND that I need a hair cut because I am starting to look like Owen Wilson. Which is fine, but I don't think my boss appreciates it.

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Owen Wilson - LOL!!!! It is healing great.

In preparation for my upcoming appointment, Ailene recommended the help hair shake. Are you / did you use that?

3840 FUT grafts + Acell/PRP with Dr. Jerry Cooley April 17, 2014

And, I'll admit it - I'm trying the Help Hair Shake in my smoothies

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174893-3-000-fut-my-visit-thursday-april-17-dr-cooley.html

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For those who have been asking, here is the exact breakdown of graphs/hairs from Dr. Cooley.

 

The breakdown was:

 

1-707

2-1517

3-620

4-47

Total grafts: 2891 total hairs: 5789

 

Here is a photo of how I looked directly after the procedure.

 

It hasn't quite been a month yet, but for the most part I am all healed up. Yesterday, I started running and cycling again. I am still going to hold off on weights though for another few months. Everything is going well and I don't want to push my luck.

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Hah. Thanks for the update of the girl running hands thru hair scenario. And to hear that it really is pencil thin and can't feel much of a bump seems to be what is important to me post. My coverage on top is not bad if I can keep my hair worn in a certain way so losing what was transplanted is not a big deal. I don't like how it looks but I could live thru the re-loss.

 

So your feeling is that one month (or less) the scar was healed and undetectable for pretty much anyone? even with a girl possibly running her hands thru it? And the redness on top of the recipient area is fairly normal looking thru the existing hair after what amount of time?

 

I'm planning on 3 days in CLT. Day before, day of, day after. Then on to vacation somewhere to just stay out of my normal life for another 5 days. So a week.

 

Aside from that initial healing and comfort ability period, I'm confident the work when it starts growing in is going to be great for you... And me!

 

What have you learned on here in terms of really thinking you'll see change happening (growth) and week by week improvement? Ailene said a few months but have read more like 7 months to a year.

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Yeah. The scar is really a non-issue. It was sore for longer than I expected (almost a month) but now you can barely feel it and no way you could see it.

 

Everything is completely undetectable at this point. Most of the graphs have shed though and I experienced some shockloss.

 

I have been good about setting realistic expectations as far as growth. I think when it grows in, it is going to be awesome, but I am not going to start expecting anything until month eight. At that point, I hope to start seeing results.

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I'm up to bat with Dr. Cooley this Thursday, and watching you update your progress to have an idea of what to expect. Thanks for the updates!

3840 FUT grafts + Acell/PRP with Dr. Jerry Cooley April 17, 2014

And, I'll admit it - I'm trying the Help Hair Shake in my smoothies

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174893-3-000-fut-my-visit-thursday-april-17-dr-cooley.html

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I probably could have driven if I really had to. But my advice, for what it is worth, would be to stay an extra day at the hotel, watch TV and relax. Order room service. Maybe down a painkiller or a Valium and just veg out all day.

 

I had the procedure done on a Thursday and drove five hours for work on Sunday and I was totally fine.

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I am a little over a month from my procedure. Everything is healing great. The donor scar is much better than I expected and any redness in the recipient area is gone. I have, however, experienced what I believe is the dreaded SHOCK LOSS.

 

From my understanding, I just have to wait with my fingers crossed and hope that it grows back, right? Is it normal to experience shock loss a month out? From my understanding those with receding temples stand a better chance of the hair growing back than diffuse thinners? I am the prior, not the latter.

 

It is not horrible and I doubt anyone would notice any difference in my hair other than me, but there are definitely some spots that look a lot thinner than before the procedure. I am taking Propecia in hopes that it will help those little guys grow back.

 

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Edited by KeithJagger
Grammar.
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I'd be interested in seeing any updated photos and what you're concerned about. Of course, you don't have to keep taking/sharing so many photos that often. I'm guessing it's normal. I think I read on someone else's post about thinking it was too soon to see shedding and the concern of shock loss. But definitely would like to know for myself when it comes to be my turn as to what I can expect. Have you talked to Dr Cooley about it?

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  • Senior Member

I am now a few days over two months and I just wanted to give a quick update. Not surprisingly, I have not seen any real results at this point. There are a few small sprouts here and there, but nothing even close to substantial. All that being, the healing process has been amazing. The shockloss that I experienced has stopped and has started growing back. The donor scar is almost completely undetectable. I can't feel it and I can barely see it. I am amazed as I have had smaller injuries (from years ago) that have required stitches and those injuries are more noticeable than my donor scar. The recipient area looks just like it did before the transplant. So at two months, I am exactly back to where I started, which I believe is a good thing. Hopefully I'll start seeing some results shortly.

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Awesome. I was wondering how it was going for you.

 

Yesterday marked one month post op for me as well. It's interesting to follow your posts since you're ahead of me by that.

 

I'm sure your results are going to be awesome - keep us posted, and have a great weekend -

3840 FUT grafts + Acell/PRP with Dr. Jerry Cooley April 17, 2014

And, I'll admit it - I'm trying the Help Hair Shake in my smoothies

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174893-3-000-fut-my-visit-thursday-april-17-dr-cooley.html

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Looks good KeithJagger - (although your hair looks more Brian Jonesy than Keef!). I'm 3 months out - only 2551 graphs but also with the Acell bath and this past week the hairs started becoming noticeable. You should have a great head of hair.

I'm serious.  Just look at my face.

 

My Hair Regimen: Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

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Here are some photos at around 2.5 months. As you can see, shockloss took quite a toll. Fortunately, I believe it has started to subside and the native hairs I lost are growing back. There isn't much new growth aside from a few small sprouts, but I wanted to post something to show the healing process, which has been great.

 

The first few shots are how I normally wear my hair. The last few are with my hair pulled back. I took these photos under the harshest light I could find (6 lightbulbs beating down in my bathroom)

 

What are your thoughts?

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I could not really tell on you, but I feel like I'm experiencing a bit of it too. I searched the forum for the topic and found that Dr. Lindsey recently posted a good video explaining shock loss. Check it out here - http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/175354-dr-lindsey-what-shockloss-video.html

 

Hang in there!

3840 FUT grafts + Acell/PRP with Dr. Jerry Cooley April 17, 2014

And, I'll admit it - I'm trying the Help Hair Shake in my smoothies

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174893-3-000-fut-my-visit-thursday-april-17-dr-cooley.html

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